California Immigration Lawyer Blog

It is rare for any national organization to have prominent members of their national staff come to Vallejo and speak. This is why I am particularly proud that the Washington D.C. based lobbyist for Hadassah will be coming to speak in Vallejo.

I am an active member of my Solano/Napa county chapter of Hadassah. Hadassah, also known as the Women`s Zionist Organization of America is a volunteer women`s organization with about 300,000 members and supporters in the United States. Its activities include supporting medical, educational and youth facilities in Israel as well as educating its members about health care and personal growth. For attorneys, Hadassah sponsors an annual trip to Washington D.C. in which attorneys may be sworn-in to the U.S. Supreme Court. It also sponsors continuing legal education events.

When the opportunity arose to have a speaker come to Vallejo, I decided to jump at the chance to assist in organizing it. It is nice for people in Solano county not to have to drive to San Francisco in order to hear a national speaker.

Hadassah's lobbyiist, Marla Gilson, will be talking about the outcome of the elections as it impacts on the issues of U.S. – Israel relations, health care reform, energy and the environment. It will be an exciting talk as it comes right after our national elections.

Marla Gilson is the director of Hadassah`s Washington Action Office, a post she has held since 1997. She is a registered lobbyist, and advocates on health policy, domestic legislation, and U.S.— Israel relations. She has been working on or around Capitol Hill for more than 30 years.

The event will take place on November 18, 2008 from 7:00-9:00 pm., at Congregation B'nai Isarel, 1256 Nebraska Street, Vallejo, CA 94590. A $5.00 donation is requested.

If you have any questions about this event, please feel free to contact me. Hope to see you there!

I was at the eye doctor yesterday and my doctor asked me whether or not immigrants can receive Medicaid. This is a question I hear a lot. The answer to the question depends on a person's legal status in the United States, the date he or she entered the United States and the person's income.

Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that provides health insurance coverage to certain categories of low-income individuals, including children, pregnant women, parents of eligible children, seniors and people with disabilities. Each state administers its own Medicaid program. In California, the name of the program is Medi-Cal. In general, it is a program for people who have limited income and no health insurance or poor health insurance. There are various criteria for eligibility including age, pregnancy, disability, blindness, income and resources, and one's status in the United States. This blog post will focus on the legal status aspect.

First, in order to receive Medicaid, you have to be what is called a "qualified immigrant." Qualified immigrants include the following: 1) lawful permanent residents (green card holders); 2) refugees, asylees, persons granted withholding of deportation/removal, conditional entry (in effect prior to April 1, 1980), or paroled into the United States for at least one year; 3) Cuban/Haitian entrants; 4) battered spouses and children with a pending or approved a) self-petition for an immigrant visa, or b) immigrant visa filed for a spouse or child by a U.S. Citizen or lawful permanent resident, or c) applicant for cancellation of removal/suspension of deportation, whose need for benefits has a substantial connection to the battery or cruelty. A parent/child of a battered child/spouse are also "qualified." Victims of trafficking are not included in the "qualified" definition but they and their derivative beneficiaries are eligible for benefits funded or administered by federal agencies, without regard to their immigration status. Any non-citizen who does not fall under one of those preceding categories would not be eligible for Medicaid.

Continue reading " Can immigrants receive Medicaid? " »

As you make your vacation plans for the holidays, you may wish to check out a new desktop widget that U.S. Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") has recently launched. You can input the destination and the date of your trip and it will then provide you with the weather and a countdown of days until your departure. More importantly, the widget will also remind you of the appropriate immigration documents necessary to obtain before you leave so that you may re-enter the United States.

CBP is trying to do more outreach concerning the "Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative" known as "WHTI." WHTI requires American and Canadian travelers to present a passport or other document that denotes identity and citizenship when entering the United States. As Californians, we have been used to going to Mexico and then returning with nothing more than a regular driver's license. This is no longer possible. WHTI is already in effect for travel though all air ports and will be effective June, 1, 2009 for all land and sea ports.

I tested the widget out by entering a date for a trip to Mexico. I wish I was going!

You may download the widget at the CBP's website link for WHTI appropriately entitled "getyouhome."

Being situated in Benica, CA, between Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield and the old Mare Island Shipyard in Vallejo, I receive many questions from people in the military or who were formerly in the military. Due to the current war in Iraq, Congress has passed a few items of legislation that benefit people in the armed forces and their ability to naturalize. United States and Immigration Services ("USCIS") has also created fact sheets which describe services and benefits for persons in the military. You may access the information here: http://www.uscis.gov/military

Recently Congress passed a new law that will help members of the Armed Forces to become citizens. On October 9, 2008, President Bush signed into law the Military Personnel Citizenship Processing Act (Military Personnel Citizenship Processing Act) This new law requires that USCIS process and issue a citizenship decision within six months of receiving an application from a current member of the armed forces, by a spouse of such a person or by a surviving spouse or child of such a member. If a decision is not made within that time frame, USCIS is required to explain the delay and provide a new decision target date.

The law also establishes a FBI liaison office inside USCIS. The office of the FBI liaison will monitor the progress of the FBI in completing the necessary background checks.

While this seems like a a good law and it makes sense to ensure that naturalization applications filed by members of the Armed forces are processed expeditiously, it will only be effective if CIS really does process these applications within six months. If applicants applying pursuant to this law receive the same kind of standard answer about delays in processing that everyone else receives from USCIS, this law might as well not exist.

It is interesting to note that this law sunsets in five years. Is Congress expecting the war to be over then?

Effective today, a new law extends SSI eligibility for an additional two years to asylees, refugees, persons granted withholding of removal and other humanitarian immigrants. This law will benefit many people who had been cut off of SSI because they were not citizens.

If you lost SSI because you were not a citizen within seven years, you may now receive an additional two years if you meet one of the following conditions:

1. You are under 18 years old or over 70 years old; OR
2. You have been a lawful permanent resident (green card holder) for less than six years; OR
3. You applied for lawful permanent residence within four years after you started receiving SSI: OR
4. You are or were granted status as a Cuban Haitian Entrant; OR
5. You have been granted withholding of removal; OR
6. You have a pending application for citizenship but you are not yet an American citizen.

Continue reading " New law extends SSI eligibility for asylees and refugees " »