Skip to Content

Legalization

Community Grants

in

Do you have a creative classroom project that needs funding?  Are you affiliated with an organization working with young people between the ages of 7 and 18? The American Immigration Council’s Community Education Center is here to help! In an effort to support educators in engaging their students and communities in thoughtful dialogues centered on the issue of immigration and multiculturalism, the Center awards bi-annual grants for immigration- themed classroom and community-based projects. Read more...

Litigation Clearinghouse Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 4

This issue covers Hutto detention facility litigation, U visa litigation, post St. Cyr litigation (trial vs. plea), and interim EAD delays.

Published On: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 | Download File

Backlog of Immigration Cases Continues to Grow

Published on Wed, Jun 08, 2011

The number of pending cases in federal immigration courts is at an all-time high, and those cases are remaining open for longer, according to new data that underscores the backlog facing the nation's immigration system.

There were 275,316 cases awaiting resolution before the immigration courts as of May 4, setting a new record after an increase of 2.8 percent in four months. The information comes from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, which compiles the information regularly from public records. The clearinghouse released its latest report on June 7.

According to the data, the cases have been pending an average of 482 days, up from 467 days four months ago.

The report noted that the increases came despite the hiring of 44 immigration judges during the previous 12 months and the opening of a new immigration court in Pearsall, Texas.

Melissa Crow, director of the American Immigration Council's Legal Action Center, says the backlog is due to two factors: the need for yet more judges and staff at the U.S. Department of Justice, which administers the courts through its Executive Office for Immigration Review, and the decision by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pursue more cases.

"It means that cases take forever to finish. It means, where clients do have cases where there's relief, it may take a long time for them to get the relief that they deserve," Crow says.

Crow's group and other advocates for immigrants are pushing the Obama administration to be more selective about the people targeted for deportation proceedings, while other critics of the administration, including conservative members of Congress, accuse the administration of being improperly selective in the enforcement of removal orders.Read more...

Published in the National Law Review

E-Verify Employment Verification Schemes

The Impact on Native, Naturalized, and Immigrant Workers

Washington D.C. – Mandatory use of a federal database known as E-Verify (until recently known as Basic Pilot) to verify the employment eligibility of all workers is at the heart of a number of federal and state proposals.  The Shuler-Tancredo bill (H.R. 4088) is the subject of a "discharge petition" gathering signatures in the U.S. House of Representatives, and there are other similar proposals under consideration in Washington.  The state of Mississippi joined Arizona and Oklahoma in mandating the use of E-Verify by all employers while Idaho, Indiana, and Virginia recently rejected such proposals. Read more...

Court Finds Categorical Approach Not Applicable in Determining Amount of Fraud Loss

Nijhawan v. Mukasey, 557 U.S. __, 129 S. Ct. 2294, 2009 U.S. LEXIS 4320 (June 15, 2009)

The Supreme Court addressed what evidence an IJ may consider to determine removability based on an aggravated felony conviction under INA § 101(a)(43)(M)(i), an offense that involves fraud or deceit in which the loss to the victim or victims exceeds $10,000. Read more...

Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say

Grandfather's Journey explores themes of cross cultural experience as well as intergenerational relationships and family history. The award-winning illustrations convey Say's love of family, as well as his love of place. Through a series of reading, writing and reflection activities, students will explore this cross cultural theme and develop a deeper understanding of why immigrants come to the United States.

View File

Huw McDonald Lends a Hand

November, 2009
Huw McDonald Lends a Hand

The International Exchange Center is proud to announce Huw McDonald as this month’s Exchange Visitor of the Month. Each month, we select an exchange visitor who has made an effort to get involved in his/her community and explore American culture. Read more...

Tax Assistance for J-1 Participants

If you receive payment from your US host company as part of your J-1 internship or training, you will pay tax on all your earnings – just like you would in your home country. There are four types of tax - Federal Tax, State Tax, Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) Tax, and Local Tax. Federal Tax is usually about 10% for J-1 Visa holders, while State Tax varies from 1% to 13% depending on where you’re located. Forty-two US States have State Tax and ten of those also have Local Tax, city or county tax that is deducted from your earnings.

FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes are 7.65%, but as a J-1 Visa holder you may not have to pay this tax. Many J-1 participants are incorrectly charged FICA taxes. At the end of the tax year, you are entitled to a refund of any taxes you’ve overpaid – including FICA, Federal, State and Local Tax. Depending on your nationality, you may also be able to claim a tax refund under international tax treaties, which are agreements between the US and other countries that allow you to claim tax you paid while working abroad.

Most J-1 Visa holders are considered non-residents for tax purposes. You would only be considered as a resident for tax purposes if you had been in the US for a certain amount of days during the last three years.

As a non-resident receiving compensation in the US, should you earn more than $3700 in the US during 2011, US tax law requires you to file a tax return. If you don’t file a tax return it can affect future visa applications to the US.

To file your US non-resident income tax return you need to use a 1040NR-EZ form. The form is not available in the US e-filing tax system so please be careful of tax companies that promise to speed up your tax return by filing it online – J-1 non-resident taxpayers cannot use this system.Read more...

IPC Reports Highlight Gains Made From Legalization Programs Past

Published on Sun, Nov 08, 2009

The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) released three publications today discussing proposals for and gains made from a broad legalization program for those in the country without legal status.

Published in the The World Sentinel

Report: Immigration cases at record levels in 2009

Published on Thu, Mar 25, 2010

Immigration prosecutions rose to record levels in 2009 as the Obama administration kept up aggressive enforcement that began under President George W. Bush.

Immigration cases increased by about a fifth over the previous year and made up a third of all new criminal filings in U.S. district courts in the government spending year that ended Sept. 30. The statistics were compiled by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

 

Published in the Associated Press