Our friends at the American Immigration Council  posted this

What Everybody Ought to Know About Undocumented Immigrants and Taxes

On Wednesday March 30th, Lisa Seifert will come to Centralia College to give an update to the community about immigration news, including ICE actions, the DAPA Executive Action lawsuit at the Supreme Court, as well as advice for DACA recipients, and many other issues.   The program will be presented in english and spanish. Be there.

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 →

Its spring!

We have helped many families in the past year apply for and receive WAIVERS (I-601A) from U.S. CIS, followed by successful brief trips abroad to obtain permanent status. Its hard work for everyone, clients, family members, and all of us here. Our success rate in these cases is 100%!

If you are married to a U.S. citizen and cannot move forward with your lives because you do not have documents, please contact us. You may have more options than you thought before.

Your immigration attorney may need copies of previously filed tax returns to present to the Immigration Court or to Immigration to prove your good moral character and willingness to follow the laws of the United States. It is important that every person who earns income, whether or not they have documents, files a tax return. That’s the law

What if I don’t have a Social Security Number?

You can file a tax return by using an individual tax identification number, or ITIN.

A person must file a tax return and do it correctly. What does that mean?

We see many clients who have been incorrectly advised when filing tax returns. For example, claiming extra dependents and getting extra tax refund money for people who don’t live with you might not be correct. If you did this, it might be necessary for you to correct your tax returns. Your attorney can help you find a tax accountant or other professional who can advise you how to do this the right way.

What if I do not have copies of my old tax returns?

To get records of previously filed tax returns, it is best to make your request in person at a local IRS office. The IRS office can provide you with tax return transcripts for the past 3 years. The IRS office can also provide you with tax account transcripts for every year that you have filed tax returns.  Either document is sufficient to show proof of income tax filing.