by Heidi Meyers | Feb 22, 2017 | Articles
WBTW.com News 13, 02 11 2017
DHS has decided to prioritize the removal of all undocumented or out of status aliens, with the exception of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients, in a February 17, 2017 memo from the DHS Secretary John Kelly, entitled “Enforcement of the Immigration Laws to Serve the National Interest”. This means that there are basically no priorities, that any foreign person who is out of status or illegally in the U.S. is a priority.
The memo is based upon President Trump’s executive order, “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States”, which prioritizes the deportation and removal of “all removable aliens”, meaning that the administration has no priorities, and rather than focusing resources on criminal aliens, is equally spending time and tax payers’ money on hunting down each and every undocumented person, most of them hard-working contributors to the economy and the spouses, parents and children of families who also have U.S. citizen and permanent resident family members.
The memo anticipates a vast expansion of the number of undocumented or out of status immigrants being held in private prisons, local or county jails, and other detention facilities, which will result in a tremendous increase in taxpayers’ dollars being used to fund the imprisonment and removal of people here in the U.S. who are just working hard and making a better life for their children, but who happed to be undocumented or have some violation of their status. While the memo briefly gives lip service to prioritizing criminal aliens, DHS’s idea of criminal alien includes anyone arrested for any minor offense, who has not been convicted. This would include, for example, permanent residents arrested for minor offenses. This would also include people who are not criminals, but who have a criminal record due to arrests for immigration-related offenses, such as entering the U.S. illegally.
DHS plans to hire 10,000 additional deportation officers, as well as additional operational, support and legal staff for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). DHS is reinstating the Secure Communities program, whereby local law enforcement officers, such as regular city police officers, would enforce the immigration laws and make arrests for immigration violations. ICE and CBP are to expand the 287(g) program to include all law enforcement agencies that request to participate.
The memo limits the exercise of prosecutorial discretion to not initiate removal proceedings or not deport someone, by requiring that only the heads of local ICE or CBP agencies can approve the use of prosecutorial discretion (PD) on a case-by-case basis. So, only a very high-level official, such as the ICE Field Office Director, or Service Center Director, would be able approve an exercise of PD. This means that ICE will virtually stop exercising prosecutorial discretion, and that government resources will be spent on trying to deport each and every immigrant in the U.S. who is removable.
In another memo issued by DHS Secretary John Kelly at the same time, “Implementing the President’s Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvement Policy”, DHS plans to apply expedited removal, meaning summary removal with no hearing in front of the immigration judge, to all undocumented or out of status immigrants who cannot prove that they have been living in the U.S. for at least two years before being arrested and to those found anywhere in the U.S., rather than only those trying to enter the US at the border.
It also restricts the ability of people at the border to apply for asylum, and plans to return asylum applicants to Mexico, where they would have their asylum hearings via video teleconference. This would violate U.S. law as well as our treaty obligations to provide a meaningful opportunity for asylum applicants to present their cases. This also places many vulnerable women and children at risk of violence and other harm should they have to wait in the border areas of Mexico for a hearing.
DHS redefines the definition of “unaccompanied alien child”, which will deny defenseless children their rights under the Immigration and Nationality Act, federal regulations and the U.S. Constitution, as well as deny them protections under the Trafficking Victim Protection and Reauthorization Act and the Homeland Security Act.
The memo does not discuss how DHS will obtain the funding for its mass-incarceration policy. Additionally, once the government detains masses of immigrants, it is unclear how it will be able to pay for additional immigration judges, DHS ICE attorneys and other staff to provide hearings for these individuals. This would lead to an exponential increase in immigrants being detained indefinitely without a hearing before the immigration judge, violating their due process rights and the US Constitution. The memo does not create any exceptions to incarceration for vulnerable people, such as the disabled, children, elderly or pregnant women.
During fiscal year 2016, DHS spent about $3.3 billion on detention and removal of immigrants. Of this, $2.317 billion was spent on imprisoning removable immigrants, most of whom are not criminals. This has been a windfall to two huge private prison companies, the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and the GEO Group. It costs the US tax payers about $161.36 per day to incarcerate women and children who are guilty of no offense, except that of wanting to seek refuge in the United States from the overwhelming violence in Central America. Can you imagine how much more of our hard-earned taxpayers dollars will go to funding the imprisonment of immigrants once the new DHS memos are implemented? It has been estimated that the total costs of arresting and deporting the undocumented in the U.S. would be $285 billion.
This is in conflict with the Trump administration’s purported concern to reduce the federal budget and lower taxes. According to a recent press release by the White House, in discussing the federal government budge, Donald Trump stated “We’re going to be spending the money in a very, very careful manner. Our moral duty to the taxpayer requires us to make our government leaner and more accountable. We must do a lot more with less.”
Not only will it be incredibly expensive in terms of tax dollars, it will destroy the fabric of many communities and families in the U.S., tearing husband from wife, and parents from their children. It is in conflict with our American values of welcoming immigrants, welcoming those fleeing persecution in their home countries, compassionate treatment of vulnerable populations such as women, children and the disabled, and providing due process to all persons within our borders. Moreover, the United States already has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world, as the U.S. already incarcerates 716 people for every 100,000 residents. Why would we want to dramatically expand our incarceration rate? Are we to become a country most known for our excessive number of police and prisons, rather than our beloved freedoms?
by Heidi Meyers | Feb 13, 2017 | Articles
March 2017 calendar, www.calendarpedia.com
Back to more mundane topics! For March 2017, the priority dates for the first employment preference are current for the world-wide category, and current as well for China, India, Mexico and the Philippines. Second preference is current for the world-wide category. However, second preference is at December 15, 2012 for China and June 1, 2008 for India.
Third preference for March 2017 is at December 1, 2016 for the world-wide category, practically current, and Mexico is also at December 1, 2016 for EB-3. However, China is at March 15, 2014 for EB-3 about a three-year wait, and India is stuck dismally at March 22, 2005 for EB-3. The Philippines is not doing too badly, with EB-3 at March 15, 2012, about a five-year wait.
Other workers, world-wide and for Mexico, is at December 1, 2016, almost current. However, for both China and India, the other workers category is backlogged by more than a decade, at February 1, 2006 and March 22, 2005, respectively. The Philippines other workers category is at March 15, 2012, five years behind, as it is for EB-3.
Religious workers are current world-wide, and for China, India and the Philippines. However, the religious workers category for El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras is backlogged at July 15, 2015, stretching out to one year and eight months.
EB-5, both regional centers and non-regional centers, is current world-wide as well as for India, Mexico and the Philippines. Only EB-5 for China is backlogged to May 1, 2014.
by Heidi Meyers | Feb 2, 2017 | Articles
“New York, U.S.A. Closer View of the Statute of Liberty”, www.worldalldetails.com
On January 30, 2017, Senator Diane Feinstein introduced a bill, S.B. 240, to rescind the President’s Executive Order 137, entitled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States”. On the same day, Representative Zoe Lofgren introduced a similar bill, the “Statue of Liberty Values Act of 2017” which would also rescind the EO and provides that no federal funds may be used to carry out the provisions of the EO.
It is important that everyone contact their senators and representatives in support of these bills, as well as to contact Senator Feinstein and Representative Lofgren and thank them for introducing these bills and supporting the equal and fair treatment of Muslims and refugees in our immigration policy, and preventing the cruel and draconian effects of the new EO from continuing. In addition to emailing and writing letters, the most effective method is to call your senators and representatives.
by Heidi Meyers | Jan 31, 2017 | Articles
Santa Ana College Holds 96th Annual Commencement, Ranchovisions.wordpress.com
A new Trump decree will eliminate DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). DACA was established by the Obama administration to provide work authorization and deferral of deportation to young people who came to the US while under the age of 16, and who have graduated from high school, attended college, are currently attending school or have served honorably in the U.S. military.
This new edict abolishes the DACA program, although it allows current beneficiaries of DACA to continue working until their current two-year work authorization expires. Thus, it abolishes any new applications for DACA as well as any extensions. From the wording of the edict, it appears that those unfortunates with pending applications will be denied. It also allows US ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to initiate removal proceedings against dreamers, although it allows ICE to exercise prosecutorial discretion to decide on a case-by-case basis not to deport individual dreamers who already have work authorization.
It also eliminates DAPA, which provided for deferred action for the parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, but which never went into effect because of the injunction in the Texas v. US litigation.
by Heidi Meyers | Jan 31, 2017 | Articles
Louis XIV “L e’tat c’est moi” illustration for La France et Les Francais a Travers les Siecles, F.Roy 1890.
A proposed executive order, really a new edict by President Trump, lists the following targets of sweeping reforms: B-1 business visitors; F-1 practical training; E-2 treaty investors; H-1B temporary professionals; H-2A temporary agricultural workers; J-1 supper work travel program; L-1 intracompany transferees; and E-verify.
DHS (Department of Homeland Security) is to review all regulations allowing foreign nationals to work in the US, and to determine which of them should be rescinded within the next 90 days.
DHS is to start making site visits to the places of employment of L-1 workers, as well as third-party client sites, and develop a plan to expand the site-visit program within two years to cover all employment-based visa programs.
Within 90 days, DHS is to come up with a plan to expand employers’ participation in E-Verify and to require employers to participate in E-Verify if they are sponsoring a foreign national.
The proposal also states that “The heads of all executive departments and agencies shall rescind any orders, rules, regulations, guidelines, or policies implementing or enforcing the programs rescinded by this order, in the manner and to the extent consistent with law”.
The proposed edict would also abolish the use of parole for entire groups of people.
by Heidi Meyers | Jan 30, 2017 | Articles
USCIS.gov, specimen of green card
Regarding the executive order, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the U.S.”, Department of Homeland Security has now clarified that it will allow lawful permanent residents and dual nationals who are US citizens to enter the U.S. However, there have also been reports of CBP (Customs and Border Protection) pressuring permanent residents to give up their green card and return to their countries of origin.
Department of Homeland Security posted in the news section of its web site the following, stating that permanent residents who are citizens of the affected countries will generally be allowed to enter the U.S. in spite of the 90-day travel ban. It also clarifies that U.S. citizens who are dual nationals of one of the seven countries will also be allowed to enter:
“For the next 90 days, nearly all travelers, except U.S. citizens, traveling on passports from Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Libya, and Yemen will be temporarily suspended from entry to the United States. The 90 day period will allow for proper review and establishment of standards to prevent terrorist or criminal infiltration by foreign nationals.
Importantly, however, Lawful Permanent Residents of the United States traveling on a valid I-551 will be allowed to board U.S. bound aircraft and will be assessed for exceptions at arrival ports of entry, as appropriate. The entry of these individuals, subject to national security checks, is in the national interest. Therefore, we expect swift entry for these individuals.
In the first 30 days, DHS will perform a global country-by-country review of the information each country provides when their citizens apply for a U.S. visa or immigration benefit. Countries will then have 60 days to comply with any requests from the U.S. government to update or improve the quality of the information they provide.”
If you are a permanent resident and a citizen of one of the seven countries, you should not allow CBP to pressure you into giving up your green card. CBP agents may try to push you to sign a Form I-407, abandonment of lawful permanent resident status. As a lawful permanent resident, if the US government believes you have abandoned your green card by spending too much time outside the U.S., you have a right to a hearing in front of the immigration judge. You should ask to see the immigration judge, and CBP should parole you into the U.S. for removal proceedings.
