Openers

Dear Readers:

The 2004 Presidential election campaign is now in full swing. This will be the third Presidential election to happen since this publication debuted in 1994 as one of the world's first online legal newsletters (perhaps THE first one since we've never identified one that came before Siskind's Immigration Bulletin - whether immigration-related or any any other legal topic). The election cycle is always filled with immigration news. As bad as the environment for immigrants has been since 9/11, 1996 was arguably the worst election year. Immigration was under severe attack and one of the most anti-immigration bills in the nation's history - the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 - became law. This coming year, immigrants are likely to see good news. Every candidate - all the Democrats and President Bush - are already proposing new amnesty and guest worker programs that could make life a lot better for the nation's millions of illegal aliens.

In the 2000 election, President Bush lost a number of critical states with large immigrant populations. This year, he wants to make it clear to Hispanic voters that he wants their votes and is willing to support programs that will truly help them. This week we cover one candidate's proposed immigration reform plan. Look for more coverage in coming months of the candidates' immigration policy plans.

We also are pleased to present a guest article from our friend Gary Endelman on the relationship (or lack of a relationship) between US immigration policy and outsourcing jobs.

Finally, as always, we remind readers that we're lawyers who make our living representing immigration clients. 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