News stories tagged with "foreign"

(09/17/10) Across the North Country, border patrol road checkpoints where agents stop cars and ask passengers their citizenship have become a part of daily life. Today we have a story about another step in the creeping influence of homeland security inside the border.

It's now become commonplace for federal agents to board buses and trains across Upstate New York and ask passengers for proof of citizenship. The checks are sweeping up some drugs and illegal immigrants, but also people who are here legally. David Sommerstein reports. more

(09/17/10) One wrinkle in the immigration picture has been particularly difficult for foreign students and professionals working in the U.S.

There are two agencies within Homeland Security that handle visas. The one that issues them is U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It says a foreign national may reapply or change a visa status "in a timely manner" before its expiration date. The visa itself may take weeks or months to process. The U.S. Border Patrol however, only looks at the expiration date.

If a person's visa has expired, that person is subject to detention. Immigration lawyer Hilary Fraser of Ithaca has defended clients caught between these two interpretations of the law. She told David Sommerstein one was a Filipino national living in Watertown.