News stories about immigration are anything but balanced. News stories are twice as likely to focus on the costs of immigration, rather than the benefits, and are more likely to quote anti-immigrant individuals than pro-immigrant individuals.

A full two-thirds of immigrant visas are family based. These are visas for relatives of US citizens and green card holders.

Illegal immigrant do pay taxes.

The Jury that will decide Fernanda Romero’s future, has now been deliberating for two days. It has reported problems with one juror, who has been described as “hostile.”

Nina Bernstein of the New York Times has a story detailing how Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) is boarding trains and buses that do not cross the border, looking for people to arrest.

Arizona State University’s News21 has an excellent series of stories on immigration.

The US Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, which was closed due to security concerns, has reopened to the public as of August 3^rd.

The Immigration Policy Center has published a study showing that immigrants contribute significantly to the economy in every state of the union.

The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT) has suspended the NPTE exam for graduates of physical therapy programs in Egypt, India, Pakistan and the Philippines. Testing is expected to resume in late 2011, when the FSBPT finishes developing and releases a new version of the exam, the NPTE-YRLY.

The suspension applies to both the PT and PTA versions of the NPTE.

USCIS is reporting that as of July 2^nd, it has received 24,200 applications for the 65,000 H-1B visa cap, and 10,400 applications for the 20,000 H-1B visa Master’s degree cap.

Danijela Krstic, who is a US Citizen and was crowned Miss Oregon in 2008, might have a need for an immigration attorney.

The US Department of State is increasing its fees effective July 13^th

The New York Times is running a series covering marriage cases and the interviews that USCIS conducts. Although the series focuses on the Stokes units in New York, its descriptions are applicable to cases nation wide.

The US Department of State has released the immigrant visa priority dates to be used by itself and USCIS for green card cases during July 2010.

In immigration court deportation proceedings, those who have a lawyer win their cases 46% of the time, compared with 16% for those without a lawyer. These people have no Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, no guarantee of legal representation, and less due process protections that would be enjoyed by litigants in other courts.

Since 1999, more than 2.2 million people have been deported from the United States.

US District Court Judge declare a mistrial after jurors told him that deliberations had turned hostile and that they were unable to reach unanimous verdicts on any of the counts Ms. Romero was charged with.

Testimony has concluded in Fernanda Romero’s trial on marriage fraud charges. It is expected that jury deliberations will begin later this week.

The trial against Fernanda Romero, who is being charged with committing immigration fraud, has begun. If convicted, she could face up to five years in prison.

USCIS is reporting that as of August 20^th, it has received 33,900 applications for the 65,000 H-1B visa cap, and 12,600 applications for the 20,000 H-1B visa Master’s degree cap.

The US Department of State has released the immigrant visa priority dates to be used by itself and USCIS for green card cases during September 2010.

The US Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico has closed indefinitely “to review its security posture.”

Just hours before it was to go into effect, a US Federal Judge has issued an injunction blocking key portions of the anti-immigrant Arizona law.

The US Department of State has released the immigrant visa priority dates to be used by itself and USCIS for green card cases during August 2010.

Today, the Obama Administration, through Attorney General Eric Holder, filed suit in Federal Court in Arizona seeking to stop Arizona’s anti-immigrant law.

President Obama has delivered a speech calling for comprehensive immigration reform.

The New York Times has a story that illustrates why it is important to have an attorney guide you through the byzantine immigration process. While the story is about people who enter under the Visa Waiver program and then marry, it could easily be about any other immigration case.

On June 11, 2010, USCIS proposed fee increases. These increases will go into effect after a comment period, and are almost certain to be in effect before the end of the calendar year.

USCIS has tweaked the design of the Employment Authorization Card, also known as EAD.

The redesign eliminates the 3-D barcode from the back and replaces it with machine readable text.