News Update - February 23, 2007Court Upholds Undocumented Workers Rights to Unpaid/Minimum WageIn a case of first impression, New York Supreme Court Judge Karla Moskowitz held that the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) does not preempt New York labor law. The judge found undocumented workers who did not present fraudulent documents are entitled to wages that were withheld by the employer. In her decision, Judge Moskowitz opined about the common goals of the IRCA and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as well as New York Labor Law requiring no less than minimum wage be paid. She stated, "IRCA does not undermine or diminish in any way labor protections in existing law, or . . . limit the powers of federal or state labor relations boards . . . to remedy unfair practices committed against undocumented employees.'" The decision is Pineda v. Kel-Tech. Construction Inc., 2007 WL 120217 (NY Sup, 1/10/07) USCIS reiterates limits on expediting FBI name checksFBI name checks are a large part of delays in visa processing and
adjustment of status. A February 20, 2007 release by the USCIS states
that it is no longer limiting its requests to expedite FBI name
checks to cases in which a petition or writ of mandamus has been
filed. The USCIS will also request, at the District Director’s
discretion, expedition by the FBI in the following circumstances:
in cases of military deployment; cases in which an applicant may
age-out and is not protected by the Child Status Protection Act;
in diversity visa cases nearing expiration; where there are “significant
or compelling reasons, such as critical medical conditions;”
and when loss of social security benefits or other subsistence may
occur. † The author is a 26+ year practitioner of immigration law based in New York City. He was awarded the Sidney A. Levine prize for best legal writing at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1977 and has written extensively on immigration over the past years for the ethnic newspapers, World Journal, Sing Tao, Pakistan Calling, Muhasha and OCS. He has testified as an expert on immigration in civil court proceedings and was recognized by the Taiwan government in 1985 for his work protecting human rights. His article, "The Bush Temporary Worker Proposal and Comparative Pending Legislation: an Analysis" was Interpreter Releases' cover display article at the American Immigration Lawyers Association annual conference in 2004, and his victory in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in a case of first impression nationwide, Firstland International v. INS, successfully challenged INS' policy of over 40 years of revoking approved immigrant visa petitions under a nebulous standard of proof. Its value as precedent, however, was short-lived as it was specifically targeted by the Administration in the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004. ‡ This article © 2007 Alan Lee, Esq.
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Copyright © 2003-2012 Alan Lee,
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