Departments of Justice and Education Remind Local Agencies that All Children, Regardless of Immigration Status, Are Eligible for Public Education.

May 09, 2011: Late last week the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education issued a notice reminding state and local agencies that all children, regardless of their parents' real or perceived immigration status, are given the right to equal access to public education at the elementary and secondary level. The two federal departments noted that they had received information that there have been recent incidences in the U.S. in which student enrollment was hindered based on a child's family's immigration status. The agencies remind all stakeholders that such practices go against federal law and that all children residing in the U.S. must be given equal educational opportunities.

As stated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and supported by mandates from the Supreme Court, state and local educational agencies cannot discriminate on the basis of race, color or national origin and students cannot be barred from enrolling in elementary or secondary-level public school on the basis of their citizenship or immigration status of that of their parents. Any such infringement is a form of unlawful discrimination.

Read the full message at: http://1.usa.gov/jsRUJX

Napolitano Announces New Immigration Index to Measure Effects of Border Security on US Residents Living at the US/Mexico Border.

May 06, 2011: Janet Napolitano, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has announced a new immigration index to measure border security at the Southwestern border of the United States in a more pertinent fashion than such data are currently recorded and analyzed. This new index, Napolitano says, will look beyond simple statistics of crime and will look more deeply into environmental damage, levels of personal security and the economic impact to U.S. residents living near the border with Mexico.

To describe the intricacy of information that will be in the immigration index, Napolitano described examples of data that would be collected, including data such as "calls from hospitals to report suspected illegal aliens, traffic accidents involving illegal aliens or narcotics smugglers, rates of vehicle theft and numbers of abandoned vehicles, impacts on property values, and other measures of economic activity and environmental impacts."

USCIS Posts Final RFE Template for Aliens of Extraordinary Ability.

May 04, 2011: USCIS has just posted a revised final RFE template for Form I-140 E11, the Alien of Extraordinary Ability Form. This template was updated to incorporate stakeholder feedback received by USCIS after posting the template in its Feedback Opportunities website section. This updated template, USCIS says, will be posted online for a total of 10 days for stakeholder visibility. USCIS Service Centers plan to immediately begin using the template.

Access the template online at: http://dhsconnect.dhs.gov/uscis/news/Documents/E11%20RFE%20Template_04212011.pdf

USCIS and USPS Implement Secure Mail Initiative.

May 02, 2011: USCIS recently posted a notice informing the public that it has fully implemented the Secure Mail Initiative (SMI). This initiative uses the U.S. Postal Service's (USPS) Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation option to deliver certain immigration documents in a secure, safe and timely manner. This initiative was made possible through a partnership between USCIS and USPS and enables USCIS to confirm that permanent residence cards and documents related to travel and employment authorization were successfully delivered to recipients.

Through the use of USPS tracking data, applicants can easily access delivery information and stay up to date on the status of their documents. In addition, the new initiative will enable a speedier delivery process; on average, documents sent through priority mail will arrive two to four business days earlier than if they were sent via first-class mail.

USCIS Undergoing 'Transformation' to Electronic Environment.

Apr 27, 2011: USCIS is moving closer to being a fully electronic organization, according to Alejandro Mayorkas, USCIS director. Last week, Mayorkas announced that he wishes to transform the agency into a more streamlined paperless service.

"We are a paper-based agency, what that means is that all of our records are really kept in paper form and that is not very efficient. It has implications of operations, cost efficiency and accuracy," Mayorkas said.

As part of this continued transformation, USCIS is currently converting Form I-539, the Extension of Change of Status into an electronic version and giving applicants the ability to create online accounts to manage their immigration status.

According to Mayorkas, the agency is current undergoing a 'transformation,' an effort to fully modernize USCIS. USCIS has a multi-year effort underway to move to a fully electronic environment in which all records are maintained in electronic form. Mayorkas noted that such a transformation would enable better access to services for applicants and lead to major cost savings for the agency.

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