Angelo Paparelli Published in the New York Law Journal
"Does Comprehensive Immigration Reform Have a Prayer?"

Angelo Paparelli co-authored the article, "Does Comprehensive Immigration Reform Have a Prayer?," which was published in the April 30, 2009 issue of the New York Law Journal. In the article, Angelo discusses Gabriel Ruiz-Diaz, et al. v. United States, where a federal judge in Seattle agreed that "immigrant religious workers should be treated the same way as other immigrants and invalidated the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) regulation that gives preferential treatment to foreign citizens immigrating on the basis of petitions by family members or employers of so called 'priority workers' and others with special skills or experience." According to Angelo, "advocates of comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) have not yet resorted to the help of a higher power. At this stage, they are placing their hope in the Democratic majority in Congress and the new administration under President Barack Obama to repair or replace an immigration system widely perceived as broken."

The article goes on to discuss the three-pronged CIR approach that supporters say would reduce the number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States, by: "1) regulating the status of those already here without proper documentation, 2) controlling future flows of immigrants through increases in the legal paths to immigration, and 3) increasing border and workplace enforcement." Angelo further explains, "While the regulation giving preferential treatment to other immigrants has been invalidated, USCIS could - and might very well - rectify the inequality by eliminating concurrent filing of immigration petitions and adjustment applications altogether."

In conclusion, Angelo notes that "With or without divine intervention, CIR supporters should urge the Obama administration to move quickly to change the facts on the ground. The proposed steps might allow for just enough celestial seasoning to prompt Congress to enact CIR sooner rather than later, and enable USCIS to implement CIR more effectively if and when it becomes law."