vivek_ut
06-21 11:43 PM
Hi,
I have an approved I-140 (EB2 PD Jun-06) for a 'software engineering' related position. I recently moved to a 'product marketing' role within my company and was told that we would need to refile my PERM since this move constitutes a material change. Is this true?
1). Will I be able to retain my original PD of Jun-06 if we were to file for a 'marketing position'? Or would this be only possible if I needed to refile for a 'software engineering' or similar role?
2). Is there any way I can benefit from EB2 becoming current in July given that I have an approved engineering I-140 despite the fact that I have moved to marketing? (By the time I refile a new marketing PERM, I suspect retrogression will be back in effect)
3). My H1B was recently extended by 3 years (I complete 6 years in a few days) based on my 'engineering' approved I-140. They also filed an adjustment of my job duties to reflect my marketing role. I will visit Calgary, Canada next week (June) to renew my H1B stamp. Any chance that I might have problems during my interview since my 'engineering' I-140 is really not any more use since I moved to marketing? I'm just concerned that there might be problems since the 3 year extension is approved based on an 'engineering' I-140 and now I am no longer in an engineering role? Am I being paranoid :)
Thanks!
I have an approved I-140 (EB2 PD Jun-06) for a 'software engineering' related position. I recently moved to a 'product marketing' role within my company and was told that we would need to refile my PERM since this move constitutes a material change. Is this true?
1). Will I be able to retain my original PD of Jun-06 if we were to file for a 'marketing position'? Or would this be only possible if I needed to refile for a 'software engineering' or similar role?
2). Is there any way I can benefit from EB2 becoming current in July given that I have an approved engineering I-140 despite the fact that I have moved to marketing? (By the time I refile a new marketing PERM, I suspect retrogression will be back in effect)
3). My H1B was recently extended by 3 years (I complete 6 years in a few days) based on my 'engineering' approved I-140. They also filed an adjustment of my job duties to reflect my marketing role. I will visit Calgary, Canada next week (June) to renew my H1B stamp. Any chance that I might have problems during my interview since my 'engineering' I-140 is really not any more use since I moved to marketing? I'm just concerned that there might be problems since the 3 year extension is approved based on an 'engineering' I-140 and now I am no longer in an engineering role? Am I being paranoid :)
Thanks!
wallpaper Princess Diana#39;s
grupak
03-24 02:29 PM
First of all, they cannot ask you for you work authorization during the interview process. Second, even during hiring time, they can only ask you if you need sponsorship for H1 or not. If at this point you say no, then they have no business asking you for what kind of work authorization you have (unless the job specifically asks for US citizen or security clearence).
That's true actually. They have no business asking you about details of what your work authorization status is. All they need to know is that you are legally allowed to work. Doesn't matter EAD, GC or US citizenship. Sponsoring for H1B might come up during the hiring stage but that doesn't apply here.
Hypothetically in an interview, if directly asked, and if I am planning on using EAD, I would simply tell them that I have authorization from the DHS to work for any employer, and leave it at that. If they persist, I will tell them that I have the required documents for I-9. No need for more details unless some kind of security clearance is required.
That's true actually. They have no business asking you about details of what your work authorization status is. All they need to know is that you are legally allowed to work. Doesn't matter EAD, GC or US citizenship. Sponsoring for H1B might come up during the hiring stage but that doesn't apply here.
Hypothetically in an interview, if directly asked, and if I am planning on using EAD, I would simply tell them that I have authorization from the DHS to work for any employer, and leave it at that. If they persist, I will tell them that I have the required documents for I-9. No need for more details unless some kind of security clearance is required.
sledge_hammer
11-25 08:37 PM
Exactly!
So then we all need to agree that the person foreclosing has no right to blame the lender. It is people like you and me whose tax money will be used to bail out banks that have the right to blame them AND the borrower! :)
From the punjabi's perspective, it is entirely punjabi's fault. Because he knew what he is getting into when he signed the contract. From the public perspective, the banks were stupid to loan money to everthing that moves and later asking for bailout money from tax payers. I think this is what RDB is trying to say.
So then we all need to agree that the person foreclosing has no right to blame the lender. It is people like you and me whose tax money will be used to bail out banks that have the right to blame them AND the borrower! :)
From the punjabi's perspective, it is entirely punjabi's fault. Because he knew what he is getting into when he signed the contract. From the public perspective, the banks were stupid to loan money to everthing that moves and later asking for bailout money from tax payers. I think this is what RDB is trying to say.
2011 Princess Diana and Charles
franklin
07-11 12:13 AM
Congratulations guys - I am proud of you all
more...
punjabi
04-01 05:18 PM
It is not confirmed yet whether they would consider all of the 12k towards the decision for the May Bulletin or not.
They might want to disperse the 12k numbers in the subsequent months, if they try to be a little conservative.
This is a very simple calculation. Following are the numbers before Oct -2006. These total to ~ 12K.
EB2-C - 3521
EB2-I - 9345
The dates will move further if more than 12K numbers are infused into the system. I would say that the dates should be in Oct - Nov 2006 range with these 12K numbers, having Nov as buffer as they may issue RFE's to folks.
They might want to disperse the 12k numbers in the subsequent months, if they try to be a little conservative.
This is a very simple calculation. Following are the numbers before Oct -2006. These total to ~ 12K.
EB2-C - 3521
EB2-I - 9345
The dates will move further if more than 12K numbers are infused into the system. I would say that the dates should be in Oct - Nov 2006 range with these 12K numbers, having Nov as buffer as they may issue RFE's to folks.
samyjani
01-01 07:16 AM
Hi All,
I am on a business trip to Chennai and I was interviewed for my H1-B renewal on Dec 6th 2007, unaware of the PIMS as it was not mentioned anywhere on the website that it will take this long to receive the passport. I was granted my visa within few minutes but till date (Jan 1st, 08) I have not received my passport. Was interviewed at the Chennai consulate. It has been heights of frustration as I had to spend all my Christmas holidays and New years at Chennai with all my fly being in US. I was supposed to return to US on Dec19th had to postpone my tickets to Dec 24th and then to Dec 29th. Now finally I have cancelled my tickets as it was costing me $200 every time I modify my itinerary.The US consulate, Chennai keeps on extending the processing time from 3 to 7 to 10 and it has been 15 working days already now, but still no passport in hand. Last week on Friday (Dec 28th) got an email that it might take additional 7 working days, huh ! Good thing is my company is in Chennai so atleast I can go to work or else it would have been really painful.
Was anybody else interviewed at Chennai during that black week ??? with similar situation ?
Good luck everybody.
I am on a business trip to Chennai and I was interviewed for my H1-B renewal on Dec 6th 2007, unaware of the PIMS as it was not mentioned anywhere on the website that it will take this long to receive the passport. I was granted my visa within few minutes but till date (Jan 1st, 08) I have not received my passport. Was interviewed at the Chennai consulate. It has been heights of frustration as I had to spend all my Christmas holidays and New years at Chennai with all my fly being in US. I was supposed to return to US on Dec19th had to postpone my tickets to Dec 24th and then to Dec 29th. Now finally I have cancelled my tickets as it was costing me $200 every time I modify my itinerary.The US consulate, Chennai keeps on extending the processing time from 3 to 7 to 10 and it has been 15 working days already now, but still no passport in hand. Last week on Friday (Dec 28th) got an email that it might take additional 7 working days, huh ! Good thing is my company is in Chennai so atleast I can go to work or else it would have been really painful.
Was anybody else interviewed at Chennai during that black week ??? with similar situation ?
Good luck everybody.
more...
nk2006
11-18 12:43 PM
But my concern is that if we don't give them concrete examples of cases where this has occured, then they will just brush us off as "all talk but no meat".
-va_dude
va_dude, your concerns are understandable. This issue is real and some IV members got affected by this and came forward to provide some more info. pd_recapturing collected that info. A bunch of volunteers are working in the background to move this forward with concrete proof. In the meantime its important to keep sending letters so they know the concern its raising.
-va_dude
va_dude, your concerns are understandable. This issue is real and some IV members got affected by this and came forward to provide some more info. pd_recapturing collected that info. A bunch of volunteers are working in the background to move this forward with concrete proof. In the meantime its important to keep sending letters so they know the concern its raising.
2010 the late Princess Diana
nrk
10-27 10:08 AM
congrats caliguy
more...
pappu
09-09 12:10 PM
Please post on other sites and your blogs so that we have more participation
hair set to play Princess Diana
Madhuri
06-18 12:58 PM
Answering my own question. According to my lawyer if I use EAD, I can not use H1/H4 stamp in the passport for travel as it is no longer valid.
Hi
I also have the same question as bindas74. We both have our H1 stamped till July 2009, only my son does not have it stamped.
So if we don't apply for AP now and start using EAD and then travel outside of US can I still come back on my stamped H1 visa?
Any help appreciated.
Thanks,
Madhuri
Hi
I also have the same question as bindas74. We both have our H1 stamped till July 2009, only my son does not have it stamped.
So if we don't apply for AP now and start using EAD and then travel outside of US can I still come back on my stamped H1 visa?
Any help appreciated.
Thanks,
Madhuri
more...
gc4me
11-18 11:01 AM
I received a phone call (WOW!) from a sweet lady from CIS Ombudsman's office. I sent letters to his office and in the letter I mentioned my cell #. Anyway she wants a real person who got deniel. I told her that my friend got deniel (IVens are my fried). Anyway, she sent an email too after I asked her to give her info so that my friend can send her his case details. Unfortunately, the email I received shortly after the conversation, looks like general and does not have her ID. Please PM me if you like to hear more about the phone call.
==================
Thank you for your correspondence to the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman).
We greatly appreciate your comments regarding issues concerning the American Competitiveness Act in the Twenty-First Century Act of 2000 (AC21) processing at the service centers. As we have received several inquiries such as yours, we are currently discussing these issues with USCIS and reviewing their policies and procedures regarding adjudication of these petitions.
If you have evidence of a specific I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status case that you feel was erroneously denied due to USCIS not adhering to AC21 guidelines, we kindly ask that you please immediately forward us a case problem request, including a copy of your denial notice, detailed information as to the reasons for the immediate denial, and, if appropriate, evidence that you have submitted a Motion to Reopen or Reconsider.
Instructions for completing a DHS Form 7001 (case problem) can be found on our website: http://www.dhs.gov/ximgtn/programs/editorial_0497.shtm#10.
Please submit your case problem and supporting documents via email to cisombudsman@dhs.gov or via facsimile to 202-357-0042 with the subject AC21 Evidence of Immediate Denial.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
CIS Ombudsman
(cmp)
==================
Thank you for your correspondence to the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman).
We greatly appreciate your comments regarding issues concerning the American Competitiveness Act in the Twenty-First Century Act of 2000 (AC21) processing at the service centers. As we have received several inquiries such as yours, we are currently discussing these issues with USCIS and reviewing their policies and procedures regarding adjudication of these petitions.
If you have evidence of a specific I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status case that you feel was erroneously denied due to USCIS not adhering to AC21 guidelines, we kindly ask that you please immediately forward us a case problem request, including a copy of your denial notice, detailed information as to the reasons for the immediate denial, and, if appropriate, evidence that you have submitted a Motion to Reopen or Reconsider.
Instructions for completing a DHS Form 7001 (case problem) can be found on our website: http://www.dhs.gov/ximgtn/programs/editorial_0497.shtm#10.
Please submit your case problem and supporting documents via email to cisombudsman@dhs.gov or via facsimile to 202-357-0042 with the subject AC21 Evidence of Immediate Denial.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
CIS Ombudsman
(cmp)
hot Princess Diana: Perfect Mother
pitha
09-24 07:40 PM
To Add to what you have said, I would say getting EB2 approval is almost impossible because not only is DOL cracking down on EB2 perms because of bad economy, DOL also knows that people are trying to reapply in Eb2 to jump ahead and they are stopping that practise.
The following information is asked in the first field of ETA form 9089.
"1. Are you seeking to utilize the filing date for a previously submitted application for Alien Employemnt Certification (ETA 750)?"
"1-A. If Yes, enter the previous filing date"
"2-A. "Indicate the previous SWA or local offiice case number OR, if not available, specify the state where case was originally filed:"
With the above information from form 9089 DOL knows the people who are trying to jump ahead by interfiling. Thats an almost gaurenteed audit. The attorneys already know this and this is the reason why many companies are not entretaining filing any EB2 perm. If anybody is lucky they might find a company willing to file eb3 perm after 6 months but no company wants to file Eb2 perm. interfiling \porting from eb3 to eb2 is a pipe dream, people cant even get eb3 approvals or alteast companies willing to file eb3 perm.
"interfiling" to use old EB3 PD for new EB2 is not the easiest path for EB3-I guys specially if they have used AC21 and work on EAD now ( Most of us are in this category). Priority date porting is not an issue, USCIS does not have a problem with that. The problem is with "Job definition and level". While one use AC21 claims job position matching EB3 job classification and if there no enough progression gap between AC21 usage and "inerfiling" It becomes hard for a lawyer to convince USCIS that fellow is matching EB2 capability under same job classification. Hundred of such intefilings are waiting without no action from USCIS. My lawyer's advice wait till we logically can establish the skill progression, in other words minimum 3 years of wait from the day AC21 usage. And other important thing is "real promotion" in position should happen at employment and this whole explanation is based on assumption of employment at the same employer. If you change employment inbetween after AC21 usage and before interfiling , your 3 years wait cycle starts from new emploment date. I have not filed "interfiling" just because of these reasons and waiting for correct time to do that. In other words Eb3-I is really and badly screwed.
The following information is asked in the first field of ETA form 9089.
"1. Are you seeking to utilize the filing date for a previously submitted application for Alien Employemnt Certification (ETA 750)?"
"1-A. If Yes, enter the previous filing date"
"2-A. "Indicate the previous SWA or local offiice case number OR, if not available, specify the state where case was originally filed:"
With the above information from form 9089 DOL knows the people who are trying to jump ahead by interfiling. Thats an almost gaurenteed audit. The attorneys already know this and this is the reason why many companies are not entretaining filing any EB2 perm. If anybody is lucky they might find a company willing to file eb3 perm after 6 months but no company wants to file Eb2 perm. interfiling \porting from eb3 to eb2 is a pipe dream, people cant even get eb3 approvals or alteast companies willing to file eb3 perm.
"interfiling" to use old EB3 PD for new EB2 is not the easiest path for EB3-I guys specially if they have used AC21 and work on EAD now ( Most of us are in this category). Priority date porting is not an issue, USCIS does not have a problem with that. The problem is with "Job definition and level". While one use AC21 claims job position matching EB3 job classification and if there no enough progression gap between AC21 usage and "inerfiling" It becomes hard for a lawyer to convince USCIS that fellow is matching EB2 capability under same job classification. Hundred of such intefilings are waiting without no action from USCIS. My lawyer's advice wait till we logically can establish the skill progression, in other words minimum 3 years of wait from the day AC21 usage. And other important thing is "real promotion" in position should happen at employment and this whole explanation is based on assumption of employment at the same employer. If you change employment inbetween after AC21 usage and before interfiling , your 3 years wait cycle starts from new emploment date. I have not filed "interfiling" just because of these reasons and waiting for correct time to do that. In other words Eb3-I is really and badly screwed.
more...
house Princess Diana Paid Tribute on
little_willy
09-09 05:39 PM
Called everyone on list. Congressmen, Maxine Waters and robert Wexler, offices reported that they are supporting this bill.
tattoo Princess Diana Award
abuddyz
01-22 09:28 AM
worst case? yes.. it's mine..
My H1 revalidation appointment was on the 12-Dec. Visa was approved immediatly but haven't received the passport yet. I receive the same response when I call.. that its under PIMS verification. No ETA of when I can expect it to be done..
I had a H1 transfer to a new employer and 3 year extension happen at the same time. I am not sure what the problem is and what I can do. I am totally stressed out and really depressed ..
If someone has done something thats helped their case move along.. please PM me or reply to this post.. Thanks !
can you please let everyone know when was your H1 approved? (that will help decide the pattern for passport delay due to PIMS..)
My H1 revalidation appointment was on the 12-Dec. Visa was approved immediatly but haven't received the passport yet. I receive the same response when I call.. that its under PIMS verification. No ETA of when I can expect it to be done..
I had a H1 transfer to a new employer and 3 year extension happen at the same time. I am not sure what the problem is and what I can do. I am totally stressed out and really depressed ..
If someone has done something thats helped their case move along.. please PM me or reply to this post.. Thanks !
can you please let everyone know when was your H1 approved? (that will help decide the pattern for passport delay due to PIMS..)
more...
pictures Princess Diana
Michael chertoff
03-29 12:35 PM
Lets treat good news for EB2 as good news for EB3 also.
If not today, some of us EB3 folks may want to port. So it will help more people to port and also to compensate to some extent the #s coming into EB2 pool from EB3.
Overall its a good news, and looks to be possible we see this on Murthy site also. Lets be happy.
What are you talking about? this is not a good news, we will decide that after May Visa Bulletin. For now just read that as a publicity stunt from lawyers and forget about it.
MC
If not today, some of us EB3 folks may want to port. So it will help more people to port and also to compensate to some extent the #s coming into EB2 pool from EB3.
Overall its a good news, and looks to be possible we see this on Murthy site also. Lets be happy.
What are you talking about? this is not a good news, we will decide that after May Visa Bulletin. For now just read that as a publicity stunt from lawyers and forget about it.
MC
dresses Princess Diana#39;s younger
Madhuri
06-18 12:04 PM
Hi
I also have the same question as bindas74. We both have our H1 stamped till July 2009, only my son does not have it stamped.
So if we don't apply for AP now and start using EAD and then travel outside of US can I still come back on my stamped H1 visa?
Any help appreciated.
Thanks,
Madhuri
Hi Logiclife,
Can you please provide me insight on my question?
My company filed for my I485. i didnt file the EAD / AP at that time. I have a valid H1B stamped for multiple entry till 2010.
So, as per your post, I can apply just for EAD, right? That is if I want to switch jobs after 180 days using AC21 and if I start using my EAD, can I go out and come back with my valid H1B stamping? Or do I need to have the AP since I have started using my EAD??
Similarly, can my wife use her H4B even after she starts using the EAD instead of AP when she travels??
Any help is greatly appreciated.
-Thanks
I also have the same question as bindas74. We both have our H1 stamped till July 2009, only my son does not have it stamped.
So if we don't apply for AP now and start using EAD and then travel outside of US can I still come back on my stamped H1 visa?
Any help appreciated.
Thanks,
Madhuri
Hi Logiclife,
Can you please provide me insight on my question?
My company filed for my I485. i didnt file the EAD / AP at that time. I have a valid H1B stamped for multiple entry till 2010.
So, as per your post, I can apply just for EAD, right? That is if I want to switch jobs after 180 days using AC21 and if I start using my EAD, can I go out and come back with my valid H1B stamping? Or do I need to have the AP since I have started using my EAD??
Similarly, can my wife use her H4B even after she starts using the EAD instead of AP when she travels??
Any help is greatly appreciated.
-Thanks
more...
makeup Princess Diana as a young girl
Karthikthiru
07-11 01:11 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/10/AR2007071002055.html?hpid=moreheadlines
The page does have the picture of the flowers
Karthik
The page does have the picture of the flowers
Karthik
girlfriend When Princess Diana was young,
jungalee43
09-09 03:51 PM
As I am continuing calls I found that they are all aware of bill coming for vote tomorrow. They asked are you talking about visa bill?
Generally the response from Dems is positive and from Rs it is sort of neutral.
Rep. Coble's (NC) spokeman insisted that I was not from NC. When I mentioned that I lived in NC for many years mentioning the names of the towns, his reply was that those places were not from their district.
I am continuing my calls.
Generally the response from Dems is positive and from Rs it is sort of neutral.
Rep. Coble's (NC) spokeman insisted that I was not from NC. When I mentioned that I lived in NC for many years mentioning the names of the towns, his reply was that those places were not from their district.
I am continuing my calls.
hairstyles Style File - Diana, Princess
dtekkedil
07-11 02:30 PM
I think the company should be filing the fees but lawyers fee for filing is not their liability.
I am paying for everything including filing fees. I thought that the company is no longer involved once you are through the I-140 stage.
I am paying for everything including filing fees. I thought that the company is no longer involved once you are through the I-140 stage.
gc_on_demand
03-31 12:24 PM
Visa allocation chief mentioned in AILA comment that USCIS knows visa usage pattern. Which means that they know pending I 140 for EB1 in pipeline and they also know that average time to get approve new I 140 is X months ( 4 months ) so they know if person files in May 2011 chances are rare that he/she can get GC from 2011 quota.I am not saying is that applicant can't get it but when u look at I 485 complexity and add scrutinity on EB1 I 140 its more than 4 months to get GC from start to finish without any RFE.
That is why they are so confident to release quota now. which may bring date so much forward so that can attract new cases and move back dates to certain point in time. Specially this is how DOS does for all family based CP cases. When they think they have 10k visas coming they move dates to cover 15k out of which 12k may reply on time and they always have control to retrogress dates if they run out of visas.
Big question is how far they want to go and get new cases. If they don't go upto Mid 2008 in next 1 year , Eb2 will loose some visas to EB3 and dates for EB2 will be "C" , if they go with some calculated guess and usage pattern + buffer they should go well into early 2009 with in next 1 year.
That is why they are so confident to release quota now. which may bring date so much forward so that can attract new cases and move back dates to certain point in time. Specially this is how DOS does for all family based CP cases. When they think they have 10k visas coming they move dates to cover 15k out of which 12k may reply on time and they always have control to retrogress dates if they run out of visas.
Big question is how far they want to go and get new cases. If they don't go upto Mid 2008 in next 1 year , Eb2 will loose some visas to EB3 and dates for EB2 will be "C" , if they go with some calculated guess and usage pattern + buffer they should go well into early 2009 with in next 1 year.
jasmin45
07-13 07:24 AM
The whole controversy involving Lou Dobbs and leprosy started with a “60 Minutes” segment a few weeks ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/business/30leonside.html
Robert Caplin for The New York Times
Lou Dobbs was at the anchor desk for CNN’s 2006 election coverage.
Related Articles
Immigrants and Prison (May 30, 2007)
Bush Takes On Conservatives Over Immigration (May 30, 2007)
Reader Responses (May 30, 2007)
Episodes of "Lou Dobbs Tonight"
"60 Minutes" of May 6, 2007 Leprosy Statistics The segment was a profile of Mr. Dobbs, and while doing background research for it, a “60 Minutes” producer came across a 2005 news report from Mr. Dobbs’s CNN program on contagious diseases. In the report, one of Mr. Dobbs’s correspondents said there had been 7,000 cases of leprosy in this country over the previous three years, far more than in the past.
When Lesley Stahl of “60 Minutes” sat down to interview Mr. Dobbs on camera, she mentioned the report and told him that there didn’t seem to be much evidence for it.
“Well, I can tell you this,” he replied. “If we reported it, it’s a fact.”
With that Orwellian chestnut, Mr. Dobbs escalated the leprosy dispute into a full-scale media brouhaha. The next night, back on his own program, the same CNN correspondent who had done the earlier report, Christine Romans, repeated the 7,000 number, and Mr. Dobbs added that, if anything, it was probably an underestimate. A week later, the Southern Poverty Law Center — the civil rights group that has long been critical of Mr. Dobbs — took out advertisements in The New York Times and USA Today demanding that CNN run a correction.
Finally, Mr. Dobbs played host to two top officials from the law center on his program, “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” where he called their accusations outrageous and they called him wrong, unfair and “one of the most popular people on the white supremacist Web sites.”
We’ll get to the merits of the charges and countercharges shortly, but first it’s worth considering why, beyond entertainment value, all this matters. Over the last few years, Lou Dobbs has transformed himself into arguably this country’s foremost populist. It’s an odd role, given that he spent the 1980s and ’90s buttering up chief executives on CNN, but he’s now playing it very successfully. He has become a voice for the real economic anxiety felt by many Americans.
The audience for his program has grown 72 percent since 2003, and CBS — yes, the same network that broadcasts “60 Minutes” — just hired him as a commentator on “The Early Show.” Many elites, as Mr. Dobbs likes to call them, despise him, but others see him as a hero. His latest book, “War on the Middle Class,” was a best seller and received a sympathetic review in this newspaper. Mario Cuomo has said Mr. Dobbs is “addicted to economic truth.”
Mr. Dobbs argues that the middle class has many enemies: corporate lobbyists, greedy executives, wimpy journalists, corrupt politicians. But none play a bigger role than illegal immigrants. As he sees it, they are stealing our jobs, depressing our wages and even endangering our lives.
That’s where leprosy comes in.
“The invasion of illegal aliens is threatening the health of many Americans,” Mr. Dobbs said on his April 14, 2005, program. From there, he introduced his original report that mentioned leprosy, the flesh-destroying disease — technically known as Hansen’s disease — that has inspired fear for centuries.
According to a woman CNN identified as a medical lawyer named Dr. Madeleine Cosman, leprosy was on the march. As Ms. Romans, the CNN correspondent, relayed: “There were about 900 cases of leprosy for 40 years. There have been 7,000 in the past three years.”
“Incredible,” Mr. Dobbs replied.
Mr. Dobbs and Ms. Romans engaged in a nearly identical conversation a few weeks ago, when he was defending himself the night after the “60 Minutes” segment. “Suddenly, in the past three years, America has more than 7,000 cases of leprosy,” she said, again attributing the number to Ms. Cosman.
To sort through all this, I called James L. Krahenbuhl, the director of the National Hansen’s Disease Program, an arm of the federal government. Leprosy in the United States is indeed largely a disease of immigrants who have come from Asia and Latin America. And the official leprosy statistics do show about 7,000 diagnosed cases — but that’s over the last 30 years, not the last three.
The peak year was 1983, when there were 456 cases. After that, reported cases dropped steadily, falling to just 76 in 2000. Last year, there were 137.
“It is not a public health problem — that’s the bottom line,” Mr. Krahenbuhl told me. “You’ve got a country of 300 million people. This is not something for the public to get alarmed about.” Much about the disease remains unknown, but researchers think people get it through prolonged close contact with someone who already has it.
What about the increase over the last six years, to 137 cases from 76? Is that significant?
“No,” Mr. Krahenbuhl said. It could be a statistical fluctuation, or it could be a result of better data collection in recent years. In any event, the 137 reported cases last year were fewer than in any year from 1975 to 1996.
So Mr. Dobbs was flat-out wrong. And when I spoke to him yesterday, he admitted as much, sort of. I read him Ms. Romans’s comment — the one with the word “suddenly” in it — and he replied, “I think that is wrong.” He then went on to say that as far as he was concerned, he had corrected the mistake by later broadcasting another report, on the same night as his on-air confrontation with the Southern Poverty Law Center officials. This report mentioned that leprosy had peaked in 1983.
Of course, he has never acknowledged on the air that his program presented false information twice. Instead, he lambasted the officials from the law center for saying he had. Even yesterday, he spent much of our conversation emphasizing that there really were 7,000 cases in the leprosy registry, the government’s 30-year database. Mr. Dobbs is trying to have it both ways.
I have been somewhat taken aback about how shameless he has been during the whole dispute, so I spent some time reading transcripts from old episodes of “Lou Dobbs Tonight.” The way he handled leprosy, it turns out, is not all that unusual.
For one thing, Mr. Dobbs has a somewhat flexible relationship with reality. He has said, for example, that one-third of the inmates in the federal prison system are illegal immigrants. That’s wrong, too. According to the Justice Department, 6 percent of prisoners in this country are noncitizens (compared with 7 percent of the population). For a variety of reasons, the crime rate is actually lower among immigrants than natives.
Second, Mr. Dobbs really does give airtime to white supremacy sympathizers. Ms. Cosman, who is now deceased, was a lawyer and Renaissance studies scholar, never a medical doctor or a leprosy expert. She gave speeches in which she said that Mexican immigrants had a habit of molesting children. Back in their home villages, she would explain, rape was not as serious a crime as cow stealing. The Southern Poverty Law Center keeps a list of other such guests from “Lou Dobbs Tonight.”
Finally, Mr. Dobbs is fond of darkly hinting that this country is under attack. He suggested last week that the new immigration bill in Congress could be the first step toward a new nation — a “North American union” — that combines the United States, Canada and Mexico. On other occasions, his program has described a supposed Mexican plot to reclaim the Southwest. In one such report, one of his correspondents referred to a Utah visit by Vicente Fox, then Mexico’s president, as a “Mexican military incursion.”
When I asked Mr. Dobbs about this yesterday, he said, “You’ve raised this to a level that frankly I find offensive.”
The most common complaint about him, at least from other journalists, is that his program combines factual reporting with editorializing. But I think this misses the point. Americans, as a rule, are smart enough to handle a program that mixes opinion and facts. The problem with Mr. Dobbs is that he mixes opinion and untruths. He is the heir to the nativist tradition that has long used fiction and conspiracy theories as a weapon against the Irish, the Italians, the Chinese, the Jews and, now, the Mexicans.
There is no denying that this country’s immigration system is broken. But it defies belief — and a whole lot of economic research — to suggest that the problems of the middle class stem from illegal immigrants. Those immigrants, remember, are largely non-English speakers without a high school diploma. They have probably hurt the wages of native-born high school dropouts and made everyone else better off.
More to the point, if Mr. Dobbs’s arguments were really so good, don’t you think he would be able to stick to the facts? And if CNN were serious about being “the most trusted name in news,” as it claims to be, don’t you think it would be big enough to issue an actual correction?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/business/30leonside.html
Robert Caplin for The New York Times
Lou Dobbs was at the anchor desk for CNN’s 2006 election coverage.
Related Articles
Immigrants and Prison (May 30, 2007)
Bush Takes On Conservatives Over Immigration (May 30, 2007)
Reader Responses (May 30, 2007)
Episodes of "Lou Dobbs Tonight"
"60 Minutes" of May 6, 2007 Leprosy Statistics The segment was a profile of Mr. Dobbs, and while doing background research for it, a “60 Minutes” producer came across a 2005 news report from Mr. Dobbs’s CNN program on contagious diseases. In the report, one of Mr. Dobbs’s correspondents said there had been 7,000 cases of leprosy in this country over the previous three years, far more than in the past.
When Lesley Stahl of “60 Minutes” sat down to interview Mr. Dobbs on camera, she mentioned the report and told him that there didn’t seem to be much evidence for it.
“Well, I can tell you this,” he replied. “If we reported it, it’s a fact.”
With that Orwellian chestnut, Mr. Dobbs escalated the leprosy dispute into a full-scale media brouhaha. The next night, back on his own program, the same CNN correspondent who had done the earlier report, Christine Romans, repeated the 7,000 number, and Mr. Dobbs added that, if anything, it was probably an underestimate. A week later, the Southern Poverty Law Center — the civil rights group that has long been critical of Mr. Dobbs — took out advertisements in The New York Times and USA Today demanding that CNN run a correction.
Finally, Mr. Dobbs played host to two top officials from the law center on his program, “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” where he called their accusations outrageous and they called him wrong, unfair and “one of the most popular people on the white supremacist Web sites.”
We’ll get to the merits of the charges and countercharges shortly, but first it’s worth considering why, beyond entertainment value, all this matters. Over the last few years, Lou Dobbs has transformed himself into arguably this country’s foremost populist. It’s an odd role, given that he spent the 1980s and ’90s buttering up chief executives on CNN, but he’s now playing it very successfully. He has become a voice for the real economic anxiety felt by many Americans.
The audience for his program has grown 72 percent since 2003, and CBS — yes, the same network that broadcasts “60 Minutes” — just hired him as a commentator on “The Early Show.” Many elites, as Mr. Dobbs likes to call them, despise him, but others see him as a hero. His latest book, “War on the Middle Class,” was a best seller and received a sympathetic review in this newspaper. Mario Cuomo has said Mr. Dobbs is “addicted to economic truth.”
Mr. Dobbs argues that the middle class has many enemies: corporate lobbyists, greedy executives, wimpy journalists, corrupt politicians. But none play a bigger role than illegal immigrants. As he sees it, they are stealing our jobs, depressing our wages and even endangering our lives.
That’s where leprosy comes in.
“The invasion of illegal aliens is threatening the health of many Americans,” Mr. Dobbs said on his April 14, 2005, program. From there, he introduced his original report that mentioned leprosy, the flesh-destroying disease — technically known as Hansen’s disease — that has inspired fear for centuries.
According to a woman CNN identified as a medical lawyer named Dr. Madeleine Cosman, leprosy was on the march. As Ms. Romans, the CNN correspondent, relayed: “There were about 900 cases of leprosy for 40 years. There have been 7,000 in the past three years.”
“Incredible,” Mr. Dobbs replied.
Mr. Dobbs and Ms. Romans engaged in a nearly identical conversation a few weeks ago, when he was defending himself the night after the “60 Minutes” segment. “Suddenly, in the past three years, America has more than 7,000 cases of leprosy,” she said, again attributing the number to Ms. Cosman.
To sort through all this, I called James L. Krahenbuhl, the director of the National Hansen’s Disease Program, an arm of the federal government. Leprosy in the United States is indeed largely a disease of immigrants who have come from Asia and Latin America. And the official leprosy statistics do show about 7,000 diagnosed cases — but that’s over the last 30 years, not the last three.
The peak year was 1983, when there were 456 cases. After that, reported cases dropped steadily, falling to just 76 in 2000. Last year, there were 137.
“It is not a public health problem — that’s the bottom line,” Mr. Krahenbuhl told me. “You’ve got a country of 300 million people. This is not something for the public to get alarmed about.” Much about the disease remains unknown, but researchers think people get it through prolonged close contact with someone who already has it.
What about the increase over the last six years, to 137 cases from 76? Is that significant?
“No,” Mr. Krahenbuhl said. It could be a statistical fluctuation, or it could be a result of better data collection in recent years. In any event, the 137 reported cases last year were fewer than in any year from 1975 to 1996.
So Mr. Dobbs was flat-out wrong. And when I spoke to him yesterday, he admitted as much, sort of. I read him Ms. Romans’s comment — the one with the word “suddenly” in it — and he replied, “I think that is wrong.” He then went on to say that as far as he was concerned, he had corrected the mistake by later broadcasting another report, on the same night as his on-air confrontation with the Southern Poverty Law Center officials. This report mentioned that leprosy had peaked in 1983.
Of course, he has never acknowledged on the air that his program presented false information twice. Instead, he lambasted the officials from the law center for saying he had. Even yesterday, he spent much of our conversation emphasizing that there really were 7,000 cases in the leprosy registry, the government’s 30-year database. Mr. Dobbs is trying to have it both ways.
I have been somewhat taken aback about how shameless he has been during the whole dispute, so I spent some time reading transcripts from old episodes of “Lou Dobbs Tonight.” The way he handled leprosy, it turns out, is not all that unusual.
For one thing, Mr. Dobbs has a somewhat flexible relationship with reality. He has said, for example, that one-third of the inmates in the federal prison system are illegal immigrants. That’s wrong, too. According to the Justice Department, 6 percent of prisoners in this country are noncitizens (compared with 7 percent of the population). For a variety of reasons, the crime rate is actually lower among immigrants than natives.
Second, Mr. Dobbs really does give airtime to white supremacy sympathizers. Ms. Cosman, who is now deceased, was a lawyer and Renaissance studies scholar, never a medical doctor or a leprosy expert. She gave speeches in which she said that Mexican immigrants had a habit of molesting children. Back in their home villages, she would explain, rape was not as serious a crime as cow stealing. The Southern Poverty Law Center keeps a list of other such guests from “Lou Dobbs Tonight.”
Finally, Mr. Dobbs is fond of darkly hinting that this country is under attack. He suggested last week that the new immigration bill in Congress could be the first step toward a new nation — a “North American union” — that combines the United States, Canada and Mexico. On other occasions, his program has described a supposed Mexican plot to reclaim the Southwest. In one such report, one of his correspondents referred to a Utah visit by Vicente Fox, then Mexico’s president, as a “Mexican military incursion.”
When I asked Mr. Dobbs about this yesterday, he said, “You’ve raised this to a level that frankly I find offensive.”
The most common complaint about him, at least from other journalists, is that his program combines factual reporting with editorializing. But I think this misses the point. Americans, as a rule, are smart enough to handle a program that mixes opinion and facts. The problem with Mr. Dobbs is that he mixes opinion and untruths. He is the heir to the nativist tradition that has long used fiction and conspiracy theories as a weapon against the Irish, the Italians, the Chinese, the Jews and, now, the Mexicans.
There is no denying that this country’s immigration system is broken. But it defies belief — and a whole lot of economic research — to suggest that the problems of the middle class stem from illegal immigrants. Those immigrants, remember, are largely non-English speakers without a high school diploma. They have probably hurt the wages of native-born high school dropouts and made everyone else better off.
More to the point, if Mr. Dobbs’s arguments were really so good, don’t you think he would be able to stick to the facts? And if CNN were serious about being “the most trusted name in news,” as it claims to be, don’t you think it would be big enough to issue an actual correction?
No comments:
Post a Comment