The City of Oakland won a $15 million judgment against an organization that allegedly charged thousands of dollars for deficient legal services. Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker called the organization a “morally bankrupt enterprise.” The San Francisco Chronicle reports that American Legal Services defrauded immigrants by claiming its consultants were attorneys. These consultants allegedly promised to
On December 1, 2013 the priority dates for employment-based petitions filed in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories for Indian citizens will retrogress from 2008 to 2004. According to the Department of State, cut-off dates in these categories “were advanced very rapidly at the end of fiscal year 2013” but were “based strictly on the availability of
On November 7, 2013, a group of mostly immigrant women occupied the Bakersfield, California office of House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy. The group demanded that the California Republican commit to bringing a bipartisan immigration bill to the floor in the House of Representatives. Congressman McCarthy met with the women, who staged a sit-in in
On October 17, 2013, the American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) of California and the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project sent a letter requesting that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) investigate actions of the Bakersfield, California ICE office. According to ACLU reports, “ICE agents have repeatedly raided Kern County courthouses in recent years, rounding up residents waiting to
The federal government recently issued guidance on how health care reform will impact non-US citizen foreign nationals who live in the US. Healthcare.gov published, “What do immigrant families need to know about the Marketplace?” The guidance clarifies which “lawfully present” foreign nationals will be eligible to buy private health insurance through the new “Marketplace.” “Lawfully present”