I made my local news debut today talking about the crisis on the border

Link text Cincinnati News, FOX19-WXIX TV

When your job is to find immigration or marriage fraud...

Believing there is Fraud around every corner is biasing our immigration system. Here is how we can fight it. --- “The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion draws all things else to support and agree with it. And though there be a greater number and weight of instances to be found on the other side, yet these it either neglects and despises, or else by some distinction sets aside and rejects, in order that by this great and pernicious predetermination the authority of its former conclusion may remain inviolate.”[1] -Sir Francis Bacon, Father of the Scientific Method (1620) --- Ask an immigration attorney about the most frustrating aspect of their practice today, and most will tell you that they spend an inordinate amount of time explaining basic reasoning and logic skills to US immigration officers set to deny approvable cases – cases where the only dispute is what the record logically reflects, not an actual insufficiency of the record itself. Why is this? Are the adjudicating immigration officers at DHS and DOS deliberately harassing petitioners and applicants? Is there some anti-immigrant conspiracy or cabal? Unlikely, but what then explains this phenomena? Social science has the answer and you should use it to your advantage when appealing an illogical denial or notice of intent to revoke. Let’s take a closer look at the problem… Whether it’s a family case suspected of a fraud in Ghana, or an H-1B petition for a growing IT startup, petitioners are being suspected of fraud at alarming rates. Most denials are based upon a failure to provide “sufficient evidence” to establish eligibility for the benefit sought. However in many, if not all of these cases, the officer likely believes there to be an element of potential fraud that they are valiantly battling back against. This is because every officer is trained to suspect fraud around every corner and success is measured not in cases approved or growth of the economy, but in levels of potential fraud detected and prevented. Walk through a service center and what do you see? Take a look at embassy cubicles and what do you find? I will tell you what we find; we find “fraud” literally wallpapering the environment. Service Centers and Embassies are covered with newspaper clippings, training materials, and bulletins detailing high levels of immigration fraud, warning staff to be hyper-vigilant for fraud. The US Embassy is Accra, Ghana is an excellent case in point. The Inspector General (OIG) Latest Report[2] found: “The staff capably and courteously handles a heavy workload in a challenging, high-fraud environment.” The report then notes, “Fraud in immigrant and NIV applications is widespread. Consular officers are attentive to the potential for fraud and malfeasance. The recent investigation and subsequent dismissal of a long-time LE staff employee and some local guards has heightened this awareness.” Yes, you read that correctly; even the staff at the US Embassy is suspected of committing fraud in Accra, Ghana. According Governmental Accountability Office (GAO)[3] over 90% of family connections are requested to provide DNA evidence of their family connections. The Embassy even has a special webpage discussing “Romance Scams.” The page warns US citizens about “attempts at fraud by persons claiming to live in Ghana who profess friendship or romantic interest over the Internet.”[4] Fraud, fraud, fraud, fraud, fraud… Did I mention fraud? It’s around every corner, don’t you know? And perhaps there is some fraud, but that’s not the point here. The point is this, creating an environment that conditions immigration officers to suspect fraud around every corner significantly impacts the performance of these officers. This is not my pet theory. This is social scientific fact. It’s called Confirmation Bias, and as Sir Francis Bacon noted above, its impact has been widely noted and accepted within social science since at least the 17th Century. Confirmation Bias is summed up in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, published by the Oxford University Press. This article has been cited more than 450 times in peer reviewed scientific journals since its publication in 1999.[5] “A person suffers from confirmatory bias if he tends to misinterpret ambiguous evidence as confirming his current hypotheses about the world… “Teachers misread performance of pupils as supporting their initial impressions of those pupils; many people misread their observations of individual behavior as supporting their prior stereotypes about groups to which these individuals belong; scientists biasedly interpret data as supporting their hypotheses… This study’s results found that when influenced by Confirmation Bias “the hypothesis that the agent believes in may be more likely to be wrong than right.” Furthermore, they showed that “the agent may come to believe with near certainty in a false hypotheses despite receiving an infinite amount of information.” With this in mind, it’s amazing our immigration system works at all. “A great deal of empirical evidence supports the idea that confirmation bias is extensive and strong and…supports the view that once one has taken a position on an issue, one’s primary purpose becomes that of defending or justifying that position. This is to say that regardless of whether one’s treatment of evidence was evenhanded before the stand was taken, it can become highly biased afterward.” [6] In other words, once your case exhibits any of the wide-ranging potential fraud factors, there is a very good chance that the officer reviewing your case just flipped a switch in their head and are now looking for any and all ways to deny your case whether they are conscious of it or not. A sobering thought, no? So what can you do when the officer deciding your case is conditioned to find fraud where it does not exist? Not much in the petition process itself unfortunately. With fraud factors being as loose as they are, it is often unavoidable to submit a petition that will not raise some potential red flag – and we know where it goes from there. What we can do however is fight every appeal as vigorously and thoroughly as possible and highlight to anyone that will listen that the “Culture of Fraud” within our immigration system is leading to erroneous denials, separating families, and hurting American businesses. We can cite the social science and include them in our appeals to the BIA, the AAO, and in federal court. Often all it takes is getting your case in front of someone who is not as conditioned to the Culture of Fraud and you find that your case is back on track, but I say we need to do more and make sure every member of the BIA, AAO, and federal court realizes that this bias exists strongly within the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State. Give them not just the facts of your case, but the hard social science as well about why this case is in front of them at all and not approved in the first instance. If we are lucky, our successful appeals may push a cultural change in the training and atmosphere within the walls of USCIS Service Centers, USCIS local offices, Embassies, and Consulates. No one wants to be wrong or overturned on appeal, and there is no conspiracy to deny our approvable cases that raise fraud factors that are too liberally drawn up. Beyond our steady, well argued appeals AILA must push this agenda. AILA must, · push for a tightening of potential fraud factors; · push for stronger tracking of how many cases are reversed on appeal AND holding immigration officers accountable for their reversed decisions; · push for faster appeals processing times, which often drag on too long to be reasonably pursued by our clients. --- As with many things these days, Wikipedia is a great place to get started. Its article on Confirmation Bias is will written and includes an extensive bibliography that you can cite in your future appeals of biased decisions. [1] From The New Organon and Related Writings {1960; 1620}, quoted in Nisbett and Ross {1980, p. 167}. [2] http://oig.state.gov/documents/organization/126064.pdf [3] http://www.gao.gov/assets/270/267129.html [4] http://ghana.usembassy.gov/romance_scam.html [5] First impressions matter: A model of confirmatory bias (Matthew Rabin, Joel L. Schrag), In Quarterly Journal of Economics, volume 114(1), 1999. [6] Confirmation bias: A ubiquitous phenomenon in many guises. RS Nickerson - Review of general psychology, 1998 - psycnet.apa.org. Cited 1,401 times to date according to Google Scholar. Reprinted with permission. About The Author Christopher M. Pogue, Esq. Christopher M. Pogue, Esq. is Of Counsel with the Fleischer Law Firm, LLC. His law practice specializes in representing individuals, families, and businesses around the United States and around the world in US immigration matters. Contact: cpogue@immigrate2usa.com and Websites: www.PogueImmigrationLaw.com / www.immigrate2usa.com

Hope your Tuesday is better than our Monday

Dozens of Tri-State residents become new Americans Friday

Dozens of Tri-State residents become new Americans Friday | Cincinnati - WLWT Home

Link text Despite being naturalized at my "rival" High school, these 72 people. including three of my clients becasue US citizens... the correct way Congrats to all.

IS CIR coming ?

A bipartisan group of leading senators has reached agreement on the principles of sweeping legislation to rewrite the nation's immigration laws. The deal, which was to be announced at a news conference Monday afternoon, covers border security, guest workers and employer verification, as well as a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in this country. Although thorny details remain to be negotiated and success is far from certain, the development heralds the start of what could be the most significant effort in years toward overhauling the nation's inefficient patchwork of immigration laws. President Barack Obama also is committed to enacting comprehensive immigration legislation and will travel to Nevada on Tuesday to lay out his vision, which is expected to overlap in important ways with the Senate effort. The eight senators expected to endorse the new principles Monday are Democrats Charles Schumer of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado; and Republicans John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida and Jeff Flake of Arizona. Keep following us for breaking news on CIR

We all have to do better

Amazing speech from an unlikely source about the state of affairs in this country

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will now use Iphones

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has terminated its agreement with RIM to provide agents with BlackBerry smartphones and will offer its employees iPhones instead . Reuters indicates that this move affects about 17,600 employees and will cost the agency about $2.1 million. The ICE has used RIM's products for eight years, but it claims that at this point, BlackBerry smartphones "can no longer meet the mobile technology needs of the agency." ICE looked at Google's Android platform as well , but it concluded that Apple's tightly-controlled ecosystem would best serve its needs. "The iPhone services will allow these individuals to leverage reliable, mobile technology on a secure and manageable platform in furtherance of the agency's mission,"

I wonder is they will become "angry birds"

New Scheduling procedures for Visa Applicants in India

The United States Embassy in India today announced it is implementing a new visa processing system throughout India that will further standardize procedures and will simplify fee payment and appointment scheduling through a new website at www.ustraveldocs.com/in. Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs, Julia Stanley, announced at a press conference here today that beginning September 26, 2012 U.S. visa applicants will be able to pay application fees via Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) or with their mobile phones. They can also pay in cash at more than 1,800 Axis bank branches. For the first time, applicants will be able to schedule their appointments online or by phone. The new system will also allow companies and travel agents to purchase multiple fee receipts for group travel, and it accommodates the scheduling of group and emergency appointments. Visa applicants will be able to have their questions answered via telephone, email, or online chat. Call center agents in Noida and Hyderabad will answer questions in Hindi, English, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, and Telugu. Call centers will be open 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Monday through Friday, and 9:00 am to 6:00 pm on Sunday. The numbers are (91-120) 660-2222 or (91-22) 6720-9400 in India or 1-310-616-5424 in the United States. Applicants can email in English or Hindi at support-india@ustraveldocs.com, or they can chat with us directly from our website (www.ustraveldocs.com/in) during call center hours. One important change is that under the new system, applicants will have to make two appointments. Prior to their visa interviews, applicants will have to visit an Offsite Facilitation Center (OFC) to submit their fingerprints and a photo. Located apart from the Embassy and Consulates in Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai, the OFCs will reduce congestion at U.S. consular facilities and speed applicant processing. Most applicants will need to visit an OFC only once.

Computers, but not Smart phones and Ipads now allowed at immigration hearings

On a day where Apples announces the new Iphone Email from ICE Public Advocate: Today I want to make you aware of a policy change at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that will enhance detainees’ access to fair and impartial immigration court proceedings by giving their advocates an important, additional tool to use during those proceedings. At the request of the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), ICE will now allow private attorneys or accredited representatives appearing before an immigration judge on behalf of detainees to bring a laptop into EOIR courtrooms located within detention facilities. Private attorneys or accredited representatives will be required to complete a request form each time they intend to bring a laptop into an EOIR courtroom in a detention facility. Please note, this process is for laptop computers along with an air card only and does not include iPADs, iPODs, smart phones, BlackBerrys or other electronic devices. In addition, this process does not permit attorneys to take laptops in attorney-client visitation rooms. Further rules outlining where, when, and how laptops can be used while in detention facilities are clearly stated in the request form. ICE is currently implementing this policy in each of its 24 Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) field offices. To get the laptop request form, you should contact the field office in which your EOIR proceeding and detention facility are located. If you do not have a field office point of contact, you may identify and email the appropriate Public Advocate Field Liaison by using this interactive map on the ICE.gov website and clicking on the area where your pending proceeding will take place. Phone numbers for each field office are also available on the Contact ICE page. Please help us spread the word about this important change in ICE policy by forwarding this message to your colleagues and community partners.

Federal Agents Sue Napolitano over Amnesty program

Ten federal immigration agents have filed suit against Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano claiming recent directives are forcing them to break the law and ignore their duties when it comes to deporting illegal immigrants.

Republican Governors follow Arizona's lead and Push Back on Deferred Action and Dreamers

In a memo dated June 15, 2012, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued prosecutorial guidelines for certain unlawfully present aliens. The guidelines, which were to take effect no later than August 15, 2012, outline the secretary's intent to defer deportation actions involving those aliens for a period of at least two years. According to media reports, thousands of aliens in Texas are eligible to apply for relief from deportation under the guidelines. Governor Perry said, "I have previously expressed my position that the secretary was wrong to unilaterally undermine the law through a policy statement issued under the cover of so-called 'prosecutorial discretion.' I believe her actions were a slap in the face to the rule of law and our Constitutional framework of separated powers."

Not to be outdone Nebraska Governor issued this statement: "President Obama's deferred action program to issue employment authorization documents to illegal immigrants does not make them legal citizens," Heineman said in a statement. "The State of Nebraska will continue its practice of not issuing driver's licenses, welfare benefits or other public benefits to illegal immigrants unless specifically authorized by Nebraska statute," he added.

Former Playboy Playmate arrested for Alien Smuggling

According to TMZ , Collen Sharron , a Former Playboy Playmate arrested for Alien smuggling and harboring near Canadian Border A 2004 Playboy Playmate -- was ARRESTED last night after allegedly trying to smuggle an unidentified male into the U.S. through the Canadian border. A source with knowledge of the situation tells TMZ the foreigner is Shannon's boyfriend ... but they have yet to confirm. If convicted on the charge, she could face up to 10 years in prison. Read more: http://www.tmz.com#ixzz23pWFMokj

New Deferred Action form is Here

WASHINGTON— Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) submitted a Federal Register notice announcing new forms and instructions to allow individuals to request consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals from USCIS. USCIS will begin accepting completed forms tomorrow, August 15, 2012. On June 15, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced that certain people who came to the United States as children and meet other key guidelines may request, on a case-by-case basis, consideration of deferred action. “The release of the new form and instructions to allow individuals to request consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals from USCIS marks an important step in our implementation of this new process,” said USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas. “While requests should not be submitted until August 15 it is important that individuals wishing to be considered for deferred action understand the requirements necessary to demonstrate eligibility to be considered.” Click tile link or here http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/files/form/i-821d.pdf

What consittues a Significant misdemeanor the Dreamers?

What offenses constitute a significant misdemeanor? For the purposes of this process, a significant misdemeanor is a misdemeanor as defined by federal law (specifically, one for which the maximum term of imprisonment authorized is one year or less but greater than five days) and that meets the following criteria: Regardless of the sentence imposed, is an offense of domestic violence; sexual abuse or exploitation; burglary; unlawful possession or use of a firearm; drug distribution or trafficking; or, driving under the influence; or, If not an offense listed above, is one for which the individual was sentenced to time in custody of more than 90 days. The sentence must involve time to be served in custody, and therefore does not include a suspended sentence. The time in custody does not include any time served beyond the sentence for the criminal offense based on a state or local law enforcement agency honoring a detainer issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Notwithstanding the above, the decision whether to defer action in a particular case is an individualized, discretionary one that is made taking into account the totality of the circumstances. Therefore, the absence of the criminal history outlined above, or its presence, is not necessarily determinative, but is a factor to be considered in the unreviewable exercise of discretion. DHS retains the discretion to determine that an individual does not warrant deferred action on the basis of a single criminal offense for which the individual was sentenced to time in custody of 90 days or less. What offenses constitute a non-significant misdemeanor? For purposes of this process, a non-significant misdemeanor is any misdemeanor as defined by federal law (specifically, one for which the maximum term of imprisonment authorized is one year or less but greater than five days) and that meets the following criteria: Is not an offense of domestic violence; sexual abuse or exploitation; burglary; unlawful possession or use of a firearm; drug distribution or trafficking; or, driving under the influence; and Is one for which the individual was sentenced to time in custody of 90 days or less. The time in custody does not include any time served beyond the sentence for the criminal offense based on a state or local law enforcement agency honoring a detainer issued by ICE. Notwithstanding the above, the decision whether to defer action in a particular case is an individualized, discretionary one that is made taking into account the totality of the circumstances. Therefore, the absence of the criminal history outlined above, or its presence, is not necessarily determinative, but is a factor to be considered in the unreviewable exercise of discretion.

Continue using the I-9

USCIS has announced that, until further notice, employers should continue to use Form I-9, currently available on the forms section of the USCIS website, even though the OMB control number expiration date of August 31, 2012 has passed.

Attention Paris Visa Applicants!

As of July 29, 2012, all non-immigrant visa applicants must fill in the DS 160 application form and pay the MRV fee through purchase of a mandat compte before scheduling an appointment. The reference numbers of both the DS 160 and the mandat compte must be provided at time of scheduling.

The President at Natz ceremony

Can you name the Immigrant? this is GREAT

News on retrogression

On Tuesday, June 19, 2012, Roberta Freedman, AILA Students & Scholars Committee member, discussed the Visa Bulletin, visa demand in the employment preference categories, and predictions for FY2012 and beyond with Charlie Oppenheim of the Visa Office. Here are notes from that discussion: 2012 and 2013 News In October 2012 (beginning of the 2013 fiscal year), the EB-2 cut-off dates for China-Mainland born and India, which are currently "unavailable," will move to August or September 2007 (China may be slightly better). It is unlikely that the cut-off dates will move forward at all for the first two quarters of FY2013. If they do, it will only be if the Visa Office is convinced that there is insufficient demand for the rest of the year. Mr. Oppenheim's office already has 17,000 EB-2 cases for natives of India, China, and worldwide with priority dates after January 1, 2009, pre-adjudicated. There will be a lot of cases queued up for adjudication in October 2012, and it will take some time to get through them. EB-2 worldwide will be current in October 2012. If USCIS approves many pending cases during the month of June, the worldwide EB-2 category may retrogress or become unavailable for the rest of the year. Why did the priority dates move ahead so far and then retrogress so drastically? USCIS encouraged Mr. Oppenheim's office to move the categories forward so much in January, February, and March of 2012. USCIS reported that they had a lot of approved petitions but they were not receiving enough I-485s. USCIS wanted the cut-off dates moved even more in March 2012, but DOS resisted, since there already appeared to be heavy demand. In February, the demand had already increased 50%. In addition, USCIS said that they believed that adjudication of EB-1 cases would be at the same rate as last fiscal year, and this was not the case. It could be due to the fact that many EB-1 cases had very long adjudication times with USCIS. In addition, EB-5 usage has been higher this year. Unused EB-5 cases fall into EB-1, and unused EB-1 cases fall into EB-2. Applicants from China and India who filed will be waiting years for adjudication of their I-485s. USCIS also advised a 4-6 month timeline in the processing of I-485s, and then they processed a lot of cases in 3 months, which increased the demand as well for visa numbers this fiscal year. The group of cases that were filed in July and August of 2007, when all employment-based categories were made "current," were all completed by November 2011, and at that point, Mr. Oppenheim's office had to depend on USCIS estimates for adjudication of cases. Mr. Oppenheim's office had no pre-adjudicated cases that gave him a point of reference to determine what was left or pending. Mr. Oppenheim's office has been very clear that they do not like retrogression. Going forward: Another problem with trying to predict the demand is that no one is keeping statistics on EB-3-EB-2 "upgrades." Upgrades continue to be a big "wildcard," as no one knows how many are being used per year and no one is tracking it. Mr. Oppenheim confirmed his previous comments that both cases for a person remain open (so it looks like two numbers are being used) if a person is upgrading from EB-3 to EB-2, and only when the green card is approved does the duplicate file number go away. At that time, Mr. Oppenheim's office is told by USCIS to cancel a pending EB-3 case. Mr. Oppenheim's office believes that there are 10,000 to 15,000 numbers used for upgrades every fiscal year. In March 2012, alone, 3,200 numbers were used to approve China and India adjustments that were EB-3-EB-2 upgrades. The actual break down was 2,800 from India and 500 from China. All of these cases had priority dates before 2007, so clearly, they were upgrades. For example, 363 of the 2,800 EB-2 cases from India that were approved in March 2012, had a 2005 priority date. In March 2012, alone, over 1,000 numbers were used for applications from the worldwide quota that had priority dates before 2010, so these were likely upgrades as well. USCIS previously insisted that the number of upgrade cases was insignificant. Mr. Oppenheim's office tries to use 13,500 visas per quarter for all EB cases. This office already has more than 17,000 in line for FY2013. On Thursday, January 19, 2012, Business committee chair Mike Nowlan and Students & Scholars committee member, Roberta Freedman, discussed the Visa Bulletin, visa demand in the employment preference categories, and predictions for FY2012 with Charlie Oppenheim of the Visa Office. Notes from that discussion are: EB green card usage has been very slow in FY2012, so DOS is advancing the dates to see how many cases are out there. Mr. Oppenheim is relying on USCIS and their estimate. USCIS thought more would come in, but 50% their estimate have actually filed an AOS. This movement is due in large part to the clearing out of the EB-2 2007 AOS cases. Mr. Oppenheim reminds AILA that DOS cannot "see" the I-140 cases that are approved and for which adjustment of status had been requested prior to September 2010, though he can "see" cases for which consular processing is requested. Mr. Oppenheim could not speculate why usage is slow/low. Economy? Foreign nationals lost jobs? Low usage of EB-1 numbers is assumed again this year. A fall-down of 12,000 additional EB-1 numbers into EB-2 is calculated into Mr. Oppenheim's projections for 2012, although he thinks EB-1 number availability may be down by approximately 1,000 as compared to last year, due to heavier EB-5 usage since unused EB-5 numbers "spill up" to EB-1 and then down to EB-2. Mr. Oppenheim is very surprised by the severe downturn in EB-1 numbers. We cited the impact of Kazarian on USCIS filings and demand for EB-1-1 numbers, and the fact that it is difficult for an owner-beneficiary to obtain approval of EB-1-3 petitions. About 34% of the total number of permanent visas have been used this year, and 45% should be used by end of February. Adjustment of status through USCIS accounts for 85% to 90% of all EB green card cases. The impact on number usage of upgrades (EB-3 to EB-2) is still unknown. Upgrades were the reason the priority dates advanced so slowly in in the beginning of FY2011. For upgrades, the EB-3 case does not get cleared out of the system until the EB-2 for the same person is approved. Mr. Oppenheim also wonders whether demand is weak for visas for dependent family members, and so fewer green cards are needed. Mr. Oppenheim meets monthly with USCIS and the Ombudsman's office to review the receipt of cases. There was a recent meeting to discuss December numbers. There will be another review before he decides what he will do in March. Prediction: Employment-based priority dates will advance again with the March Visa Bulletin, likely by at least a few months. An advance of six months is possible, although an advance of one year is not likely. He will know as this month moves on. With normal USCIS adjustment of status processing times of four-to-six months, March is the last time for Mr. Oppenheim to get the AOS cases filed and possibly approved in FY2012. He will then probably hold the priority date over the summer, and then retrogress or advance it if needed. Mr. Oppenheim does not have enough data to predict demand and priority date changes in the last quarter of FY2012. • USCIS is agreeing to the priority date advances, though significant advances are bit of a gamble for USCIS, because if they get inundated with adjustment filings, and subsequently there is priority date retrogression, USCIS will have to process EAD and advance parole extensions without additional fees. As we all know, retrogression causes chaos.

Arizona immigration law unconstitutional... But

The U.S. Supreme Court today released its anticipated opinion in Arizona v. United States, ), the case concerning Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration legislation. Justice Kennedy wrote the opinion that was joined by Justices Roberts, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor. Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito dissented in part and concurred in part. Justice Kagan did not participate in deliberations. Of the four SB 1070 provisions before the Court, only one survived challenge: the provision allowing state police officers to investigate the immigration status of anyone they reasonably suspect is unlawfully present and that requires officers to check the status of everyone arrested. Interesting...