10/3/2006

The recent announcement of the Comprehensive Immigration Enforcement Strategy by the Secretary of DHS and the Assistant Secretary of BICE/DHS looks on the surface the crackdown of illegal aliens or undocumented aliens. However, close reading of the announcement will reflect that the DHS will take a tougher enforcement policy against the violation of immigration rules and laws as well as criminal violations in the adjudication of immigrant and nonimmigrant proceedings. 

There is a report that a Pakistani H-1B professional in H-1B for the first time faced a denial of H-1B 8th-year extension for his apparent conviction of DWI in Texas years ago. Despite the misdemeanor criminal conviction, the H-1B professional had no problem in H-1B extensions in the past for change of employer or for other purposes until the recent denial.

Immigrant community has been using the term "illegal" alien or "undocumented" alien loosely as though it only meant those cross borders without inspections or "overstay" aliens. However, it means more than EWI (Entered Without Inspection) aliens and Overstay aliens. Any violation of immigration rules and laws can affect the alien's legal status and could have gone unnoticed by the immigration services as well as the involved aliens themselves. 

The ongoing electronization of filing and adjudication process and sharing of the databases among the law enforcement authorities, including the immigration agencies, will increasingly make minor details of immigration violations available to the law enforcement agencies. The announcement of tougher immigration law enforcement against the violators including criminals should be taken seriously by all the immigrants and they should relook at their records of maintenance of nonimmigrant status or any previous violation of nonimmigrant status. Tougher enforcement policy can reach much wider and broader stakeholders. The term "tolerance" can turn into a thing of the past.

 

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