Dear Readers:  

I am off to Singapore this week to speak at the annual meeting of the International Bar Association. I attend this meeting each year as it moves from country to country. If any of you will be attending, hopefully we’ll have a chance to meet.  

I was supposed to begin the trip with a quick stop in Washington where I have been invited to testify in front of the House Immigration Subcommittee in a hearing on the Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee’s Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act of 2007. That hearing has been postponed a few weeks, however, due to the death of Virginia Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis. I’ll post my testimony in the newsletter as we get closer to that hearing.  

This is a relatively quiet time for immigration given the major battles we’ve seen in recent months. But don’t assume things aren’t happening behind the scenes. Bills are being negotiated in Congress, the White House is working on important rules on guest worker programs and the courts are hearing various cases that will have potentially important consequences for the country.  

One such case is a challenge to the proposed social security "no match" rule. A court has delayed implementation of the rule which was set to take effect on September 13^th. I’m including a letter this week that I wrote on my blog addressed to CNN’s Jack Cafferty on this very issue.  

Just prior to press time, the judge converted his temporary restraining order delaying implementation of the rule for 40 days to a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of the rule until a trial on the merits of the law suit is over. This could mean the rule will not take effect until well in to next year.  

I’m also including this week a letter written by Joe Curren to President Jimmy Carter commenting on my USA Today opinion piece from August. President Carter wrote a letter to the editor in response to my article.  

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In firm news, tomorrow is the release date for the third edition of the American Bar Association book The Lawyers Guide to Marketing on the Internet that I co-write with Google executive Rick Klau and marketing guru Deborah McMurray. The book originally was published in 1996 and was released in a second edition in 2002. In this edition we get in to new issues like lawyer blogging and podcasting. You can purchase the book at www.lawpractice.org.

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Finally, as always, if you are interested in becoming a Siskind Susser Bland client, please feel welcome to email me at gsiskind@visalaw.com or contact us at 800-748-3819 to arrange for a telephone or in person consultation with one of our lawyers.