Emerald Isle Immigration Center

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
———————-
For Immediate Release  -  June 25, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AFTER MEETING WITH MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
TO DISCUSS IMMIGRATION
State Dining Room
3:17 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody.  We have just finished what I consider to be a very productive meeting on one of the most critical issues that I think this nation faces, and that is an immigration system that is broken and needs fixing.

We have members of Congress from both chambers, from parties, who have participated in the meeting and shared a range of ideas.  I think the consensus is that despite our inability to get this passed over the last several years, the American people still want to see a solution in which we are tightening up our borders, or cracking down on employers who are using illegal workers in order to drive down wages — and oftentimes mistreat those workers.  And we need a effective way to recognize and legalize the status of undocumented workers who are here.

Now, this is — there is not by any means consensus across the table.  As you can see, we've got a pretty diverse spectrum of folks here.  But what I'm encouraged by is that after all the overheated rhetoric and the occasional demagoguery on all sides around this issue, we've got a responsible set of leaders sitting around the table who want to actively get something done and not put it off until a year, two years, three years, five years from now, but to start working on this thing right now.

My administration is fully behind an effort to achieve comprehensive immigration reform.  I have asked my Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Janet Napolitano, to lead up a group that is going to be working with a leadership group from both the House and the Senate to start systematically working through these issues from the congressional leaders and those with the relevant jurisdiction. What we've heard is through a process of regular order, they would like to work through these issues both in the House and in the Senate.

In the meantime, administratively there are a couple of things that our administration has already begun to do.  The FBI has cleared much of the backlog of immigration background checks that was really holding up the legal immigration process.  DHS is already in the process of cracking down on unscrupulous employers, and, in collaboration with the Department of Labor, working to protect those workers from exploitation.

The Department of Homeland Security has also been making good progress in speeding up the processing of citizenship petitions, which has been far too slow for far too long — and that, by the way, is an area of great consensus, cuts across Democratic and Republican parties, the notion that we've got to make our legal system of immigration much more efficient and effective and customer-friendly than it currently is.

Today I'm pleased to announce a new collaboration between my Chief Information Officer, my Chief Performance Officer, my Chief Technologies Officer and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Office to make the agency much more efficient, much more transparent, much more user-friendly than it has been in the past.

In the next 90 days, USCIS will launch a vastly improved Web site that will, for the first time ever, allow applicants to get updates on their status of their applications via e-mail and text message and online.  And anybody who's dealt with families who are trying to deal with — navigate the immigration system, this is going to save them huge amounts of time standing in line, waiting around, making phone calls, being put on hold.  It's an example of some things that we can do administratively even as we're working through difficult issues surrounding comprehensive immigration.

And the idea is very simple here:  We're going to leverage cutting-edge technology to reduce the unnecessary paperwork, backlogs, and the lack of transparency that's caused so many people so much heartache.
Now, we all know that comprehensive immigration reform is difficult.  We know it's a sensitive and politically volatile issue.  One of the things that was said around the table is the American people still don't have enough confidence that Congress and any administration is going to get serious about border security, and so they're concerned that any immigration reform simply will be a short-term legalization of undocumented workers with no long-term solution with respect to future flows of illegal immigration.

What's also been acknowledged is that the 12 million or so undocumented workers are here — who are not paying taxes in the ways that we'd like them to be paying taxes, who are living in the shadows, that that is a group that we have to deal with in a practical, common-sense way.  And I think the American people are ready for us to do so.  But it's going to require some heavy lifting, it's going to require a victory of practicality and common sense and good policymaking over short-term politics.  That's what I'm committed to doing as President.

I want to especially commend John McCain, who's with me today, because along with folks like Lindsey Graham, he has already paid a significant political cost for doing the right thing. I stand with him, I stand with Nydia Velázquez and others who have taken leadership on this issue.  I am confident that if we enter into this with the notion that this is a nation of laws that have to be observed and this is a nation of immigrants, then we're going to create a stronger nation for our children and our grandchildren.

So thank you all for participating.  I'm looking forward to us getting busy and getting to work.  All right?  Thank you.

Oh, and by the way, I hope everybody has got their Hawaiian shirts — (laughter) — and their mumus for our luau tonight.

ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS:

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis

Deputy Attorney General David Ogden

Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel

 

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS:

Senator Richard Durbin

Senator John Cornyn    

Senator Dianne Feinstein

Senator Lindsey Graham

Senator Jon Kyl

Senator Patrick Leahy

Senator Mel Martinez

Representative Howard Berman

Representative Anh Cao

Representative James Clyburn

Representative John Conyers

Representative Joe Crowley

Representative Lincoln Diaz Balart

Representative Gabrielle Giffords

Representative Luis Gutierrez

Representative Sheila Jackson Lee

Representative Zoe Lofgren

Representative Adam Putnam

Representative Silvestre Reyes

Representative Loretta Sanchez

Representative Heath Shuler

Representative Lamar Smith

Representative Nydia Velazquez

Representative Anthony Weiner

DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY 2010 (DV-2010) RESULTS

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2010 diversity lottery.  The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.  Approximately 102,800 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first *50,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2010 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2010 (October 1, 2009 until September 30, 2010).

Applicants registered for the DV-2010 program were selected at random from over 13.6 million qualified entries received during the 60 day application period that ran from noon on October 2, 2008, until noon, December 1, 2008.  The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country.  During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years.  Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly.  Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested.

Registrants living legally in the United States who wish to apply for adjustment of their status must contact the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures.  Once the total *50,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2010 will end.  Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2010 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2010 registration.  Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2010 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2010.

Only participants in the DV-2010 program who were selected for further processing have been notified.  Those who have not received notification were not selected.  They may try for the upcoming DV-2011 lottery if they wish.  The dates for the registration period for the DV-2011 lottery program will be widely publicized during August 2009.

* The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program.  The reduction of the limit of available visas to 50,000 began with DV-2000.

The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign-state chargeability of those registered for the DV-2010 program:

AFRICA

ALGERIA 1,957   ETHIOPIA 5,200 NIGER 56

ANGOLA 46        GABON 19           NIGERIA 6,006

BENIN 369           GAMBIA, THE 108            RWANDA 178

BOTSWANA 23  GHANA 8,752     SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE  0

BURKINA FASO 184         GUINEA 737       SENEGAL 520

BURUNDI 83       GUINEA-BISSAU 8           SEYCHELLES  4

CAMEROON 3,719           KENYA 4,619       SIERRA LEONE 3,898

CAPE VERDE 6    LESOTHO 2          SOMALIA 229

CENTRAL AFRICAN REP. 20           LIBERIA 2,172     SOUTH AFRICA 863

CHAD 27               LIBYA 152             SUDAN 1,084

COMOROS 9       MADAGASCAR 31            SWAZILAND 11

CONGO 92          MALAWI 50        TANZANIA 221

CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE 1,817  MALI 129             TOGO 827

COTE D'IVOIRE 658          MAURITANIA 20               TUNISIA 164

DJIBOUTI 33       MAURITIUS 78  UGANDA 396

EGYPT 4,201       MOROCCO 3,124              WESTERN SAHARA  0

EQUATORIAL GUINEA 15              MOZAMBIQUE 8              ZAMBIA 93

ERITREA 799       NAMIBIA 16       ZIMBABWE 170

ASIA     

AFGHANISTAN 345          ISRAEL 99             OMAN 2

BAHRAIN 15       JAPAN 302          QATAR 13

BANGLADESH 6,001        JORDAN 143       SAUDI ARABIA 104

BHUTAN 2           NORTH KOREA 3               SINGAPORE 37

BRUNEI 0             KUWAIT 70         SRI LANKA 650

BURMA 473        LAOS 3  SYRIA 98

CAMBODIA 359 LEBANON 181    TAIWAN 368

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMIN. REGION 49            MALAYSIA 60     THAILAND 54

INDONESIA 277 MALDIVES  0      TIMOR-LESTE  0

IRAN 2,773          MONGOLIA 144                UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 30

IRAQ 142              NEPAL 2,132       YEMEN 72

EUROPE              

ALBANIA 2,311  GREECE 48           NORWAY 60

ANDORRA 6        HUNGARY 192   PORTUGAL 51

Macau Special Admin Region 17

ARMENIA 1,332                ICELAND 36         ROMANIA 674

AUSTRIA 181      IRELAND 167      RUSSIA  1,912

AZERBAIJAN 324               ITALY 470             SAN MARINO 0

BELARUS 1,178  KAZAKHSTAN 343            SERBIA 367

BELGIUM 117     KYRGYZSTAN 205             SLOVAKIA 108

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 72       LATVIA 90            SLOVENIA 19

BULGARIA 842   LIECHTENSTEIN  0             SPAIN 169

CROATIA 74        LITHUANIA 195 SWEDEN 163

CYPRUS 23          LUXEMBOURG 2               SWITZERLAND 185

CZECH REPUBLIC 116      MACEDONIA, FORMER YUGOSLAV REP. OF 272 TAJIKISTAN 178

DENMARK 75

Greenland 2       MALTA 7              TURKEY 2,826

ESTONIA 66        MOLDOVA 724  TURKMENISTAN 108

FINLAND 83        MONACO 0         UKRAINE 5,499

FRANCE 703 French Guiana 4 French Polynesia 8

French Southern & Antarctic Lands  0 Guadeloupe 13

Martinique 4

New Caledonia 0

Reunion 5

St. Pierre & Miquelon 0 MONTENEGRO 13            UZBEKISTAN 4,059

GEORGIA 648     NETHERLANDS 200

Aruba 16

Netherlands Antilles 22 VATICAN CITY  0

GERMANY 2,188               NORTHERN IRELAND 31

NORTH AMERICA            

BAHAMAS, THE 18

OCEANIA            

AUSTRALIA 705

Christmas Islands 2

Coco Island 0      NAURU  3            SOLOMON ISLANDS  3

FIJI 674 NEW ZEALAND 258

Cook Islands 0

Niue 16 TONGA 80

KIRIBATI 1           PALAU 12            TUVALU  1

MARSHALL ISLANDS  0   PAPUA NEW GUINEA 15               VANUATU  7

MICRONESIA, FEDERATED    STATES OF 0               SAMOA 0             WESTERN SAMOA  26

SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN      

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 9         DOMINICA 18    SAINT LUCIA 19

ARGENTINA 188               GRENADA 9        SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES 9

BARBADOS 29    GUYANA 41        SURINAME 10

BELIZE 10             HONDURAS 82  TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 226

BOLIVIA 142       NICARAGUA 50 URUGUAY 17

CHILE 53               PANAMA 39       VENEZUELA 624

COSTA RICA 74  PARAGUAY 29  

CUBA 298            SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 6            

Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2010:  Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born, excluding Hong Kong S.A.R., and Taiwan), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.

Green Card Lottery Results Now Online
Check Your Green Card Application the Easy Way

By MAIRE POWER – IrishCentral.com Staff Writer
Published Wednesday, July 1, 2009

DV Lottery applicants can now check their status online.

The results of this year's Diversity Visa Green Gard lottery are now available online.

This is the first-time ever that the State Department has made the results available online.

If you applied for this year's program, you can check your status now on a special State Department website.

Applicants need to have the following:

– the confirmation page received when you entered the lottery

– confirmation number, last name/family name, and year of birth

The DV lottery gives away 55,000 visas through this program each year which enables people to become permanent residents of the United States.

After five years of continuous residence, green card holders are entitled to start a naturalization process to become U.S citizens.

Ireland has fared poorly in the lottery in recent years.

The recent three years have seen about 200 people from North and South win green cards.

For instance, the results of last year's lottery saw just 207 Irish people win green cards, 163 in the Republic and 34 from the North.

That means that people in the Ireland have less than a 0.4 percent chance of winning a green card.

The lottery result website is at http://dvlottery.state.gov/ESC/