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1. Openers   Dear Readers:   We’re in the dog days of summer where many of us are trying to avoid the heat and lots of people are on vacation. But immigration remains a busy subject, as always.   Congress, in particular, has been quite busy. Predictably, they’ve been pushing enforcement bills. The HALT Act (Hinder the Administration’s Legalization Temptation Act) has been introduced in the House and is scheduled for a hearing this month. The measure would seek to reverse the prosecutorial discretion memo released by ICE last month that would give leeway to stop the deportation of non-criminals such as DREAM Act potential beneficiaries and military family members.   The House Judiciary Committee marked up and passed HR 704, the Secure and Fairness Enhancement (SAFE) for America Act, a bill that would eliminate the Diversity Visa Program (the green card lottery). The Judiciary Committee also voted to advance HR 1932, the Keep Our Communities Safe Act of 2011, a bill that would authorize indefinite detention for immigrants. Other enforcement bills recently introduced would mandate the use of E-Verify, eliminate waivers of the three and ten years bars for people who have overstayed their visas and suspending Temporary Protective Status.   There has been a modest amount of pro-immigration activity in the House. The Judiciary Committee passed an extension of the H-1C visa for nurses.   On the Senate side, no major votes, but there have been some hearings of note. The Senate held a hearing on the DREAM Act and another on the Defense of Marriage Act, the law that prevents same sex couples from receiving immigration benefits. Next week, the Senate Immigration Subcommittee will hold a hearing entitled “The Economic Imperative for Enacting Immigration Reform.”   The big question is whether we’ll actually see a markup in the Democrat-controlled Senate of a pro-immigration bill. For the last several years, there has been a concerted effort to avoid passing smaller immigration measures lest they reduce support for a large comprehensive immigration reform bill. But many believe passing a comprehensive bill is simply not possible now or even for several more years. Whether a new pragmatic approach is to take hold or not is still unclear.     *****   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

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