Organizational Changes Within the USCIS

Information about organizational changes within the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' regional, district and field offices has been posted. The notice contains a list of districts which are denoted by their unique number. For example, the District 3 office is located in New York City. District 4 encompasses New Jersey and includes the main office located in Newark, New Jersey as well as a smaller office located in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. District 5 (Pennsylvannia) includes the main office in Philadelphia and a smaller one in Pittsburgh. Other locations are available for viewing.

A Shortage of Tolerance Among Those Promoting It

Emily Brooker, a student attending Missouri State University, became of victim of political correctness when she opted to abide by her conscience rather than give in to demands that she support a policy that would allow adoptions by homosexuals. Allegedly, a professor of a class, attended by Emily Brooker, assigned a project requiring students to write and sign a letter supporting the adoption policy. The letter was to be sent to the Missouri legislature. Emily refused based on the biblical values she holds.

Consequently Emily was accused of violating "Standards of Essential Functioning in Social Work Education;" a serious charge. The three specific standards which she was alleged to have violated were: Diversity, Interpersonal Skills and Professional Behavior. A threat to withhold her degree was allegedly made.

In addition, Emily was interrogated by an ethics committee composed of faculty members. She was alleged to have been subjected to questions like "Do you think gays and lesbians are sinners?" and "Do you think I am a sinner?"

As a result the Alliance Defense Fund filed a complaint on Emily's behalf in federal district court in support of her First Amendment rights. Although the mainstream media did not pick up on the story, it was publicized by some faith based organizations. A copy of the filed complaint can be viewed here.

The case was settled out of court. The university affirmed Emily's First Amendment rights and cleansed her recodrd of the grievance. The university also agreed to pay Emily's tuition for two years of graduate school. The professor involved was removed from his administrative duties. He is on non-teaching leave for the remainder of the semester.

Checking the Status of Your Case

If you have filed an application and have the application receipt number, you may be able to obtain information about the status of your case online. The application number contains 13 characters and begins with the prefix letters EAC, WAC, LIN or SRC. Go to this webpage and submit your receipt number inside the indicated box. Then click on search.

Alternatively, you can call the following toll free number and make your inquiry based on the same receipt number.

Call 1-800-375-5283

Form I-9: A Legal Requirement

An article authored by Gregory Siskind, Esq. entitled 'I-9 Forms and IRCA Compliance' can be viewed at the linked site. Siskind does a good job of explaining both the requirements of IRCA- the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986- and the I-9 Form which relates to IRCA. As Siskind points out, employers are affected by obligations imposed by IRCA, even those employing only United States citizens. Some of Siskind's points are summarized.

Employers are required by law to demand documents from employees that are considered sufficient to verify both the identity of the employee and proof that the employee is authorized to work. A form known as the I-9 is used to record information related to emplyees and their work authorization. Employees must complete an I-9 form when they are hired and employers must comply with the verification requirements related to the form. Employers are responsible for maintaing the form and need to have it available if necessary to document their compliance with IRCA. Failure to comply can entail costly fines and disqualification from landing government contracts. Adverse publicity can also result.

The I-9 form is a one page form with three sections. The first section requires biographical information about the employee. In this part the employee must certify that he or she is a citizen of the United States, a legal permanent resident of the United States or an alien who is authorization to work based on some other immigration status. The second section of the I-9 must be completed by the employer. The documents presented by the employee are recognized in this section. The third section allows for periodic updates by employers.

So what types of documents satisfy the legal requirements of IRCA? There are two classes of documents corresponding to the two leagl requirements. Proof of identity can be met by presenting a driver's license among other things and proof of employment authorization can consist of a social security card or an immigration document authorizing employment. There are also documents that satisfy both requirements- identity and employment authorization. Examples include United States passports and legal permanent resident alien cards commonly known as green cards. The employee has a choice as to what documents to present as long as the documents satisfy the legal requirements. Employers cannot legally restrict the options to just a subset of documents like for example, U.S. passports or green cards.

The I-9 requirement is not applicable in certain circumstances. Applicants not hired, unpaid volunteers and independent contractors need not fill out I-9s. In addition unless the gap between employment periods exceeds three years, rehired employees are likewise exempt.

I-9s can be completed and stored on computers. Legislation passed in October 2004 made this possible. I-9 forms need to be kept for current employees and for former employees from three years after their hiring date or at least a year after termination. The latest of the two dates applies.

There are some aliens who are authorizaed to work but only until a specified date. For such employees an employer is obligated to, not only note the expiration date on the I-9 Form, but also to re-verify any extensions the worker receives on the I-9 Form. Since as the word permanent implies, legal permanent resident aliens are not subject to limited work authorizations as their re-verification requirements do not apply to them.

Siskind had this to say about possible fines pertainig to I-9 related violations.

"Fines for hiring unauthorized workers will amount to anywhere from $250 to $5,500 per worker depending on the prior history of violation. Employers can also be barred from competing for government contracts for a year if they knowingly hire or continue to employ unauthorized aliens. Paperwork violations can also result in significant fines. Each mistake or missing item on a form can result in a $100 penalty up to $1000 for each form. A missing form would automatically be assessed at $1000. An employer, for example, that had 100 employees and did not complete I-9 Forms might face a $100,000 fine."

A Skewed Value System

Prison Fellowship is an organization that has ministered to the needs of prisoners throughout the United States. Although it champions Christian values, non-Christian inmates are beneficiaries of its services. InnerChange Freedom Initiative was a highly successful program affiliated with Prison Fellowship until its operations were the target of a court order occasioned by a lawsuit filed by Barry Lynn and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Reduced recitivism was a by-product of this well administered program. That brings me to the point of this post. While organizations like Americans United for Separation of Church and State strive to rid our prison systems of any connection to Christian organizations, even when benefits derived from the services provided by them are well documented, literature supplied by extreme Muslim organizations, openly sympathetic to al-Qaeda, proliferate and recruitment follows suit. Prisons have become breeding grounds for home grown terrorists. So is this being challenged? That's the other shocking aspect of this. While Christian organizations with good track records are legally handcuffed, Muslim extremism not only thrives; it goes unchallenged.

What's wrong with this picture? Plenty, but at the heart of it lies a religious conflict. In this case it is not so much Christianity at odds with Islam as it is Christianity at odds with secularism. At its core religion is about values. True values are believed to be divinely ordained by both Christianity and Islam. Secularists depart from this view but their preoccupation with the deity is no less obvious.

The interesting part of this involves analyzing why Americn leftists and leftist organizations have a double standard toward religion depending on whether it is embodied by Christianity or Islam. As Mark Early has observed: "Shouldn't we be more concerned with removing radical Islamic literature from our prisons than removing the Bible?"

One would think so but the left views conservative Christians as their primary enemy and Muslims as a group to include in "diversity" programs. The innane policies spawned by this attitude have awakened the interest of normally left leaning academia. A study involving both the University of Virginia and George Washington University resulted in a recommendation that a federal commission be created to investigate the problem.

The InnerChange Freedom Initiative was a voluntary program that was working for inmates of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. It was part of the solution; not the problem. Wresting control of our prisons from extremists and hypocritical boosters of church and state separation may be an uphill battle but it is one that is necessary.