Immigration Current Laws
I am sure that all of you are aware of the immigration law which was passed in Arizona which is now on appeal. I am also sure that you are also aware that other states including Florida are planning to bring a version of that law to their respective states, with some politicians in Florida planning to bring a harsher version here. Even though that law has not passed here in Florida, I received an e-mail about two months ago that in Lake County several Hispanics were stopped and checked for their identification. Last week one of my clients called me and told me that while in Jacksonville waiting to reboard her bus to come to Ocala a border patrol agent came and requested identification from everybody reboarding the bus. She also told me this week that while at the bus stop in Orlando to reboard to leave Florida that a border patrol officer was again checking passengers for documents. Despite the fact that the Arizona version of the new immigration law that is being proposed has not been passed in Florida, it would appear that immigration enforcement efforts have been stepped up here in Florida. I highly encourage that if you or anyone you know are illegally here in the United States that you make all efforts to get legal as soon as possible so that you will not be detained and deported.
MEMO
TO: ALL CLIENTS
FROM: CYNTHIA TOLBERT, ESQUIRE
DATE: MAY 31, 2011
We are celebrating and we want you to celebrate with us!!! All praises to God and thanks to you, we are celebrating our 10-year-anniversary!!! To show our gratitude to you we are offering all clients who officially had a case with this office a 10% discount on any new legal case. If you refer anyone to our office, we are offering them a 5% discount on any legal case that we are retained to do for them. This offer is good until December 31, 2011!!! Please be mindful that current updates concerning the areas of law that we practice are available on-line at our website which is cynthia-tolbert-law.com. We currently offer legal assistance in the areas of immigration, real property and family law. We are a full-service, immigration boutique providing assistance for all family, permanent residency/green cards, naturalization and citizenship, employment, labor certificates, student, immigration domestic violence, asylum, refugee and deportation and removal cases locally, nationally and internationally. Specifically, for the employment cases we provide assistance with all employment visa types, aliens with exceptional abilities, aliens with extraordinary abilities, skilled and unskilled employees, temporary and permanent employees, E-1, E-2, E-3, P1-P3, R-1, Q-1, P-1A-B, O-1A, O-1B, L-1, L-1A, B, H-1B, H-1B1, H-1C, H-2A, H-2B and H-3. To assist with the employment visas on June 1, 2011, we will be adding another paralegal with over 30 years of immigration experience who will focus solely on providing assistance for employment visas.
IMMIGRATION UPDATE
Japanese Nationals
If you are a Japanese National impacted by the recent disaster, you may be eligible for certain immigration benefits. For more information, you may contact us here at the law office at (352)622-7600.
Haitian Nationals
The Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano recently announced the extension and re-designation of Temporary Protective Status for Haitians currently in the United States. This extension will allow approximately 48,000 Haitian nationals, whose homeland was devastated by an earthquake in 2010 and is still plagued by disease and instability, to extend their TPS for an additional 18 months. For more information, you may contact us here at the law office at (352)622-7600.
Immigration Postcards
rights. If you believe that the immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed, then please contact my office because we still have several hundred immigration postcards which already contain a message about immigration reform and we only need you to sign and put down your address on the postcards. There are postcards for those of you to sign who are citizens, permanent residents and those of you who are illegally residing in the United States. The deadline to have them signed has been extended. So please contact us at (352)622-7600 and schedule an appointment to come in to sign these postcards. You will be doing your part to bring about immigration reform. Also, some of you still have some of the postcards in your possession, if you are not able to get them signed then please return them to my office because the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association has requested that all immigration lawyers with postcards account for all of the cards that were sent to them.
Green Cards/Permanent Residency For Victims
Have you ever been physically or emotionally abused by anyone or have you ever been a victim of a crime? Do you fear returning to your country because you think that you will be abused or tortured because of previous abuse or because of your sexual preference, ethnic group, religious or political beliefs or your gender? If so, then please contact the law office at (352)622-7600 concerning this matter, especially if you are from South or Central America, but this law is not limited to victims from these areas.
Dream Act
Last month Senators Richard Durbin, Harry Reid, and Robert Menendez re-introduced Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. Last fall, the DREAM Act passed the House of Representatives, and garnered the support of a majority in the Senate, but was ultimately defeated when failed to invoke cloture and proceed to debate. The sponsors of the DREAM Act hope to build on last year’s momentum and continue to highlight the importance of fully utilizing the talent and potential of thousands of people who are Americans in every way but their birth certificates.
First introduced in 2001, the DREAM Act would address the plight of young immigrants who have been brought to the U.S. and managed to succeed despite the challenges of being brought here without proper documentation. The proposal would offer a path to legal status to those who have graduated from high school, stayed out of or plan to attend college or serve in the U.S. military for at least two years.
Each year, approximately 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school, many at the top of classes, but cannot go on to college, join the military, work, or otherwise pursue their dreams. They are immigrants brought to the United States at a young age who were largely raised in this country and therefore share much in common with second-generation Americans. These students are culturally, American fluent in English, growing up here and often having little attachment to their country of birth.
The moral, intellectual and practical rationale for the DREAM Act is overwhelming. The White House and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice, entrusted with enforcing and implementing our laws, support it. The Department of Education and America’s academic and faith community support it as well as state legislators, community groups, and the American public. The DREAM Act is even part of the Department of Defense’s 2010-2012 Strategic Plan to assist the military in its recruiting efforts.
Despite broad support for the legislative proposal, the divisive political environment around immigration poses enormous challenges for the DREAM Act. If Congress fails to act, the Administration can and should take decisive steps to ensure that the values driving their legislative agenda are reflected in the implemental interpretation of current law. DHS should ensure that its officers use their prosecutorial discretion to defend removal of any eligible student caught up in the broken immigration system.
The Need For Reform
AMERICA NEEDS SOLUTIONS
1. Require all undocumented immigrants to register with the government and earn
permanent legal status by paying stiff fines and back taxes, undergoing rigorous
background checks, and learning English,
2. Provide fair and lawful ways for American businesses to hire much-needed
immigrant workers while protecting U.S. workers from unfair competition and all
workers from exploitation,
3. Reduce the counterproductive backlogs in family-based and employment-based
immigration,
4. Ensure the immigration system provides adequate visas to meet the future needs of
American families, businesses, and communities and
5. Preserve and restore the fundamental principles of due process and equal protection
while protecting our national security.
IMMIGRATION REFORM IS GOOD FOR AMERICAN BUSINESSES, WORKERS.
With the U.S. economy still recovering and jobs scarce, all of America is thinking about
how best to create jobs and jumpstart the economic engine. Immigrants and
immigrant-owned businesses are proven engines that help drive economic growth.
America has always attracted the "best and the brightest". Smart immigration reform
can spur business innovation and economic development in regions or sectors where
growth is most needed while still protecting American workers.
"Enforcement-only" proposals do nothing to help the economy and are costly to
implement. For example, expanding the E-verify program is unlikely to create jobs
for the unemployed and could devastate productive businesses or industries.
WHAT’S WRONG WITH "ENFORCEMENT-ONLY"?
immigration system. But many members of Congress continue to offer enforcement-
only proposals like mass deportations or building border fences.
These are band-aid approaches that will not be effective until smart, practical solutions
are implemented that address the millions of undocumented already in the U.S. and
America’s continuing need for legal immigration avenues to meet business and family
needs.
Despite aggressive enforcement by the Bush and Obama administrations that include
a record-breaking 392,000 deportations last year and unprecedented spending on
border security (with an extra $600 million added last August), studies show that
larger economic factors, such as the recession and job availability are what really affect
rates of legal and illegal immigration.
EXPANDING E-VERIFY WITHOUT LEGALIZATION WOULD HURT OUR ECONOMY.
While a functioning and efficient employment verification system is necessary to ensure workers are authorized, the current E-Verify system suffers from serious privacy, civil liberties, budgetary and technological concerns. Unless a solution is found to legalize thousands of essential workers, an expansion of E-verify would do grave harm to American jobs and the economy.
Expanding E-verify will not create jobs and would not rid our country of the
undocumented despite the claims made by restrictionists.
Expanding E-Verify would drive thousands into an underground economy and
undermine business growth. A mandatory E-verify program would cost $23 billion in
program costs and lost tax revenues over a decade.
A Bloomberg report estimated that a mandatory E-verify would cost small businesses
$2.6 billion.
Industries that depend on unauthorized workers, such as farming, would be decimated
if E-verify became mandatory.
CONGRESS MUST PROTECT AND RESTORE DUE PROCESS AND FAIRNESS.
Current reactionary laws against immigrants go too far and deny basic due process and fairness to millions of people who live in the U.S. When our immigration system fails to reflect core values of fairness and transparency, it undermines basic American principles and values.
The immigration court system should be restored to ensure everyone a fair day in court.
Immigration detention has become the default practice resulting in the sky-rocketing use
of detention in poor conditions for hundreds of thousands of people.
AILA opposes proposals that add stiff penalties for those who violate immigration laws
and immigrants who commit even minor criminal offenses. These kinds of "get-tough"
measures are punitive and disproportionate to the offending behavior.
Congress should guarantee the right to counsel for those in removal proceedings and
protect the public from the unlicensed practice of immigration law.
FAMILIES CANNOT BE COMPROMISED.
Congress needs to build upon family strengths to ensure that future generations of immigrants
continue to fulfill their extraordinary potential for success. With the economy like it is today, we need more immigrants who can be committed to their new country, work hard, play by the rules, start businesses and pay taxes.
The immigrant visa system should be reformed to ensure adequate family visas are
available and to eliminate backlogs that keep families waiting years to reunify.
Restricting family immigration would be a dramatic and unwise shift in American
immigration policy. AILA opposes proposals to reduce or eliminate the family-based
immigration system or to convert to a point-based system.
ATTACKS ON THE 14TH AMENDMENT.
repugnant idea of eliminating automatic citizenship for children born on U.S. soil has gained
renewed attention. Legislators have proposed amending the 14th Amendment or redefining it to
prevent the children of undocumented parents from receiving citizenship.
Immigration law should remain a federal matter.
AILA also opposes federal laws, like the CLEAR Act, that grant states and localities so-
called "inherent authority" to police immigration. Such laws compromise the
effectiveness of local policing and undermine community safety.
CT
Last month, March 2010, I was in Washington, DC, lobbying on behalf of immigration rights. I am happy to report that for the first time in seven years of lobbying in DC on behalf of fair American and immigrant rights, all of the congressional staff that we spoke with, both Republicans and Democrats, would like to support and pass legislation for comprehensive immigration reform, if the legislation is "fair" and their constituents want them to pass it. This is where you and your family members and friends come in. If you want comprehensive immigration reform to pass THIS YEAR, then you are going to have to get actively involved in the political process. You and your family members and friends are going to have to start calling and sending letters to your congressmen and congresswomen and you are going to have to start attending political rallies and making "some noise". A sample letter is attached along with the contact information for all congressmen and congresswomen in the State of Florida and for Marion County (see attached). If you or anyone you know would like assistance with drafting a letter to your congressman or congresswoman you may contact the law office concerning free assistance with your correspondence. If you speak primarily or only Spanish, the Hispanic paralegal will be available to you, by appointment only, on Fridays from 9:00 to 5:00 to assist you. Also, if you are in need of a notary, the paralegal is available on Fridays, by appointment only, and her charge is $5.00 per document. She can also assist you with translations from Spanish into English of any documents that you require for a small fee. If you require this service, please contact the law office for an appointment.
Moreover, if you or anyone you know are permanent residents, no matter how long you have been in the United States as a permanent resident, and you are arrested for certain crimes, you could be deported and barred from returning to the United States permanently. Pursuant to a recent ruling by the United States Supreme Court, if you were not told of the deportation consequences of your plea by the presiding judge or your attorney in your case and you accepted a plea and are now subject to deportation or removal, then you may have a claim for ineffective assistance of counsel and may be able to have your case reopened and the plea set aside. If you or anyone that you know are in this situation, please, do not hesitate to contact this law office concerning this matter. If you are a Haitian citizen who is illegally in the United States or your legal status is about to expire, you may be eligible for temporary protected status. There are a number of charitable organizations that are willing to assist you free of charge. For more information you may go to the immigration website at uscis.gov or contact this law office. Moreover, TPS is also being extended for nationals of Nicaragua and Honduras from July 5, 2010 until Januuary 5, 2012. The re-registration period ends July 5, 2010. Finally, please note that I was informed that immigration officers have started to detain individuals who file an application for immigration relief, despite the fact that they know that they are not eligible for this relief, solely to get an immigration receipt to get a driver’s license. It appears that when these individuals go to have their fingerprints taken, the immigration officers are arresting these individuals. I know that there are some people who are desperate to get a driver’s license and they will go to a notario or an attorney to file documents that they are not eligible for just to get a license. If you or your friends are doing this, you are in danger of being put into deportation proceedings. We are close to comprehensive immigration reform and now is not the time to engage in illegal activities which may jeopardize your chance to get legal!!! But there is work that must be done before this can become a reality. Collectively, we have a strong political voice and we must use it in a positive and constructive way- THIS YEAR!!! The time is now for fair comprehensive immigration reform to pass and according to recent surveys (see attached) this is the collective will of the American people. If it is your will, then get on board!!!
CYNTHIA TOLBERT, ESQUIRE
At both the federal and state levels, the Effective border security and interior enforcement are essential to a functioning . AILA calls upon our nation’s leaders to push for real solutions-not band-aids nor slogans-to fix our immigration system. AILA’s reform framework, drawn from our experience representing clients in every facet of immigration law, consists of the following:
On April 6-9, 2011, I went to Washington, D.C. to lobby on behalf of fair immigration
