See below link for the State of Oregon's information on the new driver licensing and ID card rules which go into effect on February 4, 2008. It will be interesting to see how these changes may affect anyone who applies since many government records are either incorrect or outdated, and what constitutes "proof of legal status" is not always easy to determine unless the person has sufficient expertise/training.
Oregon DMV Changes in applying for Oregon Driver Licenses and ID Cards
There is some recent immigration-related news which is likely to affect not only immigrants but all U.S. residents.
The DHS recently issued a reminder that citizenship and identity documents will be required when entering the U.S. through land and sea ports of entry as of January 31, 2008 and that entry will no longer be permitted by oral declaration of citizenship alone. In addition, the U.S. State Department has issued a notice describing a number of new "routine uses" for sharing passport records outside the department. In short, the old days of showing a driver's license to go to Mexico or Canada will not be sufficient. Also, what constitutes "routine uses" to share passport information with other agencies (maybe Social Security, IRS, law enforcement, etc) is not entirely clear. With a final rule of the REAL ID Act coming up (which among other requires states to ask for "legal status" to issue driver's licenses, it appears that we are moving closer to a national identification system…….
Also, the Department of State's February 2008 Visa Bulletin informed that there are no available visa numbers Outstanding Professors and Researchers from India. Visa backlogs affect all, not just the "illegal immigrants".
In addition, a recent ICE memo states that before the Division of Immigration Health Services can administer involuntary sedation to individuals subject to deportation., they must first request an order from a federal district court order. Nice.
USCIS Reminds Employers to Use New Form I-9
After December 26, 2007, employers who fail to use the new Form I-9 may be subject to penalties. All employers are required to complete a Form I-9 for each new employee hired in the United States. Both the revised form and the “Handbook for Employers, Instructions for Completing the Form I-9” are available online at www.uscis.gov.
On January 3, 2008, Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally
mandated H-2B cap for the second half of Fiscal Year 2008 (FY2008). According to the USCIS statement, USCIS will reject petitions for new H-2B workers seeking employment start dates prior to October 1, 2008, that arrive after January 2, 2008.
This significantly affects service industries such as hospitality (restaurants and hotels), landscaping, construction, and seafood processing. Hopefully, Congress will soon get back to discussing comprehensive immigration reform as employers cannot even get enough "legal" workers as the system works right now.
