Alluding to the electoral impact the 9 million ethnic Poles in the US could have on President Bush’s reelection efforts, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski challenged the Bush administration to allow Poles to travel to the US without visas.  The Polish President stated that his country had hoped that in exchange for its help in the war in Iraq, the US would ease visa regulations for Poles to match the visa exemptions granted to European nations, including some that opposed the war, such as France and Germany. 

The challenge came during a televised discussion in the White House, where President Kwasniewski stressed, “The future is no visa.”

While President Bush refused to guarantee easing visa restrictions, the two presidents released a joint statement regarding a US program in Warsaw to pre-screen visitors traveling between Poland and the US.

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US District Judge Fred Biery approved a settlement between the federal government and Serafin Olvera Carrera, obligating the government to pay Carrera’s family $2.15 million.  In March 2001, during a raid, immigration officials threw Carrera to the ground, breaking his neck.  The three officials, who were convicted of willfully denying medical care to Carrera after injuring him, stated that they thought he was faking his injuries.

Carrera was paralyzed from the neck down, and later suffered from heart and respiratory problems due to the paralysis.  He was pronounced brain dead and was taken off life support.

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The Department of Homeland Security has published a notice in the Federal Register regarding expansion of the USCIS direct mail program.  Under this program, individuals applying for certain immigration benefits are directed to mail their applications directly to a service center instead of a local office for processing.

Effective February 23, 2004, those applying for special immigrant classification under section 101(a)(27)(I) of the Immigration and Nationality Act should mail their applications, whether submitted separately or together with adjustment of status applications, to the Nebraska Service Center.

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The El Paso Service Processing Center, the immigration detention facility in El Paso, Texas, is acting like a mini-hospital for detainees.  Between 150 and 200 come to the center for medicine, exams, blood analysis, X-rays and dental work.  The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, the National Commission on Correctional Health Care and the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections recently accredited the detention facility. 

The detention facility houses about 700 immigrants and its medical center has a physician, a psychiatrist, nurses and a visiting dentist, most of whom are bilingual.

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The California Employment Development Department (EDD) has announced that effective February 2, 2004, it will send out Preassessment Letters as the first step in processing regular labor certification cases.  The purpose of these letters is to confirm that the case is still active before the EDD begins to review the case.  Petitioners will have 45 days to provide written confirmation that the case is still active.  If a petitioner does not respond, the EDD will cancel the case.

A sample Preassessment Letter can be viewed at the following web address: http://www.aila.org/infonet/fileViewer.aspx?docID=12078&index=0

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We reported last week that Special Agents for the Office of Investigation of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration are using IRS records to identify immigrants who are deportable by reviewing who used ITIN’s instead of Social Security numbers on their W-2 forms.

The IRS responded “it is not the policy of the IRS to release tax returns or return information to federal agencies for investigation of nontax crimes” and denied any allegation that the IRS compiled a list of 250,000 persons who used ITIN’s that the IRS suspects are illegal immigrants.

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A provision of the Medicare bill provides $1 billion for hospitals that provide emergency medical care for undocumented immigrants.  Much of this money will be allocated over a period of four years to hospitals in states that have the highest numbers of undocumented migrants.  The Department of Health and Human Services still needs to determine how much money should be given to the individual hospitals that qualify.

By law, hospitals cannot turn away patients who need emergency medical care, nor can they ask about a patient’s immigration status.  Health care analysts estimate that hospitals pay $2 billion to treat undocumented immigrants who cannot pay their bills.

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In response to the United States’ increase in visa fees and tougher entrance policies, foreign countries have enacted similar retaliatory policies.

Russia, for example, has increased their visa fees and now requires all American men between the ages of 16 and 45 to complete a form that lists several questions, including whether they ever served in the American armed services.  Brazil now requires all Americans to be fingerprinted upon their arrival in addition to increased visa fees.  Saudi Arabia requires an original letter of invitation from a registered company in Saudi Arabia.  China and Thailand raised their fees 67% for American visitors, and Chile charges a $100 reciprocity fee upon arrival. 

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The Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency under the Department of Homeland Security, is making inspections at college campuses across the US as part of mandatory campus inspections that require colleges to release the names of their international students and a sample of school and accreditation records before receiving their recertification. 

International students must participate in the Student and Exchange Visitor System (SEVIS) before colleges may enroll them.  The SEVIS database is a list that includes the names, nationalities, addresses, ages, courses of study, and academic standings of all international students.  The database, which is updated each semester, currently includes about a half million international students.

International students pay an estimated $11.4 billion each year in college tuition.