OC Immigration Attorney

Arizona Congressman Flake introduced the Border Security Enforcement Act of 2011 a couple of months ago.

The House Bill Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to deploy at least 6,000 National Guard personnel to perform operations in the Southwest Border region (Region) (the area in the United States that is within 150 miles of the U.S.-Mexico international border) to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection in securing such border.

Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to increase, by September 30, 2016, the number of Border Patrol agents stationed in the Region by 5,000.

Directs the Attorney General, the Secretary, and the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to: (1) implement Operation Streamline in the Region; and (2) reimburse state, local, and tribal law enforcement for related detention costs.

Authorizes the chief judge of each federal judicial district in the Region to appoint additional full-time magistrate judges who shall have the authority to hear all cases and controversies in the district in which the respective judges are appointed.

Directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to enhance border enforcement preparedness and operational readiness through Operation Stonegarden.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) construct, as needed, additional Border Patrol stations in the Region to provide operational support in rural, high-trafficked areas; (2) upgrade existing Border Patrol forward operating bases and establish new bases as needed; (3) complete the construction of a permanent checkpoint near Tubac, Arizona, and deploy additional temporary roving checkpoints in the Region.

Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to direct the Secretary to: (1) complete the required 700 mile southwest border fencing by December 31, 2011; and (2) construct double- and triple-layer fencing at appropriate locations in the Region.

Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) and the Secretary of the Interior to provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel with access to federal lands under their respective jurisdictions (within 150 miles of the Region) for security activities.

Directs the Secretary to establish a two-year grant program to improve emergency communications for persons who live or work in the Region and who are at greater risk from border violence.

Provides for: (1) specified equipment and technology enhancements; and (2) reimbursement of state, county, tribal, and municipal costs associated with the prosecution and pre-trial detention of federally initiated criminal cases declined by local U.S. Attorneys’ offices.

Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to include ultralight vehicles within the definition of “aircraft” for purposes of aviation smuggling provisions.

Provides for DOD-DHS cooperation in identifying DOD equipment and technology that could be used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to improve security along the U.S.-Mexico border by: (1) detecting border tunnels and ultralight aircraft, and (2) enhancing wide aerial surveillance.

Find out the latest developments of the bill here.

Arizona’s law that penalizes businesses for hiring workers who are in the US illegally was upheld by The Supreme Court rejecting arguments that states have no role in immigration matters.

Recently, the court said that federal immigration law gives states the authority to impose sanctions on employers who hire unauthorized workers.

The federal law makes the federal government the exclusive enforcer of immigration violations exempting state licensing provisions. However, Arizona defines licensing to include virtually all business permits, from incorporation documents to partnership agreements, and under state law, if an employer knowingly hires an illegal immigrant worker, the business can be fined for the first offense, and a second offense can mean you lose the right to do business in the state.

Business interests and civil liberties groups challenged the law, backed by the Obama administration.

The measure was signed into law in 2007 by Democrat Janet Napolitano, then the governor of Arizona and now the administration’s homeland security secretary. Lower courts, including the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, previously upheld the law.

Apparently, in Arizona, illegal immigrants get the boot. But refugees get the welcome mat. Only three states accepted more refugees on a per capita basis over the past six years. Furthermore, Arizona took nearly twice as many refugees per capita as its liberal neighbor, California, and more than twice as many per capita as New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

According to the vice president at the International Rescue Committee, which resettles refugees in a dozen states, in the degree of welcome and receptivity, he would certainly put Arizona at the top.

The work contrasts with the state’s renown as the scourge of illegal immigrants, whom critics blame for driving up crime, stealing jobs and burdening hospitals and schools.
In addition, the State Senator, a Republican who is a leading critic of illegal immigration claimed they are not anti-immigrant, however they expect people to follow the law.

Numerically, the groups do not compare; Arizona took in about 4,700 refugees last year, but is thought to have about 375,000 illegal immigrants. Refugees are not economic migrants but survivors of war and persecution whom the United States admits for humanitarian and foreign policy reasons.

Arizona first drew refugees because the cost of living is low, and until the recession the state had lots of entry-level jobs open to non-English speakers, like housekeeping and lawn care.
Last year, the federal government admitted about 75,000 refugees, out of 10.5 million worldwide, and it covers most resettlement costs. State officials administer the money and help decide how many refugees they can take; private agencies do the casework, helping find housing and jobs.

The flip side of the Arizona story includes the Maricopa County sheriff, Joe Arpaio, who courts a national following by advertising his toughness toward illegal immigrants
Mr. Arpaio conducts frequent raids on immigrant neighborhoods, stopping people for minor infractions and reviewing their immigration status. He says these raids have netted many illegal immigrants. Critics say they spread fear and harass legal residents.

Victor Acevedo, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, said he was stopped in January after failing to use his turn signal and was found with a small amount of marijuana. He is now awaiting deportation in one of Mr. Arpaio’s famed prison tents, dressed in the standard outfit: black stripes and pink underwear.  In a tent-side interview in 107-degree heat, Mr. Acevedo, 29, said he came nine years ago for a better livelihood, found a landscaping job, married an American and had two American-born sons. He was deported in 2008 but then returned a year later to be with his family.

Refugees seem slow to sympathize. The two groups often compete for jobs or housing, and some refugees say Latino gangs have preyed on them. A refugee acknowledged that he, too, crossed a border illegally when he fled to Kenya.  However in the US the situation is different: you need documents!

According to U.S. documentary “The Fence”, Washington’s plan to build a fence on the border with Mexico has cost $3 billion and has not deterred illegal immigrants or drug traffickers from entering the country.

The documentary argues that illegal immigrants and smugglers can easily climb over, dig under and even drive over the wall, which is only a few feet high in parts, has no razor wire, and abruptly ends in the desert.

The director and narrator, Rory Kennedy – who is a daughter of the late U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy-, spent weeks traveling along the border from California to Texas as the fence was being built in 2009. It is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Moreover, up to 500 people die every year crossing the U.S.-Mexican border, according to U.S. immigration experts and the Mexican government, a sharp jump from a decade ago. Tougher border security and the fence’s construction have forced migrants to take more dangerous, remote routes into the United States.

Some 650 miles of the 670-mile wall called for under the Secure Fence Act and signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush in October 2006 have been built. It contains 120,000 tones of metal and materials, ranging from railroad ties to concrete and chain link fencing.

But it remains a magnet for Republicans keen to show their get-tough credentials in the run-up to the November U.S. elections. Arizona Republican John McCain, facing his toughest re-election battle in years for the Senate, demanded that the government in May to “complete the danged fence.”

U.S. Border Patrol agents say the wall and virtual fencing cut the number of people caught trying to cross into the United States by a quarter in the fiscal year 2009.

Immigration experts counter that the deep U.S. recession in 2008-2009 and the resulting lack of jobs in the world’s biggest economy was a bigger factor behind the drop.

But critics also are questioning the wisdom of spending billions on the fence during hard economic times.

Future U.S. administrations are likely to spend $6.5 billion on maintenance of the fence over the next 20 years, the United States Government Accountability Office says, although researchers at the U.S. Congress say it could be more.

The documentary airs on U.S. cable television.

Ohio is one of 22 states that has immigration reform bills pending. Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, an organization focused on fighting against amnesty and illegal immigration, announced that 22 states now have lawmakers pushing versions of Arizona’s illegal immigration bill SB 1070. Activists from Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, or ALIPAC, supported passage of the new Arizona law and have helped pass other immigration enforcement measures in many states.

According to William Gheen, president of ALIPAC, activists have been working hard contacting state lawmakers in every state in the US asking them to stand up with Arizona. Additionally, Gheen stated that there are 22 states now following Arizona’s lead.

Aside from Ohio, the other states considering versions of the bill include: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

Dave Isaacs, deputy director of communications for the Ohio House of Representatives, said there are three bills currently in committee that deal with immigration reform. One of the bills requires public and private employers to register with a federal electronic system to verify the identities and legal working status of new employees.

The other two bills have gone nowhere in the House since clearing the Senate in March. Both would give local law enforcement agencies authority to enforce violations of federal immigration law, which is similar to the Arizona immigration law SB 1070.

With Arizona’s new immigration law going into effect, there is fear that a little known problem will get worse: Americans getting deported.

According to a Northeastern School of Law researcher, there are many cases in which U.S. citizens have been deported. In addition, with Arizona’s new immigration law it just might get worse.

A family is in a hurry to get out of Arizona, to get away from the state’s harsh new immigration law. They still have a long way to their final destination: Pennsylvania. However, the hardest part of the nearly 2,700-mile journey will be the end. Their final destination is where starting their lives over begins.

Luis and Marlen, both 33, lived in Arizona for more than 15 years. They are from the same small town in southern Mexico, but they met while living in the US. Both came looking for work.

Their three children are U.S. citizens were born in Arizona. The oldest is a quiet 13-year-old, a 10-year-old girl that loves to talk., and a 2-year-old baby.

Luis has washed for the past four years, and has worked as a landscaper for a company that maintains office buildings in the West Valley. He earned $9.80 an hour. Marlen is a stay-at-home mom.

The couple started thinking about leaving Arizona when Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio began conducting his crime sweeps two years ago, saturating largely Latino neighborhoods with deputies, stopping vehicles for minor traffic violations and arresting illegal immigrants. The couple said the sweeps made them feel like prisoners. They used to enjoy spending Sundays at the park. But to avoid the police, they started staying home as much as possible.

The day after Gov. Jan Brewer signed Arizona’s new immigration law on April 23, Luis and Marlen decided to leave. And, they are not alone.

When President Obama announced last month that he would ask Congress for $500 million and deploy the National Guard to strengthen security on the border with Mexico, several advocacy groups in the region that had campaigned for a different approach were forced to confront a disappointing reality: Washington still wasn’t listening to them.

So, members of groups from Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California were among the roughly 45 delegates who came together in San Diego. At the top of the agenda was how to counter Obama’s message that further security measures are needed. The delegates acknowledged that their goal, comprehensive immigration reform, is unlikely to be taken up by Congress this year.

According to Louie Gilot of the Border Network for Human Rights based in El Paso, we were promised change by the administration, however we’re not only getting the same enforcement-only policy, we’re getting even more of it.

Homeland Security Department officials disputed that, citing a speech by Secretary Janet Napolitano this week in which she argued that the administration has backed calls for comprehensive immigration reform and has adopted a “smarter” approach than its predecessor.

The border groups had hoped to convince administration officials that, with arrests of illegal immigrants on the border at the lowest levels since the early 1970s, the current enforcement strategy is working. They noted that the number of border agents has already risen from about 11,000 in 2004 to 20,000 today.

According to Andrea Guerrero, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego, some of the advocates had been meeting over the past year and a half with Customs and Border Protection officials to encourage more humane policies, including cell phone towers to help border crossers who find themselves endangered in the desert. The groups had also encouraged a better relationship between the agency and local communities.

The groups pledged to combine their efforts. According to Fernando Garcia, director of the Border Network for Human Rights, enforcement is needed and they recognize that. But it has to be infused with our American values, such as accountability, fiscal responsibility, respect to human rights and community security.

President Obama today called for a “practical, common sense” immigration system that will help the U.S. economy and maintain America’s immigrant tradition — and he put the pressure on Republicans to get it through Congress.

“Reform that brings accountability to our immigration system cannot pass without Republican votes,” Obama said in his first major immigration speech as president . “That is the political and mathematical reality.”

Obama said his administration has already taken record-setting actions to strengthen the border, and he urged Congress to approve “a pathway to legal status” for the 11 million or so illegal immigrants who are already in the United States.

Immigration has become “a source of fresh contention” in recent days because of the new Arizona law that gives police greater authority to question people’s citizenship, Obama said. His administration is expected to file a lawsuit against Arizona, but the president did not discuss potential legal action.

Speaking to lawmakers, academics, and community leaders gathered at American University, Obama touted his plan by stressing the immeasurable contributions that immigrants have made to the United States, and the frequent discrimination they faced throughout history. “Immigrants have always helped to build and defend this country,” Obama said.

Obama said political posturing on an emotional issue has delayed congressional action in years and month past. “Into this breach,” he said, “states like Arizona have decided to take matters into their own hands.”

“These laws also have the potential of violating the rights of innocent American citizens and legal residents,” Obama said, “making them subject to possible stops or questioning because of what they look like or how they sound.”

At points in his speech, Obama criticized both sides of the immigration debate.

Some rights groups all but encourage illegal immigration, Obama said, though at least 11 million people are in fact breaking the law by not going through the citizenship process, and they should be held accountable.

As for critics of “amnesty,” Obama said it’s simply impossible to deport 11 million people. Doing so would disrupt communities and break up families, he added, as many undocumented immigrants have children who are U.S. citizens because they were born here.

The president said he has already taken major steps to better protect the border, proclaiming — twice — that “we have more boots on the ground near the southwest border than at any time in our history.”

As for his pathway to citizenship plan, President Obama said it will help create “a younger workforce and a faster growing economy than many of our competitors,” Obama said. “And in an increasingly interconnected world, the diversity of our country is a powerful advantage in global competition.”

The Homeland Security Department expanded the use of unmanned drones along the U.S.-Mexico border this week, flying for the first time this sort of advanced technology in west Texas.

The Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle is providing support to U.S. Customs and Border Protection to help interdict drug smugglers and detect people trying to cross the border of Mexico -United States illegally, key lawmakers said.

Texas lawmakers have been wanting for years to have an unmanned drone assist in border security operations, but the move had been delayed by bureaucratic wrangling between DHS and the Federal Aviation Administration. Drone flights along the Southwest border had been limited to regions in Arizona and New Mexico.

But several Texas lawmakers ramped up their efforts in recent weeks to get the FAA to approve flights in their state. In conclusion, the FAA signed off at the end of May on allowing drone operations over the western region of the Texas-Mexico border.

According to Senate Commerce committee ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison, the beginning of UAV flights over the west Texas portion of the U.S.-Mexico borders marks an important advancement for border security in Texas.  Additionally, Hutchison stated that high-tech tools have been spread among the Southwest Border States for too long and that they are working hard to make round-the-clock aerial surveillance the standard for all the 2,000 miles of the U.S. –Mexico border.

House Homeland Security Border Subcommittee Chairman Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, also helped broker the agreement between DHS and FAA.

Now, Customs and Border Protection operates five Predator B drones, which have flown more than 1,500 hours and contributed to the seizure of more than 15,000 pounds of marijuana and the apprehension of more than 4,000 illegal immigrants, according to the agency.