As expected, Congress has agreed on an on an omnibus appropriations bill that the President has signaled he will sign. Congress has passed a stopgap spending measure to give the bill to fund the government until the new bill is passed. I will review them in this post.
The United States Citizenship Services (USCIS) periodically updates its immigration forms. In this post, I will list the Forms that have been changed from October of 2015 to December of 2015 and the older versions of the changed forms that will still be accepted.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services released the January 2016 Visa Bulletin for adjustment of status applicants. I have included the charts in my post.
Mike Huckabee is far from the best candidate in this field. His intense focus and rigidity on social issues would serve to damage the Party and important conservative issues in the general election. While he has a reputation as a conservative, his record as Governor of Arkansas pales in comparison to the allegedly (in some circles) moderate Jeb Bush and Chris Christie. Although he would certainly be better than Hillary Clinton, he is weak relative to the strong field of Republican candidates in 2016.
I have always admired Senator Graham’s principles and passion for strengthening the Republican Party. On foreign policy, Senator Graham has been a true friend of Israel. While I question some of his policy preferences in Syria, he always brings an important and educated perspective to our foreign policy debates. Ultimately, his campaign is too weak to consider voting for, but his perspective and insight make every debate that he is a part of worth watching.
Despite his experience and a generally conservative record in his one term and change as Governor of Ohio, I cannot recommend supporting Governor Kasich in the primary. Rather than consistently campaigning on conservative ideas, he has consistently made an effort to appeal to media outlets that only like “conservatives” who attack conservatism. He would be vastly preferable to any of the Democrats, but he is a weak candidate relative to the better options we have to choose from in this field.
On December 11, 2015, the U.S. House of Representatives followed the U.S. Senate in passing a continuing resolution to fund the government through December 16. Of interest to those of us who are interested in immigration, this will extend funding for the EB5, Conrad 30 J Waiver Program, Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religions Worker Programs, and E-Verify for the duration of the continuing resolution.
In November of 2015, the Executive Office of Immigration Review appointed six new assistant chief immigration judges and swore in two new immigration judges. This post will discuss the EOIR announcements.
The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) for the Department of Justice (DOJ) provided an interesting Technical Assistance Letter (TAL) to an immigration attorney who requested an advisory opinion on how her client should seek to comply with the requirements of section 274a of the INA (relating to not employing aliens who lack employment authorization) without violating 274b (prohibitions on discriminatory conduct in employment-related matters).
Fiorina has shown impressive policy acumen and speaking ability throughout the campaign thus far. She is by far the most qualified candidate of the three candidates who have never held elected office. While she has little chance of being the nominee, Fiorina is worth your consideration in the primary.
