vi·sa /ˈvizə/ noun, 1. an endorsement made by an authorized representative of one country permitting the passport holder entry into or transit through the country making the endorsement. vi·sion /ˈvɪʒən/ –noun 1. the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be."
Archive for the ‘General Frustrations’ Category
I read the summary, and the comments posted on the Economist responding to The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050. By Joel Kotkin. Penguin. I have not read the book, but from the description, it sounds as though Kotkin believes that the US is poised to “bounce back” from the current economic downturn because it has maintained its position as the most attractive destination for immigrants. Kotkin’s idea that immigrants are good for the economy is not a new one; Other advocacy organizations such as the American Immigration Council also rely on the economic benefits of immigration. However, it sounds as though Kotkin’s theory also rests on the assumption that the US is currently, and will remain, the preeminent destination for immigrants seeking their new home. Given the complexity, cost, and frustrations my clients experience during every stage of their immigration process, I’m afraid that Kotkin’s confidence in the US’s ability to attract new immigrants may be incorrect. I’m interested in reading the book to find out whether he addresses the likelihood and consequences of not remaining competitive/attractive to immigrants seeking out the best places to relocate.
*special thanks to my friend Adam for bringing this review to my attention!!
Tags: Advocacy
Victory: Immigrant Meat Packers Not Criminals!
The Supreme Court unanimously decided today to overrule the Bush Adminstration’s tactics to criminalize the immigrant workers it prosecuted on charges of aggravated identity theft during the May 12, 2008 Postville raid on the basis that the government must prove knowledge as an element of aggravated identity theft.
The Court said that it is possible to prove knowldege where a defendant digs through someones’ trash to find discarded credit card receipts, and equivalent evidence should be used to prove knowledge in cases of aggravated identity theft even though the government claimed that it would be too hard to prove a defendant knew the identification belonged to someone else.
The Postville, Iowa kosher meatpacking plant was raided by ICE, the enforcement arm of the DHS, who were on the hunt for unauthorized workers. They found their booty, and arrested nearly 400 immigrants who were working with false work authorization, mostly from Guatemala. At hearings, which were often conducted “en mass,” the accused immigrants were counseled by attorneys who encouraged plea agreements through a scripted speech, who explained that aggravated identity theft carries a minimum two years in prison, and encouraged the Postville defendants to plead guilty to lesser charges. The defendants were not counseled by immigration attorneys when they accepted the guilty pleas.
Ignacio Flores-Figueroa’s case came before the Supreme court, the government had charged him with misusing immigration documents and of aggravated identity theft, even though the government did not prove that the Postville worker had actual knowledge that the social security number belonged to someone else. According to today’s ruling, the government must establish that the individual charged must have known that the identification belonged to another person.
I hope that this decision signals a turning point in the trends and direction of our country to move toward comprehensive immigration reform to create policies that decriminalize immigrants, and more importantly provide pathways to legality for all those hiding in the shadows of our workforce.
Tags: E-Verify, Postville, raids
Why immigrants are more vulnerable to criminal convictions
The following NY Times editorial describes the consequences of demonization and dehumanization of unauthorized workers and undocumented immigrants which leads to inappropriate criminal penalties for aggravated identity theft.
New York Times, February 25, 2009, Editorial
And Unequal Justice for Some
The Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday in the case of an illegal immigrant who provided an employer with phony identification numbers. The court must decide whether he can be convicted of the crime of aggravated identity theft — which carries a heavy mandatory prison sentence — even though he did not know the numbers belonged to specific people.
This is a case about the misapplication of federal law. It also is a case about unequal justice. The government is misusing the identity theft law to pressure illegal immigrants to agree to quick deportation.
Ignacio Carlos Flores-Figueroa, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, purchased a forged Social Security card and a permanent resident card bearing his name and false identification numbers in Chicago. When he submitted those documents at his job in East Moline, Ill., his employer reported him to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which determined that the numbers belonged to other people. There is no evidence those people were harmed.
Mr. Flores-Figueroa pleaded guilty to misuse of immigration documents and illegal entry into the United States. He pleaded not guilty to aggravated identity theft, saying that he didn’t know that the ID numbers belonged to anyone. He was convicted and sentenced to 51 months of imprisonment for the crimes for which he pleaded guilty, and an additional mandatory two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft. Mr. Flores-Figueroa is asking the Supreme Court to reverse his identity-theft conviction, arguing that the law does not apply to his actions.
The federal aggravated identity theft statute is aimed at the most serious forms of identity theft — and it says the theft must be done knowingly. Congress wanted to punish those who take the identities of other people to do them harm, typically by trying to drain their bank accounts. Mr. Figueroa did not have the intent necessary to violate this law. He was guilty of identity fraud — a separate, and lesser, crime.
One of the criminal law’s most important tasks is sorting out degrees of culpability. People like Mr. Flores-Figueroa enter the country illegally to work at jobs that pay little and are often dangerous. Their actions are illegal, but they fall far short of stealing a specific person’s identity to rob someone’s life savings.
The Supreme Court should reverse Mr. Flores-Figueroa’s conviction to stop overly aggressive prosecutors from going beyond what the law allows — and to ensure that in identity theft cases, the punishment fits the crime.
Tags: identity theft, ssn, worksite enforcement
Raids don't fix anything.
Last night marked President Obama’s first Presidential Address which echoed his (inspiring) campaign promises of change, a brighter future, accountablilty and responsibility, and the capacity for every ordinary person to become extraordinary through actions and choice.
Ironically, the first worksite raid under the Obama administration also took place last night which painted an entirely different picture reminding me of the enormity of the challenge to reform immigration. In Bellingham, Washington, 126 workers including US Citizens were questioned and temporarily detained, while 28 primarily Mexican workers were chained and transported to a detention facility (three were released for humanitarian reasons) marking another enforecement-only action by ICE as the solution to unauthorized employment.
These enforcement only measures reflect a continuation of the same policies carried out under the Bush administration, and undermine Obama’s campaign promise as well as his demands for change presented during his presidential address. Addressing the issue of unauthorized workers through raids does not resolve the root of the issue. Immigration reform is ripe for review, and the enforcement-only solution is not an acceptable answer.
Tags: ICE Raids, worksite enforcement
April 2006 - Undocumented workers and supporters protest a bill which would criminalize undocumented workers
USCIS announced today in a press release on the headlines of the USCIS.gov website that “The Bratton Corp., a construction products supplier from Kansas City, Mo., employing about 200 people in Kansas City and Pasadena, Calif., is the 100,000th employer to participate in E-Verify.”
Congrats Bratton! It’s interesting to see the marketing tools that the government is employing to hype up E-Verify. Although I write about and research the shortcomings and dangers of an electronic verification system which could negatively affect human resources departments and employees on a grand scale, I do think that the program has its virtues. If employers have a reliable, quick, and easy way to verify the identity and authorization of their employees, and are held accountable for staffing unauthorized workers, they are more likely to comply. That said, I am frusterated that DHS has invested so much in designing this well-structured verification program without devising an equally well-structured program to address the heart of the problem: creating pathways for the 12 million shadow immmigrants to integrate legally into our workforce.
Even if every employer in the US is enrolled in E-Verify, there will always be an underground workforce of unauthorized workers unless Congress addresses them directly.
Tags: E-Verify
Some of Julie's Best Friends are Deportees!!!
I saw Julie Myers speak at an AILA conference in Orlando. I remember her urging immigration lawyers to join the “Force,” and explaining that there was a need for skilled immigration lawyers in ICE.
I wrote her a letter telling her I was ready, willing and able to serve my country as an ICE attorney. After my letter to Ms. Myers, I actually received a personalized rejection letter via email from a DHS HR rep.
This video clip describes ICE’s possible role in releasing info about the immigration status of Obama’s aunt. It also talks about Julie’s role. (Video Clip: see 1:13)
Federal Law Officials Leak Obama\’s Aunt\’s Immigration Status to Press
Tags: DHS, ICE
Cirque Dreams
I saw my first Cirque du Soleil show tonight (Jungle Fantasy) which was breathtaking, beautiful, artistic, and inspiring. I looked through the Cast in the Playbill, and noticed that almost all the artists were Russian, Ukranian, or Mongolian. Oddly enough, all I could think was O-1 or P visas!!!
Their international talent was a testament not only to the capacity of the human spirit, body and mind, but also to the benefits of maintaining the steady flow of talent through our Visa system.
I shudder when I think of the loss to the US of talent and potential of every individual destined for greatness who isn’t lucky enough to have a visa number available to him/her. This year I saw doors closed to many bright, motivated individuals seeking H-1b visas. Will our immigration system re-calibrate to accomadate the foreign talent aching to crossing our borders?
Tags: H-1B, O Visa, P Visa
The NYT published an editorial today about the Postville meat factory raid. In case you aren’t current on ICE raids, earlier this year the Immigration and Customs Enforcement branch of Department of Homeland Security conducted the largest on-site raid to find unauthorized foreign workers at the largest Kosher meat factory in the world. ICE arrested around 400 unauthorized workers, and instead of simply sending them back to their countries of origin (mostly Guatamala), 260 were “charged as serious criminals for using false Social Security numbers or residency papers, and most were sentenced to five months in prison.” No charges against the company for hiring unauthorized foreign workers were filed.
Each of these 260 individuals accepted criminal charges without understanding a) the legal system b) their options. Yes, these are people who were taking advantage of our system taking the luxurious job of underpaid and most probably exploited workers in a slaughterhouse in order to literally put food on the table back home. I am concerned that the ICE raids, and the subsequent criminal consequenses imposed by the US legal system on the unauthorized workers, demonstrate that the government holds poor, desperate, exploited human beings accountable for crimes committed by their wealthy corporate US employers in order to maximize profits by hiring “illegals” as cheap and disposable labor. I think ICE’s action, and the subsequent arrests and sentencing, reflects the position of our judicial system pretty clearly.
I am not suggesting that it is ok to enter the US and work without authorization. But I do believe we should remedy the problem in our immigration system, rather than allocating our resources in the criminal justice system to criminalize people who sneak in to make ends meet. Does an individual’s desire to feed his/her family, even at the risk of breaking the law, warrant more severe punishment than US Citizen employers and large corporations’ gross disregard for the law?
A more promising remedy: force (by threatening and enforcing crazy fines and criminal charges) large corporations to pay proper wages, hire responsibly, and encourage them to form coalitions so that it is easier to comply with the regulations when hiring employees. I’m still thinking and learning about real viable solutions.
Tags: i-9, ICE Raids, Postville