green card, visa, citizenship news: july 2015 immigration tidbits and rumors

10 Essential Immigration News

Stories You Should Know About http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com

July 2015

http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com/

July 2015

10

1 Recent Deportation

Study Is Misleading

http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com


Here Is The News

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/23/us/politics/most-undocumented-immigrants-will-stay-under-obamas-new-policies-report-says.html?_r=0


The Migration Policy

Institute study is too

simplistic.

MPI projects 13% of 11

million immigrants without

papers have criminal records

or recently crossed the border

illegally - making them

priorities for deportation

under new guidelines.

The other 87%, not falling

under the highest priorities,

have a “degree of

protection.”


The new policy is an old

policy.

The 13% who have serious

criminal conviction or

recently entered without

permission have long been

the highest deportation

priorities. It has been a policy

not followed.

Others who have not been

convicted of any crimes, or

are not public safety threats,

have been a focus of ICE

operations, despite existing

policy. This is unlikely to

change. http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com


Most recently, DHS issued

new guidelines focusing on

the following:

• National Security

Threats

• Gang Members

• Convicted Felons

• Recent Border Crossers

• Repeat Offenders With

Lesser Crimes

• Illegal entrants After

January 1, 2014



2

U.S. And Cuba Reopen

Diplomatic Relations



Here Is The News

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/21/world/americas/cuba-us-embassy-diplomatic-relations.html

After more than a

half-century of cold

war hostilities, the

U.S. reopened its six-

story embassy in

Cuba.

The resumption of

diplomatic relations

was the culmination

of several months of

negotiations.



Various questions on the

relations between Havana

and Washington remain:

Will the trade embargo be

lifted?

Will Cuba improve its

human rights record?

How much and how fast

will the lives of ordinary

Cubans improve?



Secretary of State John

Kerry called it “a historic

day and a day of removing

barriers”

This milestone does not end

differences between the two

governments.

But it does reflect the reality

that the cold war has ended

and the interests of both are

better served by engagement

than by estrangement.



3

Immigration Reform

2015: U.S. Asylum

Backlogs Soaring



Here Is The News

http://www.ibtimes.com/immigration-reform-2015-us-asylum-backlogs-soaring-testing-patience-those-fleeing-2014306

Two primary reasons

exist for the increased

number of U.S. asylum

seekers:

Traditionally, thousands

of refugees seek to escape

persecution and violence

in their home countries.

In recent years, the U.S.

border has faced a large

influx of migrant youth

from Central America. http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com


The number of pending asylum

petitions has increased 800 % over the

last four years.

There are two types of asylum filings:

Affirmative cases are requests for

asylum made within a year of entering

the U.S. As of March, USCIS had

82,000 pending cases, up from 9,000

in 2011.

Defensive cases are requests for

asylum made when an immigrant is

facing deportation charges at

immigration court. The exact increase

in asylum claims is unknown, but the

Central American crisis added 68,000

new cases last summer.



The huge increase has flooded

asylum offices and immigration

courts, leaving lawyers, judges

and asylum officers with

mushrooming caseloads while

immigrants spend months and

years mired in uncertainty.

The review period of asylum

petitions, formerly six months to

two years, now takes two to four

years.

The longer time frames are

eroding lawyers’ ability to help

asylum applicants because costs

go up as cases are extended for

years, and clients cannot afford

higher fees. http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com


4

GOP Leader Says

Immigration Reform

Is Top Priority




Here Is The News

http://www.latinpost.com/articles/64867/20150708/immigration-refrom-news-today-john-boehner-reform-top-priority-gop.htm

While in Ireland,

House Speaker John

Boehner said reform is

still a top priority.

Given the resistance of

fellow Republicans,

and his refusal to

support a vote on

reform, some observers

found his remarks

surprising.




Taoiseach Enda Kenny,

the Irish equivalent of a

prime minister, urged

Boehner to fix the U.S.

immigration system.

Kenny said "the lack of

reform has left Irish

immigrants listening to

a parent's funeral by

phone."



Many Republicans are weary

when it comes to debate on

immigration reform.

No issue has bedeviled the

GOP in recent elections

cycles more than illegal

immigration.

Republicans have been

snared by the difficulty of

appealing to conservative

voters who dominate the

primary process.



5

San Francisco Shooting

Reignites Deportation

Policy Debate




Here Is The News

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-0705-sf-shooting-20150705-story.html

Francisco Sanchez, 45, is an

undocumented immigrant.

He had been booked into the San

Francisco jail on a 10-year old

drug related warrant.

Despite his undocumented status

he was released from custody

after it was confirmed he had no

active warrants and completed a

federal prison sentence on

separate charges.

Sanchez was arrested after

shooting Kathryn Steinle at a

popular tourist destination.




San Francisco adopted

a law in 2013 limiting

the immigrants who

could be detained for

federal authorities.

Local police and law

enforcement can only

hold violent criminal

offenders.




A national outcry for

tougher deportation laws

followed the shooting.

When questioned a few days

ago later, Steinle’s parents

said they supported stricter

punishment for immigrants

who break our laws.

They did not blame all

immigrants and felt the

issue should not be

politically overblown.




6 Decision-Making In

Overbooked Immigration

Courts




Here Is The News

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/7/6/a-week-in-the-countrys-busiest-immigration-court.html

The two busiest courts

are Los Angeles and

New York.

The Los Angeles court

added 18,000 cases in

2014. 51,878 cases are

pending.

The New York court

added 17,700 cases last

year. It has 60,538 cases

pending. http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com



18 new immigration judges

were hired last month,

bringing the total to 235.

A recent Human Rights

First report estimates 500

new judges are needed to

reduce the backlog of

pending cases.

At present, there are

450,000 immigration cases

nationally. The average

wait for a hearing is 599

days. http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com



Defendants in immigration

cases may be represented

by an attorney. However,

they are not entitled to free

public counsel as in

criminal cases.

In some matters, fewer

than 2% of defendants

without lawyers avoid

deportation, compared

with 25% for those with

lawyers.




7 The Battle For Adequate

Criminal Defense Of

Immigrants Continues




Here Is The News

http://www.wisbar.org/NewsPublications/Pages/General-Article.aspx?ArticleID=24200


A plea withdrawal request

by an Egyptian national,

Hatem Shata, was recently

denied by the Wisconsin

Supreme Court.

Shata was told his guilty

plea would trigger a “strong

chance” of deportation. But

given the charges, removal

was a certainty if he pled to

them.

The court ruled counsel’s

advice was not deficient.



Shata’s attorney advised him to

plead guilty because he had

“no defense,” noting that Shata

had confessed to the crime.

Shata said his attorney

promised probation and said he

would not be automatically

deported.

He testified that he would not

have pled guilty otherwise.

Shata’s attorney did not

research immigration laws

before giving Shata legal

advice. http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com




The Wisconsin ruling falls short

of the Supreme Court decision

in Padilla v. Kentucky,

requiring lawyers to inform

clients of the deportation

consequences of pleas.

In dissent, two Justices wrote

the majority lowers the

professional standard for

Wisconsin lawyers below

national standards and leaves

clients “with only vague and

incomplete advice about the

immigration consequences”

before entering a plea.



8

Skateboarding To Flee

Gang Violence In El

Salvador




Here Is The News

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/four-dudes-from-el-salvador-are-skating-to-america-20150717?page=3

Four young Central

Americans recently fled

from El Salvador on

skateboards. The four

skaters – patinetos –

made it to the United

States.

Skating is a sign of

protest in their home

country. Shredding in the

park meant not cowering

from gangs. http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com




Along their journey, the

skaters learned an unlikely

advantage: attention-

grabbing ollies and kick flips

can be a form of camouflage.

Officials tend to have certain

qualities in mind when

looking for migrants: poor,

haggard and lost. The

skaters, with their devil-may-

care swagger, often coasted

by authorities without

prompting a second glance.



In Mexico the skaters

stayed in free shelters run

by the Catholic church.

Sometimes they slept on

the streets, relying on the

generosity of local skaters

for food.

“We break borders with

skating, we connect with

other guys practicing our

sports.” http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com



9

A New Country To House

All Refugees?




Here Is The News

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/07/27/refugee-nation-country-for-refugees-jason-buzi_n_7877662.html

Jason Buzi, a millionaire

Israeli businessman, has

proposed an innovative

solution to the world’s

refugee crisis.

His Refugee Nation idea

suggests creating a new

country “which any

refugee, from anywhere

in the world, can call

home.” http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com



For critics, the downside….

• The idea is similar to treating

refugees like lepers.

• The idea meant “we have to set

them apart from us, that we

don’t want them among us, so

let’s put them on an island

somewhere.”

• Shipping people off to isolated

islands could send a dangerous

message that the rest of the

world was closing its’ doors to

refugees.




According to Buzi:

• There are large areas of

uninhabitable land around

the world that could be

used.

• The new country would be

a democratic society and

English should the major

language.

• The plan should instill a

strong work culture as well

as include job and training

opportunities. http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com



10

Latino Baseball

Players Invade

American Sport




Here Is The News

http://latinousa.org/2015/07/08/latino-usa-listeners-name-best-latino-ballplayers/

Baseball, until recently, was

America’s # 1 sport. Over

the past few decades, many

outstanding players from

Latin American nations

made it to the big leagues.

Some have become U.S.

citizens. Others go home at

the end of baseball season,

often donating money and

working as volunteers on

community projects for their

countrymen.




According to fans, the best Latino

baseball players:

• Robert Clemente, Puerto Rico

• Fernando Valenzuela, Mexico

• Pedro Martinez, Dominican

Republic

• Mariano Rivera, Panama

To round out my top five, I would

add one of these former All Stars:

• Camilio Pascual, Cuba

• Luis Aparicio, Venezuela

• Juan Marichal, Puerto Rico

• Luis Tiant, Cuba




Unknown to

most baseball

fans, the great

Ted Williams is

of Mexican

descent from

his mother’s

side. http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com




Do You Want To Know How To Choose

An Immigration Attorney?

http://www.carlosbatara.com/services/hiring-immigration-attorney-guide/




Do You Want To Know

More About Immigration?

Carlos Batara Attorney at Law

Tel: (800) 646-0667

Fax: (951) 929-0782

Email: [email protected]

Web: http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com

Helping Immigrants Live And Work Legally In

The United States

mailto:[email protected]



Carlos Batara http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com

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