Immigration policies are the most confusing and they vary greatly for each and every country. This becomes even more confusing when it involves same sex couples. The main criterion that remains is that ability of one partner to sponsor the other. This is in a case where one of the partners is the citizen of a particular while the other is planning to immigrate and apply for a citizenship.
In most parts of the world, only heterosexual couples where in one of the partners is a foreigner are permitted to apply for residence. There are only nineteen countries in the world that permit homosexuals to sponsor their foreign partners. Due to this, most such couples are forced to live separately in their country of origin or become undocumented residents.
Similar to most countries, the United States does not recognize the couples of same sex as per their Defense of Marriage Act (1996). However, the Permanent Partners Immigration Act was brought about in 2000. This act has been re – introduced in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007. It was done under Uniting American Families Act. But these bills did not see any progress when it was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
In a recent advent on the issue for similar and equal rights for immigration, the Uniting American Families Act was sponsored again in both the Houses by Representative Nadler and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). This bill was brought out again in February 2009 to set the same – sex couples in the same league as those of heterosexual couples.
Seventy – five percent out of the Green Cards given out to the one million residents were heterosexual spouses. This is as per the American Civil Liberties Union. According to the 2000 US census, off the 594,391 same sex couples who are not married, around six percent comprise of one partner not being a citizen of the United States.
All in all, action has to be taken which could help cut down immigration problems.
As Australia is bringing changes to its immigration policies, many industrial sectors are worried about the labor shortages in the coming days! The immigration department of the country recently announced that it is going to replace its existing list of skilled occupations with a new list. Reportedly, the new list would include those occupations that are in high demand in Australia.
The changes to skilled migration policy will focus on occupations that are particularly in demand at the present scenario. Some of the occupations of this sort include healthcare, mining and engineering. But, these changes may lead to a labor crisis in many other sectors- hospitality being one of the sectors. According to a hospitality professional, who is the chief executive of Restaurant and Catering Australia, the new list of occupations may seem attractive to the Oz government, but he does not think it would meet the labor shortage in certain sectors.
To top it, Peter Doyle, the association’s president asserted that this particular hospitality industry in Australia always has the demand for skilled cooks ever since 1956, when Australia hosted the Olympic Games. But, the nation had never in a condition to meet the demand. Thus, he believes Australia should bring foreign culinary students to fill the demand for cooks.
Even thought the Immigration department announces the implementation of new changes in the skilled migration policies, the changes are not disclosed yet. The new list of occupations will be released towards the end of April this year.
According to reports in Women’s Day, Pauline Hanson, former anti-immigration politician of Oz land, is moving towards the UK, stating that she had enough of living in the land of Kangaroos and the same is no longer decked with opportunities too!
The lady at the age of 56 is pretty sure that she wants to move to the UK and confirms that its goodbye forever! She went on to say that she needs contentment in her life. Her father was born in UK before moving to Australia, which gives her the right to stay in UK. The former leader of One Nation Party aims for attaining peace in Britain!
Various politicians have different views on this step taken by Ms Hanson. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott believes that he was not very happy with her plans but at end of the day it’s her decision.
Ms Hanson got popular during the era of 1990s; when she flaunted her anti-immigration policies, but went on to lose her seat in the year 1998. Her failure in Queensland state election last year was justified by her as a result of filthy photographs taken by her ex-boyfriend that actually turned out to be photographs of some other personality!
It is a well known fact that Ms Hanson has always remain in the circle of controversies throughout her political period of 14 years so far. It was in the year 2003, when the lady was convicted of electoral fraud and was jailed for a span of three years. She went on to announce the end of her political career in the year 2004. Contrary to her announcement, she stood up again but failed to get ample votes.
The Indian government, from time to time, has demanded appropriate answers from their Australian counterparts over the issue of racial attacks happening in the land of Kangaroos. Now, Indian High Commissioner to Australia Sujatha Singh has expressed her concerns for the parents who send their children to study in Australia.
Sujatha has warned that the attacks would have long-term consequences until and unless some strict measures are not taken! On her visit to the Oz land, she said that the recent spate of attacks, especially the ones happening around Melbourne are alarming and it is vital for everyone to know that Indians are filled with rage and anger over the whole issue of what is going on in Australia.
She said that the main issue is the increase in the number of attacks that are disproportionately influencing Indians in a major way. She went on ask various questions whether Indians are really safe in Australia and also, why Indians always end up being the victims if these attacks? Are the culprits given appropriate punishment?
India now demands stern action against whatever has happening with Indians in Oz, in recent times. Sujatha Singh also cross-examined the Aussie Government whether the situation would better out or worsen further!
In her quest of finding answers, she met Victorian premier John Brumby and talked about the measures taken by the Oz government to improve the law and order for overseas students.
Earlier, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith confirmed that some attacks might have a hint of racism cuddled in them!
Alan Johnson was recently addressed by Immigration officer Lisa Lea, who is a part of his own border staff, an incident that left the former red-faced! Lisa called his immigration policies a “waste of time” and quizzed him for the new system crafted for dealing with prospective non-EU students. She also questioned him on the lax and easygoing UK’s border controls.
Mr. Johnson was obviously left embarrassed after Lisa told him that it is required to reintroduce interviews for non-EU student applicants in order to slow down the rate of bogus applicants.
Lisa called the whole procedure “waste of time” and explained how much time is drained in the filling of tedious paperwork by the Border Agency Staff. She also questioned as to why the staff does not interview prospective students as a part of current Immigration policies?
The simplest way, according to her, to know whether a particular applicant is economic migrant or not, is to simply have an interview with him - a procedure that doesn’t happen any more! She also said that paper-based applications are not ample to judge the applicants, and has further lead to a huge hike in the arrivals in the recent times.
Mr. Johnson defended his Immigration policies by saying that the old one WAS NOT FOOLPROOF!
Lib Dem Home Affairs Spokesman Chris Huhne said that Lisa’s comment prove that the whole system is not working in a proper manner, and is a proof of Government’s mismanagement!
The American Bar System has finally knocked the Congress to revamp the present system for immigration. The alternative should have new and independent courts for the cases pertaining to immigration. This move came about after much pleas and requests from the immigration attorneys and judges. According to the immigration lawyers, the courts in the United States is stumbling upon the weights of the pending cases which tends to rise in its numbers at all times.
During a semiannual meeting in Florida, the lawyers’ organization agreed as part of the vote on a recommendation for a completely independent system of court which is similar to the tax deciding federal courts. The main reason behind such a vote is the constant rise in the number of cases dealing with illegal immigration. The condition of the courts was discussed extensively in a report which was brought out recently.
It has to be noted here that the immigration courts in questions are not at all similar to what it is presumed to be. These courts are not under the federal judiciary and instead are a subsidy of the Department of Justice. The judges conducting are not the actual judges here. They are the employees of the attorney general.
Since 2006, the issue of legalizing all the illegal immigrants has been much talked about. In the meanwhile, the issue of courts has been out of focus. These courts have now become clogged with the entire backlog to such an extent that only an explosion would give it some space to breathe.
According to the 2008 Bar Association Report, around 378,582 immigrants were detained by the officials of the Homeland Security. Off these, more than 358,000 were deported back to their home country. The case was similar last year as well with a total of two hundred and thirty one judges conducted more than 300,000 cases which is thrice the usual load of work for a federal district judge. It is but obvious that these judges are being tested beyond their patience which would simply leave them frustrated and overworked.
Additionally, the asylum cases have made the situation even more complex. The main reason is the fear of violence in the minds of the immigrants after they go back. To this respect, the report stated that there is an increase in the number of immigrants waiting for their turn to come about for a hearing. This has led to the increase in the number of appeals for the decisions made.
All in all, actual immigration reforms are yet to be seen being executed by the Obama administration.
Amends have been brought about in the Australian Immigration policies. The main endeavor behind this is to cater to those jobs which are comparatively higher skilled than others. These occupations include technical professionals such as engineers, doctors and nurses.
According to the Australian Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, those jobs that are currently in need of skills and recruits that are not available in the country would be catered to first. Others such as cooks and hairdressers are in abundant as of now. He said that when this government was formed newly, the hairdressers were being given priority compared to doctors and nurses. This does not hold any significance today.
Mr. Evans also elaborated that around twenty thousand applications have been rejected by the ministry. These applications are those that were filed before September2007. The application fee charged by these applicants would be refunded.
The applications filed after 1st September’2007 and pending for decision as on 8th February’2010 will continue to be processed as per the MODL and CSL lists applicable to such application on the date of filing.
He stressed that the country is not interested in building its unemployed force which is already in good numbers. Instead, those who have the relevant skills to fill in the gap in the shortage areas would be preferred.
Additionally, those students who were studying in Australia had the opportunity to apply for permanent residency may not have the privilege from now on if they do not have the relevant skills on the job list.
The minister also said that students under certain specific categories of visas may be permitted to stay for another eighteen months after they finish their studies. During this period, they would have to find a job for themselves as well as a sponsor. If they find such an employer/sponsor, they may apply for PR or otherwise leave the country.
These changes have brought in mixed responses from the private education industry in Australia which is expected to suffer due to these amends. With these, the attacks on the Indian students are another issue for concern. Keeping these in light, only time can tell what impact these amends would have on the current Australian economy.
With the US immigration system still lacking the necessary amends, it poses the biggest challenge for the Obama administration and the Congress. The issue also has a significant role to play in the coming mid – term elections. This is according to a recent study conducted on the Latino voting patterns.
The report published by America’s voice projects a positive response to the new policies for immigration. According to it, the revised policies are the key aspect for the Latino voters. The slack in revamping these laws would greatly impact as far as forty congressional races, especially in those localities which have a good number of Latinos. These also involve Senate reelection bids for the Harry Reid who is the Majority Leader and others.
Reforms in immigration could be considered as being a form of test or exam specifically in the communities of the Latin. This is as per the president of the Service Employees International Union - Eliseo Medina, regarding the study in a conference call. According to Medina, this is both a policy as well as an issue about getting respect.
The report mentions that there has been a growth of fifty four percent in the number of registered Latino voters between the years 2000 and 2008. This increase has been seen post the presidential campaign in 2008 by Obama and the Democrats which promised revamped laws of immigration. Additionally, seventy five percent of votes were received from the Latinos in 2008.
However, the reforms are yet to come about must to the frustration of the Latinos. There have been protests for not taking appropriate measures and the slack in pushing for reforms and passing an effective bill on immigration.
All in all, there has been a notion with the Republicans are promoting an anti – immigration policy, much to the dismay of the immigrants.
To better suit the requirements of the Australian economy, the government of Australia has brought about certain changes in its policies pertaining to immigration. This article gives an overview on the same. The various mends made in the Skilled Migrants program include the following:
Those applications that were filed before 1st September 2007 would be abjured. However, the application for the same would be refunded back to the applicants by the Department of Immigration and Australian Citizenship.
The MODL or the Migration Occupations in Demand List would be removed completely. Instead, a Skilled Occupations List or the SOL would be brought out by an independent body known as the Skills Australia. This list would be reviewed yearly. This list would be introduced in the middle of this year. It would mainly cater to those occupations and trades that are of high value. Additionally, the CSL or the Critical Skills List which was introduced in early 2009 would also be ruled out completely.
The points based system would also be evaluated completely to see that the best of the candidates are selected. As of now, points are granted based on the academic qualifications, skills in English and work experience. Post assessment, these points would also consider granting more points to some occupations than those of others. Other similar aspects would also be dwelled into.
Few professions would be outnumbered more than the others so that the relevant skills are met for the same. For this, changes would be brought about in the Migration Act so that the Minister would be given due power for set for the maximum number of visas in an occupations on a need basis.
Emphasis would be laid on immigration policies which are more specific to state and territories. This would cater in a better way to all the skill requirements of each state. Also, it would make the state responsible for selecting its own candidates. With this, applicants nominated under the state program would be given priority for processing.
Saturday witnessed thousands of people marching in protest of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Immigration policies, followed by a massive clash between the police officials and the rebels. The protest was meant to show that the Sheriff’s Immigration polices are racists and he should not handle the Immigration enforcement any further. The march included people of all age groups – young, old, male, females, teenagers and children…
The march took place from the west Phoenix park as the starting point and went all the way to the Durango Jail Complex. Amongst the participants were famous singer Linda Ronstadt and United Farm Workers union leader Dolores Huerta, to name a few. “Joe must go” was the common chant that was heard during the entire protest. One person was seen flaunting a sign board “We are human,” while others were seen advertising a T-shirt with slogan “Who would Jesus deport?”
Sheriff further commented that he has no concern with these kinds of protests and stated that these rebels should in turn direct their concerns at Congress rather than targeting him as Congress holds the power to make amendments in the Immigration laws.
The police officials confirmed that the march was heading in a peaceful manner until the rebels started throwing water bottles and turned the incident into havoc. As a result, the police officials had to make use of pepper spray in order to control the situation.
Phoenix police confirmed that five protestors have been arrested and booked for aggravated assault and disorderly conduct on the police officials.
