Dear Readers:  

As we approach the election in three weeks, many of us in the immigration bar are considering the monumental impact the vote could have on the future of immigration in the United States . In particular, the US House of Representatives has been a black hole for immigration legislation over the last twelve years. This year only two immigration bills will likely pass – a modest border fence initiative that has already become law and a physician immigration bill that simply extends the Conrad 30 J-1 waiver program. That’s it. After all the time Congress spent on immigration this year, it has virtually nothing to show for it.  

A lot can be blamed on the House Immigration Subcommittee and House Judiciary Committees which control the flow of immigration legislation. Those committees are populated by a number of Congressmen (mainly on the Republican side) who view all pro-immigration legislation with hostility, regardless of whether the legislation is about illegal immigration or legal immigration. Regardless of whether a bill is moderate enough to pass muster with the entire House of Representatives, it is not likely to see such a vote as most of these bills are killed long before they advance through to the House floor.  

That could change dramatically if the polls are correct and the Democrats regain control of the House. The Democrats are certainly the more pro-immigration political party despite a number of prominent immigration restrictionists in their ranks. If they retake the House, the tone of the immigration debate will change overnight and it is possible major legislation like the comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by the Senate will go through quickly.  

Interestingly, whether the Senate changes hands or not is less important since that body has been the more moderate on immigration issues. The Democrats could take control of the Senate as well and if they do, then a pro-immigration agenda should also have a somewhat easier time. But Republicans retaining control of the Senate would not likely be a major problem in terms of moving comprehensive immigration legislation this coming year.  

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In firm news, I addressed the annual meeting of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Health Care section in Nashville , Tennessee last week. Tennessee is the home to many of the largest hospital corporations in the country and immigration has become an important issue as persistent physician and nurse shortages remain serious problems for the country.  

Our Toronto lawyer Sergio Karas has been all over the media of late with newspaper, radio and television interviews. Yvette Sebelist and Karen Weinstock in our Nashville and Atlanta office have also been interviewed several times and links to those stories can be found on our web site at www.visalaw.com/news/.  

I also was selected by Business Tennessee Magazine as one of the Top 150 lawyers in the state of Tennessee for the third year straight. And Yvette Sebelist in our Nashville office was named as one of the Best of the Bar by the Nashville Business Journal. Our "In the News" page has links to those publications as well.  

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Finally, as always, we remind readers that they are welcome to contact us to set up consultations via telephone or in person. Just call us at 901-682-6455 to set that up. Also feel free to contact me at gsiskind@visalaw.com.  

Kind regards,  

Greg Siskind