Immigration expert, Scott Titshaw, speaks to Abigails

On Friday, January 10th, Joan Wade introduced Scott Titshaw, professor of immigration law at Mercer University. The Abigails in attendance at the Messiah Lutheran Church were treated to a very informative lecture by the professor.  Previously Professor Titshaw practiced  immigration law at the law firm of Arnall, Golden, Gregory LLP in Atlanta. Additionally Mr. Titshaw has international experience in Germany working as a visiting foreign attorney in Nuremberg which afforded him the opportunity to understand how immigration is handled in western Europe. 

Mr. Titshaw covered three general areas: 

• How immigration works in the United States today
• Reform over the last 30 years
• Current reform proposals, 2013 being a watershed year in which same sex married couples may immigrate as married couples

Overview: Mr. Titshaw reminded us that no one has the right to enter the United States other than U.S. citizens but that the Immigration Nationality Act identifies very specific categories of cases that may be considered for immigration. Here are the categories that are a pathway to legal immigration.

• Employment based: where visas are allotted to individuals who have specialized degrees that are desired in the U.S., multinational corporations who transfer an employee with unique qualifications needed for that business, or a person who's willing to invest a sizable amount of money into a company in the U.S. that will create jobs here. 
• Family based: allowing families or individuals joining families in the U.S.; the U.S. identifies specific countries and gives them a quota allotment. (This is a tough road ahead that may require decades before a visa is granted.)
• Political Asylum: persecuted or fear of being persecuted people may apply for a visa

Additionally there are student and visitor visas but the number of these visas is small comparatively, about 65,000. These are only temporary visas and are not considered a pathway to a green card that allows a person to live in the U.S. legally without becoming a citizen.

In 1986 immigration law was reformed but major changes have occurred since 9/11, criminalization of immigration misuse and the militarization of the U.S. border mostly along the southern border to the tune of 3.5 billion dollars last year.

The Senate in June 2013 passed a comprehensive immigration bill that essentially incorporated the 'Dream Act' that would allow young people brought to this country by their parents or others a pathway to citizenship provided certain criteria are met.  The current mindset is that this legislation will be initiated piecemeal, if at all since The House of Representatives is unlikely to sign off on this bill and will surely do a hatchet job on it as it's currently written. No doubt with the blessing of  Senator Marco Rubio who helped write this bill but is now backing away from it.

In summary Mr. Titshaw feels that immigration enforcement is becoming more and more militarized and that this will continue on the upswing. The 11 million or so illegal aliens living in this country won't see much improvement or incentive to try to live here legally by acquiring a green card. Many live in fear of being deported and thousands have under the Obama administration's crackdown on illegals.

After the lecture there was a lively and provocative question and answer period and Mr. Titshaw clearly enjoyed our  varied and thought provoking questions. We thank Mr. Titshaw for his enlightening presentation and the discussion that followed. 

Professor Scott Titshaw conversing with Joan Wade, right, and Susana Hernandez