Immigration attorney Dana R. Bucin recently appeared in two Connecticut publications discussing the state of immigration in the United States.
In a Hartford Courant article entitled “Pall Looms Over Immigrant Community,” Dana, a member of our Immigration Practice Group, said new immigration restrictions and slow processing of visa applications are leaving people who would otherwise be lawfully admitted into the country in limbo.
“It is a shame to keep them in limbo like this,” she said, explaining that in this status they could be detained by ICE.
“Many people have ended up in detention,” she said. “We want cases to be adjudicated and we want people who are eligible for asylum to keep receiving it.”
She said she is “seeing an attempt to delay and stop altogether legal immigration.”
She also cited concerns about the decision to review all refugee cases, explaining that she has a high respect for USCIS officers who have enforced the laws. For the administration to come back and review the cases is a slap in the face to those officers, she said.
Read more of what she said in the full Hartford Courant article. (Subscription may be required.)
In a Hartford Business Journal article entitled “Workforce Crunch,” Dana commented on federal rule changes complicating hiring for Connecticut employers.
She said the one good thing she has seen recently has been the interpretation that the $100,000 fee to enter the lottery for H-1B visas will not apply to prospective employees already in the country on another legal status, such as a student visa.
“They’ve always been recruiting from the pool of international students who hold Connecticut degrees, so when we heard that those people are not affected when they go for the lottery, we were relaxing a little bit,” she said.
Bucin also pointed out some foreign-born workers may have other options, such as pursuing an employer-sponsored green card, seeking asylum or obtaining sponsorship from family members already in the United States.
“If you’re eligible for something, file and file (as soon as possible),” is her advice.
Read the full Hartford Business Journal article to see more of what Dana said about immigration and Connecticut employers. (Subscription may be required.)
