Op-ed: Standing Up for Rule of Law in Pakistan

Ethics

We have witnessed with admiration and empathy the heroism of lawyers and judges in Pakistan as they squarely faced beatings and stood up to soldiers and police to defend the rule of law.  Thedissolution of the Supreme Court, the silencing of a free press, and ingeneral, the loss of democratic order have plunged that country intolegal chaos.

Thestruggle of the Pakistani lawyers reminds us that the ideals of freedomand the rule of law are not abstract concepts, but are very real linesthat stand between justice and tyranny. Their stand demonstrates howfragile the rule of law is in all nations, including our own.

Aslawyers, it is no surprise to us that Musharraf targeted his crackdownon his nation?s legal community among other aspects of civil society.Musharraf has treated the law, as well as the judiciary and free press,as dangers to his rule and curtailments to his power.

In Pakistanand elsewhere, lawyers are the keepers of democracy. In our own nation,lawyers built our democratic society, founded on the rule of law, andcontinue to play a vital role. 

When the Soviet Unioncollapsed, American lawyers helped draft constitutions and train judgeswhose work would help new democracies emerge. Although we appeared thento be in the midst of a worldwide flowering of liberty, increasingly wesee those gains in jeopardy.

The recent actions in Pakistanembody the reversal of values we hold dear. And in a world threatenedby terrorism and rising dictators, they make our world more dangerous,not less.

It is too easy to ignore the events in Pakistanbecause they are happening so far away. What the terrorist events onSept. 11 showed us, however, is that we do not live in isolation. Welive in an increasingly global society and we are more interconnectedas human beings than ever before.

TheAmerican Bar Association and other bar groups call on PresidentMusharraf to restore constitutional law and reinstate the Supreme Courtjustices, and to free those he has wrongly arrested.

Thosemessages have been reinforced by lawyers in cities across the globesince Musharraf declared a state of emergency in his country. Theprotests continue this week as we continue to express our solidaritywith our courageous counterparts in Pakistan.

Aslawyers, our goal is not just to support the rule of law, it is tostand up for our beliefs in basic human rights ? the right to feelsecure in our own homes, the right to work in safety and the right tofreely voice our views. 

The injustices in Pakistan cannot be ignored. Lawyers the world over must not rest until democracy and the rule of law have been restored in Pakistan.

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USCIS Will Begin Accepting CW-1 Petitions for Fiscal Year 2019

On April 2, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting petitions under the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) program subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2019 cap. Employers in the CNMI use the CW-1 program to employ foreign workers who are ineligible for other nonimmigrant worker categories. The cap for CW-1 visas for FY 2019 is 4,999.

For the FY 2019 cap, USCIS encourages employers to file a petition for a CW-1 nonimmigrant worker up to six months in advance of the proposed start date of employment and as early as possible within that timeframe. USCIS will reject a petition if it is filed more than six months in advance. An extension petition may request a start date of Oct. 1, 2018, even if that worker’s current status will not expire by that date.

Since USCIS expects to receive more petitions than the number of CW-1 visas available for FY 2019, USCIS may conduct a lottery to randomly select petitions and associated beneficiaries so that the cap is not exceeded. The lottery would give employers the fairest opportunity to request workers, particularly with the possibility of mail delays from the CNMI.

USCIS will count the total number of beneficiaries in the petitions received after 10 business days to determine if a lottery is needed. If the cap is met after those initial 10 days, a lottery may still need to be conducted with only the petitions received on the last day before the cap was met. USCIS will announce when the cap is met and whether a lottery has been conducted.

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