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USCIS Transfers Some DACA Cases to Texas Service Center USCIS reports that it has transferred some DACA casework from the California Service Center to the Texas Service Center in order to balance the overall workload. The affected casework forms includes, I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival as well as the I-765, Application for Employment Authorization and the I-765 Worksheet when filed along with the I-821D. ***** Applications for Deferred Action Decrease The Wall Street Journal reports that the number of applicants for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) dropped to its lowest monthly level yet in January. The Department of Homeland Security reported that about 31,000 people applied for the program in January and fewer than 15,000 had applied by mid-February. Both numbers are significantly less than the 113,000 applicants that applied in October alone. Experts have attributed the decline to the possibility of a comprehensive immigration overhaul, lack of awareness, and cost to apply. According to estimates by the American Immigration Council, about 1.8 million young immigrants are qualified to apply. However, according to the latest data available, about 420,000 people have applied and about 200,000 cases have been approved. The education requirement also poses a barrier as 23% of potential applicants still need to fulfill it. Many immigrants are having trouble meeting the minimum requirements for enrolling in graduate equivalency degree (GED). United We Dream, which represents young undocumented immigrants, plans to launch a national campaign to attract DACA applicant. The group plans to join forces with local groups to increase outreach and hold events that will offer services, including legal assistance, micro-loans, and educational opportunities for potential DACA applicants and their families. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324392804578360540737698764.html ***** Colorado State Senate Approves Immigrant Tuition Bill The Denver Channel reports that illegally present immigrants are closer to being eligible for in-state tuition in Colorado. The state Senate gave final approval to the idea with the support of the first Republicans in the chamber ever to agree to the tuition measure. The Senate voted 23-12 to allow Colorado residents to receive in-state tuition rates regardless of immigration status. The bill has more specific requirements: Students must graduate from a Colorado high school, have resided in Colorado for at least three consecutive years and they must sign an affidavit stating they are seeking citizenship. Three members of the GOP voted for the bill. It passed without debate. North Carolina Attorney General’s Office Says DMV Must Issue License to ‘Deferred Action’ Immigrants The Winston Salem Journal reports that the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles is required to issue a driver’s license to an immigrant who has been granted “deferred action.” In a letter to the DMV, North Carolina Attorney General Grayson G. Kelley stated “...individuals who have been granted deferred action are lawfully present in the United States during the period of their deferment. As such, North Carolina law, which states that DMV shall issue a driver’s license of limited duration to persons who present valid documentation demonstrating deferment and meet all other statutory requirements, requires that such licenses be issued.” Kelly’s letter comes four months after DMV officials asked the state Attorney General’s Office to give an opinion on whether the DMV was required to issue a driver’s license to an immigrant who has received the two-year pardon under the Deferred Action for Early Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. With Policies Centralized Online, USCIS tries for more Consistent Immigration Process Fierce Homeland Security reports that the first volume of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ centralized policy manual went online January 7, with the goal of ensuring more consistency in the immigration process. The manual is the culmination of what USCIS says was an unprecedented agency-wide review of its policies, which included 8,000 survey responses from its employees and members of the public. USCIS said in a release that it will phase out both its current field manual and its immigration policy memo website. USCIS scheduled a series of webinar in January to provide more information about its features.
***** Report: Immigrants Contribute to State’s Economy The Log Cabin Democrat reports that Arkansas’ immigrant population, among the fastest-growing in the nation, has a positive impact on the state’s economy, according to results of a study. The report, “A Profile of Immigrants in Arkansas 2013” commissioned by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, also found that more than 4 in 10 immigrants in the state are undocumented. The immigrant population in Arkansas grew by 82 percent during 2000 to 2010, according to the report, a rate behind only Mississippi, South Carolina, & Tennessee. Steve Appold, an assistant professor in the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina and a researcher on the study, said the net economic impact of immigrants in Arkansas in 2010 about 3.4 billion. Immigrants fill many low-wage manufacturing jobs in Arkansas, particularly in the poultry industry, according to Appold, and many other businesses depend on immigrant labor, added Randy Zook, president of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce-Associated Industries in Arkansas.
***** Arizona E-Verify Law Proves Ineffective With Less Than Half of Businesses Complying The Huffington Post reports that while Mitt Romney may have thought Arizona’s E-Verify law was a model for nation, the state’s businesses do not like it. After five years on the books and a favorable decision on its constitutionality from the Supreme Court, less than half of Arizona’s businesses are complying with the state law that requires them to screen all new hires using the federal database known as E-Verify. While the figures indicate low compliance rate, participation has risen in recent years. Some 43 percent of the state’s businesses have signed on to E-Verify, as required under the Legal Arizona Workers Act, which went into effect on January 1, 2008. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/31/arizona-e-verify-law-uneffective_n_2387896.html
***** Immigration Audits of Businesses Rising The Associated Press reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reached its highest number yet of companies audited for undocumented immigrants on their payrolls this past fiscal year. Audits of employer I-9 forms increased from 250 in fiscal year 2007 to more than 3,000 in 2012. From fiscal years 2009 to 2012, the total amount of fines grew to nearly $13 million from $1 million. The number of company managers arrested has increased to 238, according to data provided by ICE. When President Obama recently spoke about addressing immigration reform in his second term, he said any measure should contain penalties for companies that purposely hire undocumented immigrants. While the administration has used those numbers to bolster their record on immigration enforcement, advocates say the audits have pushed workers further underground by causing mass layoffs and disrupted business practices. Many employers also wonder how ICE picks the companies it probes. Brad Bench, special agent in charge at ICE’s Seattle office, says that factors such as geography, company size or industry aren’t issues. Yet, ICE auditors hit ethnic stores, restaurants, bakeries, manufacturing companies, construction, food packaging, janitorial services, catering, dairies and farms. The state with the most workplaces fined was Texas with 63, followed by New Jersey with 37. The lowest fine was $90 to a Massachusetts fishing company. The highest fine was $394,944 to an employment agency in Minneapolis. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/27/us/immigration-audits-on-businesses-rise.html?_r=0
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