Austin Community College is co-sponsoring its second annual immigration conference, "Immigration, Education and Our Future," on February 6, 2009. The one-day event is cosponsored together with St. Edward’s University.

Paul Parsons is one of the conference's key speakers and will give a lecture on current United States immigration law. Other topics covered include education, family, and economic questions by speakers who have both national and local experience. They include:

• Former Texas Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos
• Economist Jon Hockenyos of Texas Perspectives, an economic analysis and public policy consulting firm
• Kevin Appleby, director of migration and refugee services for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
• Dr. Paul Hart, associate professor of history at Texas State University in San Marcos

“This conference is a great opportunity to become informed about the immigration issue, what it means to Austin, and what impact it has on education,” says Richard Armenta, ACC's Associate Vice President for Student Success.

Coordinating the event for ACC are the Latino/Latin American Studies Center, the Center for Public Policy and Political Studies, and the Office of Student Success.

The conference will be held at ACC's Eastview Campus on 3401 Webberville Road. Registration is $30 per person, and lunch is included. Participants may register online at austincc.edu/immigrat/results.php or call (512) 223.7795 for more information.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today it has delayed by 60 days, until April 3, 2009, the implementation of an interim final rule streamlining the Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) process. 

The delay will provide DHS with an opportunity for further consideration of the rule and also allows the public to submit additional comments on the rule until March 4, 2009.

Employers must complete a Form I-9 for all newly hired employees to verify their identity and authorization to work in the United States.  The interim final rule will amend regulations governing the types of acceptable identity and employment authorization documents employees may present to their employers for completion of the Form I-9.  Under the interim rule, employers will no longer be able to accept expired documents to verify employment authorization on the Form I-9. 

The interim final rule and an informational copy of the revised Form I-9 will continue to be available for public comment at www.regulations.gov.