News Update - November 15, 2008

By Alan Lee, Esq.

Free Web Site Launched to Help Immigrants Learn English

The U.S. Department of Education launched a new website, U.S.A. Learns, aimed at assisting immigrants in learning English. The creation of the website was in response to one of President Bush’s goals for immigration reform announced on August 10, 2007. The site features easily accessible Internet learning tools with simple directions, learning modules to help adults improve their English proficiency, and free instructional materials for English teachers. Directions are offered in English and Spanish and users can choose the appropriate English level, beginner or intermediate. Beginning learning modules cover subjects such as numbers, the calendar, places to go, families, schools, clothes, money and shopping. For intermediate learners there are exercises which improve reading and writing skills. The U.S.A. Learns website can be found at www.USALearns.org.


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 © 2008 Alan Lee, Esq.

 

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