Temporary Protected Status for Japan?

With the news of the devastating earthquake and tsunami hitting Japan, and President Obama's pledge for assistance, I wonder if the next step is for the Secretary of Homeland Security to declare Temporary Protected Status for Japanese citizens.

Temporary Protected Status or TPS is a form of protection for citizens of a certain country who find it impossible to return safely to their country of origin due to the conditions there. The USCIS may grant TPS to eligible nationals of certain countries (or parts of countries), who are already in the United States. Eligible individuals without nationality who last resided in the designated country may also be granted TPS. The Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a country for TPS due to the following temporary conditions in the country:

-Ongoing armed conflict (such as civil war)
-An environmental disaster (such as earthquake or hurricane)
-Other extraordinary and temporary conditions

During a designated period, eligible individuals:

-Are not removable from the United States
-Cannot be detained by DHS
-Can obtain an employment authorization document (EAD)
-May apply for travel authorization

Although having TPS, by itself, does not lead to permanent resident status (a green card), a TPS beneficiary may immigrate permanently under another provision of law if qualified.

The last 2 countries that were granted TPS by the Secretary are El Salvador and Haiti (although not too effectively, according to a former chief counsel for USCIS, which I blogged about previously).

While the application of TPS may leave a lot to be desired, it certainly may be the only option available to many. More information about designation of countries, the application process and whether the applicant can find a path to citizenship based on TPS can be found on the uscis website here.

Stop Notario Fraud

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has set up a website to help victims of immigration fraud at www.stopnotariofraud.org. As I mentioned in a previous blog, USCIS Director Alejandro Majorkas has only recently addressed years of complaints by private immigration attorneys, immigration clients and governmental immigration officers about the practice of "notarios", basically unregulated, unlicensed, and often unknowledgeable and unreliable if not outright criminal individuals posing as immigration experts in vulnerable immigrant communities, bilking people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars to apply for immigration benefits they were never eligible for in the first place. The "Stop notario fraud" website provides useful information for victims of this type of fraud, pending more information from USCIS on how exactly they are going to implement the goals of their initiative against notarios.

Haitian earthquake refugees: Dreadful mistakes made

In the March issue of Arizona Attorney Magazine, former USCIS chief counsel Roxie Bacon does not mince words when it comes to highlighting some dreadful mistakes made in the case of Haitian immigrants seeking refuge in the United States in the midst of the worst crisis the country has experienced after the devastating earthquake last year. And she echoes the sentiments of many attorneys in the private bar regarding the lack of funding for USCIS, the branch of the Department of Homeland Security that is about conferring immigration benefits to people rather than deporting them.

The full article can be read online here.

Arizona anti-immigration activist sentenced to death

There are so many heartbreaking stories in immigration. Just today, we hear the news of the arrest by Mexican authorities of the suspect in the shocking, brazen, and terrible shooting death of an American border agent that happened a few days ago. And on this same day, a jury sentenced to death an American anti-immigrant activist who orchestrated the heinous, criminal and tragic home invasion shooting death of a 9 year old girl.

I can't comment on the specifics of these stories, you can read all the details yourselves on the links provided. But I have to say the following. I got into immigration law because I was an immigrant myself, as were my parents and my grandparents. We had to flee our home country due to circumstances beyond our control and beyond even our comprehension. Far from the political wheelers and dealers and the extremist factions, it is the average people, the families with small children, the elderly, the disabled, the hopeless, who are the ones who suffer from the turmoil of civil war and unrest, revolutions and coups, drug wars and genocide. And for most of these people, their dream is to attain the West. Not that Western countries are perfect. But no matter how flawed or imperfect Western countries are, it is a reality that this is where people seek refuge because they feel they have the most chance at safety and a normal life, and yes, even maybe happiness.

News stories like the ones I have read today break my heart. So much death, destruction, and hate, that will only add to the fuel of more death, destruction, and hate...

New policy on Gay marriage may affect immigration

President Obama, in a major legal policy shift, has directed the Justice Department to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act — the 1996 law that bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages — against lawsuits challenging it as unconstitutional.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. sent a letter to Congress on Wednesday saying that the Justice Department will now take the position in court that the act should be struck down as a violation of same-sex couples’ rights to equal protection under the law.

The government’s new position could have far-reaching implications for the rights of gays and lesbians that extend beyond the Defense of Marriage Act, for example in immigration law, where right now, only marriages between a man and a woman are recognized and therefore given the right to sponsor a spouse for a Green Card.

To read more about this, you can read the article in the New York Times here.

The Beacon: USCIS' Official Blog

The Beacon is USCIS' Official Blog. You can subscribe to it to get the latest news and info on immigration forms, filing fees, deadlines for applications etc.

The latest post has photos of the naturalization ceremony conducted in Afghanistan for U.S. military personnel.

I am sometimes asked if you can get a (quicker) path to citizenship if you sign up for the Army. There are certain special provisions made to make it smoother and in some cases quicker for military personnel to acquire citizenship as well as extending immigration benefits to the spouse and children of a deceased military personnel. By the same token, dishonorable discharge and other conditions may bar or revoke citizenship. More information can be found on the USCIS facsheet on naturalization of military personnel, here.

New Governmental Initiative against Fraudulent Immigration Service Providers

The USCIS has released the transcripts of a press conference held by its director Alejandro Mayorkas on February 17, to answer questions and highlight the achievements of the previous year as well as anticipate the goals for the current year.

Among USCIS accomplishments in the year 2010, Mr. Mayorkas mentioned:
-10,000 issued U visas (which I spoke about in an earlier blog)
-620,000 new naturalized citizens
-565,000 Green Cards approved

As for the goals for this year, there were the usual stated goals of improving USCIS operation and customer service and strenghtening security measures. Interestingly, there is also a new initiative against the unauthorized practice of immigration law or UPIL initiative. It remains vague as to what exactly the initiative will accomplish.

Unauthorized practice of immigration law has been prevalent in "hot" immigration jurisdictions like Los Angeles, because it is easy to prey on immigrants who face language, educational, financial etc. barriers and thus everyday we hear stories of "notarios" and even attorneys swindling people of money under false promises and putting them in a collision course with the law, unbeknownst to them. Even though fraud is so prevalent, there has been very little that the defrauded individuals could do as recourse.

Neither the USCIS nor the state criminal prosecutors or police have shown much interest in going after these people. The most an attorney like me could do, if presented with such a set of facts, is to help the client file a complaint with the Consumer Affairs Office. And very little has come out of that! I mean, these non-attorney immigration "law" offices are not regulated at all. Only in really egregious cases have we seen the closing down of the offices, and most often than not, those same individuals pop up somehwere else, under a new company name and start all over again. Very frustrating to say the least!

The entire transcripts of the Press Conference can be read here.