Musings on Immigration

Today Federal District Court Judge Thrash will hear both OUR request for a Preliminary Injunction to temporarily stop HB 87 from going into effect (or at least parts of it), AND the State of Georgia's Motion to Dismiss parts of the cas, and some of the Defendants. I plan on live blogging the oral arguments and decision of the Judge, if permitted. If not, I will post immediately after the hearing. The reasons for granting the preliminary injunction are simple, but the standard is quite high, so there are no guarantees that it will be granted. The arguments by the government for their Motion to Dismiss are without any legal merit, but they were obligated to make the attempt. Ultimately the fate hundreds of thousands of people rests in the hands of Judge Thrash, a Clinton appointee who has been known to rule from the bench, and is someone who is bold enough to stand up to the Georgia State Legislature and say "no, you cannot violate the Constitution!" More to follow.

Much has been made recently of the Utah Legislature's efforts in regards to passing a "balanced' immigration bill. Specifically balancing the hatred and bias of an Arizona "style" immigration enforcement bill, with a bill which purports to grant legal status to undocumented people and creates a temporary worker program. The impact of this legislation just hit home here in Georgia. A client just came into my office to ask about getting the "Utah Green Card." This is exactly what I was afraid of when I talked with the folks in Utah about the proposal they were formulating to counter the anti-immigration legislation that was enjoying so much publicity. The Utah legislature has created a myth, a myth that will only grow bigger as rumors of the "Utah Green Card" circulate in all immigrant communities around the U.S. What does this mean for immigrants and for Utah? I have no doubt that if the Governor of Utah signs this legislation that a LOT o...

Much has been made recently of the increased ICE enforcement activity against employers. The majority of this enforcement activity is directed towards the Form I-9 and whether or not employers have either properly completed the Form, or have somehow knowingly hired individuals who are not authorized to work. In support of this enforcement activity, in May 2010, ICE released the “ICE Guide to Administrative Form I-9 Inspections and Civil Monetary Penalties.” That agency field manual provides insight into the administrative procedures and penalty scheme for administrative inspections for the agency’s special agents and forensic auditors. This “fine guideline” only briefly discusses the remedial impact of “auditing” a company’s Forms I-9 PRIOR to ICE serving a Notice of Inspection on the company. There have been countless seminars over the last several years talking about the need for Human Resource (HR) professionals to “audit” their own Forms I-9, and even describing how this auditing...

The reunification of families is the foundation of our immigration system, and more importantly, the foundation of our society. Virtually every immigration law in place today is either designed to encourage families to reunite in the United States or to stay together as they immigrate. There are laws to reunite refugee families, keep the families of employment-based immigrants together, and, of course, enable a variety of close family members to immigrate to the United States if their relatives are U.S. citizens (USCs) or lawful permanent residents (LPRs). Congress has clearly and consistently emphasized the importance of families as the foundation of our overall immigration strategy. Or, at least it says it has. Current System Not Family-Friendly Unfortunately, the reality of this nation’s family-based immigration system is that it is woefully inadequate in reuniting families in any reasonable timeframe. Congress’s failure to include family members in the legalization programs of the ...