Visa Lawyer Blog

Articles Posted in Deportation & Removal

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The rise in the number of unaccompanied children crossing into the United States illegally has dominated talks between lawmakers, pundits, political analysts, and humanitarian organizations, all of whom have a stake in bringing about comprehensive immigration reform. According to reports by the New York Times, since the month of October, over 50,000 children have been caught crossing the United States border illegally; a number that is double the amount of children who crossed illegally in 2013. This issue has become a point of contention not just for pro-immigration reform advocates, but has also transformed into a humanitarian issue worthy of continued debate, due to the dangerous nature a child succumbs to in making the dangerous trek to the United States unaccompanied and vulnerable.

Where are these children coming from you might ask? The vast majority of these unaccompanied children are coming from poverty stricken towns across El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, which are also notorious for their violence. The New York Times reports that unaccompanied children from Mexico make up less than a quarter of the total amount of children coming to the United States illegally. The increase in the number of children crossing into the United States illegally began in 2012. Of the children that were apprehended, more than 70% were caught crossing through the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, while only 13% were caught crossing through Tucson, Arizona.

Though experts have continuously debated the reasons why these unaccompanied children are coming to the United States, most agree that there are various factors which drive these children to escape the conditions in their country: poverty, violence, and the desire to re-unite with their families. Among the countries mentioned, Honduras boasts the world’s highest murder rate. Children coming from Guatemala and El Salvador tend to come from very poor and rural towns. Some of the problem may lie in the fact that previously, minors who were detained were not immediately deported. This may have led many Central Americans with the perception that the Department of Homeland Security would allow these children to remain in the United States.

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The Los Angeles Times recently released an article which discusses a new policy taken by the Obama Administration and Department of Homeland Security. The new policy aims at limiting deportations by making small, but significant changes to a program which started under the George W. Bush administration called Secure Communities.

Secure Communities

Secure Communities was created for the purpose of coordinating cooperation between federal immigration authorities and local law enforcement. The program allows federal immigration officials to request to utilize city and town police officials, as well as detention facilities to facilitate removal proceedings for immigrants found to be in the United States unlawfully.

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Our Clients

Since every client’s case is truly unique, it is important for our potential clients to attend their free consultation, where a member from our team will explain the appropriate legal process that should be taken, in addition to answering all of their questions and concerns. Please contact our office to schedule an appointment for an in person or phone consultation at (619) 819-9204 or Toll Free at 1-866-488-1554

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by Lupe Lopez

Several weeks ago, Henry came in for a consultation to discuss an I-601 waiver of inadmissibility for his wife, Elizabeth.  Last year, they had attended Elizabeth’s interview in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and she was denied a visa.  Elizabeth did not know why she was denied because the officer only told her “you are inadmissible and you will not get a visa.”  Elizabeth was given a blue piece of paper with lots of writing and the officer asked her to leave.

Elizabeth could only assume that it had to do with something that happened many years ago when she was 18.  She had not mentioned this to her attorney or to her husband.  She didn’t think it was important.  But, now, after being denied, she was fearful that this was the reason for her denial.

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Today in a town hall-style meeting in Washington DC designed to showcase his health reform law for the Latino community, President Barack Obama told those who attended that he was powerless to stop mass expulsions of illegal immigrants, which has prompted one Latino advocacy group to brand him “deporter in chief.” The president said Congress is forcing him to enforce existing immigration laws while balking at passing a comprehensive bill that would offer illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. “I am constrained in terms of what I am able to do,” Mr. Obama said. “The reason why these deportations are taking place is that Congress said ‘you have to enforce these laws’. I cannot ignore those laws any more than I can ignore any of the other laws that are on the books.”

To mitigate Congress’ lack of action on immigration reform, Mr. Obama said he ordered government agents to give priority to deportations of those involved in illegal activity and gangs — and even used executive power to shield undocumented young people with illegal status who have known no home other than the United States. “What I have done is to use my prosecutorial discretion,” Mr. Obama said.

The National Council of La Raza, America’s largest Latino advocacy organization, week broke with the president over the deportation issue. “Any day now, this administration will reach the two million mark for deportations,” said NCLR CEO Janet Murguia. “It is a staggering number that far outstrips that of any of (Obama’s) predecessors, and it leaves behind a wake of devastation for families across America. We respectfully disagree with the president on his inability to stop unnecessary deportations. He does have the power to stop this.”

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Recently, the Federal Register published two new exemptions to the Immigration and Nationality Act on Wednesday by the Departments of Homeland Security and State mean that who provided “insignificant” or “limited” material support for terror groups will no longer be automatically denied eligibility from asylum or refugee status.

An unknown number of people currently in the process of being deported, as well as about 3,000 people with pending asylum cases will be affected by this rules change. It will likely help Syrian refugees who would otherwise be blocked from receiving U.S. aid by the existing rules.
The new exemptions apply to “limited material support.” A DHS spokeswoman reported that the term is defined as “material support that was insignificant in amount or provided incidentally in the course of everyday social, commercial, family or humanitarian interactions, or under significant pressure.”
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Back in 2011, the Department of Homeland Security had instructed ICE enforcement agents to refrain from detaining individuals at sensitive locations. This 2011 memo required ICE agents to have prior approval before going to certain “sensitive locations”, including schools, churches, and hospitals. The list did not include courthouses among its list of sensitive locations. Recently, ICE has been making arrests at courthouses in and around the Bakersfield area.

The ACLU reported on the recent arrests made by ICE at the Kern County courthouses and noted that “ICE agents have repeatedly raided Kern County courthouses in recent years, rounding up residents waiting to pay fines, appear in court, get married, and even – in one case reported to the ACLU – get a domestic violence restraining order. ICE’s tactics are in tension with their own written policies, which state they will not conduct enforcement actions at “sensitive” locations. Ironically, the raids have kept people from paying tickets and attending court.”

In response to these arrests at courthouses, the ACLU wrote directly to ICE to address what they feel is a location that should be added to the “sensitive locations” list that was in the 2011 memo. The rationale for this is pretty clear, it is in the public interest for individuals that have court matters to be able to go to court without fearing being detained by ICE. Those with minor traffic offenses, seeking court orders for domestic violence matters and temporary restraining orders will be deterred from going to court if they fear being detained.

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Federal immigration authorities have been advised to consider familial connections when they detain undocumented immigrant parents, according to an Obama administration directive released on Friday. While the document does not prevent the deportation of undocumented parents or high-priority criminal immigrants, it does allow detained individuals to make caregiver decisions for their children. This is a big step in helping keep families together instead of splitting them apart.

The directive specifically advises immigration agents to exercise prosecutorial discretion as early as possible during an immigrant’s detention, including finding out whether detained individuals are primary caretakers. It allows for the creation of a “field point of contact” in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents receive and address inquiries from both detained parents and their families. Agents are also guided to place detained parents in facilities that are within the “area of responsibility,” or somewhere closer to their children. It is clear from this directive that the care taking of U.S. citizen children remains a stronger priority than deporting the parents of U.S. citizen children who are not here legally.

A similar provision was included in the immigration bill that passed the Senate in May. That amendment, which was approved unanimously in committee, would provide detained parents the opportunity to figure out caretaker options for their children.

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A federal judge has ruled that Immigration detainees in Southern California are entitled to bond hearings after remaining in custody for over six months. A preliminary injunction granting the bond hearings that had been in place for the past year are now going to be automatically granted. Senior U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. made the order permanent Wednesday and established that the hearings should be provided automatically rather than only at the detainee’s request.

The decision applies to more than 2,000 detainees in four Southern California facilities: Adelanto, James A. Musick, Theo Lacey and the Santa Ana City Jail. On an average day before the lawsuit, 400 to 500 people were in custody for more than six months as they contested their immigration cases, according to Kaufman.

Alejandro Rodriguez, one of the plaintiffs, was in immigration detention for more than three years while fighting his deportation. Two other plaintiffs were detained for more than a year. Such a long period of time without a bond hearing is a waste of government resources when the bond hearing might show that the person does not need to be detained during their deportation proceedings.

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On June 11, 2013, AILA NBC Liaison Committee released a practice pointer, specified procedures to follow in filling and renewing an Adjustment of Status (I-485) application. When you are actually applying, make sure you check with your local immigration courts and USCIS field offices to see if there are case-specific variations to the following general procedures.

I. Initial filings

An adjustment of status (Form I-485) application can be filed by those who are in removal proceedings and are eligible, or become eligible, to have their status adjusted in one or two ways. Usually, the immigration court will determine the option applicant must follow.

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