maddipati1
12-11 10:24 PM
sent my story just now.
highlighted,
- wasted visas in 140K quota in last 5 years and requesting them to recapture.
- decision to hold on buying house due to uncertainity in GC.
keep up the good work guys.
highlighted,
- wasted visas in 140K quota in last 5 years and requesting them to recapture.
- decision to hold on buying house due to uncertainity in GC.
keep up the good work guys.
wallpaper funny quotes that rhyme. funny
21stIcon
10-10 03:48 PM
staying debt free, buying physical gold,
The cheap money from Japan is gone and will never come again. Call rates for banks have risen to 20% (bank to bank lending).
Already there are fissures in European Union in handling the crisis.
The situation is out of reach for USA and Dollar value may crash. The recent runup in dollar is due to Euro crashing. It is a temporary phenomenon.
sri
Equity is down 20% to 30% in developing world and 50 to 70% down in emerging world over 7 trading days, but gold/silver/platinum is just hanging on there, so get out of commodities which would not help you at all, best option is stay in long term USA bonds for security or buy south east Asia bonds which would be right choice for long term
70% of precious metals are owned by banks and government which do not have liquidity to buy, even current price supportd is provided by China/Taiwan/Arab sovereign funds. those govts might get out of gold any time then price will drop to 2005 range.
Do not under estimate USA which is global economic engine,It will recover and this is not new to this country, they have done it and they may do it again at some point in future
Take it easy by diversifying your portfolio....
Best option stay in cash until 2010 with FDIC security....
The cheap money from Japan is gone and will never come again. Call rates for banks have risen to 20% (bank to bank lending).
Already there are fissures in European Union in handling the crisis.
The situation is out of reach for USA and Dollar value may crash. The recent runup in dollar is due to Euro crashing. It is a temporary phenomenon.
sri
Equity is down 20% to 30% in developing world and 50 to 70% down in emerging world over 7 trading days, but gold/silver/platinum is just hanging on there, so get out of commodities which would not help you at all, best option is stay in long term USA bonds for security or buy south east Asia bonds which would be right choice for long term
70% of precious metals are owned by banks and government which do not have liquidity to buy, even current price supportd is provided by China/Taiwan/Arab sovereign funds. those govts might get out of gold any time then price will drop to 2005 range.
Do not under estimate USA which is global economic engine,It will recover and this is not new to this country, they have done it and they may do it again at some point in future
Take it easy by diversifying your portfolio....
Best option stay in cash until 2010 with FDIC security....
walking_dude
03-13 12:49 PM
I, for one, am unable to join a state chapter, because , the nearest chapter is 400 miles and 2 states away. What good would it do to me to join something that I can never be part of. I wanted to start a state chapter here in my place, but I couldnt find any useful resources on how to do it. May be eb3_nepa has some reasons like it.
I was also unable to find a state chapter just a few months back. So I started one. Now we have around 60 members. Someone needs to take the initiative and set the ball rolling. That someone can be you.
Here's an excellent resource on how to start a state chapter.
http://anilgeneral.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-start-and-maintain-state-chapter.html
The Admin Fixes letter campaign was a good initiative. But, the target date got moved twice, and now I dont even know when the end date is.
The end date is the date when the fixes get passed.
IV moved the target dates to get more letters from members. It paid back richly as thousands more letters were got through the hardwork of volunteers who collected these letters. As pointed by paskal work is in progress on the campaign and more stuff is getting done.
May be IV should be a top-down organization. Any organization as big as IV would probably be better served with a Top Team. That team could probably elected by the community. I am confident, that most of our members wouldnt even mind spending a few extra bucks to pay a honarary amount to this team for their efforts and time. Then there will be more structure and accountability and action going on around here.
If you really think you can get someone like Aman Kapoor - who visited DC 18 times last year spending 60k of his personal money - by paying a few extra bucks, be my guest!
IV is a volunteer organization. Its strength is volunteers who believe in the cause and ready to spend their efforts and money for a cause that benefits not only them, but also the slackers who do nothing and sit on the forum badmouthing/belittling those who do.
A paid person will not do all that for you for the few extra bucks you are ready to pay.
I came to know about IV pretty late. When I did learn about IV and joined IV, I was a very enthusiastic participant. Of late, I do believe IV is fading away. I dont see so many activities going on around here. Like eb3_nepa and few others said, IV is right now becoming just another Immigration portal. It is starting to lose its identity.
After doing all the hard work to gather a mass or like minded people, it will be shameful, if IV drifts away from its stated aim. So, may be it is time for every member, including core members like you to refect upon things and come up with ways to make this organization more transparent and more accessible for people like me.
Don't judge IV by what's posted on the forum. IV is more than a forum. A lot of action happens off the forum (in fact most of it). Like Morpheus told Neo in Matrix, 'No one can tell you what it is. You need to experience it yourself'. Participating actively in IV activities through state chapters is the only way to know all IV activities happening.
It will never get posted here in a forum full of anti-immigrant trolls. IV is transparent in its finances as it gets audited as a tax-exempt organization and held accountable to its expenses. Transparency is bi-directional. IV expects its members seeking updates to be transparent too (by providing complete contact details and valid E-mail ids). When a large number of members aren't transparent themselves, asking IV to be transparent is a moot point.
Like Waldenpond said, it is probably not wise to list all the items going on in the portal. The work around to that would be, we can add another membership type which is more restrictive. This membership group will have only members whose identities have been verified. Once this group is created, IV can post all the happenings accessible to them. This will help people like me who are unable to be part of any state chapter to know what is happening at IV. Keep our sprits high.
Sorry to be blunt here. IVs aim is to motivate members to participate in the activities and achieve the goal. Keeping spirits high for everyone is not a part of the deal.
Creation of such a value-added paid membership was discussed earlier. Most of the IV members don't want it. So it didn't happen.
I was also unable to find a state chapter just a few months back. So I started one. Now we have around 60 members. Someone needs to take the initiative and set the ball rolling. That someone can be you.
Here's an excellent resource on how to start a state chapter.
http://anilgeneral.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-start-and-maintain-state-chapter.html
The Admin Fixes letter campaign was a good initiative. But, the target date got moved twice, and now I dont even know when the end date is.
The end date is the date when the fixes get passed.
IV moved the target dates to get more letters from members. It paid back richly as thousands more letters were got through the hardwork of volunteers who collected these letters. As pointed by paskal work is in progress on the campaign and more stuff is getting done.
May be IV should be a top-down organization. Any organization as big as IV would probably be better served with a Top Team. That team could probably elected by the community. I am confident, that most of our members wouldnt even mind spending a few extra bucks to pay a honarary amount to this team for their efforts and time. Then there will be more structure and accountability and action going on around here.
If you really think you can get someone like Aman Kapoor - who visited DC 18 times last year spending 60k of his personal money - by paying a few extra bucks, be my guest!
IV is a volunteer organization. Its strength is volunteers who believe in the cause and ready to spend their efforts and money for a cause that benefits not only them, but also the slackers who do nothing and sit on the forum badmouthing/belittling those who do.
A paid person will not do all that for you for the few extra bucks you are ready to pay.
I came to know about IV pretty late. When I did learn about IV and joined IV, I was a very enthusiastic participant. Of late, I do believe IV is fading away. I dont see so many activities going on around here. Like eb3_nepa and few others said, IV is right now becoming just another Immigration portal. It is starting to lose its identity.
After doing all the hard work to gather a mass or like minded people, it will be shameful, if IV drifts away from its stated aim. So, may be it is time for every member, including core members like you to refect upon things and come up with ways to make this organization more transparent and more accessible for people like me.
Don't judge IV by what's posted on the forum. IV is more than a forum. A lot of action happens off the forum (in fact most of it). Like Morpheus told Neo in Matrix, 'No one can tell you what it is. You need to experience it yourself'. Participating actively in IV activities through state chapters is the only way to know all IV activities happening.
It will never get posted here in a forum full of anti-immigrant trolls. IV is transparent in its finances as it gets audited as a tax-exempt organization and held accountable to its expenses. Transparency is bi-directional. IV expects its members seeking updates to be transparent too (by providing complete contact details and valid E-mail ids). When a large number of members aren't transparent themselves, asking IV to be transparent is a moot point.
Like Waldenpond said, it is probably not wise to list all the items going on in the portal. The work around to that would be, we can add another membership type which is more restrictive. This membership group will have only members whose identities have been verified. Once this group is created, IV can post all the happenings accessible to them. This will help people like me who are unable to be part of any state chapter to know what is happening at IV. Keep our sprits high.
Sorry to be blunt here. IVs aim is to motivate members to participate in the activities and achieve the goal. Keeping spirits high for everyone is not a part of the deal.
Creation of such a value-added paid membership was discussed earlier. Most of the IV members don't want it. So it didn't happen.
2011 The Office Fun Run Shirts
abhijitrajan
07-14 09:07 PM
I suggest that you remove the glass house proverb. It makes the letter look a little unprofessional. Your letter without it is already very effective. Also put the "H1-B workers are illegal" quote (if there was such statement made on his show) at the top while you put across your objection. If such statement wasn't made but implied by the guest on CNN, don't put that in quotes.
more...
forever_waiting
04-22 07:26 PM
eb3chinese.org was the site created. But of the info is in Chinese.
I had gone through their presentation sometime back and they were basically complaining about how EB india gets most of the spillover and they don't (along with some common arguments about visa recapture, FIFO etc etc.) You should be able to get details from their class action doc against USCIS uploaded on the site.
when news of this class action lawsuit initially came out, lots of folks on IV were mad at why we were not joining in and that we should launch a barrage of lawsuits against USCIS as well. IV core at that time calmly explained that lawsuit options have been explored and will not be viable but few people listened.
Anyway a recent update on this forum shared that they lost the lawsuit. So on hindsight we saved ourself lot of time, effort and money.
Hey forever,
What is this lawsuit? Do you have info?
I had gone through their presentation sometime back and they were basically complaining about how EB india gets most of the spillover and they don't (along with some common arguments about visa recapture, FIFO etc etc.) You should be able to get details from their class action doc against USCIS uploaded on the site.
when news of this class action lawsuit initially came out, lots of folks on IV were mad at why we were not joining in and that we should launch a barrage of lawsuits against USCIS as well. IV core at that time calmly explained that lawsuit options have been explored and will not be viable but few people listened.
Anyway a recent update on this forum shared that they lost the lawsuit. So on hindsight we saved ourself lot of time, effort and money.
Hey forever,
What is this lawsuit? Do you have info?
add78
04-27 08:44 PM
I read through the bill but don't quite understand...if I am working for a client on H1B, will I need to stop working as soon as this bill takes effect? or it only applies to newly applied H1B's (or extension/transfer)?
Yes, that is my understanding at this point based on the language . As soon as the bill goes into effect, you will need to stop working at the client site if the bill passes in its current form AND you are working as a FT employee (w-2) of a mere placement company (aka agent or desi consulting). If you are an FT employee of big consulting company then until they get waiver for you AND your current client proves that no layoffs were done at the client site in the last 180 days, you will need to stop working.
Yes, that is my understanding at this point based on the language . As soon as the bill goes into effect, you will need to stop working at the client site if the bill passes in its current form AND you are working as a FT employee (w-2) of a mere placement company (aka agent or desi consulting). If you are an FT employee of big consulting company then until they get waiver for you AND your current client proves that no layoffs were done at the client site in the last 180 days, you will need to stop working.
more...
rkumar18
07-18 12:06 PM
USCIS doesn't use postmark date. Don't sperad incorrect info and don't make other members anxious needlessly.
July 2nd filers are fine. Don't worry. Just wait for your receipt notices. We have been through a lot of stress in last month and its time to relax now (for those who already filed).
:D True we've had enough of this BS already.
July 2nd filers are fine. Don't worry. Just wait for your receipt notices. We have been through a lot of stress in last month and its time to relax now (for those who already filed).
:D True we've had enough of this BS already.
2010 Funny The Office Quotes
calgirl
06-14 01:15 PM
Can I take Infopass to find this info or is there a number I can call?
Been soo long that I have forgotten how to do this..
Thanks.
I hadn't heard about the new Memo..
Last I checked, I had namecheck pending too and it was pending for more than 6 months..
I can take up an Infopass to find out if its still pending.
If it is pending for more than 2 yrs, what are the next steps?
(Obviously 485 won't get approved if name check is pending)
Been soo long that I have forgotten how to do this..
Thanks.
I hadn't heard about the new Memo..
Last I checked, I had namecheck pending too and it was pending for more than 6 months..
I can take up an Infopass to find out if its still pending.
If it is pending for more than 2 yrs, what are the next steps?
(Obviously 485 won't get approved if name check is pending)
more...
hfisa
05-09 07:00 AM
I am also shopping for my parent's insurance coming to US next month. I found the coverage by TATA AIG better than ICICI. The HMO plans for Kaiser is also good but expensive. United Health care does not provide insurance if the applicant doesn't have SSN.
hair Microsoft Office users.
anandrajesh
02-01 12:26 PM
Please donot let this thread a self-flogging ritual...
We the H1Bs are the victims of the this system. We did not create this system. It is true that there are social costs associated with this system. Abolishing the system is not the solution. Reform and making the system just is the solution..That is all we are asking for....
Blaming the victim of an atrocity for the atrocity is sheer stupidity....
Remember for Every Google, there is a ENRON. So based on ENRON experience you dont generalize all American Corps are dishonest.
Same logic applies here i work for a Small "Desi" Company and they are very honest and pay me reasonably well. They dont break laws or find ways to circumvent it. So i dont like to hear all H1Bs Companies are Cheats.
We the H1Bs are the victims of the this system. We did not create this system. It is true that there are social costs associated with this system. Abolishing the system is not the solution. Reform and making the system just is the solution..That is all we are asking for....
Blaming the victim of an atrocity for the atrocity is sheer stupidity....
Remember for Every Google, there is a ENRON. So based on ENRON experience you dont generalize all American Corps are dishonest.
Same logic applies here i work for a Small "Desi" Company and they are very honest and pay me reasonably well. They dont break laws or find ways to circumvent it. So i dont like to hear all H1Bs Companies are Cheats.
more...
rsdang
08-19 01:32 PM
Enjoy the new found freedom...
hot 2011 funny quotes from office
admin
04-10 08:16 AM
It looks excellent response.
Now let us take third round. Every one convice atleast one person for contribution and post the experience here.
Request to administrator to post latest contribution figure.
Thanks,
khodalmd,
We have updated the contributions page -
http://immigrationvoice.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=44#CollectionsSoFar
We have collected a little over $80,000 so far. We still have a long way to go to reach our target of $150,000. The more the money that all of our members contribute, more the amount of hours the lobbyist will be able to expend on our cause. This is really crunch time for us and we urge all members to contribute and also convince their friends and relatives also to contribute.
Now let us take third round. Every one convice atleast one person for contribution and post the experience here.
Request to administrator to post latest contribution figure.
Thanks,
khodalmd,
We have updated the contributions page -
http://immigrationvoice.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=44#CollectionsSoFar
We have collected a little over $80,000 so far. We still have a long way to go to reach our target of $150,000. The more the money that all of our members contribute, more the amount of hours the lobbyist will be able to expend on our cause. This is really crunch time for us and we urge all members to contribute and also convince their friends and relatives also to contribute.
more...
house funny out of office quotes
nojoke
10-07 11:49 PM
Look at the previous post. Its a myth that NRIs are buying up all these high end properties.
Indian real estate market is fueled by the black money india. They are using NRIs as a facade. Investing in realestate legitimizes that money. Now they don't care how much rent they are getting. It makes no business sense at all. You and me cannot comepete with them.
Assuming you are correct. The black money needs to be converted to white money. So they need to sell the apartment at some point in future. There is no point in letting it sit there with low returns. If all these properties come to market the effect is the same. It drives down the price.
Otherwise I have to conclude that these guys want to repent their mistakes and doing community a service by buying properties at sky high prices so that ordinary folks can rent it and is made affordable. :)
Indian real estate market is fueled by the black money india. They are using NRIs as a facade. Investing in realestate legitimizes that money. Now they don't care how much rent they are getting. It makes no business sense at all. You and me cannot comepete with them.
Assuming you are correct. The black money needs to be converted to white money. So they need to sell the apartment at some point in future. There is no point in letting it sit there with low returns. If all these properties come to market the effect is the same. It drives down the price.
Otherwise I have to conclude that these guys want to repent their mistakes and doing community a service by buying properties at sky high prices so that ordinary folks can rent it and is made affordable. :)
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rheoretro
11-12 02:11 PM
Was just watching Late Edition on CNN..with Arlen Specter and Chuck Schumer.. Specter did mention that he expects the CIR to be passed in the next few weeks in the lame duck session by the house.. infact he mentioned that the conservative outgoing speaker Hastert in favour of this at this time..so house might pass this now..with the senate already passed this..
Lets see who this goes ..
Rule #1 in politics: don't believe a word of what a politician says until you see those words translated into concrete actions.
As for Dennis Hastert, who cares what he has to say now. Sayonara.:D
Lets see who this goes ..
Rule #1 in politics: don't believe a word of what a politician says until you see those words translated into concrete actions.
As for Dennis Hastert, who cares what he has to say now. Sayonara.:D
more...
pictures time w/office - funny, office,
little_willy
03-03 02:32 PM
Thanks ilikekilo, I'll check out IMG. Even with the rider for pre-existing condition, the coverage is limited to $15000 max, so I decided it isn't worth paying the extra premium for such little coverage.
dresses funny quotes cute. funny
october2001
12-12 11:29 PM
no my address on I-485 wasmy phisical address not PO BOX but I got my welcome notice last week to my PO BOX but the address on it is the physical address I hope this is clear the only mistake is that I didn't mention to the officer at the time of the interview when He asked about my address I didn't mention that the USCIS if they send me anything to my physical address that they have to add the name of my friend with the C/O my name
more...
makeup funny quotes from office
sledge_hammer
07-16 10:55 AM
Done...
girlfriend funny office quotes. from The
rheoretro
11-13 02:46 PM
- First, it is highly unlikely that Hastert will ever, ever support CIR. That itself is a "red flag" from a post by "Red card."
- Actions speak louder than words. If Murtha becomes the majority leader in house than Democrat agenda for 2008 presidential agenda will be Iraq not immigration. That doesn't mean no immigration reform, just not in the "lame-duck" session.
- Lets wait for next year for any progress on immigration.
GCS999 - excellent points! I asked someone yesterday why they even care about Hastert. He's toast, anyway.There's a very revealing article in the Washington Post today, which says that the Dems will tread cautiously, and perhaps even slowly, on immigration. And they have bigger fish to fry, the number one being Iraq. Not sure what the needless hullabaloo about the lame duck session is. People need to stop crying wolf.
Democrats May Proceed With Caution on Immigration
Explosive Issue Not A Top Priority For Incoming Leaders
By Darryl Fears and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, November 13, 2006; A03
When election results started rolling in Tuesday, Cecilia Mu�oz said that she and other immigration advocates were "holding our breath." One by one, Republicans who had fought tooth and nail for stricter immigration laws fell, turning control of Congress over to the Democrats.
By morning, a 700-mile Mexican border fence passed by Republicans in a pre-election gambit had fallen flat with voters. A sharply worded GOP bill that targeted illegal immigrants and spurred marches by millions of Latinos in the spring appeared likely to fade into memory.
"I think this is the best environment we've had on the issue in quite some time," said Cassandra Q. Butts, a senior vice president for the pro-immigration Center for American Progress.
But when it comes to immigration, things are never easy. In the days after the election, Democratic leaders surprised pro-immigration groups by not including the issue on their list of immediate priorities. Experts said the issue is so complicated, so sensitive and so explosive that it could easily blow up in the Democrats' faces and give control of Congress back to Republicans in the next election two years from now. And a number of Democrats who took a hard line on illegal immigration were also elected to Congress.
"It's not without its challenges, for sure," said Jeanne Butterfield, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. "You've got opposition in both parties. You still have restrictionists in the Republican Party. You have Democrats who've been reluctant to move on any kind of worker program."
Butterfield predicted that lobbyists and Democrats have less than a year to move legislation that could put some 12 million illegal immigrants on a path to legal residency, before the looming 2008 elections make a deal politically impossible. And analysts say the fate of President Bush's proposal to create a temporary worker program for 200,000 immigrants is in doubt, with labor's allies in charge.
In recent days, advocates have been burning up the phone lines talking to one another and to try to determine whom House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the presumed speaker of the next Congress, will appoint to key committees, and how the new Democratically controlled Congress will approach the issue.
Major challenges lay ahead. The Mexican border remains a sieve where an estimated 100,000 immigrants sneak into the country every year. Conservatives in the House, and some Democrats, want the border sealed with manpower, fencing and technological gadgets before they will even consider guest workers.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which opposes increased immigration, said Democrats should implement an enforcement program first. Anything else might be political suicide.
"The Democrats need to get their majority reelected in the next two years," Krikorian said. "My sense is that the Democrats have grown up enough to know they can't get reelected trying to get everything they want."
Immigration experts are on the lookout for the kind of compromises that led to the flawed immigration reform laws of 1986 and 1996. In those years, a White House and Congress split between the two parties passed watered-down laws requiring employers to check the legal status of new hires to satisfy businesses and immigration advocates. They also failed to give enforcement agencies the money, staff, technology or practical ability to do the job.
The miscues paved the way for an explosion of illegal immigration.
"The question is, will this just be another split-the-baby approach, such as we saw in 1986," said Robert Bonner, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection from 2003 to 2005, "or are we actually going to do something that is going to seriously achieve the objectives of controlling the border?"
At the White House Friday, the Bush administration struck a bipartisan chord, trumpeting both border enforcement and a guest worker initiative. "The President believes a temporary guest worker program, where you will know if you're in or you're out, is going to relieve pressure on the border and also reduce the incentive for people to travel from Central America through Mexico in search of such jobs," said White House spokesman Tony Snow.
Bush supports a proposal by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) to allow foreign nationals currently outside the country to work in the United States temporarily. Illegal immigrants now in the country could work too, but only if they pay a $2,000 penalty for breaking the law, pay back taxes, undergo a criminal check, learn English, take civics lessons, go to the back of the employment line and then work six years with no legal problems.
The McCain-Kennedy bill would also strengthen the border and create a computerized system to check the legal status of workers. The Senate bill would authorize spending $400 million to expand a pilot program used by 5,000 employers to cover new hires by more than 8 million U.S. companies within 18 months.
But some experts are skeptical. The non-partisan Migration Policy Institute has said that the pilot system is flawed, will take at least three years to implement, and will fail unless it is made much more accurate. The MPI panel, co-chaired by former congressman Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.) and former senator Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) also said other steps are needed, such as producing tamper-proof Social Security or other employment ID card based on fingerprints or other unique identifying features.
Others say thousands of immigration investigators are needed to verify legal workers and track down those who remain in the country illegally.
James W. Ziglar, former commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said if Congress does take up an overhaul, "the recognition that enforcement has to be of equal stature is something that will occur this time, because the lessons learned from the 1986 act are still burning very brightly in the minds of people on both sides of the debate."
Mu�oz, a vice president at the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Latino civil rights group, said Democrats should move carefully ahead with a plan that satisfies both sides.
"This notion that it's dangerous to vote to support comprehensive immigration reform I believe to be false," she said. In Arizona, she said, voters rejected anti-immigration Republicans Randy Graf and Rep. J.D. Hayworth.
But, to show how complicated the issue is, Arizona voters also approved three referenda to make life tougher for illegal immigrants.
Anti-immigration Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who was distraught after the election, believing a guest worker program was inevitable under the Democrats, now says he's changed his mind.
"It seemed to me that it was not going to be as easy for them as I had anticipated or feared," Tancredo said. "They're not putting it out there as their number one, out-of-the-box issue."
The more he thought about the issue, the more cloudy the future seemed.
"I don't know," he said. A temporary guest worker program "could certainly happen. I may be just skipping past the graveyard."
- Actions speak louder than words. If Murtha becomes the majority leader in house than Democrat agenda for 2008 presidential agenda will be Iraq not immigration. That doesn't mean no immigration reform, just not in the "lame-duck" session.
- Lets wait for next year for any progress on immigration.
GCS999 - excellent points! I asked someone yesterday why they even care about Hastert. He's toast, anyway.There's a very revealing article in the Washington Post today, which says that the Dems will tread cautiously, and perhaps even slowly, on immigration. And they have bigger fish to fry, the number one being Iraq. Not sure what the needless hullabaloo about the lame duck session is. People need to stop crying wolf.
Democrats May Proceed With Caution on Immigration
Explosive Issue Not A Top Priority For Incoming Leaders
By Darryl Fears and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, November 13, 2006; A03
When election results started rolling in Tuesday, Cecilia Mu�oz said that she and other immigration advocates were "holding our breath." One by one, Republicans who had fought tooth and nail for stricter immigration laws fell, turning control of Congress over to the Democrats.
By morning, a 700-mile Mexican border fence passed by Republicans in a pre-election gambit had fallen flat with voters. A sharply worded GOP bill that targeted illegal immigrants and spurred marches by millions of Latinos in the spring appeared likely to fade into memory.
"I think this is the best environment we've had on the issue in quite some time," said Cassandra Q. Butts, a senior vice president for the pro-immigration Center for American Progress.
But when it comes to immigration, things are never easy. In the days after the election, Democratic leaders surprised pro-immigration groups by not including the issue on their list of immediate priorities. Experts said the issue is so complicated, so sensitive and so explosive that it could easily blow up in the Democrats' faces and give control of Congress back to Republicans in the next election two years from now. And a number of Democrats who took a hard line on illegal immigration were also elected to Congress.
"It's not without its challenges, for sure," said Jeanne Butterfield, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. "You've got opposition in both parties. You still have restrictionists in the Republican Party. You have Democrats who've been reluctant to move on any kind of worker program."
Butterfield predicted that lobbyists and Democrats have less than a year to move legislation that could put some 12 million illegal immigrants on a path to legal residency, before the looming 2008 elections make a deal politically impossible. And analysts say the fate of President Bush's proposal to create a temporary worker program for 200,000 immigrants is in doubt, with labor's allies in charge.
In recent days, advocates have been burning up the phone lines talking to one another and to try to determine whom House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the presumed speaker of the next Congress, will appoint to key committees, and how the new Democratically controlled Congress will approach the issue.
Major challenges lay ahead. The Mexican border remains a sieve where an estimated 100,000 immigrants sneak into the country every year. Conservatives in the House, and some Democrats, want the border sealed with manpower, fencing and technological gadgets before they will even consider guest workers.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which opposes increased immigration, said Democrats should implement an enforcement program first. Anything else might be political suicide.
"The Democrats need to get their majority reelected in the next two years," Krikorian said. "My sense is that the Democrats have grown up enough to know they can't get reelected trying to get everything they want."
Immigration experts are on the lookout for the kind of compromises that led to the flawed immigration reform laws of 1986 and 1996. In those years, a White House and Congress split between the two parties passed watered-down laws requiring employers to check the legal status of new hires to satisfy businesses and immigration advocates. They also failed to give enforcement agencies the money, staff, technology or practical ability to do the job.
The miscues paved the way for an explosion of illegal immigration.
"The question is, will this just be another split-the-baby approach, such as we saw in 1986," said Robert Bonner, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection from 2003 to 2005, "or are we actually going to do something that is going to seriously achieve the objectives of controlling the border?"
At the White House Friday, the Bush administration struck a bipartisan chord, trumpeting both border enforcement and a guest worker initiative. "The President believes a temporary guest worker program, where you will know if you're in or you're out, is going to relieve pressure on the border and also reduce the incentive for people to travel from Central America through Mexico in search of such jobs," said White House spokesman Tony Snow.
Bush supports a proposal by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) to allow foreign nationals currently outside the country to work in the United States temporarily. Illegal immigrants now in the country could work too, but only if they pay a $2,000 penalty for breaking the law, pay back taxes, undergo a criminal check, learn English, take civics lessons, go to the back of the employment line and then work six years with no legal problems.
The McCain-Kennedy bill would also strengthen the border and create a computerized system to check the legal status of workers. The Senate bill would authorize spending $400 million to expand a pilot program used by 5,000 employers to cover new hires by more than 8 million U.S. companies within 18 months.
But some experts are skeptical. The non-partisan Migration Policy Institute has said that the pilot system is flawed, will take at least three years to implement, and will fail unless it is made much more accurate. The MPI panel, co-chaired by former congressman Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.) and former senator Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) also said other steps are needed, such as producing tamper-proof Social Security or other employment ID card based on fingerprints or other unique identifying features.
Others say thousands of immigration investigators are needed to verify legal workers and track down those who remain in the country illegally.
James W. Ziglar, former commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said if Congress does take up an overhaul, "the recognition that enforcement has to be of equal stature is something that will occur this time, because the lessons learned from the 1986 act are still burning very brightly in the minds of people on both sides of the debate."
Mu�oz, a vice president at the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Latino civil rights group, said Democrats should move carefully ahead with a plan that satisfies both sides.
"This notion that it's dangerous to vote to support comprehensive immigration reform I believe to be false," she said. In Arizona, she said, voters rejected anti-immigration Republicans Randy Graf and Rep. J.D. Hayworth.
But, to show how complicated the issue is, Arizona voters also approved three referenda to make life tougher for illegal immigrants.
Anti-immigration Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who was distraught after the election, believing a guest worker program was inevitable under the Democrats, now says he's changed his mind.
"It seemed to me that it was not going to be as easy for them as I had anticipated or feared," Tancredo said. "They're not putting it out there as their number one, out-of-the-box issue."
The more he thought about the issue, the more cloudy the future seemed.
"I don't know," he said. A temporary guest worker program "could certainly happen. I may be just skipping past the graveyard."
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chetanjumani
03-14 09:08 AM
We have seen that even after the PD being current, there have been many people whose cases have not been approved. We saw last year in July many cases with later priority date and later receipt dates were approved and people with earlier PD and earlier Receipt dates still waiting,
Now with the 180 day rule for FBI name check, things could be expected to be little better, but we have to remember that since most of the cases are paper based, some one has to physically get to cases from a huge storage, sort it manually, distribute it manually and get it adjudicated.
So even if the visa number is current, just beacuse the number of applications are so high that we still cannot say for sure whose cases are going to be approved.
From www.immigration-information.com, it appears, the biggest factor in getting the GC visa number allocated to a case is, having a case ready to be adjudicated and in the hands of an immigration officer at a time, when both processing date and priority dates are current. It appears that even after the huge retrogression, there were not enough demand for AOS based approvals, so they had to PD current to allow CP based cases to use the visas and ensure they are not wasted. I like the fact that visa were at least not wasted, but I would have loved to see applicants who have been waiting for years to have a first opportunity to that visa, specially because they have done everything that any one could do.
I have been pro-fee increase by USCIS, only provided that they will use this money to expedite the processing, make things eletronic, make things more transparent, and to be honest, I feel the overall improvements are happening. Though I still see a lot of scope for futher improvements.
We have clearly seen that labor processing has been improved dramatically with PERM. Now waiting for years to get Labor is almost history. I hope that IV and all its members direct its efforts towards ensuring that we see the improvements in efficiency that we expected to happen with fee increases.
Lets unite together to work for a system which is fair and efficient for everyone. Lets contribute to IV administrative fixes and any other efforts which will ensure a higher efficiency and better utilization of visa numbers for AOS applications.
Now with the 180 day rule for FBI name check, things could be expected to be little better, but we have to remember that since most of the cases are paper based, some one has to physically get to cases from a huge storage, sort it manually, distribute it manually and get it adjudicated.
So even if the visa number is current, just beacuse the number of applications are so high that we still cannot say for sure whose cases are going to be approved.
From www.immigration-information.com, it appears, the biggest factor in getting the GC visa number allocated to a case is, having a case ready to be adjudicated and in the hands of an immigration officer at a time, when both processing date and priority dates are current. It appears that even after the huge retrogression, there were not enough demand for AOS based approvals, so they had to PD current to allow CP based cases to use the visas and ensure they are not wasted. I like the fact that visa were at least not wasted, but I would have loved to see applicants who have been waiting for years to have a first opportunity to that visa, specially because they have done everything that any one could do.
I have been pro-fee increase by USCIS, only provided that they will use this money to expedite the processing, make things eletronic, make things more transparent, and to be honest, I feel the overall improvements are happening. Though I still see a lot of scope for futher improvements.
We have clearly seen that labor processing has been improved dramatically with PERM. Now waiting for years to get Labor is almost history. I hope that IV and all its members direct its efforts towards ensuring that we see the improvements in efficiency that we expected to happen with fee increases.
Lets unite together to work for a system which is fair and efficient for everyone. Lets contribute to IV administrative fixes and any other efforts which will ensure a higher efficiency and better utilization of visa numbers for AOS applications.
smisachu
07-30 01:01 PM
I am not endorsing any fund or product. You have to do your own research and you have to figure out your own risk appetite- Disclaimer
Superfund is a hedge fund which has two funds of managed futures. Its enrty was $5K last time I checked. But again in a hedge fund you typically pay 2 & 20. That means 2% maintenance and 20% off the profits and there is huge down side risk where your entire investment can be wiped out. Tread carefully!!
Again a great post. Just want to comment that be careful with ETF's too. Most of the ETF's are not physical commodity holders. They play in futures and OTC swap markets.
I have looked hard to find ETF's or MF's fwhich are pure commodity holders e.g gold, silver etc.I still have not found good ones. The closest I could get was some portfolio of mix of real assets and futures. Most of the ETFs are again leveraged and kind of trap for average investors.
There are a few hedge funds or big funds which might offer pure plays but those tend to have huge entry investment requirement basically making them inaccessible to individual small investors.
Superfund is a hedge fund which has two funds of managed futures. Its enrty was $5K last time I checked. But again in a hedge fund you typically pay 2 & 20. That means 2% maintenance and 20% off the profits and there is huge down side risk where your entire investment can be wiped out. Tread carefully!!
Again a great post. Just want to comment that be careful with ETF's too. Most of the ETF's are not physical commodity holders. They play in futures and OTC swap markets.
I have looked hard to find ETF's or MF's fwhich are pure commodity holders e.g gold, silver etc.I still have not found good ones. The closest I could get was some portfolio of mix of real assets and futures. Most of the ETFs are again leveraged and kind of trap for average investors.
There are a few hedge funds or big funds which might offer pure plays but those tend to have huge entry investment requirement basically making them inaccessible to individual small investors.
mrajatish
10-03 10:15 AM
My post is going to make few MS/Phd people angry over here. Correct me if I am wrong, but when you came here to do MS/Phd, you came on a student visa...Right? Student visa comes under Non Permanent Non Resident alien category. All of you had a burden to prove to the US consulate that after you complete your degree, you would go back to your home country. All of you prepared for that and you knew the moment you said, I might not come back, F1 would be gone! You said this...every time you went back for F1 visa revalidation. Mind you..that H1/H4 never had that burden. They could have easily said that yes, if I like USA, I might not come back.
Now fast forward....MS/Phd is done. Suddenly...."I will go home after MS/Phd" statement is gone..and hunt for H1-B is on! Once they get H1-B, hunt for Green Card starts. Once this heavy head Phd guy, who spent last 5 years on 1500 bucks a month is in GC line....he also realizes that hey, H1-Bs should not be allowed to interfile. After all, they all work for desi consulting companies. Yeah..right! Look who is talking! All H1s should come in EB-3, after all they did not go through 1500 bucks a month for 5 years.
Here comes a Phd guy who always lied to the system saying "I love my home country, my research would do wonders to the society at home" is not leaving any stone unturned to get his GC (faster than anyone else).....tell me, who is inferior? A Phd student who lied to the system for 4/5 years and suddenly changed his intent or an H1-B candidate who never had the burden to prove that he would go back.
All of us are part of this very painful journey! I have spent 8 years on H1-B and I am still waiting for my GC. I work for a desi consulting company, my GC is in EB-3, I have a B.Tech. degree from IIT and I am sick and tired of this GC mess.
Second this post - point is, there is no easy solution to this mess until we work together to achieve the common goal of increasing # of visas available for Green card.
Now fast forward....MS/Phd is done. Suddenly...."I will go home after MS/Phd" statement is gone..and hunt for H1-B is on! Once they get H1-B, hunt for Green Card starts. Once this heavy head Phd guy, who spent last 5 years on 1500 bucks a month is in GC line....he also realizes that hey, H1-Bs should not be allowed to interfile. After all, they all work for desi consulting companies. Yeah..right! Look who is talking! All H1s should come in EB-3, after all they did not go through 1500 bucks a month for 5 years.
Here comes a Phd guy who always lied to the system saying "I love my home country, my research would do wonders to the society at home" is not leaving any stone unturned to get his GC (faster than anyone else).....tell me, who is inferior? A Phd student who lied to the system for 4/5 years and suddenly changed his intent or an H1-B candidate who never had the burden to prove that he would go back.
All of us are part of this very painful journey! I have spent 8 years on H1-B and I am still waiting for my GC. I work for a desi consulting company, my GC is in EB-3, I have a B.Tech. degree from IIT and I am sick and tired of this GC mess.
Second this post - point is, there is no easy solution to this mess until we work together to achieve the common goal of increasing # of visas available for Green card.
