WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of immigrants and activists rallied here on Sunday, calling for legislation this year to give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants and seeking to pressure President Obama to keep working on the contentious issue once the health care debate is behind him. (more…)

Almost three years ago, Congress tried to reform the nation’s broken immigration system but fell short of the mark. The core questions of what to do about undocumented immigrants already living in the United States and about those who are sure to seek our shores in the future thwarted political agreement and shut down congressional negotiations in 2007. Under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, deployment of new enforcement strategies and the allocation of enforcement resources have multiplied. Nonetheless, the inherent systemic dysfunction has deepened, and the public call for solutions has amplified.

That legislative battle for immigration reform now looms again on the horizon. There are three options for restoring order to our immigration system: (more…)

Washington, DC – A new survey by Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) of American voters on immigration reform finds broad support across religious groups for a comprehensive approach and strong approval for clergy speaking out on the issue. On Tuesday, March 23 at 2:00 p.m., prominent leaders from the religious community will join Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute and one of the nation’s leading researchers on religion and politics, on a conference call with journalists to discuss the significance of the survey results. As immigration reform efforts resume around the country, the survey provides timely data about American voters’ attitudes on the issue and the influence of religion and values on those attitudes. (more…)

First Concrete Steps in List of Demands from Advocates

Washington DC – Today, the Washington Post published a joint op-ed from Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) outlining their framework for comprehensive immigration reform. The White House immediately praised the Senators for their leadership and pledged “to do everything in my power to forge a bipartisan consensus this year…” The following is a statement by Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum and Chair of the Reform Immigration FOR America campaign. (more…)

Washington D.C.- Today, in the Washington Post, Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC) laid out their blueprint for immigration reform legislation, noting that the American people want Congress to reform the badly broken immigration system. Their framework, welcomed by the President in a statement also released today, rests on four pillars: ending illegal employment through biometric Social Security cards, enhancing border and interior enforcement, managing the flow of future immigration to correspond to economic realities, and creating a tough but fair path toward legalization for the 11 million people currently in the U.S. without authorization. While there will undoubtedly be intense debate over the specifics of each component, the framework marks an important bipartisan step forward on an issue that has been mired in political controversy and held up by both parties for too long. (more…)

Washington, DC – This week marks the 30th Anniversary of the Refugee Act of 1980. Since that law took effect, the United States has provided refuge for hundreds of thousands of persons who have been forced to flee because of fear they would be persecuted and tortured in their home country. In recent years, however, often in response to security concerns, new laws, legal interpretations, and administrative decisions have created obstacles keeping deserving individuals from gaining refuge in the U.S. On March 15, to improve our ability to protect vulnerable people, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Carl Levin (D-MI) introduced the Refugee Protection Act of 2010. The following is a statement by Brittney Nystrom, Director of Policy and Legal Affairs of the National Immigration Forum, a non-partisan, non-profit pro-immigrant advocacy organization in Washington. (more…)

Washington D.C. – This Thursday at 1:30PM Eastern, leaders from the faith, labor, and immigration reform communities will gather on a telephonic press conference to provide an update about this weekend’s “March for America” in Washington, DC, and outline their expectations for legislative action in Congress this year. (more…)

A. STATUTORY NUMBERS

1.  This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during April. Consular officers are required to report to the Department of State documentarily qualified applicants for numerically limited visas; the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security reports applicants for adjustment of status.  Allocations were made, to the extent possible under the numerical limitations, for the demand received by May 9th in the chronological order of the reported priority dates. If the demand could not be satisfied within the statutory or regulatory limits, the category or foreign state in which demand was excessive was deemed oversubscribed.  The cut-off date for an oversubscribed category is the priority date of the first applicant who could not be reached within the numerical limits.  Only applicants who have a priority date earlier than the cut-off date may be allotted a number.  Immediately that it becomes necessary during the monthly allocation process to retrogress a cut-off date, supplemental requests for numbers will be honored only if the priority date falls within the new cut-off date which has been announced in this bulletin. (more…)