250,000 Kenyans entered US in last twenty years: report
The United States Embassy in Nairobi has issued 253,047 visas to Kenyans in the last 21 years, Nation.co.ke can reveal. According to data provided by the US Department of State, the embassy issued 221,128 non-immigrant visas and 31,919 immigrant visas from October 1991 to September 2012. Non-immigrant visas are issued to those who are intending to visit the US for a short period while immigrant visas are issued to those who intend to move to the US permanently. The data was obtained after a joint request for information to the Department of State under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by the Daily…
Coca-Cola’s “America the Beautiful” Super Bowl ad with immigrants causes controversy
Every year, there’s always one Super Bowl ad that generates a bit of next-day controversy. And this year’s ad appears to be Coca-Cola‘s “It’s Beautiful” ad. The one-minute ad features children and adults from all walks of life, from across the country, singing “America the Beautiful” in multiple languages. Seems fairly straight-forward, right? Not like the infamous Bar Refaeli Go Daddy ad from last year that featured the Israeli supermodel making out with a nerd. However, two aspects of the ad appear to have turned it into one of those cultural hot spots (or at least a lukewarm spot) that ignites a little…
How US immigration judges decide your future in the country in just seven minutes
His courtroom rarely came to order, and by now the judge had decided it was a waste of time to try. Interpreters explained legalese in three languages. Adults squeezed into crowded seats while children crouched in the center aisle. A court official stood near the doorway and worried about the building’s fire code. “Por favor,” he said in halting Spanish, as another family tried to enter. “No mas.” Judge Lawrence Burman sat quietly in front of the chaos, adjusting his reading glasses and sifting through a stack of files on his bench. He had 26 cases listed on his morning…
Republican House leaders sell Immigration blueprint to their colleagues
CAMBRIDGE, Md. — The House Republican leadership is trying to sell their colleagues on a series of broad immigration principles, including a path to legal status for those here illegally. Speaker John Boehner’s leadership team introduced the principles at their annual policy retreat here. Top Republicans circulated a tightly held one-page memo titled “standards for immigration reform” toward the tail-end of a day that include strategy conversations about Obamacare, the economy and the national debt. In the private meeting where the language was introduced, Boehner (R-Ohio) told Republicans that the standards are “as far as we are willing to go.” “Nancy Pelosi…
Kenyans in US keen on Obama’s new push for immigration reforms
Kenyans in the US have praised President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address that was delivered on Tuesday night in Washington DC. Mr Obama’s speech, that reiterated the Democratic Party’s push for comprehensive immigration reforms this year, began trending on social media. The President told the US Congress Chamber that he would not relent in his push towards getting citizenship for over 11 million illegal immigrants. Mr Obama spoke cautiously on the matter but noted that such a move would grow the economy and shift deficits by $1 trillion in the next two decades. FIERCE OPPOSITION “When people come…
House Republicans to Offer Broad Immigration Plan
WASHINGTON — House Republicans are preparing to unveil their own broad template for overhauling the nation’s immigration system this week, potentially offering a small opening for President Obama and congressional Democrats to pass bipartisan legislation before the end of the year. Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio and other Republican leaders are expected to release a one-page statement of immigration principles this week at their annual retreat in Cambridge, Md., according to aides with knowledge of the plan. The document is expected to call for border security and enforcement measures, as well as providing a path to legal status — but not citizenship —…
Petition to USCIS to release Kenyan single mum held in detention for 3 months
The Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights is launching an appeal to the United States Customs and Immigration Services for the release of a Kenyan mum whom they say has been detained by the agency for 3 months. Michelle Wanjiku Ndirangu, 27, a single mother of a nine year old U.S. citizen has lived in the United States for 15 years. Michelle has been in an immigration detention center for three months. Michelle is the sole provider to her family. She is one of those immigrants that are classified as low priority for deportation but this however has not prevented…
Jamaican bride dumps new husband 20 MINUTES after arriving in the UK… and guess who paid for her £5k visa
A charity worker who spent £5,000 bringing his new Jamaican bride to the UK was left heartbroken after she abandoned him within 20 minutes of walking through his front door. Johnny Gannon spent thousands arranging a visa for 24-year-old Patrice Chambers so they could live in marital bliss in his council flat in Perth, Scotland. But as soon as Patrice arrived in Perth, she sent trusting Mr Gannon, 57, out to buy Pot Noodles. When he returned she grabbed her bags and told him she was going. Within 20 minutes of arriving through his front door she had flagged down…
Important Change by DHS to Policy on False Claims to Citizenship
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of State (DOS) recently enacted an important change to their interpretation to the law which permanently bans those who have made false claims to being a U.S. citizen. The change means that persons who previously were refused immigrant visas or had their applications for adjustment of status denied may now be eligible for permanent residency in the United States. Since September of 1996, non-citizens who made false claims to U.S. citizenship “for any purpose” have been permanently inadmissible under the Immigration & Nationality Act (INA). Unlike other grounds of inadmissibility, there is…
Budget deal may clear decks for immigration reform in January
WASHINGTON — If the Senate manages to pass a long-term budget deal Tuesday, the next item on the agenda for Congress could be even harder: immigration. Republican leaders, led by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, have deemed immigration legislation a priority in the new year. The Senate is expected to pass Tuesday a bipartisan budget deal for the next two years that would clear the legislative calendar and eliminate the threat of a government shutdown in January. And even Bob Dane, whose Federation for American Immigration Reform strongly opposes a bill, concedes that at this point, “the ground is very…
