I’ve just returned from my annual trip to Las Vegas where I attend the Consumer Electronics Show, the Super Bowl of gadgetry. I attend as a member of the media because I write regularly on law office technology topics. This year I was more organized and have already produced a major article on the show which will be run in the late winter in Immigration Law Today, the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s magazine. I’m also producing an article for the American Bar Association as well as numerous posts for my law office technology blog.  

Technology is a fun diversion from my day to day immigration law practice, but increasingly a comfort with technology is becoming more and more important to immigration lawyers. Cases are prepared in elaborate case management systems, forms are submitted electronically, the status of a matter is tracked on the Internet and lawyers are using electronic versions of their research publications and searching the web for the latest news on the law. Sure, seeing the new 150 inch plasma television is cool. But there are many, many hardware and software products that are coming out every year that can make lawyers more productive and provide more effective service to our clients.  

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January marked the beginning of enforcement of the new Tennessee and Arizona laws which allow for the revocation of a state’s business license when an employer knowingly employs unauthorized immigrant workers. There are a number of new laws under consideration around the country and the Department of Homeland Security has dramatically stepped up enforcement as well. Plus, we’re expecting the Social Security no match rule to eventually come back either with a court win, legislation in Congress or a new rule released by DHS. Employer enforcement is going to be one of the key issues in 2008.

To help our readers and clients keep up with all of the developments in this fast changing arena, I have started a new blog on employer immigration compliance. The blog will track legislative developments, provide details on Form I-9 compliance, discuss ICE’s enforcement of immigration laws and more. This blog is very possibly the first of its kind (at least as far as I know) and I expect to introduce a lot of new information products on the subject as 2008 moves along. You can find the new blog at http://immcomp.blogspot.com/ .  

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Immigration continues to be a key subject in the news, something that is hardly a surprise given what we saw in 2007. The topic continues to come up in the presidential campaigns in both parties. But some of the conventional wisdom may have been turned on its head based on last week’s New Hampshire primary. I’m speaking specifically of the decisive win by Senator John McCain. McCain has continued to back comprehensive immigration reform and is perceived by the public as being pro-immigration. The assumption that immigration would be THE issue of the presidential campaign and that the more anti-immigration the candidate, the better he or she would do has clearly been challenged. Polls showed that immigration ranked only fourth with Republicans. Furthermore, the assumption that Republicans who care about immigration uniformly favor the extremist anti-"amnesty" positions of some of the candidates has also been challenged.  

What is clear is that the most pro-immigration candidate in the GOP is now the frontrunner.  

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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.

Regards,

Greg Siskind