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Last month ICE issued a new directive relating to detained arriving aliens who are found to have a credible fear by an Immigration Judge or USCIS officer.

The new policy can be found on AILA’s website: AILA Doc. No. 07111264 (Nov. 12, 2007).

The new policy implements a two-part analysis for making parole determination as they relate to detained arriving aliens who are found to have a credible fear of persecution or torture by an Immigration Judge or USCIS officer only. Step one of the analysis includes establishing identity, flight risk and danger to the community. The directive indicates which documents will be acceptable including a valid government issued document and affidavits from third parties. Step two is an “assessment of whether the alien has established that he or she falls within one or more of the five categories” in 8 CFR section 212.5(b).

We reported a few moths ago about the propsed rule requiring all US Citizens to carry passports when crossing to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. Congress is seeking to delay the rule requiring passports at all U.S. border crossings next year in hopes of avoiding a repeat of last summer’s vacation-killing backlog of passport applications. That was painful I can tell you that.

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I knew that things were getting out of control along the San Diego-Tijuana border, but recently things have taken a turn for the worse. According to the AP:

In an escalation of clashes between U.S. Border Patrol agents and

rock-throwing smugglers, agents have begun launching pepper spray and tear

A new Cable from the State Department clarifies how consular officers should handle cases where an applicants’ criminal record shows an arrest or conviction for drunk driving or other alcohol related offences.

Posts generally become aware of drunk driving arrests and convictions after receiving the results of fingerprints taken when an applicant has a CLASS hit. While a drunk driving conviction is not a statutory visa ineligibility, a conviction may indicate that further investigation is needed to determine whether the applicant may in fact be ineligible under Section 212(a)(1)(A)(iii). This applies to applicants who have a physical or mental disorder and demonstrate behavior associated with the disorder that may pose, or has posed, a threat to the property, safety, or welfare of the alien or others.

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One of our readers pointed me to the recent article of Ruben Navarrette, the San Diego writer for CNN. He says that opponents of any immigration reform or relief see Hispanic and other immigrants as weakening U.S. identity. For example, One town demanded all library books be in English according to Navarrete. Hispanic immigrants may be the current group at the center of this debate and to be targeted the most.

Living in San Diego, CA, we see the attitude towards Hispanic immigrants every days. The Mexican jokes and stereo types are becoming part of our life. But when you hear of the minutemen project and the like, you know that this is where our country will need to look back at history and make sure we don’t repeat it.

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We all remember the NO MATCH regulations that were released a few months ago, the ACLU Appeal putting a hold on this tough legislation for employer. Today we have the comments of Mr. Chertoff on the Appeal.

Employers receive a No-Match letter from the Social Security Administration when an employee’s name does not match the social security number it has on file. Sometimes there is an innocent explanation for this discrepancy, such as a clerical error. But sometimes the discrepancy reflects the fact that the employee in question is an illegal alien. When employers receive such No-Match letters, they are on notice that the employees in question may not be authorized to work.

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It is now official that the location of the local San Diego USCIS fingerprinting/biometrics office is moving from its present location at El Cajon Blvd. to 1261 Third Avenue, Suite H. The new ASC is located in the same building as the USCIS Chula Vista Field Office, in an opposite corner suite (Suite H).

See a formal announcement about this below;

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If you are going through the immigration process, or know someone that is an immigrant applying for a visa or Citizenship, chances are that you must have heard of the NAME CHECK delays.

FBI and other agencies pull cases for whatever reason and until they are cleared, the immigrants can not complete the immigration process. We have numerous clients pending for years, waiting for this to be completed. Sometimes we had to sue the government to force them to act, but even this option is becoming very complicated.

But is seems that relief is on the way. Immigration Daily, the biggest online immigration publication reports the following:

This Thanksgiving we have a lot to be thankful for, we live in a country is considered to be the symbol of Freedom and Prosperity. Yet, it seems that this country and the government running it, is doing a very bad PR job is welcoming visitors and immigrants to this country.

In my own practice, I often here horror stories from people that were treated poorly and very disrespectfully by our immigration officials. Tourists detained at airports for no reason, professionals coming to work sent back and barred from coming back, and I can go on and on.

Fareed Zakaria published an excellent article in this week’s Newsweek magazine. He states:

I often deal with government agencies as it relates to immigration, most of the officials we deal with are nice and professionals. Yet from time to time, we come across government officials that feel either they are above the law or that acting as a human being may not be part of the job description.

We often here about ICE agents abusing detainees, government agents acting unethically when investigating aliens and immigrants being deported and entire families torn apart. The recent deportation of a breastfeeding mother is one such story. The decision to separate a mother from her breast-feeding child drew strong denunciations from Hispanic and women’s health groups.

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