Dear Readers:  

A few weeks ago we published a section by section summary of the McCain Kennedy immigration bill. A second bill is being introduced by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and John Kyl (R-AZ) that is expected to be the more restrictive of the two bills. The legal immigration provisions of the bill have not been released, but we have obtained a summary of the enforcement provisions and are in the process of comparing the bill to McCain Kennedy. 

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I’m writing this Openers in New York City where I am attending the annual meeting of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. HIAS is the nation’s oldest refugee resettlement agency and will soon celebrate its 125^th anniversary. HIAS resettled my family when they fled Czarist Russia more than 100 years ago. They resettled my wife’s family when her father and grandparents, survivors of the Holocaust, were among the first beneficiary of our modern asylum laws.  Today HIAS helps refugees from many countries and many faiths. You can learn more about HIAS on their web site at www.hias.org.

I’ve been a HIAS board member for several years and always try and make this particular board meeting because it coincides with the annual HIAS Scholarship ceremony. Each year, HIAS awards scholarships to young immigrants who are truly living the American dream. These young people came to the US as refugee and will no doubt rise to become leaders in their fields. Whenever people question whether the US has the room for one more refugee, they should attend programs like the HIAS Scholarship Ceremony. 

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Later this month, many of our readers will be attending the annual meeting of the American Immigration Lawyers Association that will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah. On Saturday morning at the conference, I invite anyone interested in physician immigration issues to attend a breakfast meeting of the FMG Taskforce that will be held at the Marriott. I’m the current chair of the Taskforce and if you’re interested in attending the meeting, please email me at gsiskind@visalaw.com. 

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Finally, as always, we remind readers that we're lawyers who make our living representing immigration clients and employers seeking to comply with immigration laws. We would love to discuss becoming your law firm. Just go to http://www.visalaw.com/intake.html to request an appointment or call us at 800-748-3819 or 901-682-6455.

Regards, 

Greg Siskind