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Leila Cabib Illustration of Immigration in the Classroom

"Sixty-two nationalities are represented by the students of Paint Branch High School, a Montgomery County Public School in Burtonsville Maryland."

Video by Leila Cabib (http://www.leilacabib.org)

Immigration talks intrigue UAFA supporters

Published on Wed, Feb 09, 2011

Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Immigration Policy Center, a think tank arm for the American Immigration Council, said predicting whether the 112th Congress would see UAFA as part of comprehensive immigration reform at this stage in talks is difficult.

“It’s hard to know whether it would make it into the final formalized piece of legislation because there’s just so many intangibles, especially when you don’t know who all the sponsors might be, where they’ll draw their lines in the sand,” she said.

 

Published in the Washington Blade

Litigation Clearinghouse Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 6

This issue covers a suit challenging the transfer of detainees following the ICE raid in Iowa, a suit seeking to recover fees paid by TPS registrants, the settlement agreement in a natz delay/SSI restoration class action, a Supreme Court decision in a criminal sentencing case, and en banc review of an aggravated felony decision.

Published On: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 | Download File

New report indicates Arizona-style immigration laws do not favor local economies

Published on Tue, Mar 29, 2011

A report released this month aims to help state legislators considering Arizona-style immigration-enforcement bills answer this question: If S.B. 1070-type laws accomplish the declared goal of driving out all undocumented immigrants, what effect would it have on state economies?

This report comes when Florida Republican legislators in both chambers are working to change the Sunshine State’s immigration laws through bills that copy Arizona’s law while making controversial federal enforcement programs Secure Communities and 287(g) state law.

Critics of the proposed Florida bills have pointed to the civil rights and legal violations, as well as the economic burden, these bills would have on the state’s residents.

The report issued by the Center for American Progress and the Immigration Policy Center concludes that:

• Immigrant workers as a whole added $47.1 billion to Arizona’s gross state product — the total value added by workers of goods and services produced in the state — in 2008. The undocumented workforce by itself accounted for $23.5 billion of this gross state product.

• The pre-tax earnings of immigrant workers in Arizona totaled almost $30 billion for all immigrant workers and nearly $15 billion for undocumented workers.

• The output and spending of all immigrant workers generated 1.2 million jobs in Arizona in 2008, while the output and spending of undocumented workers generated 581,000 jobs.

• The analysis estimates that immigrants on the whole paid $6 billion in taxes in 2008, while undocumented immigrants paid approximately $2.8 billion.

The report adds that the effect of deportation in Arizona would:

  • Decrease total employment by 17.2 percent.
  • Eliminate 581,000 jobs for immigrant and native-born workers alike.
  • Shrink state economy by $48.8 billion.
  • Reduce state tax revenues by 10.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the effects of legalization in Arizona would:Read more...

Published in the Florida Independent

Litigation Clearinghouse Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 11

This issue covers LCCR's efforts to obtain remedies for individuals mistreated by immigration officials, Supreme Court update, and courts to consider who can apply for waivers of removability.

Published On: Monday, May 22, 2006 | Download File

DHS Does Right by Some Haitians, Extends Protected Status

Published on Wed, May 18, 2011

The Department of Homeland Security has decided to show some reason and compassion in its dealings with Haitians who might have been headed for deportation as soon as their Temporary Protected Status was set to expire this summer. On Tuesday, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that her department would be extending TPS for Haitian nationals another 18 months, through January 2013.

Under the new extension, Haitians who have been in the country since January 12 of this year will be eligible to stay in the U.S. and be legally allowed to work in the country. The Obama administration originally announced that it would grant TPS to Haitians as a result of the devastating earthquake last year. TPS is typically granted on a limited basis to folks from countries mired in war or natural disaster, where returning would be too dangerous. According to the Department of Homeland Security, 48,000 Haitians are in the country under Temporary Protected Status. Around 60,000 or so initially applied for TPS—far fewer than the estimated 100,000 to 200,000 undocumented Haitian-Americans in the country at the time.

“In the extended aftermath of the devastating earthquakes in Haiti, the United States has remained fully committed to upholding our responsibility to assist individuals affected by this tragedy by using tools available under the law,” Napolitano said.

“Providing a temporary refuge for Haitian nationals who are currently in the United States and whose personal safety would be endangered by returning to Haiti is part of this administration’s continuing efforts to support Haiti’s recovery.”

Immigration policy experts and advocates applauded the announcement, and Napolitano’s use of her discretionary powers to help ease the suffering of folks who would be sent back to a country that is still in dangerous disarray.Read more...

Published in the Colorlines Magazine

"Arriving Aliens" & Adjustment of Status

ARCHIVED ISSUE PAGE (LAST UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2008)

In 1997, the former INS adopted a regulation that barred all "arriving aliens" who were in removal proceedings from adjusting status. See former 8 C.F.R. § 245.1(c)(8); § 1245(c)(8). At the same time, INS adopted a regulation broadly defining the term "arriving alien." As a result, under 8 C.F.R. § 245.1(c)(8) and § 1245.1(c)(8), almost all parolees in removal proceedings were barred from adjustment of status. Several courts struck down these regulations barring adjustment as ultra vires to the statute. On May 12, 2006, the government issued an interim rule deleting the absolute bar on an "arriving alien's" ability to adjust status in removal proceedings. Under the interim rule, USCIS has jurisdiction to adjudicate the adjustment application. Litigation under the interim rule has focused on the BIA's blanket denial of all motions to reopen, remand or continue a removal case while USCIS is adjudicating the adjustment application.

Latest Developments|Additional Resources

The American Immigration Council’s LAC would like to hear how USCIS is handling the adjustment applications of “arriving aliens” in removal proceedings who are now eligible to apply for adjustment with USCIS under the interim rule. Please contact [email protected] to let us know what has happened in your clients' cases.

Latest Developments

BIA Requests Briefing on the Issue of Whether USCIS Can and Will Decide an Adjustment Application of an "Arriving Alien" Under a Final Order of RemovalRead more...