- New Form DS-160 Submitted Online - Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
Non-immigrant visas are for foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States for a temporary period of time. The type of visa a foreign national will apply for will depend on the purpose of the trip. Non-immigrant visas can be for study, tourism, or business, to name a few. Individuals who applied for a non-immigrant visa in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and are scheduled for an interview after January 20, 2009, must now use the electronic form DS-160 which is available online at ceac.state.gov/genniv.
This recent change requires all applicants, regardless of the type of visa applied for, to submit the form online prior to their appointment at the Consulate General. Once the form is submitted online, the applicant is required to print the confirmation page and take the confirmation page to their appointment.
Please visit the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez’s Web site for more information: http://ciudadjuarez.usconsulate.gov/non-immigrant_visas.html.
- Immigration Officials Curb Sedation OName
Here's a bit of good news from Immigration and Customs Enforcement - ICE is reducing the number of deportees they sedate, and is using less-powerful drugs when they do sedate people. Here are excerpts from an article in the Dallas Morning News:
Federal immigration officials, over the past year, have dramatically curtailed the controversial practice of sedating deportees with powerful anti-psychotic medication.
The move followed court challenges and a public outcry over the practice, which often involved the use of Haldol, a drug used to treat schizophrenia.
Over the past six years, through October, federal immigration personnel sedated 384 deportees, an average of 64 a year, the government disclosed. Of those cases, 356 involved the use of Haldol.
Critics said there had been no effective oversight of the process, and some continue to say that the policy violates medical ethics. They praised the use of the court order and sedation restrictions.
Though the agency has dramatically reduced its use of Haldol to sedate deportees, the practice remains controversial.
Haldol is used to treat schizophrenia and such psychotic symptoms as hallucinations, delusions and hostility.
Medical authorities say the use of Haldol carries potential complications. The drug can trigger such adverse reactions as muscular spasms and a condition known as neuroleptic malignant syndrome that can result in a coma and even death if left untreated.
- Get Your Fee Refunded If No Expedited Passport Service
Individuals who applied for U.S passports, paid the additional $60 for expedited service, and have reason to believe they did not receive the expedited service, may request a refund of the $60 expedited passport fee. Refunds are determined by the Department of State on a case-by-case basis. If you applied for your passport, paid the $60 expedited service fee, had a planned trip, did not receive your passport in time for the trip, and reasonably believe the service was not expedited, e-mail your refund request to refundsatpassportservices@state.gov.
Please visit the Department of State’s Web site for more information.
- Editorial: New Texas ID Provides Useful Immigration Tool
An editorial in the Dallas Morning News today reaches the opposite conclusion than my earlier posts on the new Texas drivers licenses for immigrants. The News believes this will reduce profiling, and I think it will increase discrimination against legal immigrants.
We don't ask FBI agents to stop searching for kidnap victims in order to write speeding tickets in school zones, so I don't know why we should ask local police officers to enforce federal immigration laws. Here are excerpts from the editorial:
There are reasons to be squeamish about the new "temporary visitor" licenses and ID cards that the Department of Public Safety now issues to legal immigrants. There are also strong justifications, and, on balance, they outweigh the drawbacks.
The vertical layout of the new card is designed to distinguish its holder as someone deserving of extra scrutiny, which doesn't sit well with many people. Immigrants might feel they're getting a mixed message. We tell them to assimilate, but we issue them a special ID that says: You're not one of us.
Yet this new format and the security measures behind it are necessary. There are 12 million or more illegal immigrants residing in America, and according to a 2006 Pew Hispanic Center study, nearly half of them arrived legally but overstayed their visas.
The new cards specifically address this problem, getting rid of the standard expiration periods that allowed immigrants to drive legally or present a valid ID even though they were in the country illegally. Instead, temporary visitors' licenses will expire when their visas expire. The vertical format – the same one used for minors – tells law enforcement personnel to be extra vigilant.
Critics say the vertical card unnecessarily stigmatizes immigrants. Besides, the expiration date is all that reaName
- In Farmers Branch, Hispanics Now Top Demographic Group
There is an interesting twist to the continuing sage of the Farmers Branch, Texas efforts to restrict housing in that city to legal residents, and to exclude illegal immigrants. The latest census data show that Hispanics are now the largest demographic group in Farmers Branch, edging out whites. This was the subject of a story in the Dallas Morning News, and here are excerpts:
New census data shows the complexion of Farmers Branch is changing dramatically, giving activists fresh ammunition for their legal efforts and adding fuel to the debates over representation and illegal immigration in the city.
The estimates, released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau, reveal that Hispanics have eclipsed whites to become the city's largest demographic group. Residents overall are skewing older, and the median household income has declined.
On the city's biggest issue – its ongoing efforts to drive illegal immigrants from the city – the information is far less conclusive.
The figures, part of the American Community Survey, represent a composite of surveys taken from 2005 to 2007. It provides the first look at Farmers Branch socioeconomically and demographically since the 2000 Census. A Dallas Morning News analysis of the statistics showed:
•Hispanics accounted for 46.7 percent of the city's population, while whites made up 46.1 percent. In 2000, whites accounted for 55.8 percent, compared with 37.2 percent for Hispanics.
•The number of residents who speak Spanish at home increased, while the number who speak only English decreased.
•Home values have risen, but the majority of homes are valued at $150,000 or less.
Experts caution against drawing too many conclusions from the data, because some of the figures are built upon estimates with a significant margin of error. But they agree that the information draws a compelling picture of change.
Council member Tim Scott, who reviewed the census figures, said the statistics show a city in desperate need of renewal.
Residents who lived in their homes for decades have moved out, leaving aging houses that draw new residents with lower income and education levels, Mr. Scott said.
"That's just not sustainable as a city going forward, which is why we need some wholesale revitalization," he said.
Besides the voting rights lawsuit, Farmers Branch has been tied up in litigation over efforts to ban most illegal immigrants from renting apartments and homes.
- B-2 Extension of Status Application
