New York, May 2010
The United States Immigration Newsletter
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Fewer Green Cards to Indians
 Washington, D.C.:
For the past three years the number of people from India that was awarded legal
permanent residency has declined steadily. Last year more than one million
people were awarded permanent residency in the United States. More than 57,000
of the new residents – a little over five percent – were from India. This means
that Indians made up the fourth largest nationality group of people who became
permanent residents in 2009. However, in the 2008 the number of new green card
holders from India was over 63,000 and in 2007 it was over 65,000, all numbers
from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Gaining legal
permanent resident status – or a green card – is a major step toward U.S. citizenship. Therefore many of those who want to immigrate, and to live and work in the U.S. in the future, would seek to obtain permanent residency. The larges nationality group to get permanent residency in 2009 consisted of Mexicans, who made up 15 percent of all new green card holders in 2009. Most of the new permanent residents have lived in the U.S. several years before obtaining residency. |
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Senate Majority Leader promises Immigration Overhaul
 Las Vegas, NV:
Legislators will start working on reforming America’s immigration system as soon as they are back from the Congressional recess, the U.S. Senate majority leader said at an immigration rally in early April. Harry Reid, a Democrat from
Nevada who is currently campaigning to be re-elected as a U.S. Senator, spoke to more than 6,000 people, most of them immigrants, at the immigration rally in down-town Las Vegas. “We need to do this this year,” he said. “We cannot wait.” Senator Reid’s promise to start work on
immigration reform came as a surprise to many as the Senate is already divided after the health care reform was passed recently. The immigration rally in Las Vegas was the largest of several demonstrations around the country, with immigrants demanding immigration reform this year. Many immigrants are angry with president Obama for having postponed immigration reform. One Las Vegas immigrant said, “I’m very unhappy with President Obama because he said this would be the first thing he did when he was elected.” Two other senators, Lindsey Graham, a Republican from California, And Charles E. Schumer, a Democrat from New York, have been working on an immigration bill. But Graham has said that he doesn’t think there is enough support from Republicans. |
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New Immigration Law Changes Obama’s plans
 Washington, D.C.:
President Obama and his administration is being affected by a recently enacted
Arizona law aimed at illegal immigrants. Officials from the White House says the law shows that federal immigration law does not work well enough, and that if congress doesn’t take actions on the issue soon, states will make a numerous laws that won’t fix the real problems, which are
border security and 11 million illegal immigrants. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says the president has called the new Arizona law a “wake-up call for the federal government to act.” Obama’s strategy has been to wait for Senators Lindsey Graham, a
Republican from South Carolina, and Charles Schumer, Democrat from New York to write a proposal that could be backed by both parties. The two senators have worked on the proposal for months, but Graham has recently said that the White House should come up with a plain of its own. But earlier Graham is said to have asked Obama in a meeting to help “round up” some Republicans that would vote for the change. The new Arizona law allows local authorities to prosecute illegal immigrants. The law has been described as the toughest anti-immigration law in the U.S.. |
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Immigration Policies Complicate Employment
 Aurora, CO:
Business owners who rely on seasonal workers to get through the busy season say immigration rules are complicated and wastes resources.
They are not confident that policies will change for the better any time soon either. Mike Leman, owner of Singing Hills Landscape, Inc in Aurora, has relied on seasonal workers from Mexico since the mid 90s. The reason is that it is hard to get American workers or workers with permanent residency that are willing to take seasonal jobs. He says the
H-2B program that allows the workers to come to the U.S. to work should be simplified. For example, people who have been working the busy season for Singing Hill every year for decades still have to spend two days each year to do background checks and interviews. And each year the workers have to take the driver’s test again, because the license expires along with the visa. |
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Citizen Living Abroad? – Still Need to File Your Taxes
 Manila, Philippines:
While citizens of most countries don’t have to pay tax to their home country if they don’t live or work there, citizens and residents of the U.S. might owe taxes to the IRS regardless of where they live or
work. This is because Americans owe federal taxes on their world-wide income. Those who live abroad are bound by the same tax laws as those back in the U.S. Overseas citizens who fail to file their tax return while living abroad may find that they owe substantial amounts in interests and penalties to the tax authorities should they ever return to live in the U.S. On the other hand a U.S. citizen or resident who lives overseas and meets the requirements can claim exclusions or deductions for foreign income and housing. They can also claim foreign tax credit for taxes paid in a foreign country. Those and other rules are in place to reduce double taxation. It shows that for
a U.S. citizen or
resident it’s important to know the taxation rules of both the U.S. and the foreign country. |
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Democrats Proposes Immigration Reform
 Washington, D.C.:
Democrat leaders in the Senate has revealed the outlines of a new
immigration law that will seek to strengthen the U.S. border security first, and later offer a way for
illegal immigrants to become residents. The Democrats says they will seek Republican support for the proposed legislature with the help of President Obama. Obama, on the other hand has said that Congress might not have “appetite” for an immigration reform at this stage. But he still thinks the proposal is “a very important step” and says he will work to get the support of both Democrats and Republicans. The Democrats are led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid from Nevada, who is up for reelection in a state where 15 percent of the voters are Hispanic. He claims Democrats and republicans agree that the “immigration system is broken and needs to fixed.” But some Republicans have said that the proposal is just a try to gain voter support in the upcoming elections, and even that the proposal “poisons the well” for those who work for more secure border. |
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