Trump’s ban is illegal. Shame.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-idUSKBN15C0BV

Over 800,000 Dreamers, or immigrants with DACA status, are now wondering what the Trump administration plans to do with them.   Nothing for now, it seems.  It could be that the Dreamers will be one reason that Congress may try to do something to fix our immigration system.  It could be.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/immigrant-students-worry-trump-will-end-dreamer-program/

Its a fact. Trump was elected President and the Republicans control both the House and the Senate. Immigrants are wondering, “What does this mean for me?” It means four main things:

1. There will be no major immigration reform in favor of immigrants for at least the next four years. No amnesty. No CIR. No Dream Act. Nothing like that. Trump will veto any major form of relief. It is possible that there will be major immigration reform that makes the law stricter – an “enforcement only” law. This would NOT happen quickly. It takes time for Congress to make a law for the President to sign. If they are motivated, it could happen within the first year, but is very unlikely within the first few months.

2. MOST IMPORTANT — Trump has said a lot of incendiary things in his campaign, including he would cancel DACA and ban Muslims.. But… not so fast! Remember, the way cases are processed and decided will NOT change overnight. The President cannot fire all the current government employees and replace them. There are laws preventing him from doing that. CIS, NVC, and DOS will continue with business as usual. So if your waiver, DACA, citizenship or other application case would’ve been approved yesterday, it will be approved tomorrow. In order for the President to change the procedures and do something like get rid of the Provisional Waiver program, he would have to go through an official rule-making process, which could take six months to a year.

3. ICE and Border enforcement will get more aggressive. Prepare
The best thing is to get your case filed and processed as quickly as possible before Trump and Congress have a chance to change laws and procedures. There is enough time if you do it now. If you are a permanent resident and are eligible to apply for citizenship, do not delay.

4. If you need to assess your options and make plans, get advice from our office or other lawyers. Reject rumors and don’t panic.

Contact us if you need to know more. We are with you.

Our friends at the American Immigration Council  posted this

What Everybody Ought to Know About Undocumented Immigrants and Taxes

snake

I love meeting our clients.  Every day I learn something I never thought I would think about.  Recently I met Nadine (not her real name), a dedicated officer of our local animal control office.  She is one of the dog catchers, and cat catchers and every other kind of animal control officers.    What must that be like??  I visit the animal shelter here and sometimes in other cities.  I am really impressed with how well the animals are treated, and much the staff cares about them.   It must be a hard job to take care of the sick or abused animals, or put sick or dangerous animals down.  Nadine told me its so hard that most or all of the workers suffer from anxiety and depression… No wonder.  Imagine — what if you had to rescue a dog from a vehicle after a car accident, or a starving horse abused by its owner.

If you see this post, and want to thank our local animal services office, you can do that.  Donate!  http://jointanimalservices.org/donate/

But back to Nadine — why was she in our office? Well, while any employee there can be a patrol officer,  in order to give citations, (tickets) the regulations require the officer to be a U.S. citizen.  So, after many years as a resident, Nadine will apply for naturalization this year.   Find out more about that here — http://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship.

Employers attempting to legalize an unauthorized foreign national employee (10 year penalty)

My colleague from Texas, Paul Parsons just posted this short video which explains this sad situation.

A lot is happening already this year for immigrants. Refugees from Syria and other middle eastern countries are flowing into Europe, which is making immigration a hot topic again in this election year. It will be a very important year for all legal residents to become citizens — do it in time to register to vote in November.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced on __ that it will accept the case involving President Obama;s Executive Action on immigration which proposed a protection for parents of U.S. citizens.   Because of this, its likely that immigration will become an even more intense topic of media concern than it is already.   Our friends at the NW Immigrant Rights Project provided this excellent summary —

United States Supreme Court Will Hear DAPA Case

After months of waiting, the Supreme Court has announced that it will hear arguments on the President’s executive actions on immigration before the 2016 election. This announcement is a crucial first step in what will be a several month long process.

We have put together this advisory in English and Spanish for community members who have questions about the President’s executive actions and for partners who work with community members who may be interested in these programs.

America’s Voice has put together a helpful graphic (below) outlining the timeline of the Supreme Court case:

While we are hopeful that the Supreme Court will issue a favorable ruling which will allow DAPA to move forward, the program is still on hold. We will continue to provide relevant updates to this ongoing case.

Upcoming DACA Clinics (NWIRP)

We are happy to continue offering free clinics to community members interested in applying for DACA. We have three clinics coming up in February, the dates of locations of which are listed at this link.

Sadly, the Fifth Circuit Court of appeals denied the government’s request to let the new program for immigrants who are parents of U.S. citizen children go ahead.  It was a split decision.  2 judges said no, and the other thought DAPA should go ahead.  It was not really a surprise, given the extremely anti-immigrant attitude we see in our congressional representatives, and in so much of this country.  Also – this particular court is known to be very conservative.

So now what?  The lawsuit is actually not dead.  It continues, and there will be another hearing on July 6th.  In the meantime, the Obama administration decided today not to appeal to the Supreme Court right now.

In the meantime, here in the office, we are disappointed, but not surprised.  I continue to see more and more clients who thought they might qualify for DAPA, but we discovered other options to work on or think about.   Don’t give up hope.

Yesterday I was invited to speak to a class at The Evergreen State College about Executive Action (DACA and DAPA programs). I learned some things myself when I did.

First – its just prosecutorial discretion. Consider the policeman who pulls you over when you have been speeding.  He does not HAVE to give you a ticket…. and the ICE deportation machine does NOT have to carry out a deportation just because it knows someone is here without documents.

So whats all the fuss? Why are the republicans in congress and republican governors so bent on taking it down? I suppose its this —  Once in a protected status, the government already has a system to offer offer temporary work permission, which feels like, but is not, fully legal status. So it looks like, but is not – legalization (some would say amnesty).  Those who oppose don’t like that this program looks like a law that really should be passed by Congress… (by them!)   It looks like a law, and they don’t think that the president has the authority to announce a program that looks like a law.  And so they filed a lawsuit (Texas v. U.S.) that has temporarily blocked the program.  Read more →