Dear Readers:

Last week I urged readers to weigh in with their members of Congress on H.R. 10, the 9/11 bill in Congress. As you may recall, the House version has a number of anti-immigrant provisions that are not matched in the Senate version. Both Houses of Congress are likely to adjourn today or tomorrow to finish up campaigning for next week’s big election. And there is still no agreement on final language for this bill. It could happen today or tomorrow, but the odds are starting to look greater that this bill will be addressed in the “lame duck” session of Congress that will happen in mid-November. Don’t stop contacting your representatives. It really makes a difference.

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David Jones and I have recently written several articles on technology for immigration lawyers that we’ve posted on our web site at www.visalaw.com/news.

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Many folks have asked our opinion on the Presidential election. We have never endorsed a candidate in this newsletter, but I would urge readers to take a look at the immigration records of both candidates. You can go to www.johnkerry.com or www.georgewbush.com. The position papers of each candidate are online.

President Bush has promoted his immigration reform plan this election, though many are asking how much he has done to promote the proposal. Kerry has a similar plan that would be more generous in making permanent residency a reachable goal for millions of people.

Bush has largely avoided immigration issues for much of his term in office. But it will be difficult for many to forget the Special Registration program for Arabs and Muslims in this country as well as the stripping of rights that has become of the hallmark of the Ashcroft Justice Department. On the other hand, there have been some improvements in service and the separation of the service function at USCIS was something that we supported.

In our opinion, the make up of Congress could be more important than the presidency when it comes to shaping immigration in the next several years. There is a real possibility that the Senate will switch to the Democrats and the chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee could lose his seat. So there could be a real change in Congress next session.

As always, we remind readers that we're lawyers who make our living representing immigration clients and employers seeking to comply with immigration laws. We would love to discuss becoming your law firm. Just go to http://www.visalaw.com/intake.html to request an appointment or call us at 800-748-3819 or 901-682-6455.

Regards,

Greg Siskind