AILF and INS Reaches Settlement in the Healthcare Worker Litigation

On September 29, 2000, the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF) entered into an agreement with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to settle Abraham v. Reno, the lawsuit filed to compel INS to issue regulations implementing §343 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) for certain healthcare workers.  Under the settlement agreement, the INS will be required to do the following:

• Issue regulations governing certification under IIRIRA §343 of Medical Technologists, Medical Technicians, Speech/Language Pathologists and Physicians Assistants applying for permanent residence by January 19, 2001;

• File a status report with AILF by November 30, 2000, detailing the progress of the regulations through the administrative review and approval process and confirming the time frame for the publication of the regulation; and

• Adjudicate the I-485s of the named plaintiffs in Abraham and their derivative family members no later than thirty (30) days after they have received their §343 certificate and have submitted all other documents necessary for the adjudication of the I-485s.

The lawsuit will be dismissed only after the INS timely issues the regulations, in order to ensure that the agency will comply with its obligations under the settlement agreement.  AILF will carefully monitor the INS's compliance with the terms of the agreement and will be ready to go back to court if the agency fails to meet any of its obligations.  If you have any questions regarding this litigation, please contact Traci Hong at thong@ailf.org.