Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 50, faces life in prison if convicted of running over his daughter, Noor Almaleki, 20, with his Jeep.  Prosecutors allege Almaleki’s action was an “honor killing” because “[t]he investigation into these crimes revealed that the defendant was very angry with Noor for not living by traditional Iraqi values as she had, in his eyes, become too ‘westernized’ and brought dishonor on her family.”

Almaleki moved his family from Iraq to the Phoenix suburb of Glendale in the mid-1990s.  According to numerous sources he and his daughter had a tumultuous relationship.  At 17, Noor Almaleki refused to enter into an arranged marriage in Iraq, enraging her father, according to a court document filed by prosecutors.  At 19, Noor Almaleki moved into her own apartment and began working at a fast food restaurant but quit and left her new place when her parents kept showing up at her work, insisting that she return home.  In 2009, she moved into the home of her boyfriend and his parents, Reikan and Amal Khalaf, shortly after showing up at their house and said her parents had hit her.  Almaleki regularly harassed his daughter and the Khalafs, once telling Reikan Khalaf that if his daughter didn’t move out of their home, “something bad was going to happen.”

On October 20, 2009, while visiting the Department of Economic Security office with with Amal Khalaf, Noor Almaleki saw her father.  She sent text messages to a friend saying “Dude, my dad is here at the welfare office,” ”I’m so shaky,” ”I knew I shouldn’t have woke up,” and “I’ve honestly never met anyone with so much evil.”  Upon leaving the office Faleh Almaleki hit the two women with his Jeep.

Amal Khalaf survived.  However, Noor Almaleki underwent spinal surgery and spent two weeks in a coma before succumbing to her injuries on November 2, 2009.

Almaleki is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and leaving the scene of a serious injury accident.  The case is set to move into the trial phase later this month.

Navigating complicated immigration laws can be confusing and intimidating.  If you are interested in petitioning for a family member I strongly urge you to meet with an immigration attorney first to discuss your options and gain an understanding of the process.  Below I have listed some basic information regarding eligible family sponsorship; the information below does not mean those eligible will be granted a visa, the information provided is only meant to serve as a starting point for those interested in this manner of immigrating.

Family based immigrant visas are divided into two categories- immediate relatives and family preference categories.  Eligibility in these categories depends on whether the petitioning family member is a U.S. citizen or Legal Permanent Resident (LPR).

I.    Immediate Relative Immigrant Visas: These visa types are based on a close family relationship with a U.S. citizen described as an Immediate Relative (IR).

The number of immigrants in these categories is not limited each fiscal year.

Immediate relative visa types include;

• IR-1: Spouse of a U.S. Citizen
• IR-2: Unmarried Child Under 21 Years of Age of a U.S. Citizen
• IR-3: Orphan adopted abroad by a U.S. Citizen
• IR-4: Orphan to be adopted in the U.S. by a U.S. citizen
• IR-5: Parent of a U.S. Citizen who is at least 21 years old

II.    Family Preference Immigrant Visas: These visa types are for specific, more distant, family relationships with a U.S. citizen and certain specified relationships with a LPR.

There are fiscal year numerical limitations on family preference immigrants, shown at the end of each category.

The family preference categories are;

• Family First Preference (F1): Unmarried sons and daughters (age 21 and over) of U.S. citizens, and their minor children, if any. (23,400)
• Family Second Preference (F2): This category is broken down into two subcategories. (114,200)
• (A): Spouses and Children of LPRs
• (B): Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of LPRs
• Family Third Preference (F3): Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and their spouses and children. (23,400)
• Family Fourth Preference (F4): Brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens, and their spouses and minor children, provided the U.S. citizens are at least 21 years of age. (65,000)

Presently there are NO relative sponsored visas available for: grandparents, aunts, uncles, in-laws or cousins.

When the number of qualified applicants for a category exceeds the available immigrant visas, there will be an immigration wait.  For example, if in year 2009 USCIS received 50,000 F1 petitions.  The first 23,400 approved petitions will be given a visa and the remaining 26,600 will be placed on a “wait list.”  Those petitions on the “wait list” are given a priority date which placed the petitions in chronological order.  Once the priority date is current the immigrant visa will be issued.  Unfortunately in certain categories there are many more approved petitions compared to available visas, and the waiting period is several years.

In some cases a family member files a petition for a spouse and/or minor children when they were a LPR, and then they naturalize to become a U.S. citizen.  These people will want to upgrade their petitions from the F2 category to the IR category.  This will bump the eligible family to a category where there is no “wait time” or yearly limit.

If you have questions regarding your ability to sponsor a family member, your family member’s eligibility, current wait times for family members, or upgrading your family member’s current petition please contact an immigration attorney today.

In Chicago, Illinois, about 38% of the John Stroger Hospital’s palliative unit’s patients are foreign-born.  On average, about 25 to 30 patients a year ask to return to their homelands.  From 2005 to 2007, the Stroger team helped 57 patients, including naturalized citizens, legal immigrants, and undocumented persons.  These people were returned to 23 countries, most commonly Mexico, Poland and the Philippines.

Each case is a race against time and half of those who ask to travel home are already too sick to do so.  Dr. Catherine Deamant commented “For us, that’s morally upsetting. If we had seen them sooner, we could have helped.”  Each request comes from the patient and no one is pressured to leave.  These patients feel drawn to see their homeland, to die surrounded by family or to be buried on native soil.  In fact, wanting to be buried overseas is a major incentive for patients who do not want to inflict financial burdens. “It’s more expensive for families to send their bodies home than for them to go alive,” said Dr. Deamant.

Patients are responsible for paying for the trips themselves but it is the doctors, nurses and social workers on the Stroger team who make the complex arrangements.  They contact airlines and write letters assuring that patients are stable enough to travel, not contagious, and able to sit up and care for their own medical needs on board. They alert the airlines to patients whose appearance might raise a concern for contagious illness.  They make sure that patients have someone to accompany them on the flight and care for them in their homeland.  The Stroger team also arranges for ambulances, medications, medical record transfers, and oxygen, both in-flight and at airports during layovers. They arrange paperwork with so many embassies that “I think Dr. Mackie and Dr. Deamant are known in every consulate from Africa and Europe,” said Francisco Chaidez, a medical interpreter at Stroger.

Once contacted the consulate provides identification materials to allow undocumented immigrants to get through airport security; arranges follow-up medical care in Mexico and pays for airline tickets for indigent patients and an accompanying family member. If a patient has no family, the consulate sometimes even provides a flight companion.  Air travel is arduous for seriously ill people but only two out of the several hundred patients the Stroger team has cleared for travel in nine years have suffered complications.

Dr. Sandra Frellsen, an attending physician commented, “You’re granting someone their dying wish, it’s a very powerful thing to be part of.”

To read the original article please visit: Hospital helps dying patients return to homeland

The Farr Group would like to wish everyone and their families a Happy New Year!

The Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division stated “The Immigration and Nationality Act’s (INA) anti-discrimination provision protects all authorized workers from unfair documentary requests during the Form I-9 process.  The Justice Department is committed to stopping workplace discrimination against citizens and work-authorized non-citizens alike.”

It was announced yesterday the Justice Department reached a settlement agreement with Collins Management Corporation, a forestry products company in Oregon, resolving allegations that it unlawfully fired and later refused to rehire a lawful permanent resident in violation of the anti-discrimination provision of the INA.  According to the department’s findings, Collins insisted that a lawful permanent resident present an unexpired permanent resident card for Form I-9 purposes, even though the individual had already presented his driver’s license and unrestricted Social Security card to the employer. The department also found that the company fired the individual when he was unable to present an unexpired green card and the company refused to consider him for re-hire two months later because the company believed he did not possess proper documentation.

As part of the settlement agreement, Collins agreed to pay $15,000 in back pay to the former employee and a $600 civil penalty to the federal government. The company also agreed to train its managers and human resources representatives regarding compliance with the anti-discrimination provision of the INA.

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices is responsible for enforcing the INA anti-discrimination provision.  If you have questions regarding anti-discrimination under federal immigration law or if you would like more information about protections against employment discrimination, call 1-800-255-7688 (OSC’s worker hotline) or 1-800-255-8255 (OSC’s employer hotline).

Many Legal Permanent Residents, or green card holders, believe they can live abroad and simply return to the U.S. once a year for a few weeks to maintain their U.S. residency.  Unfortunately, it is not that easy and many residents have lost their status because they failed to maintain and demonstrate sufficient ties with the U.S., indicating the U.S. is their permanent residence.

If you are planning to depart the U.S. for more than a year, or if you maintain additional residences abroad and are concerned about losing your U.S. residency, please contact an immigration attorney today.  An immigration attorney can assist you with obtaining a re-entry permit or discuss with you ways you can maintain and demonstrate sufficient ties with the U.S.

The Farr Group would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.

We would also like to thank those who have made our progress possible!

Sincerely,

The Farr Group

A Honolulu socialite and son of a former Philippine diplomat plead guilty to 37 counts of first- and second-degree theft, forgery and money laundering for embezzling $300,000 from a Hawaiian law firm when he was its office manager.

Nigel Salmingo, 31, faces up to 10 years in prison for first-degree theft and money laundering and up to five years for the other charges when a state judge sentences him in April.  Regardless of the length of the prison term, “If he goes before the parole board he’s probably looking at 18 months, 24 months max,” said Michael Green, Salmingo’s lawyer.

The prosecutor said Salmingo spent much of the money at bars, clubs, restaurants and social events. He said Salmingo also forged company checks to buy a car and pay off his personal credit card bills, opened new credit card accounts in the company’s name and made unauthorized charges and took cash advances on the law partners’ company credit cards.

Salmingo mistakenly believed he had diplomatic immunity from arrest and prosecution.  When Salmingo completes his prison term he will be removed to the Philippines.

What is Diplomatic Immunity?

Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are not subject to the jurisdiction of local courts and other authorities for both their official and, to a large extent, their personal activities.  However, even at its highest level, diplomatic immunity does not exempt diplomatic officers from the obligation of conforming with national and local laws and regulations.  Diplomats cannot purposely avoid liability for their actions.

While in the United States the diplomat is still covered by the laws of his home country, and he or she may be prosecuted under those laws for any crimes he commits in the United States.  A misconception is that the privilege of immunity belongs to the individual diplomat however, the privilege of immunity belongs to the home country.  The home country may choose to waive immunity for one of its diplomats, leaving him open to prosecution by the host country. The U.S. Department of State will request a waiver of immunity in every case in which the prosecutor advises that he or she would prosecute but for immunity

The purpose of these privileges and immunities is not to benefit individuals but to ensure the efficient and effective performance of their official missions on behalf of their governments.

For More Info visit please read Diplomatic and Consular Immunity Guidance for LawEnforcement and Judicial Authorities

Bellevue Hospital Center provides care for victims from around the world, regardless of their ability to pay.  Dr. Allen Keller, who founded the program in 1995, states, “The individuals who come to us are among the most traumatized and brutalized individuals there are.  But they also come to us with incredible resilience, and we have the opportunity to help them heal.”

The Survivors of Torture program is like an international refugee center, it does more than provide medical care; it connects patients with free legal assistance, English lessons, and provides connections for employment and housing.

CNN is featuring an overview of the multidisciplinary care Program for Survivors of Torture provides, and includes interviews with two clients, Samten Dakpa and Cheikhna Mahawa.  The feature will air on Wednesday, December 22 and Thursday, December 23 at 12:00 p.m.

To learn more about the Program for Survivors of Torture please visit:  www.Survivorsoftorture.org

As of the last count on 12/17/2010 the Cap Count is as follows:

H-1B Regular Cap = 53,900 of 65,000

H-1B Master’s Exemption Cap = 19,700 of 20,000

Cap numbers reflect the number of petitions that USCIS has accepted for each particular type of cap.  It includes cases that have been approved or are still pending. It does not include petitions that have been denied.