Skip to Content

Legalization

§ 212(h) Eligibility: Case Law and Potential Arguments

This Practice Advisory addresses statutory requirements for § 212(h) waivers; availability of § 212(h) waivers in removal proceedings for both LPRs and non-LPRs; and situations when a “stand-alone” § 212(h) waiver can, or arguably might, be filed. The advisory also discusses the regulation imposing a heightened hardship standard in cases involving violent or dangerous crimes.

Published On: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 | Download File

Latino Dollars

Published on Sun, Oct 16, 2011

THE ISSUE

Members of the Latino community in Alabama closed their businesses and stayed away from work and school Wednesday to make a point about their contribution to Alabama’s economy. A closer look reveals it is a significant contribution, regardless of legal status.

Alabama’s unduly restrictive new illegal immigration law has prompted a backlash from many in the state’s Latino community, who rightly contend they are an important part of the state’s economy.

Latino-owned businesses closed their doors Wednesday, and many Latino workers and students stayed home in a show of solidarity against what is considered the nation’s strictest immigration law.

A three-judge federal panel temporarily blocked enforcement of parts of the law Friday, but most of the objectionable portions of the law that give police sweeping powers to detain people suspected of being in Alabama illegally were left intact. The court will review the law in the coming months.

So, what of Latinos’ claims that their businesses and labor are an important part of the state’s economy?

A survey of information compiled by the Immigration Policy Center bears out their arguments. For example, unauthorized immigrants in Alabama paid $130.3 million in state and local taxes in 2010.

A breakdown of that number is:

• unauthorized immigrants paid $25.8 million in Alabama income taxes in 2010.

• unauthorized immigrants paid $5.8 million in Alabama property taxes.

• unauthorized immigrants paid $98.7 million in Alabama sales taxes.

Statistics compiled by the Pew Hispanic Center showed that unauthorized immigrants make up approximately 4.2 percent of the state’s workforce with 95,000 workers in 2010.

Most Latino business owners are legal residents, but many of them entered the country illegally years ago looking for work.Read more...

Published in the Times Daily

Introduction of Immigration Reform Bill Jump Starts Reform Talks Going into 2010

Released on Tue, Dec 15, 2009

Today, Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP), in the House of Representatives. The 87 original co-sponsors of the bill include members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Black Caucus, Asian Pacific American Caucus, and Progressive Caucus.

View Release

Spanish language media: GOP presidential candidates move forward with immigration policies despite Latino disapproval

Published on Mon, Feb 27, 2012

GOP presidential candidates have voiced their support for immigration policies that leave out most Latino voters, who are looking for a common sense solution to the issue, but Democrats are not doing much better, participants in Spanish language Univision news show Al Punto said Sunday.

Immigration policies supported by GOP presidential candidates “do not articulate a poltical or economic position that is realistic,”said Viviana Hurtado, of the Wise Latina Club, on Al Punto.

According to TIME magazine’s Tim Padgett, ”the Latino community, especially the Mexican American community, do not want an open door policy that lets anybody in.” What they want, said Padgett, “is a common sense policy” – something neither Democrats nor Republicans have offered.

Padgett added that “Democrats are doing well with Latinos only because Republicans are doing so badly.”

Sylvia Manzano, of Latino Decisions, wrote Sunday that “Republican candidates have devoted quite a bit of time to issues disproportionately affecting Latinos, asserting their party and ideological bona fides on topics like official English language laws, immigration, Mexican border control, the DREAM Act, bilingual education and various identification laws. From the vantage point of most Latino voters, the Republican party champions positions opposite to their interests.”

According to the The Guardian, Kris Kobach, author of the controversial immigration enforcement laws in Arizona and Alabama, ”has been in direct discussions with [Mitt Romney] the presidential candidate about possible changes to federal policy should Romney win the Republican nomination and go on to take the White House.”

Kobach, current Kansas Secretary of State, is a long-time supporter of “attrition through enforcement” policies, which Romney himself has called “self-deportation.”Read more...

Published in the Florida Independent

2012 Creative Writing Contest 2nd Place Winner: Emma Snavely

 

Emma Snavely

Seattle, WA

 

Crossing the Line


It’s time to cross

If it doesn’t work

All will be lost

 

America! Land of the free!

My mother says

That’s where we’ll be

 

If we can cross

If it doesn’t work

All will be lost

 

I don’t want to go back

Life was hard

We lived in a shack

 

We need to cross

If it doesn’t work

All will be lost

 

My father died

He was getting a place

For us to hide

 

We are determined to cross

If it doesn’t work

all will be lost

 

We must hide in this wagon of pineRead more...

MA election's impact on Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Published on Sun, Jan 24, 2010

Congress has a 41st Republican senator, but Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is challenging that notion. Yes, Graham does gain a new Republican colleague on Capitol Hill very soon (Senator-elect Scott Brown, of Massachusetts). In response to that, though, Graham announced on Friday his “willingness to tackle tough issues, including immigration” by breaking from partisan politics and finding a way to cooperate with the Democrats.

Of the Senator’s announcement, Immigration Impact’s Travis Packer quoted Graham as saying:

“Is the message that Democrats shouldn’t take on anything controversial and is the message that we should not work with them on anything controversial? … How much risk aversion does it create in the United States Senate to deal with tough issues like energy independence, climate change and immigration? … I hope that’s not the message. It’s not the message to me. The real reason we’re all here is to govern the country and do hard things.”

Published in the The E xaminer

By the Numbers

Published on Sun, Apr 04, 2010

The American Immigration Council's Immigration Policy Center recently published statistics on every state's immigrant population.

In New Hampshire, the foreign-born share of the population grew from 3.7 percent in 1990 to 5.1 percent in 2007.

In 2007, New Hampshire was home to 67,735 immigrants, of whom around 33,000 were naturalized citizens and eligible to vote.

Published in the Concord Monitor

Maria Blanco

Maria Blanco serves as the Executive Director for the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute at Berkeley Law, University of California. She served as executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. She brings more than 20 years of experience as a litigator and advocate for immigrant rights, women's rights and racial justice. Blanco is also the co‐chair of the California Coalition for Civil Rights, a group dedicated to building a progressive national agenda for civil and human rights.

Citizenship-By-Birth Faces Challenges

Published on Tue, May 25, 2010

Many other lawyers say that's a false reading. "Of course they're under our jurisdiction," says Michele Waslin, senior policy analyst with the American Immigration Council, which works to protect the legal rights of immigrants. "If they commit a crime, they're subject to the jurisdiction of the courts."

Published in the NPR