Federal contractors, Congress and the Obama administration have yet another respite, this time until May 21, 2009, to decide what to do about E-Verify. In a notice to be published today in the Federal Register, contractors and subs who enter into covered agreements with the federal government need not enroll for now in E-Verify.

The end of one presidency and the start of another often spark strange behaviors in Washington, especially when spiked with the catnip of immigration.

Remember the Nannygates of years past when Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood (Clinton nominees for Attorney General) and Linda Chavez (Bush’s Secretary of Labor Designate) all fell from grace for housing…

For several months, I’ve looked into the immigration tea leaves and seen the need to make a major career change. Immigration law has reached game-changing inflection points in the past: The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986; the Immigration Act of 1990; The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

Each…

Last week, a client died unexpectedly, and two government officials tasked with administering the immigration laws retired after long careers of honorable service.

The client, a renaissance man of many talents, was remembered by a throng of mourners representing a wide cross-section of the community — academia, local government, the arts, family and friends. I…

This month, the Task force for New Americans (chaired by the Secretary of Homeland Security) issued a generally commendable document, Building an Americanization Movement for the Twenty-first Century, A Report to the President of the United States from the Task Force on New Americans. The report talks about the importance of Americanization, which it defines…

These days, the news on immigration seems like one large and scary technology mashup. The evidence is everywhere:

• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) publishes a final rule that authorizes the taking of DNA specimens from persons merely detained (not necessarily found liable) for alleged civil violations of the immigration laws.
• DHS reports to

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The Wall Street types came first, and save for the unsaved Lehman Brothers, bailout delectables were generously doled out. Next came the hungry insurance behemoth, AIG, the large and small banks, the credit-card lenders and the makers of consumer loans. Each voraciously consumed their bailout largess.

Last, came the Big Three U.S. automakers, the UAW…

The two-year presidential campaign created new legions of policy wonks. Now, with the Bush-to-Obama interregnum in full swing, the wonks have turned into an avid audience observing the jo-ha-kyū movements of Kabuki theatre as performed by the new administration-in-waiting.

On the immigration front, the thoughtful and deliberate character of the President-elect is on full, if…