Musings on Immigration

Many people are now concerned about what rights the passenger in a vehicle has when the driver is pulled over for a traffic offense or as part of a roadblock or police license check.   The Supreme Court has said that passengers have constitutional rights and can challenge any stop or search if it is not constitutionally valid.  So, what are those rights? Before we get to YOUR rights, lets note the rights of the police officers:  They can order a passenger to get out of a car, back into the car, and to do a check for weapons through a simple pat down.  They can ask for the identification documents of a passenger, and can ask for the passenger's name.  And, they can expect that any commands relating to their safety be followed to the letter.  What Rights Do Passengers Have? As a general matter passengers have the same rights as the driver.  These rights are: The right to free from unreasonable  searches; The right to remain silent...

On October 25, 2016, an administrative law judge with the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Office (“OCAHO”) held that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) waited too long to file allegations against, St. Croix Personnel Services Inc. (“St. Croix”) a personnel services company for incomplete or incorrect I-9 forms for some of its employees. There is a five year statute of limitations for assessing penalties against an employer who fails to correctly complete an I-9 form.   The issue in the case was when that statute of limitations begins to run.   ICE argued that the errors they discovered on certain I-9 forms were not time-barred because the forms were not initiated correctly and errors not cured until February and March 2012, which was within five years of the complaint being filed in July 2015. Alternatively, St. Croix argued that because the last of the eight employees was hired in October 2007, the statute of limitations for any and all I-9 e...

Justice was served today at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (“ICE”) office in Atlanta, Georgia.   Our clients, a mother and her minor child, were facing imminent deportation to their native country, Guatemala.   Their deportation had been scheduled for Monday at 7:00 am, but thanks to our amazing immigration attorneys, Mario Guevara from Mundo Hispanico, and the General Counsel of Guatemala in Atlanta, Georgia, our client will stay in the country and have an opportunity to present her case before an immigration judge. Our client and her child came to the U.S. in 2014, after fleeing her native country and fearing for her life.   She hired a local attorney, who did nothing but take her money.   He failed to request a credible fear interview, failed to submit an asylum application, and failed to inform ICE officers of our client’s fear to return to her native country.   This placed our client in a big predicament that almost got her sent b...

I had the pleasure and blessing to work with a man from El Salvador who used to work as an officer of the National Civil Police (or Policía Nacional Civil—in Spanish). He arrived to the U.S. (without documentation) after fleeing El Salvador following death threats and several encounters where he was shot by members of the Mara gang. After litigating the case for several months, my client had his final trial this past Friday, March 11, in Lumpkin, GA, where the Immigration Judge decided that he will get to remain in the U.S. This man, who was detained in Stewart Detention Center (Lumpkin, GA) had suffered great harm in El Salvador before coming the U.S.: he was threatened to death constantly by gang members he would arrest and testify against, and on two occasions, he was shot at by gang members—the last incident resulting in a bullet wound, which made him realize he either fled his country, or he would surely die. If a foreign national suffers harm abroad and/or fears he will ...

ICE, la agencia encargada de enforzar nuestra leyes inmigratorias, ha empezado una serie de redadas en los estados de Carolina del Norte, Texas, y Georgia, para deportar a personas (incluyendo madres e hijos menores) que, entre otras cosas, hayan entrado indocumentadamente al país después de Enero 1, 2014 o que tengan orden de deportación con fecha después de Enero 1, 2014. Hemos escuchado (de clientes y amigos) que niños pequeños y madres han sido detenidos y puestos en centros de detención para ser deportados lo más pronto posible. Muchos--sino casi todos--de las personas que están siendo detenidas son centroamericanos que huyeron de sus países empezando en el 2014 debido a la violencia que allá se vive y que viene de drogas, de pandillas como el MS-13, y la inhabilidad de la policía local de parar estas amenazas. Estos inmigrantes han decidido huir a los Estados Unidos buscando refugio, no porque sean criminales, pero porque se han convertido en refugiados que huyen de sus país...

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency in charge of enforcing our country’s immigration laws, just launched a series of raids in North Carolina, Texas, and Georgia, to deport people (including young children and mothers) who, among other things, entered as undocumented after Jan. 1, 2014, or were ordered removed after Jan. 1, 2014. We have heard (from clients and friends) that young children and mothers are being places in custody and are being pushed to be removed quickly. Many—if not most—of these people are immigrants from Central America who fled their countries starting 2014 because of the violence caused by drugs,  gangs like the MS-13, and the inability of local police to stop these increasing threats. These immigrants fled to the United States, not because they are criminals, but because they have become refugees fleeing their war-torn countries where they sincerely fear they will be killed. The ICE raids that have just started this past weekend will...

Todas las personas en los Estados Unidos, incluidos los extranjeros y aun los con ordenes de deportacion, tienen ciertos derechos básicos que deben ser respetados por los agentes de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE). Estos derechos se derivan tanto de la Constitución de los Estados Unidos. y las leyes de Estados Unidos. Como extranjero, usted tiene los siguientes derechos: SU DERECHO A DENEGAR LA ENTRADA A SU CASA Usted tiene el derecho de negar la entrada a un agente de ICE a su casa sin una orden válida. Esta orden debe ser firmado por un juez. Usted puede negarse a abrir la puerta, o se puede cerrar la puerta después de descubrir que el agente no tiene una orden válida. Los agentes del ICE generalmente no vienen con una orden judicial. Estos agentes suelen venir a la casa de alguien con una orden final de deportación, muy temprano en la mañana. Si alguien está golpeando en su puerta a las 6:00 am, no le es requerido abrir la puerta. Mirar fuera de primera. Si es un agente de...

Below are five helpful tips that will better prepare you for filing any applications in the future, as well as important advice in case ICE ever comes to your home: 1.        File your tax returns every single year, and make sure that you file under the correct category and only claim those for which you are legally eligible.   Be sure to meet with an experienced tax specialist when preparing your tax returns, so they give you the proper advice for how to file.   Also, it is a good idea to request your tax return transcripts directly from the IRS once they have been processed and keep those for your records. 2.        Make sure to obtain copies of your entire immigration file from your previous attorney or what you filed on your own before coming in to meet with one of our attorneys.   We will better be able to help you if we know what was filed, and it will cause less delay to come in with all of y...

Porque a partir de Noviembre 20, 2014, el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (“DHS” por sus siglas en Ingles), tiene nuevas prioridades de deportación ( http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_prosecutorial_discretion.pdf ). Si usted no es ciudadano Americano y su situación conlleva uno de los escenarios descritos aquí abajo, usted podría caer en un centro de detención: • Usted tiene una condena por una felonía; • Usted ha sido recientemente aprehendido en la frontera con Estados Unidos; • Usted tienen una condena por una felonía agravada como está definida en la sección         101(a)(43) de Acta de Naturalización e Inmigración (“INA” por sus siglas en inglés); • Usted tiene una condena por un misdemeanor significante (por ejemplo, ofensas de         DUI, violencia doméstica, abuso sexual, robo, armas de fuego, y distribución y         trafico de droga); • Usted entró a los Estados Unidos...

Johanna Cochran one of our stellar attorneys recently took a pro bono case for a Mexican man detained at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia,  who, despite a diagnosis and treatment for brain cancer, was refused release from detention to seek urgent medical treatment. Our client was a Legal Permanent Resident of the U.S., had been living in this country for over 25 years, and was the father of three U.S. citizen children. He was detained because of a recent battery charge for which he was convicted. This man failed to seek the advice of an attorney before pleading guilty to the charge and it was not until officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) went looking for him, that he sought an attorney to try to reopen his criminal conviction (which he had pled to without attorney advice).  By reopening the case, this long term permanent resident would not be deported. Our firm quickly learned that our client had some serious medical conditions that needed ...

While talks of immigration reform continue there is little spoken of the marked increased number of detained foreign nationals by ICE- the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) enforcement arm.   Congress’ expansion of the immigration detention system has created a profitable market for both private prison corporations and local governments.    In fiscal year 2013 almost 244 state and county jails were contracted to house immigrant detainees on behalf of ICE (nearly 70 percent of the detained immigrant population).  Private correctional corporations have gotten in on this boom as well.  These corporations have built facilities strictly to house immigration detainees. Currently, ICE utilizes seven Contract Detention Facilities (CDF).  Considering this reality below is a summary provided by ICE regarding ICE detainers. Q: What is an immigration detainer? A : An immigration detainer is a notice that DHS issues to federal, state and lo...

The title of this article may sound absurd.  In fact, I would not be surprised if this were an article in the satirical fake news Onion, a satirical entity that makes up fake news for the sake of giving you a good laugh.  Yet, sometimes fact is stranger than fiction, and this article in the Charlotte Observer last week is no joke. A Mexican woman was arrested for driving with her high beams.  She has been in the United States since 1991.  She does not have a criminal record.  She was placed into removal proceedings during her arrest. To add insult to injury, her proceedings were scheduled the week after her baby was due.  No consideration was given that babies are not always born on the day they are due, but in fact sometimes later.  Her baby was born on Thursday, the day before the scheduled date.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement finally had her proceedings terminated.  She was given Prosecutorial Discretion, where Immigrations and ...

If you are in the United States without proper immigration papers, it is important that you prepare for the possibility, particularly in today's environment, that you will be arrested by ICE and deported from the United States. You SHOULD MAKE A PLAN NOW for what you would like to have happen to your children and your property in case you are arrested or deported. You do this by completing a "Power of Attorney" form. In doing so you are designating someone to be your agent and giving them power of attorney over everything you own. This can be a scary thing. You must pick someone you trust, particularly because their powers become effective the moment you sign the power of attorney form. That means that they can go into your bank accounts and sell whatever property you have here in the United States. (You can offset this by keeping the documents locked in your house and tell your agent where the forms are once you are arrested. You can also give it to your attorney for...

Thursday, May 7th, 2009 ICE DRO (Detention and Removal Officers) were trolling the Immigration Courtrooms this week in Atlanta looking for respondents who were appearing for their hearings, but whom had previously not been detained by ICE, and thus had no bond or restraints on their liberty. You ask, what would ICE be doing looking for people who actually appeared at their immigration court hearing? They would slap Ankle Bracelets on them! Yes, you heard me right. The people MOST likely to appear for future hearings are being placed under ICE supervision, restraining their liberty AND costing the American Taxpayers X dollars a day. Lest you think this is ridiculous, read this next part. Apparently, ICE in Atlanta (other cities have reported this same type of activity) have contracted with a private company to supply the “anklets” and to do the monitoring! And you thought outsourcing ended with the Bush Administration! The officer administering the program (who was very polite and r...

Time after time the phone in my office rings with the same story. “My husband / fiancé/ brother/ friend/ cousin was just arrested…we went down and paid the bond at the jail but we told that we couldn’t get him out because immigration has a hold on him. Is there any way we can get him out…?” My hear sinks with each phone call and I gear myself up to give them the bad news. “Well the problem is immigration will not consider giving him a bond until all his criminal issues are resolved. Once all his criminal issues are taken care of, meaning his charges are dismissed or he is found guilty and serves his time in jail, immigration then has 48 hours to come pick him up and place him in their custody. Once he is in immigration custody immigration might consider giving him a bond. A lot of it depends on what happens during his criminal case. When immigration is considering giving someone a bond they look at their criminal history, ties to the community, possible relief under immigration law...