Dear Readers:

Until recently, most people reading this newsletter were in a select group. Most people paid little attention to the discussion of immigration law and policy. Suddenly, immigration is the hottest topic in the country. The massive street protests and the action on the immigration bill in the Senate are, of course, driving the debate.

Developments are happening so fast that we’ve decided to utilize our blog to get news out as quickly as possible. You can visit our blog at www.visalaw.com/blog.html. We are updating it several times a day and have been posting items sometimes within minutes (such as our reporting on the cloture vote). We have been posting section by section summaries of the legislation as it changes and also posting news on the politics surrounding the issue.

In this issue, we include our summaries of the legislation, our comment on the recent Labor Department regulation and an opinion piece I wrote this week for the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

As for where the legislation stands at this point, we are half way through the Easter recess and when the Senate comes back into session, it is anyone’s guess whether the bill will be taken up or not. One hint that things may be going well is the fact that the Senate is still working on the bill and making changes, hardly a sign that the legislation is dead. Senator Specter and McCain both indicated that they expected the bill to be taken up again shortly after the Senate returns. While a funding bill for the Iraq War is on the agenda for right after the Senate gets back, it might be shortly after that finishes that we start to see debate. We have not heard any news regarding whether a deal has been reached on the issue of amendments to the bill.

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In firm news, a number of our lawyers have been in the news. I have appeared on Memphis’ Fox affiliate three times in the last month as an expert on immigration law. As noted above, I have also written an opinion column for the Memphis Commercial Appeal which can be found on our web site at http://www.visalaw.com/news/commercialappeal041306.pdf. Lynn Susser has also appeared on the Fox affiliate in Memphis and Karen Weinstock appeared on the Fox affiliate in Atlanta.

I will be speaking this coming week at the ABA Tech Show in Chicago. I’ll be speaking on Internet marketing for law firms.

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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