Mdivani Talks About U.S. Immigration Policy
The Hispanic American Law Student Association (HALSA) at Washburn University School of Law hosted Mira Mdivani, Attorney at Law, on Wednesday, October 12, 2005. Ms. Mdivani spoke about "Current U.S. Immigration Law and Policy."
Mdivani opened her talk by sharing statistics from a couple immigration studies. According to a Cato Institute study, 19% of the workforce in the United States is foreign born. In addition a Price Waterhouse study of documented wire-transfers to families found there are approximately 20 million undocumented persons from Mexico living in the United States.
Mdivani further addressed the problem of family separation as a result of the low allowable levels of immigration reflected in the Visa Bulletin. For instance, a legal permanent resident must wait approximately five to seven years to reunite with his or her spouse and minor children. During this period the family is not permitted to visit the permanent resident in the U.S. A U.S. citizen must also wait over a year and a half before being able to bring a spouse and minor child to the country. According to Mdivani, all of these circumstances are prejudicial to families, not to mention the impact these strict immigration policies have on children that have to grow up without a parent.
Mdivani also discussed the disadvantages of having a limited H-1B visa program. She mentioned that while other countries are taking advantage of the most talented and brightest people in the world, the U.S. limits the number of workers to 65,000 per year. As far as employment-based visas, Mdivani explained that the process takes years, is restrictive, and sometimes almost absurd.
Mdivani's very entertaining and interactive presentation included rewarding attendees who participated with free t-shirts.
Mira Mdivani is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and practices immigration law with The Mdivani Law Firm, LLC in Overland Park, Kansas. In 2004, Mdivani was voted "Best of the Bar, Immigration Law" by the Kansas City Business Journal. In 2005, she received The Kansas Bar Association Pro Bono Certificate of Appreciation Award. Mdivani frequently writes and presents on immigration law and has provided expert testimony in the field of immigration law to members of Kansas Senate and House of Representatives. She also serves on the Board of Directors of The Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City, where she chairs the Community Support Committee. She is past chair of the Pro Bono Service Committee of the Missouri Kansas Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and is is a member of the Missouri and Kansas Bars.
Erika Jurado-Graham contributed this article.
(Posted October 14, 2005)
