Q: Why is DHS implementing air travel in stages?

On January 8, 2016, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced the following timetable for the implementation of the REAL ID Act for air travel:

• Effective immediately, the Department of Homeland Security will conduct outreach to educate the traveling public about the timeline below, and continue engagements with states to encourage compliance with REAL ID standards.
• Starting July 15, 2016, TSA, in coordination with airlines and airport stakeholders, will begin to issue web-based advisories and notifications to the traveling public.
• Starting December 15, 2016, TSA will expand outreach at its airport checkpoints through signage, handouts, and other methods.
• Starting January 22, 2018, passengers with a driver’s license issued by a state that is still not compliant with the REAL ID Act (and has not been granted an extension) will need to show an alternative form of acceptable identification for domestic air travel to board their flight.  To check whether your state is compliant or has an extension, click here.  Passengers with driver’s licenses issued by a state that is compliant with REAL ID (or a state that has been issued an extension) will still be able to use their driver’s licenses or identification cards.
• Starting October 1, 2020, every air traveler will need a REAL ID-compliant license, or another acceptable form of identification, for domestic air travel.

This timetable recognizes that some states must change their laws to comply with the REAL ID Act. It is also designed to provide an opportunity for members of the public to learn more about the implications of not having a REAL ID-compliant license, and so that individuals have an ample opportunity to replace their pre-REAL ID licenses with new compliant licenses or to obtain another acceptable form of identification.

Q: When will I need to change how I travel domestically?

Starting January 22, 2018, passengers who have driver’s licenses issued by a state that is not yet compliant with REAL ID and that has not received an extension will need to show an alternative form of acceptable identification for domestic air travel. Please see TSA’s website for a list of acceptable forms of identification. Passengers who have licenses issued by a state that is compliant or that has an extension to become compliant with REAL ID requirements may continue to use their licenses as usual. For a list of states already in compliance or with an extension visit DHS’s REAL ID webpage. DHS continually updates this list as more states come into compliance or obtain extensions.

Starting October 1, 2020, every air traveler will need to present a REAL ID-compliant license or another acceptable form of identification for domestic air travel. A REAL ID compliant license is one that meets, and is issued by a state that complies with, the REAL ID Act’s security standards.

Travelers can check DHS’s REAL ID webpage at any time to learn if your state is compliant and can check with your state’s agency that issues driver’s licenses about how to acquire a compliant license. The earlier your state becomes compliant, the more likely you will be able to acquire a compliant license as part of the normal renewal cycle.

Q: Will minors need to have driver’s licenses to fly domestically?

TSA does not require children under 18 to provide identification when traveling with a companion within the United States. The companion will need acceptable identification.

Q: Is a passport my only other option if my state is not compliant?

No. TSA currently accepts several other forms of identity documents and will continue to do so. For more information on acceptable forms of identification for boarding aircraft, please see TSA’s website.

Monday May 23, 2016 marks the 68th day since Judge Merrick Garland was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, drawing him equal with the average time to confirmation for recent high court nominees.  The White House on Friday again urged senators to consider the judge’s nomination.

Nearly two years after a judge decided he wasn’t an American citizen, a Texas man has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing it is up to a state, not the federal government, to determine who was born inside its boundaries.

A TRAC report found that Immigration Court judges issued 44,204 removal orders as of April 2016. Texas leads the nation with 10,102 removal orders issued, followed by California and Georgia. During April 2016, 1,186 of the 6,347 individuals ordered removed were women with children.

As of May 18, 2016, the U.S. Embassy in Caracas is no longer able to provide new appointments for first-time business or tourist visa applicants. There will be limited visa appointments for visa renewals and for first-time applicants for any petition-based, student, or investor visas, but wait times for the appointments will be longer than in the past, due to staffing shortages arising from the refusal of the Venezuelan government to issue visas for U.S. Embassy personnel.

The Fifth Circuit on Thursday (May 19,2016) upheld a district court’s finding that a Border Patrol agent who fatally shot an unarmed 18-year-old U.S. citizen in the back while he was running away was entitled to qualified immunity, saying the officer’s use of deadly force was objectively reasonable in the circumstances.

From: U.S. Department of Justice [mailto:usdoj@public.govdelivery.com] Sent: Monday, May 16, 2016 4:47 PM
To: Subject: OSC Electronic Charge Form

Dear Stakeholders:

The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) is pleased to announce that members of the public can now complete and submit charge forms online through OSC’s website, in addition to the methods currently available (mail, fax, or email).

At this time, we are rolling out the electronic charge form in English and Spanish, and will be adding additional languages in the near future.

If you have any questions or if you suspect employment discrimination, we encourage you to contact OSC’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (Mon – Fri, 9am-5pm EST), or 1-800-237- 2515 (TTY for hearing impaired).

LOS ANGELES – A former official with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), who went on to operate an immigration consulting service, has been sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for participating in a scheme to pay bribes to other government employees to obtain “green cards” and citizenship for immigrants.

George Wu, 63, of Pico Rivera, who worked as a CBP officer until early 2012, and then operated Great Eastern Immigration Services, was sentenced late Thursday by U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald. The case is the result of a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) and the FBI.

Wu was found guilty in August 2015 of paying bribes in an effort to obtain citizenship and legal permanent resident status for several immigrants. A federal jury convicted Wu of conspiracy and five counts of bribery of a public official.

Wu, another immigration consultant named Michael Bui, and others solicited money from immigrants in exchange for help in obtaining benefits from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that included lawful permanent residence and citizenship. Some of the money paid by the immigrants was used to pay bribes to public officials in exchange for granting immigration benefits.

“This defendant attempted to corrupt our nation’s immigration system by offering bribes in exchange for benefits,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “It is critical to our national security that our nation’s immigration system functions properly and free from corruption such as this defendant’s.”

During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Wu received and paid bribe money on behalf of immigrants. The overall conspiracy involved at least seven immigrants, one of whom was allowed to pass an English proficiency exam even though she could not speak English.

In the first case, an attorney who also works as an immigration consultant paid Wu $15,000, and Wu subsequently paid Bui $10,000, a portion of which was intended for bribery payments, to secure assistance with a citizenship application. In the second case, Wu paid the attorney a total of $15,000, again a portion of which was intended for bribes, for assistance in securing legal permanent resident status – commonly called a green card – for an immigrant. And in the third case, Wu paid a total of $3,000 to an official with USCIS – an official who was acting in an undercover capacity as part of the investigation – for help in obtaining a green card for an immigrant.

Bui pleaded guilty in May 2015 to conspiracy and bribery, and he was sentenced Thursday afternoon by Judge Fitzgerald to serve one year and one day in prison.

The investigation by HSI OPR and the FBI into corruption involving government officials and immigration consultants has resulted in charges against 11 defendants. Seven of those defendants – including Wu and Bui – have now been convicted, including:

• Attorney Kwang Man “John” Lee, who pleaded guilty in March to three counts of bribery and admitted, among other things, paying tens of thousands of bribes to a senior immigrations services officer with USCIS and arranging sham marriages to secure green cards for clients;
• James Dominguez, a former HSI special agent who pleaded guilty to making false statements to ICE investigators when he lied about accessing immigration files and providing information to an immigration lawyer; and
• Paul Lovingood, a former official with USCIS, who pleaded guilty to accepting an illegal gratuity from an immigration lawyer after adjudicating a petition for lawful permanent residence filed on behalf of one of the attorney’s clients.

An investor has launched a putative class action against brokerage firm Raymond James and a fund manager related to the alleged fraudulent scheme involving the Jay Peak ski resort in Vermont, seeking to recover at least $71.5 million that was invested during a phase of the EB-5 immigrant investor program that was allegedly misused and stolen.

Slightly more than 1 million of the 8.7 million people who became insured during the first full year of the Affordable Care Act were noncitizens, according to a New York Times analysis of data from 2014 enrollment. Hispanics represented the largest share of any racial or ethnic group insured through the new law, and made up 60 percent of newly insured noncitizens. More than 15 million previously uninsured people have gained health coverage since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Unauthorized immigrants are ineligible for enrollment.

• New York Times analysis of the Affordable Care Act in its first year
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (DHH) fact sheet on the Affordable Care Act