The Middle of March...

Every year, in the middle of March, NAFSA: Association of International Educators hosts an event that is unlike the typical informational conference.  It redirects members' focus on matters bigger than the day-to-day.  It trains members to look outside themselves and work for a change.  A change for the people they serve.

NAFSA's Advocacy Day brings together members across the United States in Washington, D.C. to meet with Congressmen and women about making change for International Education.  I'm proud to say that I've been able to attend this event for the past 3 years now.  What a change it has made for my career!  The faces I see everyday are of the people I remember when speaking to my members of Congress.

This year, one of the main issues we presented was asking Members to Create a Commonsense Immigration process.  Process is an interesting word. It depicts movement......not a standstill.  It depicts a solution.......not  a broken system.  It depicts a road map.....not confusion.

Ways to create this process vary in each Members mind, but let me suggest a few:

GREEN CARD REFORMS

• Develop a viable package for green card relief including some or all of the following provisions:
• • Increase the overall number of green cards available annually, recognizing that a zero-sum approach neither reflects the nation’s needs nor our values. 
  • Recapture unused employment-based green cards from prior fiscal years to help eliminate the backlog.
  • Stop counting spouses and minor children against the employment-based green card cap. More than half of all employment-based green cards go to the spouses and children of workers.  
  • Exempt international student graduates with a direct path to green card status, outstanding researchers, and professors from the limit on the number of employment-based green card that may be issued annually.    
  • Eliminate annual per country limits with a possible phase-in period.
  • Increase green cards for specific priority levels 
• Provide relief through the DREAM Act to children raised in the United States who lack immigration status.
• Provide relief through the United American Families Act to allow American citizens and legal permanent residents to sponsor same-sex partners for legal permanent residency.
• Create a direct path to green card status for foreign students. Including protection from long adjudication timeframes by extending immigration status  from when a green card petition is filed until it is adjudicated (as is done for H-1B green card petitioners).
• Allow green card applicants to retain their places in line while waiting for green cards to become available. Vest this place in line, known as a priority date, with the immigrant petitioner not with the employer. This will make it easier for foreign workers to change employers because doing so will not make them move to the back of the green card line.
• Provide age-out protection for children. Immigrants petitioning for a green card may include their spouse and children in the petition. Unfortunately, if there are backlogs or long delayed decisions, children who turn 21 while waiting become ineligible for a green card based on their parent's petitions. This is called "aging out."  
• Protect higher education and related or affiliated non-profit organizations from increased filing fees. These institutions provide the STEM education necessary for American students to compete in the global workforce. It is counterproductive to increase the burden on institutions that are intended to provide the benefit created by the provision.

NONIMMIGRANT REFORMS

• Eliminate nonimmigrant intent for foreign students (F) by extending dual intent to include them.
• Expand employment options for foreign students (F-1) and exchange visitors (J-1) both during the school year and during breaks.
• Allow short term study on tourist (B) visas.
• Expand opportunities to study for the spouses and children (F-2) of foreign students.
• Provide work authorization for spouses of H-1Bs and foreign students.
• Restore to the Secretary of State the authority to waive personal appearances by visa applicants.
• Restore visa renewal in the United States for the following nonimmigrants: E, H, I, L, O, and P.
• Launch a Frequent Traveler Program for international students, researchers, scholars, and business people. 

PROTECT CURRENT LAW

• Maintain the H-1B cap exemption for higher education and research facilities.
• Maintain special handling that allows colleges and universities to petition for green cards for the most qualified applicants for positions that include classroom instruction.
• Maintain the exemption from the H-1B training fee for higher education and related or affiliated non-profit organizations. 

IMPROVING THE MANAGEMENT OF THE STUDENT AND EXCHANGE VISITOR PROGRAM

• Move the Student and Exchange Visitor Program within Department of Homeland Security from the enforcement division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the services division of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

It's Not Just Me...

Today, at 12:15pm in Athens, GA, Freedom University, Georgia Undocumented Youth Alliance, and National Immigration Youth Alliance lead a rally at the University of Georgia Arch to promote the lifting of the ban on undocumented students at many top Georgia colleges.  Several "Dreamers" shared their stories and struggles with a crowd of over 100.  Participants chanted, "Undocumented! Unafraid!" and "UP! UP! UP! with Education! DOWN! DOWN! DOWN! with Segregation!" Faith based and community leaders joined in, as well as students in caps and gowns from across the state of Georgia.

In Athens, we see these demonstrations and rallies a good bit, but I've never seen so many show up for one cause.  I've never seen so many different people from one community-with a very common goal-come together in our town so successfully.  It's one of the things I love about our little town.  I've mentioned before that Athens is an interesting place full of folks from EVERY way of life.  This was a true example of just that.

Before you think this is just a small town and a tiny group of folks making noise by the Starbucks, think again.  Project U was organized by undocumented students in the state of Georgia attending Freedom University.  Recently, it's made national headlines with an article in the Huffington Post.  Feel free to read it here: "March Calls Out Georgia's National Disgrace: Will Regents Finally End College Ban For Undocumented Students?"  A statement from the article reads:

"All my academic life from K-12," Aldo, a 17-year-old Georgia student, "I was told by the Georgia educational system that if I tried very hard in school, I would someday go to my local college. That gave me hope to overcome all the odds placed in front of me. That was the reason I got up every time I fell in all my academic attempts. But now that I am in my final year of high school I can see that I've been told nothing but lies and all the hard work I've done has been in vain." -Huffington Post, Jeff Biggers

See, it's not just me, but so many more looking for a better way for immigration to impact the U.S. in a positive manner.  To read more about Freedom University and it's roots in the Athens community, read this NPR article, "Undocumented Students Take Education Underground."

I would love to add more, but I think the articles and pictures of attendees speak volumes more than I ever could. Cheers to Freedom University and Project U.