Hates Crimes May Cover Gender, Sexual Orientation
Headline Legal News
The Associated Press is reporting that on Thursday the Senate approved an expansion of federal hate crime laws. The legislation will allow the 1968 hate crimes law to cover those attacked because of their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "This bill simply recognizes that there is a difference between assaulting someone to steal his money, or doing so because he is gay,or disabled, or Latino or Muslim."
The legislation also ends the "federally protected acts," meaning that now it doesn't matter where the crime takes place. The 1968 bill only covered crimes in federal government-related environments, including schools and court rooms.
This piece of legislation is an amendment to the new defense spending bill that is expected to be finished sometime next week. President Barack Obama has promised to veto the bill if it includes more money for an F-22 fighter program he is trying to end.
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USCIS Adjusting Premium Processing Fee
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today it is adjusting the premium processing fee for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers beginning on Oct. 1, 2018 to more effectively adjudicate petitions and maintain effective service to petitioners.
The premium processing fee will increase to $1,410, a 14.92 percent increase (after rounding) from the current fee of $1,225. This increase, which is done in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, represents the percentage change in inflation since the fee was last increased in 2010 based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers.
“Because premium processing fees have not been adjusted since 2010, our ability to improve the adjudications and service processes for all petitioners has been hindered as we’ve experienced significantly higher demand for immigration benefits. Ultimately, adjusting the premium processing fee will allow us to continue making necessary investments in staff and technology to administer various immigration benefit requests more effectively and efficiently,” said Chief Financial Officer Joseph Moore. “USCIS will continue adjudicating all petitions on a case-by-case basis to determine if they meet all standards required under applicable law, policies, and regulations.”
Premium processing is an optional service that is currently authorized for certain petitioners filing Forms I-129 or I-140. The system allows petitioners to request 15-day processing of certain employment-based immigration benefit requests if they pay an extra fee. The premium processing fee is paid in addition to the base filing fee and any other applicable fees, which cannot be waived.