U.S. immigration officials reached a settlement with a group of immigrants who tried to qualify for the 1986 amnesty, bringing an end to the last of three lawsuits stemming from that law.

It’s times like this when unscrupulous people put out fraudulent offers for immigration services, says Andrea Quarantillo, director of the New York district office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. (The district office is at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, with a satellite location in Garden City, Long Island.) Ads for a “new amnesty” are circulating, she said, even though there is no such thing.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of immigrants who were unfairly denied amnesty under the old law or never received an answer.

How to avoid an unscrupulous immigration lawyer or business person?

Click here to check the list of “disciplined practitioners” at DOJ.

To find a referral, AILA has directory of immigration attorneys, and so does the New York State Bar Association.

Quarantillo made the remarks during her discussion at Pace Law School this week. She was invited by the Immigration Justice Clinic at Pace, which serves indigent clients in the region. Most of the discussion was about the latest efforts to make USCIS more efficient. There were many questions about the complex rules and procedures.

Vanessa Merton, the clinic’s faculty supervisor, had a chance to raise an issue that she finds particularly baffling: Why do applicants have to submit a new set of fingerprints — making an appointment in New Rochelle, paying an $80 fee and taking more time from government employees — with each major application?

Read on for the answer, which didn’t seem to satisfy anyone, including Quarantillo. Until USCIS gets its electronic filing system, it doesn’t have the ability to store and receive a person’s prints. “I don’t like it any better than you do, I think it’s a total waste of time, but I am telling you that’s the answer,” she said.

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Speaking of E-Verify (the database used to check workers’ immigration status): Employers in Arizona are now required to use the system, and the Arizona Republic has turned up some unintended consequences. Workers going further “underground” to find cash-paying jobs. And some are borrowing the names and Social Security numbers of friends who are U.S. citizens.

The story profiles one worker who lost his factory job, where he paid taxes under a made-up number. Now he works for cash or uses a friend’s Social Security number. At one point an employer had another solution: To use the number of a former employer. “You are now Pedro,” the boss reportedly said. “You will get Pedro’s check.” You can see the story here.

Also, the Providence Journal reports here on the complaints over E-Verify in Rhode Island, where it is required for contractors hired by the state.

The Hudson Valley is getting ready to commemorate a very early immigrant wave, if you want to call it that, when a certain boat came up the river and Dutch settlers followed.

2009 marks the 400th anniversary of the voyages of Henry Hudson and Samuel de Champlain. The Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission (click here for its web site) has a big series of events planned. Peekskill is getting a start by installing a trail of Dutch-style ceramic tiles through town, from the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art down to the river. Local school kids painted tiles that will be alternated with traditional ones.

On Sunday, a representative of the Dutch consulate will be in town to donate $20,000 toward the installation. He will appear during HVCCA’s Free Arts Day from noon to 6.

Also appearing is an artist from Amsterdam, Karen Sargsyan. He is currently the center’s fall artist in residence, and will be part of a 2009 exhibit by Dutch artists. Here are the details on that event, from the art center:

Double Dutch will be sponsored in part by Consulate General of the Netherlands and The Mondrian Foundation and will be featured in the main 12,000 sq ft exhibition space of the HVCCA. In celebration of the Hudson Valley’s Quadricentennial and Peekskill’s Dutch heritage, the exhibition seeks to explore, through the installation of extraordinary work by seven contemporary Dutch artists, the common thread of architecture and structure that resonated in the Dutch works of over 200 artist studios visited by the curators. The fact that there was an early Dutch settlement in this area, an area which parallels the landscape of Holland, challenges viewers of the exhibition to understand the impact of Dutch influence in the region. The exhibition will include emerging Dutch artists such as Karen Sargsyan (Rijksacademie ‘07 and HVCCA 2008 Artist-in-Residence), and Alon Levy (Pris-De-Rome competition at De Apple, 2007), as well as more established artists such as Mark Manders.

(Photos: “The Landing of Hendrick Hudson,” courtesy of the Historical Society of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow; An image from Karen Sargsyan’s work in progress “Abroad Understanding” to be included in a solo exhibition at HVCCA Feb. 8th, courtesy of HVCCA.)

Putnam County lawmakers are considering a bill to require licensed contractors to use the federal database called E-Verify to check the immigration status of their workers, Susan Elan reports here.

We’re sure to hear more about this new system in January, when federal contractors are required to use it. In Rockland, the village of Suffern has agreed to mandate E-Verify for the contractors it hires. Putnam’s bill would extend to all licensed contractors, not just those hired for government jobs.

In other Putnam news today: the Legislature has agreed to extend the lease for the Community Action Program on Brewster’s Main Street.

A petition has started to help Putnam’s Community Action Program (CAP) following an article that my colleague Barbara Livingston Nackman wrote over the weekend about how county legislators are not planning to renew CAP’s lease at 121 Main St., in Brewster. The building is owned by the county.

Apparently, the space is needed for storing county records. Many posters have questioned that line of thinking, asking why these documents can’t be put in a storage facility? To be fair, one poster, who attended the meeting, did say that county officials did say they would try to find a workable solution to fix the problem, as well as space for CAP to fulfill its purpose.

The nonprofit organization has been a big help to Putnam’s families in need. Last year, according to Nackman’s article, CAP served 2,910 families and provided emergency assistance to 80 families, information and referrals to 433 families, as well as December holiday gift baskets and school supplies to 352 children.

CAP’s executive director Rosemarie Bahr said the street-level space is necessary for distributing about 15,000 pounds of food each month and that it is essential that the pantry be near other social services and public transportation.

CAP’s location I’m guessing is key to reaching out to the needy. It is no secret that Brewster has a large immigrant population of Guatemalans. I’m not sure how many of those families get help from CAP.

Earlier this year, I wrote about how the Women, Infant and Children’s program, run by the Putnam County Health Department and also located at 121 Main St., has seen tremendous growth since it relocated to Brewster in 2006. Last year, there was a 176 percent growth in participation. About 60 percent of their clients are Hispanic immigrant women, many of whom are not legal but whose children are.

Now, with the country in an economic crisis, I’m sure more families will be seeking assistance from such agencies as CAP. But the question remains why county leaders would want to interrupt the work of this humanitarian aid.

For more on the article and petition, visit here.