February 5, 2016

Final Recommendations For Immigration Actions To Be Sent To Obama in the Next Two Weeks

Obama

The Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security are expected to send final recommendations in the next two weeks. Activists are worried and angry about what they’re hearing.   Justice Department and Homeland Security officials are sending to the White House their final recommendations on what immigration executive actions should look like, according to four sources who have been briefed on the timeline. President Obama is expected to announce a series of executive actions that would slow the deportation of undocumented immigrants, similar to his executive action in 2012 that deferred the deportations of some undocumented immigrants brought to the…

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Kenyan gets probation for New York marriage fraud, may lose US Citizenship

A Buffalo woman who is a citizen of Kenya was spared prison Thursday for conspiring to commit marriage fraud but may face deportation. U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Pauline Gichuri, 40, a Buffalo, NY resident and native and citizen of Kenya, who was convicted of conspiring to commit marriage fraud, was sentenced to one year probation by U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Arcara. Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Rogowski, who handled the case, stated that the defendant agreed to pay a United States citizen $5000 to enter into a sham marriage to allow Gichuri to…

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Homeland Security Department Gears Up For Obama Immigration Action

Obama

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Wednesday cautioned against making assumptions about President Barack Obama’s changes to immigration rules based on a new federal contract proposal from the Homeland Security Department to buy enough supplies to make as many as 34 million immigrant work permits and residency cards over the next five years. The Associated Press reported earlier in the day the contract proposal suggested that the Obama administration appeared to be preparing for an increase in the number work permit applications form of immigrants living illegally in the country. The U.S. government produces about 3 million work permits…

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US opens registration for the 2016 Diversity Visa Program

Registration for the 2016 United States Diversity Visa Program commonly known as Green Card has opened. The program opened Wednesday and is scheduled to close on November 3, 2014, the US Department of State said. Kenyans wishing to submit entries must do so electronically during the registration period using the electronic DV entry form (E-DV) at dvlottery.state.gov. Applicants who submit paper entries will be rejected. All applicants are encouraged to print and retain their online confirmation page after completing their Diversity Visa entries to enable them check their entry status. “We strongly encourage applicants not to wait until the last…

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DV-2016 Online Registration Starts on Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Green_Card Check

The Department of State recently announced the opening of the registration period for the 2016  Diversity Visa (DV) lottery. As in past years, the DV lottery will allow a maximum of 50,000 “diversity  immigrants” to obtain permanent residence in the United States if they are from countries with low rates  of immigration to the United States. Entries for the DV-2016 lottery must be submitted electronically  between noon Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Wednesday, October 1, 2014 and noon Eastern  Standard Time (EST) on Monday, November 3, 2014. Applicants may access the electronic Diversity  Visa entry form (E-DV) at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov during…

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Immigration agents in Maryland using motor vehicle data to locate illegal immigrants

Maryland-DL

A recent raid at a Catonsville apartment complex has raised concerns that federal immigration agents are using Maryland motor vehicle data to locate illegal immigrants, potentially undermining a state initiative to ensure that drivers are ready for the road regardless of their citizenship status. Residents of the Melvin Park Apartments said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulled over several vehicles within a few blocks of the complex last month and asked for the registered owners by name. Relatives of those detained said they had not provided addresses to any government entity other than the Motor Vehicle Administration. Maryland is one of 10…

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Kenyan detained in US: How long is too long to detain immigrants?

Immigration

Sylvester Owino’s parents raised him as a Christian in Kenya, but he readily admits to straying as a young adult. After emigrating to the United States on a student visa in 1998, Owino had a series of alcohol-related run-ins with the law, including domestic battery and two DUI convictions. One night in 2003, a drunken Owino gambled away his money, prompting him to wander into a nearby shop at closing and demand cash. No one was injured in the $21 heist, and police apprehended him within minutes. They found no weapon, but Owino’s victim said he had a knife, and a judge later sentenced…

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Obama Delays Immigration Action, Yielding to Democratic Concerns

Obama12

WASHINGTON — President Obama has delayed action to reshape the nation’s immigration system without congressional approval until after the November elections, bowing to the concerns of Senate Democrats on the ballots, White House officials said on Saturday. The decision is a striking reversal of Mr. Obama’s vow to take action on immigration soon after summer’s end. The president made that promise on June 30, standing in the Rose Garden, where he angrily denounced Republican obstruction and said he would use the power of his office to protect immigrant families from the threat of deportation. “Because of the Republicans’ extreme politicization…

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Influx of African Immigrants Shifting National and New York Demographics

Threatened with arrest in 2009, Lamin F. Bojang fled Gambia after publicly contradicting its president’s claims that he could cure AIDS. Now 31, Mr. Bojang lives in Concourse Village in the Bronx with his wife and 2-year-old son and works as a receptionist at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn, while working toward a bachelor’s degree in political science at City College. With educational and professional opportunities in Gambia scarce for his generation, “the rest will have to find ways of leaving,” he said, “and African migrants here, just as previous migrants, are likely not going to return to their…

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Ruling could let some deported immigrants return to U.S.

deportation

A federal judge this week tentatively approved the class-action portion of a lawsuit that claimed coercive and deceptive tactics by immigration officers, a ruling that opens the door for a limited number of unauthorized immigrants who were sent back to Mexico to return to the United States and fight for legal status. Applications for relief won’t be accepted until next summer, pending final approval. The ruling made Thursday by U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt in Los Angeles is one part of a settlement announced Wednesday between the U.S. government and nine Mexican immigrants over the “voluntary return” process. The suit…

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