Dear Readers:

One of the few pieces of immigration legislation to pass the US House of Representatives over the last few years is HR 3012. The bill would phase out per country limitations for most employment-based green card applicants and also double the per country limit for family applicants. Under current law, a single country’s nationals can generally get no more than 7% of the allocated green cards in the family and employment preference categories. The limits have caused long backlogs for Indian and Chinese nationals in the employment categories and Mexicans in the family categories.

The bill passed the House by a 20 to 1 margin so it looked like smooth sailing. But it should not really be a surprise that the bill has stalled in the Senate. The Senate has rules that make it much easier to stop a bill rather than pass one. For example, a fast tracked bill (one that can go right to the floor for a vote rather than through the committee process) can be stopped if a single Senator places a hold on the bill. And most of you are probably familiar with the filibuster which allows 40 Senators of 100 to stop just about any bill even if it has been passed by committee.

Iowa Republican Senator Grassley, one of the most vocal anti-immigration members of Congress, has, in fact, placed a hold on the bill. Some are predicting that this is the end of the bill, but it more likely simply means it will take longer. One Senator can slow a bill down, but if there is broad support, it still can move. So 3012 is still worth watching. In this month’s issue we include a section by section summary of the bill.

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This past week the US Supreme Court issued a decision in an immigration case titled Judalang v. Holder. The case is one of only a handful of immigration cases the court will decide this year. It relates to a criminal deportation matter and will not affect that many, but the court’s decision is important as much for the general message sent to the Department of Homeland Security. This is the latest decision criticizing USCIS for issuing arbitrary and capricious policies. Whether the agency improves its track record for rulemaking is doubtful, but to the extent it encourages more individuals to challenge such rules and policies in the courts, this is good news.

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In firm news, I’ve been interviewed and/or quoted in three publications. Ars Technica reports on the floating incubator designed to help entrepreneurs start up their high tech businesses offshore. The Wall Street Journal includes a quote from me on the same subject. And Attorney at Work interviews me for its monthly Enterprising Lawyer feature. You can find links to these stories at www.visalaw.com/news.

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This is our last issue for 2011 and as we head in to the holiday season everyone at Siskind Susser would like to extend our best wishes to all of our readers. 2012 will hopefully be a year that is more prosperous and peaceful and one that will be happy for all of you.

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Readers are reminded that they are welcome to contact my law office if they would like to schedule a telephone or in person consultation with me or one of my colleagues. If you are interested, please call my office at 901-682-6455.

Regards,

Greg Siskind