Dear Readers:

We’re hoping we can get this newsletter issue out on Monday of this week because Tuesday most of us here at Siskind Susser’s Memphis office will be out of the office all day. Election Day is not a holiday in the US and voters need to take time off of work.

At our firm, we’re trying something new this year that is fairly unusual for an employer. The partners at the firm have decided that any employee who wants may take the day off from work and be paid if they are doing work related to the election. Whether it is helping to give people rides to the polls, making phone calls to get out the vote, working as a volunteer poll watcher or any other similar activity, our lawyers and support staff are being encouraged to get involved. We’re also allowing anyone who wants to vote during work hours to take off time during the day without penalty.

By the way, we have both Democrats and Republicans in our firm and all are welcome to work for whichever side with which they agree.

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Next week the election will (hopefully) be behind us and we can begin to analyze the meaning. What will the makeup of Congress look like? If President Bush wins, what will a second term look like? If Senator Kerry wins, what changes can we expect in immigration policy?

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Nearly 3,000,000 new Americans were sworn in as citizens since the last Presidential election. Many readers of this newsletter are part of this group and we urge you to exercise your right to vote. I have seen data suggesting that new Americans don’t vote in the same ratio as seasoned Americans. I hope that I can report next week that this is no longer the case.

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