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[Blogger’s Note: This post — originally published on March 31, 2013 — is a guest column (updated on April 3, 2013) to reflect actions by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The original post was authored by a former federal government official who played a substantial role in immigration

Savings.jpgFrugality, something second nature to our colonial forebears, is a trait we Americans seem to have forgotten.  We are profligate in our material acquisitions and in their disposition. (Witness the growing mountains of toxic electronic waste that are almost as hard to be rid of as spent nuclear fuel.)   Saving for a rainy day

arts_a_head2.jpgThe purpose of the [Immigration and Nationality Act is] to prevent an influx of aliens which the economy of individual localities [cannot] absorb. . . . Entrepreneurs do not compete as skilled laborers. The activities of each entrepreneur are generally unique to his own enterprise, often requiring a special balance of skill, courage, intuition and

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The New I-9:

Why Now When We Need Immigration Amnesty for Employers?


By Nicole Kersey and Angelo A. Paparelli


Irony was plentiful last week in Washington and around the country. 

One particularly hawkish Republican, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (who never met a war-on-terror strategy he disliked), glommed onto Senator Rand Paul’s filibustery

lawyer with section of law.jpg“U.S. immigration law is like stratified rock, revealing layer on layer of Congressional accretions laid down over many years, with the superstructure upended in tectonic shifts triggered by the baffling and contradictory interpretations of multiple agencies and courts.” 

Nothing of substance has changed since I offered that post last August, save for a groundbreaking election that

Cabinet_of_Dr_Caligari_1920_Lobby_Card.jpgOne of the most challenging elements of comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) has long been the need for consensus on the legal, temporary entry of essential foreign workers. This plan for “future flows” of guest workers is critical if we are to reduce the incentive of unauthorized migrants to crash the border.

The lack of agreement between

Wild rabbit in the meadow.jpgWinston Churchill, whose mother was American (Jennie Jerome of Brooklyn), could just as well have been speaking about the components of comprehensive immigration reform.  Instead he was commenting on the Allies’ post-World War II plans for world governance when, in the summer of 1942 with the war yet unwon, he said:

I hope these speculative studies

people mover.jpgSteadfastly opposing a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants, the anti-immigration crowd has long trumpeted an array of related memes:

  • Why don’t they just get into line like everyone else?
  • Why don’t they wait their turn?
  • Why don’t they just follow the law?
  • Why should we reward lawbreakers who disrespect our laws?
  • Why should those

dsc_5254.jpg[Blogger’s note:  Today’s guest blog is by my friend and scholarly colleague, Nathan Waxman.  Nathan revisits an issue he first considered eight years ago in this space when he bemoaned the increasingly poor quality of ethnically authentic food in New York City, and laid the blame upon our immigration laws.  Having suffered through several

violence 2.jpgBipartisan outrage erupted in the House last week, with usually loyal Republicans among the most furious and outspoken in the GOP-controlled chamber. Rep. Peter King, a Long Island Republican, chastised House leaders for conduct that is “absolutely inexcusable . . . absolutely indefensible.” Declaiming that “we cannot just walk away from our responsibilities,” King