Immig Blog/Notes (www.sarponglaw.com)

The Law Office of James S. Sarpong, LLC is a Denver, Colorado based US Immigration Law Firm that provides immigration law services to clients throughout the United States (U.S.) and the world, including Colorado, Aurora, Colorado Springs, Denver, District of Columbia, Washington (D.C.), Maryland (MD), Montgomery County, Virginia (VA), Arlington, Chesapeake, Newport News, Norfolk, Richmond, and Virginia Beach.

OHIO LICENSE POLICY BECOMES IMMIGRATION ISSUE
DESANTIS
12/9/09
RUNS: 00:03:17
 
OVER FORTY SEVEN THOUSAND OHIO VEHICLE REGESTRATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CANCELLATION DUE TO A NEW BUREAU OF MOTOR VEHICLES REGISTRATION LAW. THE POLICY REQUIRES VEHICLE OWNERS TO UPDATE THEIR REGISTRATION WITH THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER IN ORDER TO LEGALLY OWN A CAR. IN PREPARATION TO ENFORCE THE POLICY, THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY NOTIFIED THE UNREGISTERED DRIVERS TO COME IN PERSON WITH PROOF OF OHIO RESIDENCY AND SOCIAL SECURITY BY THE DECEMBER EIGTH DEADLINE.
THIS POLICY QUICKLY BECAME CONTROVERSIAL, OUTRAGING THE LOCAL HISPANIC POPULATION WHO FEEL THEY ARE THE VICTIMS OF RACIAL PROFILING. HISPANIC PASTOR BILL JANSEN SPEAKS FOR THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE WHEN HE SUSPECTS WHAT THE STATE WAS REALLY DOING WAS ATTEMPTING TO DOWNSIZE THE NUMBER OF ILLEGALL IMMIGRANTS BY SEEKING PROOF OF LEGAL U.S. RESIDENCY.
Tape: Jansen… runs: 9 seconds
“I feel that the state of Ohio doesn’t want immigrants, and that the state of Ohio is trying to push them out of the state.”
THE LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS FILED A LAWSUIT CLAIMING THE STATE’S ACTIONS WERE UNLAWFUL. THEY ARGUED THAT THIS IS CONSIDERED IMMIGRATION REGUALTION, AND IS A POWER RESERVED ONLY FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. HOWEVER, AN OHIO MAGISTRATE DENIED THE REQUEST ON MONDAY.
THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY DENIES THE POLICY TARGETS THE HISPANIC COMMUNITY OR ANY IMMIGRANT GROUPS. OHIO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY’S LINDSAY KOMLANC INSISTS THE FORTY SEVEN THOUSAND THAT RECEIVED LETTERS WERE ONLY THOSE WHO LACKED THE NEW REQUIRED INFORMATION.
Tape: Komlanc… runs: 8 seconds
“The only way the scan was run was by people who did not have a social security number, diver license number, or identification card number.”
GRISELDA GEYGAN OF THE CINCINNATI HISPANIC MINISTRY SAYS THE LAW HAS CAUSED A WAVE OF FEAR. MANY ARE WONDERING HOW THEY WILL CONTINUE TO WORK WITHOUT TRANSPORTATION.
Tape: Geygan… runs: 11 seconds
“Their biggest concern is what’s going to happen next; how they’re going to be able to drive and how they’re going to meet their obligations for the family. They are really scared.”
ASIDE FROM THE IMPACT ON IMMIGRANTS, THE LAW IS ALSO SAID TO BE A HUGE FINANCIAL MISTAKE FOR OHIO. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PAID OHIO ELEVEN MILLION DOLLARS TO ENFORCE THIS LAW. HOWEVER, IMMIGRATION LAWYER JORGE MARTINEZ, WHO WAS AT THE HEARING THIS PAST WEEK, SAYS THAT THE STATE WILL LOSE MORE MONEY IN THE END.
Tape: Martinez… runs: 12 seconds
“I believe that the state of Ohio has made a huge mistake. It is more money what they are going to lose when they lose the immigrant workers and the taxes they are paying. It is the worst business the state has done in decades.”
MANY HAVE PLANS OF IMMEDIATE RELOCATION SINCE THEY ARE NO LONGER ABLE TO LEGALLY DRIVE IN THIS STATE. THIS MEANS LEAVING THEIR OHIO JOBS TO GIVE THEIR TIME AND MONEY TO ANOTHER STATE.
AS FOR THOSE WHO CHOSE TO STAY IN OHIO EVEN WITHOUT VALID REGISTRATION, THEY WILL EITHER FACE ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION CHALLENGES OR RISK BEING PULLED OVER AND ARRESTED.
IMMIGRATION SERVICES HAS DIRECT COMMUNICATION WITH STATE PRISONS. SO IF SOMEONE IS ARRESTED FOR DRIVING AN UNREGISTERED VEHICLE, THE SYSTEM WILL AUTOMATICALLY SEARCH THE NAME FOR IMMIGRATION STATUS, AND COULD ULTIMATELY RESULT IN DEPORTATION, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT HISPANICS BELIEVE THE STATE WANTED TO DO.
BUT AS OF NOW, THE LAW HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN CHANGED. ALL DRIVERS NOW NEED TO REGISTER A SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER IN ORDER TO DRIVE LEGALLY IN THE STATE OF OHIO.

AURORA SENTINEL (Editorial):

 December 9, 2009

http://www.aurorasentinel.com/articles/2009/12/09/opinion/editorials/doc4b20836a2affb094940211.txt

It’s hard to find any fault with a University of Denver report issued Wednesday calling for immigration reform that would eventually legitimize most of the 12 million illegal immigrants here in the United States.

 The 20-member bipartisan panel worked for a year on researching the pervasive and complex problem that vexes communities like Aurora and others across the nation.

 There was really nothing new or ground-breaking in the 50-page report, but the panel eloquently states the case for capitalizing on the country’s immigration woes rather than letting them become a sinkhole for money, time and other resources.

 The report recommends that the country first do more to control the border with Mexico. This hardly means that the United States must commit to an exorbitantly expensive fence, virtual or otherwise. It simply means that the United States has to do a better job of making sure that those who cross the border don’t sneak in. But one of the panel’s chief recommendations would do more good than anything at stemming the flow of illegal immigrants into the country: implement a verifiable worker identification program.

 The group recommends the government require every employer use the E-Verify program, or something similar to it. Panelists suggest that those employers who use the program in good faith and inadvertently hire illegal immigrants be spared, but those who refuse to use it or work to cheat it be punished severely.

 You don’t have to be any kind of expert to understand that if these immigrants can’t get jobs, they won’t stay.

 Just as important, the report recommends that a more flexible visa program guided by each state be used to bring labor into each community as it sees fit.

 But most important, the report faces the reality that there are about 12 million illegal immigrants in this country, many of whom have strong ties to their communities. They have children or other family members who are legal citizens. They have homes and jobs. Above all, there’s no realistic, practical or humane way to move them out of the country. So rather than continue to waste money and time on agonizing over the situation, the panel recommends that we deal with it pragmatically.

 These immigrants would have to pay back-taxes, be free of felony convictions, learn English and hold down jobs. It’s clear that many – if not most – of these immigrants are going to remain in the country; it makes so much more sense to bring them to citizenship on our terms rather than theirs.

 Illegal immigration is a provocative issue that divides many communities. But if this extremely diverse group of panelists – which included Pete Coors, Polly Baca and Don Ament – can find common ground on this issue, so, too, can Congress and the rest of the country.

 President Barack Obama should take the opportunity to use this wise and comprehensive report to begin new immigration reform efforts at the Capitol. Everyone benefits by these recommended changes coming sooner rather than later.

www.chicagotribune.com/topic/wgntv-undocumented-student-can-stay-1-year-dec10,0,7987667.story

Antonio Olivo
WGN News
December 10, 2009
CHICAGO

The undocumented student, Rigo Padilla, whose fighting to stay in the country has ignited a movement on his behalf, he said this morning, after a meeting with immigration officials in Chicago, that he will be allowed to stay in the U.S.

The reprieve, which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would not immediately confirm, came less than a week before Padilla, 21, was supposed to leave Dec. 16 for his native Mexico — where he hasn’t been since he was 6.

“It’s official,” Padilla said, smiling ear-to-ear as he held up a letter from ICE confirming that his application for a one-year stay was granted this morning.

“I promise that I’m going to work hard and go to school and graduate from college,” he said. “I hope my case can be an example” of the thousands of other undocumented immigrants hoping to stay in the country long enough to potentially win permanent legal status under immigration reform.

Padilla’s attorney, Kalman Resnick, said “hopefully, this is an initial step toward a major movement to stop the deportation of undocumented students in the U.S.”

The decision to stay the deportation of Padilla, whose immigration status was discovered when he was arrested for drinking and driving earlier this year, came during a meeting with ICE officials in Chicago today.

The news brought cheers inside the downtown offices of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, where activists who organized rallies and an Internet campaign on Padilla’s behalf awaited word of the meeting with ICE.

“This is wonderful,” Hoyt said. “Chicago came together in support of Rigo Padilla and the Obama administration heard [the president's] home town.”

“Now let’s get solutions for the whole nation and not do this on a case-by-case basis,” Hoyt added, referring to promises by Obama that federal immigration reforms are a high priority.

But, while Padilla’s plight has been emblematic of the frustrations felt by immigrant advocates hoping to win legalization for millions in the country illegally, his pardon is likely to stir resentment from groups pushing for more aggressive immigration enforcement.

As part of a three-legged platform for immigration reform pushed by the Obama Adminstration, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano promised a hard line against against illegal immigration.

 Yesterday, the Supreme Court “released its first four decisions in argued cases this term,” including one marking Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s debut. The case concerned “whether federal trial-court rulings concerning the lawyer-client privilege may be appealed right away,” to which Sotomayor said no. The New York Times notes one particularly noteworthy part of Sotomayor’s opinion:

 In an otherwise dry opinion, Justice Sotomayor did introduce one new and politically charged term into the Supreme Court lexicon.

 Justice Sotomayor’s opinion in the case, Mohawk Industries v. Carpenter, No. 08-678, marked the first use of the term “undocumented immigrant,” according to a legal database. The term “illegal immigrant” has appeared in a dozen decisions.

 Terms like “illegal alien” and “illegal immigrant” are  considered pejorative and offensiveby immigrants rights organizations. (HT: ImmigrationProf Blog)

http://washingtonindependent.com/70298/franken-challenges-napolitano-on-imprisonment-of-asylum-seekers

  By Daphne Eviatar 12/9/09 12:07 PM

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this morning why it is that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is imprisoning people coming to the United States seeking asylum from persecution abroad.
“A 2005 congressionally authorized bipartisan commission found that it wasn’t appropriate to detain asylum seekers in prisons,” said Franken. “That was four years ago. Now they’re still being detained in prison, put in jumpsuits and shackles. They’re even put in solitary confinement,” he said. “They aren’t criminals.”
Napolitano responded that part of the agency’s detention reform process, still being implemented, is “to really do a risk analysis for every individual who comes into our system.”
Franken persisted. “There’s a credible fear interview. Very often they continue to be detained even after it’s been determined that they have a credible fear if they go back.”
Napolitano did not deny the problem. “We’re working with officers to increase the speed by which they are paroled into the country if there has been a determination of credible fear.”
According to a recent report on the detention of asylum seekers by Human Rights First, the U.S. detention system for asylum seekers “is inconsistent with international refugee protection and human rights standards.”

www.chicagotribune.com/topic/sns-ap-us-young-hispanics,0,6457264.story

HOPE YEN
Associated Press Writer
10:08 AM CST, December 11, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) — Young Hispanics born in the U.S. are less likely to drop out of school and live in poverty than Hispanic immigrants of their age, but they have higher exposure to gangs and violence, an independent research group says.

The study released Friday by the Pew Hispanic Center paints a mixed picture of assimilation for a fast-growing group of U.S. citizens starting to wield their political rights: more education and job advancement, but also social problems.

The survey and analysis of census data found the high school dropout rate among all Hispanic youths ages 16-24 was 17 percent, roughly three times higher than white youths and close to double the rate for black youths. But when looking only at second-generation Hispanics born in the U.S., the dropout rate falls to 8.5 percent, roughly the same as youths of all races.

U.S.-born Hispanics also had improvements in economic well-being. About 29 percent of young immigrant Hispanics lived below the poverty line, more than twice the rate for young whites in a similar age range (13 percent) and about the same as young blacks (28 percent). But among second-generation Hispanics, the figure living below the poverty line improves to 19 percent.

On the other hand, the American-born youths were twice as likely as their immigrant counterparts to have exposure to a gang or have gotten into a fight or carried a weapon in the past year. About 40 percent reported either being a gang member or knowing a friend or relative who was, compared to 17 percent for those who were foreign-born.

Young Hispanics typically reported that their gang contacts were indirect: overall, just 3 percent said they are now or have been a gang member.

The U.S.-born Hispanics also were more likely to be in prison and perceive instances of racial discrimination.

“It is clear that many of today’s Latino youths, be they first or second generation, are straddling two worlds as they adapt to the new homeland,” according to the Pew report.

The findings come as growing numbers of children and grandchildren of Hispanic immigrants are being born in this country. Currently, two-thirds of Hispanics ages 16-25 are U.S.-born citizens. Due to high birth rates, these U.S. citizens will fuel a doubling of the overall Hispanic population to 30 percent by 2050.

In electoral terms, Latinos have had less clout at the polls than their numbers would suggest.

“Their share of the electorate has not grown nearly as much as their share of the population,” said Paul Taylor, director of the Pew Hispanic Center. “Now, with the coming of age of this big generation of U.S.-born children of immigrants, that’s all about to change.”

The changes could shift the nation’s political discourse. According to the study, young U.S.-born Hispanics tend to be less conservative than immigrants, at least on cultural issues. Nearly two-thirds, or 65 percent, of foreign-born youths say abortion should be illegal, compared to 58 percent of those in the second generation and 39 percent in the third generation or higher.

About 40 percent of young foreign-born Hispanics say they attend church weekly, while roughly one-third of Hispanics in the second- and third-generation and higher say the same. On gay marriage, about 40 percent of young immigrants and second-generation Hispanics say they favored it, compared to 52 percent for Hispanics from the third generation and higher.

Other findings:

—Young Hispanic immigrants are less likely to be unemployed than their U.S.-born counterparts, but they are largely confined to lower-skill occupations such as food preparation and serving, grounds cleaning and maintenance and construction.

—Second-generation Hispanic women are less likely than immigrants to give birth as a teen, but rates are still high: 16 percent for second-generation women ages 18 and 19, compared to 26 percent for immigrants. In all, 26 percent of Hispanic women were mothers by the time they reached age 19. That’s compared with 22 percent of blacks, 11 percent of whites and 6 percent of Asians.

—U.S.-born Hispanic youths are generally optimistic about their future. About 78 percent of third-generation young Hispanics and 74 percent of those in the second generation say they will be better off than their parents financially. That’s compared to about 66 percent for young Hispanic immigrants.

—Three percent of Hispanic men ages 16 to 25 were in prison in 2008, compared with 7 percent of young black men and 1 percent of young white men. U.S.-born Hispanic young men were more likely than their foreign-born counterparts to be incarcerated — 3 percent vs. 2 percent.

Pew based its findings on 2008-2009 data and interviews with 2,012 Hispanics ages 16 and older by cell phone or landline from Aug. 5 through Sept. 16. The survey’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points for all respondents, higher for subgroups.

By

Lynn Sweet

on December 11, 2009 8:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Below, from Gutierrez….

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/12/rep_luis_gutierrez_renewing_pu.html

“Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity”
to be Introduced December 15

(Washington D.C.) On Tuesday, December 15, Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) will introduce new legislation, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP), to the U.S. House of Representatives. Gutierrez will be joined by members of many different faiths and backgrounds, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Black Caucus, Asian Pacific American Caucus and Progressive Caucus.

Who:

Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (IL-4), Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Immigration Task Force
Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-12), Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (NY-11), Whip of the Congressional Black Caucus
Rep. Mike Honda (CA-15), Chair of Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (CA-6), Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
Rep. Judy Chu (CA-32)
Rep. Joseph Crowley (NY-7)
Rep. Pedro R. Pierluisi (PR-At large)
Rep. Jared Polis (CO-2)
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-9)
Rep. Jose E. Serrano (NY-16)
Other Members of Congress

What:
Introduction of Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation

When:
12:30 pm, Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Where:
Room 2220, Rayburn House Office Building

“We have waited patiently for a workable solution to our immigration crisis to be taken up by this Congress and our President,” said Rep. Gutierrez. “The time for waiting is over. This bill will be presented before Congress recesses for the holidays so that there is no excuse for inaction in the New Year. It is the product of months of collaboration with civil rights advocates, labor organizations, and members of Congress. It is an answer to too many years of pain –mothers separated from their children, workers exploited and undermined security at the border– all caused at the hands of a broken immigration system. This bill says ‘enough,’ and presents a solution to our broken system that we as a nation of immigrants can be proud of.”

By Stephen Dinan

December 11, 2009

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/11/immigration-database-to-add-self-check-system/?feat=home_headlines

U.S. immigration authorities are planning to add a self-check system so workers can pre-screen themselves with E-Verify, the controversial electronic database used on a voluntary basis by some employers to screen their employees.

 The move would try to bridge the gap between the two sides in the immigration debate by putting power in the hands of workers, who could make sure of their status before applying for new jobs.

 Alejandro Mayorkas, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the move is in the works, though he said it’s too early to provide details.

 ”We are developing it with the goal of employees being able to self-check,” he said.

 In a briefing with reporters, Mr. Mayorkas also said definitively his agency “will be ready” to implement any immigrant-legalization program Congress might pass, though he would not give any specifics and said a lot depends on what the new law would look like. He also said it might take more funding from Congress to get the agency ready.

 Wading into another contentious battle, Mr. Mayorkas said immigration-benefit fee increases are possible, but said no decision has been made. When his predecessor as director, Emilio T. Gonzalez, pushed through a fee increase to improve services, he was blasted by immigrant rights advocates and some Democrats in Congress, who said it unfairly put benefits out of the reach of many would-be applicants.

 Mr. Mayorkas said applications, which peaked right before that last fee increase, have dropped. And since the agency is funded mostly from application fees, that’s put a squeeze on USCIS’s finances.

 On E-Verify, Mr. Mayorkas said the program remains a strong tool to help make sure jobs go to citizens and legal immigrants.

 ”It protects employees from exploitive employers. It enables employers to ensure the lawfulness of their work force, and therefore comply with the law,” he said.

 E-Verify began in the 1990s as a voluntary pilot program to allow employers to check new hires’ Social Security numbers to see if they were eligible to work.

 More than 170,000 employers are signed up to use the Web-based system. Some states have made its use mandatory for all businesses, and others have required state contractors to use it. The federal government this year began requiring contractors to check both new hires and all employees who are working on federal contracts.

 Nearly 97 percent of all workers are approved automatically, while the rest are allowed to contest a non-confirmation. Only three-tenths of a percent of those checked successfully contest a non-confirmation.

 The self-check system would cut down on the need for those instances.

 ”This would address a big concern for worker advocates, and it would improve the accuracy of the databases,” said Marc R. Rosenblum, a senior analyst at the Migration Policy Institute.

 He said one concern right now is that employers might run employees through the database before making a final job offer, and some workers who are erroneously flagged as not authorized could be denied jobs unfairly.

 Rosemary Jenks, government relations director at NumbersUSA, which advocates for a crackdown on illegal immigration, said the move is welcome, but she said it would be even better to extend the program to more employers and allow them to check all employees, not just new hires.

 ”It’s perfectly fine, but it seems like it’s putting the cart before the horse a little bit,” she said.

By Jennifer Bendery

December 10, 2009

http://www.rollcall.com/news/41424-1.html

Groups seeking a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants are accusing Republican critics of hypocrisy for voting against bills aimed at helping American workers. The new line of attack aims to undermine GOP claims that legalizing illegal immigrants will take jobs away from unemployed Americans.

 The America’s Voice Education Fund said Thursday in a new report that lawmakers opposed to immigration reform on the grounds that it would hurt American workers also voted against wage hikes and equal pay measures.

 Of the 87 House Members who received an “A” from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a prominent group opposed to liberalizing immigration laws, 71 percent voted against increasing the minimum wage and 93 percent voted against wage discrimination legislation. Eighty-two percent voted against providing parental leave for federal employees and 87 percent voted against extending unemployment benefits.

 Among the groups who were represented at a Thursday press event backing the report – and action on comprehensive immigration reform – were the Service Employees International Union and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. Republicans targeted in the report dismissed the attacks and stood by their opposition to bills that they say amounted to government interference in business practices.

 ”The definition of what helps American workers is different for some people than others, so I don’t buy into that definition. … I don’t see raising the minimum wage as helping American workers,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said.

 ”These people are leaning toward socialism or they’ve gone over to the other side, so they can’t understand the principles of free enterprise,” Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said. “I’d like to take them to Econ 101 … and drive that into their heads.”

 The report also noted a dramatic decrease in the number of Members ranked favorably by FAIR between the 109th and 110th Congress. FAIR scored 151 House lawmakers with an “A” grade in the 109th Congress, when Republicans were in power, but only 87 in the 110th Congress, when Democrats took control.