IMMIGRATION LAWYERS WELCOME DEFERRED ACTION ANNOUNCEMENT, WARN OF POTENTIAL FRAUD BY SO-CALLED "NOTARIOS"

IMMIGRATION LAWYERS WELCOME DEFERRED ACTION ANNOUNCEMENT, WARN OF POTENTIAL FRAUD BY SO-CALLED "NOTARIOS"

BEND, OREGON - Immigration lawyers around Bend, Oregon, welcomed the Administration's recent announcement that younger immigrants may be eligible for "Deferred Action" and work authorization. The policy will grant qualified immigrants the opportunity to live free from fear of deportation and allow them to work legally. This exciting new development brings hope to immigrants and their families. It is not, however, a permanent fix and does not grant permanent legal status to anyone.

To qualify, an individual must:

• have arrived in the U.S. when they were under the age of sixteen;
• have continuously resided in the U.S. for at least five years prior to June 15, 2012 and have been present in the U.S. on June 15, 2012;
• currently be in school, have graduated from high school, have a GED, or be an honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard or the U.S. Armed Forces;
• not have been convicted of a felony offense, a "significant misdemeanor offense," three or more non-significant misdemeanors, or otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety; and
• have been under thirty-one years old on June 15, 2012
 
The deferred action offer will be available to those in proceedings, those with final removal orders, as well as to those who apply affirmatively.

The Administration is not yet accepting applications for this action. Within sixty days - by the middle of August - the Administration expects to issue guidance and information about how eligible individuals can request deferred action and work authorization.

If you are not in removal proceedings, DO NOT apply for deferred action at this time. Unfortunately, this policy may open the door for fraud and deception by so-called "Notarios." In the United States, notarios have no legal background and cannot legally practice law or represent you. Anyone claiming they can submit an application or charging a fee for applying for deferred action should NOT be trusted until the process has been announced by the federal government. An immigrant's case can be delayed by notarios acting in bad faith, resulting in penalties and even deportation.
"Be careful! Do not endanger your chance to qualify for this action," "Make sure to contact a licensed attorney for more information on applying for deferred action."

For more resources on this announcement, go to www.aila.org/dream. You can also visit www.ailalawyer.com to locate a qualified attorney in your area.

BEND, OREGON – Abogados de inmigración en Bend, Oregon, recibieron con aprobación el anuncio reciente de la administración del Presidente Obama que inmigrantes jóvenes serán elegibles para solicitar “Acción Diferida” y la autorización de empleo. La política concederá a inmigrantes que son elegibles la oportunidad de vivir sin el miedo de ser deportado, y también les permitirá trabajar legalmente. Este anuncio lleva esperanza a inmigrantes y sus familias. Sin embargo, no es un arregló permanente, ni concede estatus legal permanente a ninguna persona.

Para ser elegible, un individuo tendrá que demonstrar que:

• vino a los Estados Unidos siendo menor de dieciséis años de edad;
• ha residido ininterrumpidamente en los Estados Unidos durante al menos cinco años antes de la fecha de este memorándum y está presente en los Estados Unidos en la fecha de este memorándum;
• está asistiendo actualmente a la escuela, se ha graduado de la enseñanza secundaria, ha obtenido un certificado de desarrollo de educación general, o es un veterano que ha sido dado de alta con honores de los Guardacostas o las Fuerzas Armadas de los Estados
Unidos;
• no ha sido condenado por un delito mayor, un delito menor significativo, múltiples delitos menores ni representa una amenaza para la seguridad nacional o la seguridad
pública;
• no es mayor de treinta años de edad.

La acción diferida será disponible a individuos con casos en Corte de Inmigración, y también a individuos que solicitan el beneficio directamente con el Departamento de Inmigración. 

La administración aun no está aceptando solicitudes para esta acción. En un plazo de sesenta días – en agosto – se espera que la administración de consejo e información sobre el proceso de solicitud para acción diferida y la autorización de empleo.

Si Usted no está en proceso de repatriación, NO solicite acción diferida en este momento. ¡Ojo con el fraude! Desafortunadamente, esta política puede abrir la puerta al fraude y decepción por “notarios.” En los Estados Unidos, los notarios no tienen la educación legal ni pueden actuar como abogado. Cualquier persona que dice que ya tiene la solicitud por acción diferida o que le pide honorarios para llenar una solicitud lo quiere estafar. El proceso para solicitar este beneficio no comienza hasta que sea anunciado por el gobierno federal. Su caso puede ser retrasado por causa de un notario, resultando en castigos, hasta deportación.

“¡Ten cuidado! No se ponga en peligro de ser descalificado por esta acción.” “Asegúrase de que Usted hable con un abogado autorizado quien puede ayudarle con la solicitud y garantizar que Usted tiene la mejor posibilidad de beneficiarse de esta acción.”

Para más información sobre el anuncio, visite a www.aila.org/dream. También puede visitar www.ailalawyer.com para encontrar un abogado autorizado en su área.

H-1B Cap Count

October 28, 2011 H-1B Cap Count

As of October 28, 2011, approximately 49,200 H-1B cap-subject petitions were receipted. Additionally, USCIS has receipted 20,000 H-1B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees.

Visa Bulletin for August 2011

VISA BULLETIN AUGUST 2011

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	01MAY04	01MAY04	01MAY04	08MAR93	15APR96
F2A	22JUL08	22JUL08	22JUL08	01JUN08	22JUL08
F2B	01JUL03	01JUL03	01JUL03	01OCT92	01DEC00
F3	22AUG01	22AUG01	22AUG01	15NOV92	01APR92
F4	08APR00	08APR00	08APR00	08MAR96	15MAY88

 

Employment- Based	All Charge-ability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	15APR07	15APR07	C	C
3rd	01NOV05	08JUL04	01JUN02	01NOV05	01NOV05
Other Workers	01MAY05	22APR03	01JUN02	01MAY05	01MAY05
4th	C	C	C	C	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	C	C	C
5th Targeted Employment Areas/ Regional Centers and Pilot Programs	C	C	C	C	C

Dan Larsson to Speak at City Club of Central Oregon on July 21, 2011

For those who may be interested, I will be speaking on July 21, 2011 at the City Club of Central Oregon on Illegal Immigration/Deportation. For more details, see e.g. http://www.cityclubofcentraloregon.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70:this-month-in-city-club-july-2011&catid=34:2011.

On the Way to National ID

See below summary of the legislation introduced this week. We are clearly on our way towards a national ID system……….

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Summary of the "Legal Workforce Act"

 

On June 14, 2011, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced H.R. 2164, the Legal Workforce Act, which would mandate a new Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS) nationwide within 2 years.

 

Who must use EEVS and when must they comply?

 

1. Mandatory for all employers nationwide in 2-year expedited phase-in. The largest employers must use EEVS within 6 months of enactment. The smallest employers with 1 to19 employees must comply within 2 years. Status quo maintained until the effective dates take effect. Early compliance mandated within 30 days for employers already required to use E-Verify.
   
2. Recruiters, referrers and union halls (including union halls that take no fee) are required to use EEVS within 1 year of enactment.
   

   
    

3. Agriculture: Employers using seasonal workers for agriculture or services (as defined in the H-2A program) must use EEVS within 3 years from enactment. Workers from past seasons are not deemed new hires and need not be reverified.
   

   
    

   • Re-verification: Generally not required but reverification is mandatory for:
   

4. All federal, state, and local government employees
   
5. All employees with a limited period of work authorization
   
6. Employees at certain federal and state contracts working in the U.S.
   
7. Employees at certain critical infrastructure sites
   
8. Employers can voluntarily choose to reverify their workforce
   

   
    

   When must employers verify job applicants? The bill authorizes employers to make offers of employment conditioned upon final clearance by EEVS. By muddying the waters on current law which forbids any kind of pre-screening by employers this will invite employer abuse and discrimination. The bill includes no language prohibiting discriminatory practices.
   

   
    

   Safe harbor protections for employers. Broad relief from liability from civil or criminal suit granted to employers for actions taken in good faith reliance on EEVS, unless there is clear and convincing evidence that the employer knew the employee was unauthorized. There is also relief from substantive and technical violations if timely corrected.
   

   
    

   Penalty and enforcement mechanisms.
   

   
    

9. Felony crime created with fines and prison time for knowing misuse of a social security number or other identification. Enhanced penalty for aggravated identity theft if committed in connection with this newly created crime.
   
10. Ten-fold increase in fines as well as heightened penalties for employers but with a waiver for violators who acted in good faith.
    

    
     

    Limited protections for workers. Employee remedy is limited to suit solely under the Federal Tort Claims Act or injunctive relief. Class actions are prohibited. No relief against employers.
    

    
     

    Major expansion of SSA's enforcement duties will burden SSA and result in issuance of more compliance letters
    

11. Multiple use of SSA numbers. SSA must send notice letters regarding employees who hold more than one job during the year if there is a pattern of unusual multiple use. SSA shall also issue notices to employers submitting one or more mismatched wage and tax statements or corrected wage and tax statements.
    

    
     

    Blocks on social security numbers. SSA is authorized to block a social security number if it is used unusually multiple times. SSA is required to block the SS number for noncitizens whose visas have expired and other categories of noncitizens. An individual worker can block the use of his or her number if its use was not authorized.
    

    
     

    Preemption. The bill preempts states and localities from passing employment verification laws and policies, but grants states and localities a broad exception to the preemption rule by permitting them to use business licensing laws and similar laws as a penalty for failure to use EEVS. This will invite continued state/local regulation in this area and result in diverse and likely conflicting laws.
    

    
     

    Biometric pilot program shall be launched within 18 months of enactment that uses private sector companies that would maintain their own databases and interact with federal databases. Participation in the pilot program is voluntary for employers but mandatory for new employees hired by those employers.
    

    
     

    More onerous documentation requirements. The bill eliminates many approved documents showing identity and work authorization.
    

Visa Bulletin for July 2011

 

VISA BULLETIN JULY 2011

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	01MAY04	01MAY04	01MAY04	08MAR93	15APR96
F2A	22MAR08	22MAR08	22MAR08	15FEB08	22MAR08
F2B	01JUL03	01JUL03	01JUL03	22SEP92	22SEP00
F3	15JUL01	15JUL01	15JUL01	15NOV92	22MAR92
F4	08MAR00	08MAR00	08MAR00	01MAR96	15MAY88

 

Employment- Based	All Charge-ability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	08MAR07	08MAR07	C	C
3rd	08OCT05	01JUL04	01MAY02	01JUL05	08OCT05
Other Workers	22NOV04	22APR03	01MAY02	22NOV04	22NOV04
4th	C	C	C	C	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	C	C	C
5th Targeted Employment Areas/ Regional Centers and Pilot Programs	C	C	C	C	C

AILA Troubled by Supreme Court Decision That Opens Door to 50 Different Laws on Employment Verification

This is likely to create a royal mess………………The US needs reform………..

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, May 26, 2011

CONTACTS:
George Tzamaras
202-507-7649
gtzamaras@aila.org

Jenny Werwa
202-507-7628
jwerwa@aila.org

WASHINGTON, DC -- The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) is troubled by today's Supreme Court decision to uphold the Arizona Legal Workers Act, a law that threatens to revoke the business licenses of companies in that state if they knowingly hire unauthorized immigrants and requires that Arizona businesses participate in the federal E-Verify program which Congress enacted as a voluntary "pilot program." AILA agrees with Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who said that the majority reading of the law "subjects employers to a patchwork of enforcement schemes similar to the one that Congress sought to displace when it enacted IRCA."

The decision did not address Arizona's infamous SB 1070, the more high-profile Arizona immigration law which requires police to check the immigration status of individuals in certain circumstances. The main provisions of SB 1070 were successfully challenged in federal court on constitutional grounds and are on appeal.

According to David Leopold, President of AILA, "Today's Supreme Court decision is no predictor of how the Court will come out on SB1070. The majority opinion appears to have turned on a narrow and technical reading of the 'savings clause' in IRCA that references state licensing laws. Those who might take some comfort from this decision, hoping that other state laws such as Arizona SB 1070 might be upheld, should pay close attention to the court's affirmation that state laws violate the Constitution if 'they impose additional burdens on the Federal government.'"

Leopold added, "What is particularly troubling about this decision is the danger of a muddled mix of state immigration laws, each of which claims to essentially track the federal law, but each of which has its own tweaks and nuances. It will be extremely burdensome and expensive for employers who operate in multiple states across the country, and who wish, in good faith, to comply with our immigration laws, to ensure not only federal compliance but also compliance on a state-by-state level."

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The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.