Immigration in State of the Union

Posted on by

State of the Union 

“Yes, passions still fly on immigration, but surely we can all see something of ourselves in the striving young student, and agree that no one benefits when a hardworking mom is taken from her child, and that it’s possible to shape a law that upholds our tradition as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.” – Barack Obama, January 20, 2015

The word ‘immigration’ was only uttered twice Tuesday night in President Barack Obama’s seventh State of the Union speech, but the immigration motif was prevalent throughout the address.

The president made quick mention of the inherent unfairness of breaking apart families to remove a low-enforcement priority mother from her US citizen children. That is the basis of DAPA (Deferred Action for Parental Arrivals). The guiding light of American immigration policy is family reunification. Dismantling families would run contrary to that. DAPA is receiving most of the attention from Obama’s November 20, 2014 Immigration speech, in which he announced a series of executive orders to make incremental improvements to the immigration system in the face of congressional paralysis, especially in 2007 and 2013-2014. The “hardworking mom” mentioned during the speech would be someone that DAPA would protect temporarily, for the sake of keeping families intact.

The president dedicated much of his speech to trumpeting the job creation, research & development, innovation, and overall economic improvement of the United States in recent years. Underlying these important markers is immigration. American businesses rely on non-immigrant and immigrant visas to succeed. There are currently 140,000 Emplyoment-Based visas available per year and the H-1B visa system has been criticized for years by American businesses, some politicians, and immigration advocates as being damagingly low. The president has vowed to make improvements throughout the immigration architecture. He has declared his intention to modernize the employment process for immigration. We eagerly anticipate these reforms, as they will be in the best interests of our country, our fellow citizens, and immigrants.

Immigration in SOTU Tonight

Posted on by

Obama in Dallas - Reunion Arena

“My presidency is entering the fourth quarter. Interesting stuff happens in the fourth quarter.”

President Barack Obama, 12/19/2014

The annual State of the Union is the president’s opportunity to sketch out an agenda for the year, emphasize his priorities, and deliver reprimands and congratulations. The broad topic of immigration is bound to receive some air time in the speech tonight. The past year has been an intensive year in immigration for President Obama, one in which Congress dithered on passing immigration reform and performed various legislative delay tactics on an important issue that seemed prime for change in 2012. After initially waiting for the midterm elections in November, President Obama announced a series of executive orders that to improve our overall immigration system in various ways. The highlights of the speech included work authorization for H-4 visa holders (dependents of H-1B visa holders), Deferred Action for Parent Arrivals (DAPA), expanding the provisional waiver, and a pledge to modernize the nonimmigrant and immigrant visa programs. Opposition to this approach culminated last week when the US House of Representatives voted against funding DAPA and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). The Senate has yet to vote, but it is expected that it will vote against the bill.

 

We are excited to see the president’s speech as it pertains to immigration. We are hopeful that it will continue to build upon his immigration speeches from November, as our immigration system incrementally improves for the better of immigrants, non-immigrants, and United States citizens. We will recap our thoughts on the immigration portion of the State of the Union address later in the week.

INA in the Supreme Court

Posted on by

Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments on whether the government is required to prove a connection between a drug possession conviction and a congressionally defined controlled substance for removal of a permanent resident under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The INA is the immigration law of the land and it allows for removal of non-US citizens for violations pertaining to controlled substances. The case is Mellouli v. Holder. Mellouli is a lawful permanent resident of the US from Tuisia. He was convicted for possession of drug paraphernalia in Kansas, but it is not clear what that substance it is and whether it is controlled or not. Mr. Mellouli argued that the government cannot remove him without proving the connection between the conviction and substance. He was appealing because the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that the conviction was covered under the INA.

 

Lawful permanent residents can be removed for any number of reasons. One of the benefits of US citizenship is a safeguard against removal. Permanent residents can be removed for drug convictions, aggravated felonies, among other crimes, even though they have legal status beyond just holding a visa. There are avenues for relief that can be argued for during removal proceedings. Famously, three permanent residents were removed for illicit group membership, despite having families of American citizens and being permanent residents for thirty years.

 

It is unknown when the Supreme Court will release its opinion of Mellouli v. Holder. We will be keeping an eye on this case, as it speaks on the important burden the government has in removing a non-citizen.

Prevention of Slavery and Trafficking

Posted on by

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) celebrates January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Slavery and human trafficking continue to be persistent and deeply embedded problems across the globe, as many countries actively practice slavery and traffic human beings, often for sexual slavery. Slavery did not end with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 or any other 19th century declaration or law. There are actual more slaves in the world today than there were in the 19th century. Slaves have played prominent roles in the building and maintenance of many empires, notably the Roman Empire, in which slaves vastly outnumbered citizens. Slavery should be an antique relic of history and utterly abolished. The international community has scorned against slavery and trafficking and multiple organizations have taken multifaceted approaches to combat these odious practices.

 

There are options in the United States for victims of trafficking, criminal activities, and domestic violence. The amended Trafficking Victims and Protection Act in 2008 created the U and T visas. Although there remain some issues with these visas, such as no work authorization during their pending periods and low cap numbers, the U and T visas provide an avenue for many non citizens to obtain non-immigrant status. For the U visa, a person must have been the victim of a qualifying crime. Three more qualifying crimes are expected to be added to the list as part of President Obama’s executive action, but Notario Fraud is not expected to be among them. T visas are for victims of human trafficking. These are not green cards but can lead to permanent residency.

 

As Martin Luther King Jr Day is celebrated this time of year and we remember his legacy, let us remember that all human beings are born with equal dignity and deserve the opportunity to live with that dignity.

Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador

Posted on by

DHS – TPS

DHS announced yesterday (January 7) that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) has been extended 18 months for eligible nationals of El Salvador. It is effective as of March 10, 2015 and extends until September 9, 2016. The strict 60-day re-registration period started yesterday and ends March 9, 2015.

 

Temporary Protected Status exists to protect a certain country’s nationals from returning to their home country in times the country is suffering extraordinary circumstances, such as armed conflicts, epidemics, or environmental disasters. The Secretary of Homeland Security (Jeh Johnson) has the authority to designate TPS for a country if he believes the conditions are too dangerous for nationals of that country currently in the United States to return safely. The nationals must already be in the United States for TPS at the time of TPS designation. For example, TPS from Honduras requires continuous residence since December 30, 1998 . TPS is not permanent immigration status, but TPS confers a safeguard against removal from the US and the ability to obtain employment authorization and travel authorization. It does not lead to other immigration statuses like a green card, but a TPS recipient is not barred from applying for nonimmigrant status, adjusting status, or applying for any other immigration benefit by virtue of TPS. Primary and secondary forms of evidence are required to file for TPS, in order to demonstrate eligibility for nationality, identity, date of entry, and continuous residence in the United States.

 

The current TPS designated countries, in addition to El Salvador, are Republic of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Syria. The West African nations of Republic of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone are the most recent additions and were designated for 18 months of TPS in November 2014 because of the outbreak of the Ebola virus.