Immigrant Workforce Growing

Here is an interesting article from the Wasghington Post about the growing immigrant workforce. Enjoy.


Link to article

Deportations to Haiti Resume

In light of the earthquake in Japan, this post revisits another earthquake ravaged nation and its ongoing relationship to U.S. Immigration Policy.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Haiti was struck by a catastrophic quake on January 12, 2010.  In the days after the disaster, the U.S. Government announced it was halting deportations to the country. In January of 2011, the U.S. Government resumed deportations to Haiti.  DHS plans to deport some 700 persons back to the country this year.

Immigration advocates and those facing deportation to Haiti have pleaded for a halt to the deportations, citing “inhumane conditions” in Haiti.  A cholera epidemic reportedly has killed more than 4,000 people since October. One of the 26 detainees sent to Haiti in the first wave of the resumed deportations was Wildrick Guerrier.  Upon his return, he suffered choleralike symptoms and later died.  Before being deported, he had participated in a hunger strike and stated that deportation to Haiti amounted to a death sentence.

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement is currently seeking feedback on its resumed deportation policy.  The new draft policy was posted on March 7, 2011.  The document, which is the first written policy issued regarding the resumption of deportations to Haiti, comes three months after DHS announced its plan to resume deportations and more than six weeks after deportations actually began.

Read an article regrading the deportations here.
Read an article regarding the earthquake here.
Read the draft policy here.

Long Awaited DHS Report Released

Prince William County filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") on Tuesday over its refusal to provide information regarding Carlos Martinelly-Montano, an illegal immigrant charged with killing a nun in a alcohol related car crash last August.


DHS claimed that it could not release the information requested due to Immigration and Customs Enforcement privacy policies.


On Friday, however, DHS released a report of ICE's Inquiry into the matter to Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, who along with others, also sued the DHS under the Freedom of Information Act.  The report indicates that Mr. Martinelly-Montano had been released by immigration authorities while awaiting deportation because he had demonstrated that he was not a flight risk.


View the Report here.
Read Washington Post Article here.
Read Washington Examiner Blog Post here.

ARBITRARY SEARCHES & SEIZURES IN THE "CONSTITUTION-FREE ZONE:" Far From Border, U.S. Detains Foreign Students

Excerpt from The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 9, 2011 edition:

By Colin Woodard

Old Town, Me.

Six miles north of the University of Maine's flagship campus, on the only real highway in these parts, students and professors traveling south might encounter a surprise: a roadblock manned by armed Border Patrol agents, backed by drug-sniffing dogs, state policemen, and county sheriff's deputies.

Although the Canadian border is nearly 100 miles behind them—and Bangor, Maine's second-largest city, just 15 miles ahead—motorists are queried about their citizenship and immigration status. Those who raise an agent's suspicions are sent to an adjacent weigh station for further questioning and, sometimes, searches. Any foreign students or scholars unable to produce all of their original documentation are detained and could be arrested.

Thus far, nobody from the University of Maine has actually been arrested at this ephemeral checkpoint, which usually appears near the start of the academic year, when migrant laborers happen to be leaving eastern Maine's blueberry fields. One student had to wait at the roadblock until university authorities had satisfied agents that the individual was in the country legally, university officials say.

But elsewhere on the northern border, foreign students and scholars experience fear and uncertainty every time they leave campus, pick up a friend at the bus station, or board a domestic train or flight, even when they have all their documents with them.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has greatly increased its manpower along the northern border, allowing for more-frequent use of roving patrols or surprise checkpoints on buses, trains, and highways far from the border itself. Students who failed to carry their original documents have been delayed and fined, apprehended even when they're just a few miles from campus.

"We used to tell students: When you get here, put your passport and I-90 form away so you don't lose it, because you don't need anything special when you travel around the country," says Thy Yang, director of international programs at Michigan Technological University, located a few miles from the shores of Lake Superior. "Now we tell them to carry it at all times.
. . .

'Temporary Permanent'

Customs and Border Protection officials did not make themselves available for an interview, despite repeated requests. A written statement ignored questions on the topic, instead providing general commentary on the purpose of internal checkpoints. "CBP Border Patrol agents conduct these types of operations periodically in key locations that serve as conduits for human and narcotics smuggling," the statement said. "These operations serve as a vital component to our overall border security efforts and help sustain security efforts implemented in recent years."

Customs and Border Protection also maintains that it can set up roadblocks—it prefers the term "temporary permanent checkpoints" for legal reasons—and question people on trains and buses or at transportation stations anywhere within 100 air miles of a U.S. border or seacoast. This broadly defined border zone encompasses most of the nation's major cities and the entirety of several states, including Florida, Michigan, Hawaii, Delaware, New Jersey, and five of the six New England states. The American Civil Liberties Union—concerned about the erosion of Fourth Amendment protections against arbitrary searches and seizures—has called it the "Constitution-Free Zone."

READ MORE AT:

http://chronicle.com/article/Far-From-Canada-Aggressive/125880/

Private Legislation

Every year, large numbers of noncitizens with compelling circumstances are removed from the United States because their cases do not fall squarely within the ambit of existing immigration laws.  One potential avenue for addressing the shortcomings of current immigration laws on a case-by-case basis, without comprehensive immigration reform, is through the private legislation process.  Private legislation can be used to provide a much-needed remedy which is lacking under existing law in a particular case.

Successful use of private immigration legislation is rare.  Recently, however, Virginia's own Senator Jim Webb sponsored a private bill for the Japanese widow and son of an American Marine killed in Iraq.  Immigration refused to recongize the marriage despite the fact that it had been recognized by the military.   The first successful private immigration bill since 2006, the bill passed the House on Wednesday and now awaits the President's signature.

Read more about the Private Bill here.

Colbert Brings 'Truthiness' to Immigration Debate

Famous faux news anchor Stephen Colbert made real news Friday when he provided 'expert' testimony before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugee, Border Security and International Law.  

Drawing attention to the plight of migrant workers appeared to be the goal of the appearance by the Emmy-winning host of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report.  Colbert expressed “hope that my star power can bump this hearing all the way up to C-SPAN I.” And perhaps it worked.  The panel’s chair, California Democrat Zoe Lofgren, who invited Colbert to appear, noted that the chamber had not been so packed since the Clinton impeachment proceedings.

For much of his appearance, Colbert testified in character.  At one point he commented that “the obvious answer” to farm labor shortages is “for all of us to stop eating fruits and vegetables. And, if you look at the recent obesity statistics, you’ll see that many Americans have already started.”

In a few serious moments, Colbert stepped out of character, commenting that “[i]t just seems like one of the least powerful people in the United States are migrant workers who come and do our work but don’t have any rights as a result,” he said.  Colbert spent a day picking beans and packing corn in upstate New York. Testifying about his experience, which was documented on his show Thursday, Colbert expressed his belief that many Americans would be unwilling to do work of that nature.

The high profile testimony from Colbert came as part of the subcommittee's effort to examine the guest worker program, which allows people into the country temporarily to do farm work.  Many growers say they must hire the immigrants because they have a hard time hiring U.S. workers.  Opponents of the guest worker program argue that hiring immigrants depresses wages and leads to poor working conditions, making the jobs unattractive to U.S. residents. 

Watch Colbert's testimony here.

Virginia DMV Ups Requirements for Immigrant Driver Licensing

The Virginia DMV will no longer accept federal employment documents provided to immigrants as proof of legal presence for purposes of state driver's license or identification card applications.


The change comes amid concerns raised recently in the Montano case where an alien with two drunk driving convictions was involved in a crash in Prince William County that left a woman dead and two others seriously injured.  Montano received a federal employment card while deportation proceedings were already under way. According to the governor's office, he later used the document to apply for a state identification card.


Opponents of the change point out that it has the potential to harm persons with valid work visas, potentially jeopardizing their employment.


The DMV is now seeking an opinion from Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli about which federal documents should be accepted as proof of legal presence going forward.


Read the full article here.

Secure Communities Program

The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Secure Communities Program is yet another immigration issue stirring up controversy and new coverage in recent weeks.

The program was started under the Bush administration and has been rapidly expanded under the Obama Administration with the goal of modernizing the criminal alien enforcement process by identifying criminal aliens with enhanced biometric technology used by local law enforcement.  In plain language, the program takes fingerprints gathered by local law enforcement during the booking process and checks them against FBI criminal history records and DHS's immigration records.  Where matches are found, Immigration and Customs Enfocement (ICE) is notified and determines whether further action is necessary.  DHS claims the program will increase the agency's ability to efficiently and accurately identify high priority criminal aliens for removal.

The program is being rolled out in phases, with new localities being added frequently.  Currently, 100% of Virginia's local jurisdictions have implemented the Secure Communities Program.  DHS plans to have the program fully implemented nationwide by 2013.  Unlike the 287(g) powers recently requested by Governor McDonnell,  the Secure Communities program does not give local law enforcement any immigration enforcement powers.

As might be expected, not everyone is a fan of the Secure Communities program.  Some argue that it has the potential for misuse by local police, who may be more likely to find a pretext to arrest those they suspect of being undocumented in hopes that a fingerprint scan will result in ICE instituting removal action.  Others argue that immigrant communities may become hesitant to seek aid from or cooperate with local law enforcement due to their involvement with ICE, leading to communities that are actually less secure.

As a result of these concerns, some localities have attempted to opt out of the Secure Communities Program. While ICE appears to concede that the program is voluntary, it appears that no one, including ICE, knows exactly how a locality may opt out.

Find out more about the program and the opposition below:

ICE Secure Communities Fact Sheet
National Immigration Forum Fact Sheet
ICE's "Setting the Record Straight" Memo Responding to Opposition
Opt Out Controversy Article

Vandeventer Black Immigration Attorney Art Serratelli Featured on ABC affiliate KAIT 8 "Region 8 News" in Arkansas / Missouri

Arthur Serratelli, chair of the Immigration Law Group, was interviewed for a recent news article by ABC affiliate KAIT 8 "Region 8 News" in Arkansas / Missouri.  Mr. Serratelli was one of a number of professionals who spoke to students about career paths at the ASU Career Management Event.

Take a look here.

Increase in Deportations under Obama Administration

According to the Washington Post, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (better known as ICE) expects to deport around 400,000 people during the government's 2009 fiscal year!  This is a 10% jump over 2008 and a 25% increase over 2007's numbers!

Read the full article here.

The Immigration Law Group provides deportation/removal consultation and defense services.  Contact us with questions or to set up a consultation.