Wednesday was the deadline for eligible immigrants to apply for an adjusted immigration status under the Legal Immigration Family Equity Act (LIFE) legislation. The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services said 412,000 people had applied by the end of April. The BCIS approved 300,000 applications and denied 61,000.

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As reported this week in the New York Times, the government has used fees collected from H-1B visa applications since 1998 to fund $228.5 million in grants given to educational institutions and work force programs training American workers to fill the positions for which foreigners are recruited. Employers of foreign workers are charged a $1,000 fee for each H-1B visa application, and the money goes to a national pool that funds educational training programs.

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Last year the government issued 63,000 H2B visas, just under the 66,000 yearly limit, according to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The H2B program provides temporary or seasonal visas for unskilled, nonagricultural jobs, such as landscaping and construction.

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The BCIS is seeking comments from the public on four application forms: Form I-191, application for advance permission to return to unrelinqushed domicile; Form I-566, interagency record of individual requesting change/adjustment to or from A or G status or requesting A, G or NATO dependent employment authorization; Form I-352, immigration bond; and Form N-470, application to preserve residence for naturalization. For more information or to review the requests, you can view the section of the June 4 issue of the Federal Register dealing with the BCIS online at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a030604c.html#
Citizenship%20and%20Immigration%20Services%20Bureau

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The American Immigration Lawyers Association has issued what it calls a "new jargon alert" to inform members that the Department of Homeland Security is using the term "legacy INS" to describe the agency that was known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service and to denote employees who were formerly INS officials.

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A summary of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) government update session at the NAFSA conference in Salt Lake City has been posted on the NAFSA SEVP web site at http://www.nafsa.org/content/ProfessionalandEducationalResources/
ImmigrationAdvisingResources/sevisupdateSLC.pdf

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This week the Senate held a confirmation hearing for Michael J. Garcia, who is Acting Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE) and was nominated to fill the permanent position. Garcia was formerly designated Acting Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and was named Acting Assistant Secretary of DHS for Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the transfer of INS functions to the Department of Homeland Security. In 1993, Garcia held the office of Assistant U.S. Attorney and was one of the prosecutors assigned to lead the investigation into the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center.

"If confirmed, I will continue to implement the [Homeland Security] Act, consistent with its intent, and will remain focused on its overarching mission of providing greater security to our country," Garcia said.

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BICE announced the appointment of interim field managers for local offices this week. Below we list the local areas and the names of those appointed.

Detroit Area

Investigations Office Special Agent-in-Charge - Michael Hodzen

Interim Field Office Director for Detention & Removal - Roy Bailey

Buffalo Area

Investigations Office Special Agent-in-Charge - Peter Smith

Interim Field Office Director for Detention & Removal - Bill Cleary

Atlanta Area

Investigations Office Special Agent-in-Charge - John Chakwin

Interim Field Office Director for Detention & Removal - Fred Alexander

Tampa Area

Investigations Office Special Agent-in-Charge - Steven Trent

New Orleans Area

Investigations Office Special Agent-in-Charge - Michael Holt

Interim Field Office Director for Detention & Removal - Craig Robinson

San Juan Area

Investigations Office Special Agent-in-Charge - Roberto Medina

Newark Area

Investigations Office Special Agent-in-Charge - John Torres

Interim Field Office Director for Detention & Removal - John Carbone

Baltimore Area

Investigations Office Special Agent-in-Charge - Allan Doody

Interim Field Office Director for Detention & Removal - Calvin McCormick

Miami Area

Investigations Office Special Agent-in-Charge - Jesus Torres

Interim Field Office Director for Detention & Removal - John Mata

New York Area

Investigations Office Special Agent-in-Charge - Martin Ficke

Interim Field Office Director for Detention & Removal - Edward McElroy

Washington, DC Area

Investigations Office Special Agent-in-Charge - Kevin Delicolli

Interim Field Office Director for Detention & Removal - George Sullivan

Investigations Office Special Agent-in-Charge - Robin Avers

Interim Field Office Director for Detention & Removal- Bruce Chadbourne