Thursday Immigration Blog Roundup

This week's immigration blog roundup will cover news on immigration reform, health care, and more.

The election of two more Democrats to the House of Representatives: John Garamendi of California and Bill Owens of New York is expected to help push through a plan for comprehensive immigration reform by early next year. 

The debate over how to include legal immigrants in health care reform continues.  Of the several plans proposed to Congress, all exclude illegal immigrants and many propose waiting periods for legal immigrants such as those currently incurred for Medicaid and Medicare programs.

President Obama has put an end to the ban that prohibits HIV positive foreigners from entering the United States.  Once the ban is lifted, foreigners applying to become residents in the United States will no longer be required to be tested for HIV/AIDs.

There  is a debate as to whether the DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act should be combined with other legislation.  Politicians such as Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz. are pushing for the Act to be a part of comprehensive immigration reform, while members of the DreamAct Arizona say that the Act would be more readily approved on its own.

Massachusetts State officials are expecting to announce $1.3 million in grants aimed at helping the state's immigrants learn English.  There are approximately 17,000 Massachusetts immigrants on the waiting lists for state-funded English classes.

The New York Bar Association is calling for all detainees at the Varick Detention Center to be provided with legal advice through the NYC Know Your Rights Project.  After recieving a petition by detainees to "investigate grave human rights abuses" the Bar Association sent volunteers to investigate- their findings are detailed in this report (PDF).

Lastly, economic recession and pressure to hire citizens are cited as the main reasons for the lowest level of H-1B visa applications submitted since 2003.