Articles Posted in Deportation & Removal

Tough days ahead for employers. Chipotle Mexican Grill has fired a substantial number of the 1,200 employees at its 50 Minnesota restaurants after a federal immigration audit found some were illegal workers. The circumstances of the firings sparked a protest by several dozen people. As Greg Nammacher, secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union (“SEIU”), Local 26 in St. Paul said: “companies all over this country are using immigrant labor, and then, when the government shines a light on those employees, the companies wash their hands of them.”

The investigation of Chipotle began several months ago, when ICE asked to see work eligibility documents. The company was not told why it was singled out for review. ICE then provided Chipotle with a list of employees whose documents might be invalid.

Chipotle tries to screen new employees, but some provide false documents showing they are eligible workers. In cases where employees insist they have the proper documents, Chipotle has sought to give them extra time to produce the identification.

According to a recent NPR story, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) wastes resources by targeting the wrong people for deportation. The study shows immigration judges are rejecting an increasing number if ICE’s deportation requests.

The study, by a clearinghouse called TRAC, at Syracuse University, says immigration judges turned down one in three of ICE’s deportation requests during a three month period this year.

That’s up from one in four compared to the same period the previous year, according to the study.

We are informed by AILA and the American Civil Liberties Union that there has been a relatively large-scale ICE enforcement operation conducted in the past 24 hours in relations to a bakery in Otay Mesa.

There have been multiple search warrants executed and many arrests–with some entire families having been taken into custody. Preliminary word is that several managers of the bakery may be prosecuted criminally on immigration-related charges, and many workers (perhaps dozens) will face removal proceedings and/or attempts by ICE to have them accept voluntary removals. We will keep our readers posted as new developments come up.

Last year, a sweep targeting illegal immigrants led to the arrest of more than 300 people – including at least 125 with criminal histories – in San Diego and Imperial counties. The arrests were part of a statewide operation that netted more than 1,000 arrests.

The government has been ramping up enforcement of employment immigration laws, with a particular focus on insuring that companies are staying in compliance. The number of enforcement activities has increased dramatically in the past year. Now, more than ever, it’s important to insure that your company is ready in case of a government I-9 audit. And for the first time, it’s not enough to be in compliance. Each company must prove compliance, and if using an electronic system, use one that works in accordance with immigration laws.

The San Diego Union Tribune reports, enforcement in San Diego County mirrors a national trend toward more scrutiny of employers’ I-9 forms, the universal tool for verifying permission to work in the United States.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, initiated 66 audits with local employers in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, reviewing 5,588 individual I-9s in the process. That was up from 44 audits in fiscal 2009 and just one audit in 2008. A company can be fined up to $1,100 for each illegal employee, and knowingly violating verification laws can lead to criminal charges and forfeited assets.

In a recent article in the L.A. Times, the paper reported that the Obama administration deported a record number of illegal immigrants in the 2010 fiscal year, according to figures released Wednesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The report noted that, “of the 392,862 deportations from October 2009 through September of this year, about half were illegal immigrants with criminal records. The second straight year of record deportations from the U.S. reflects the approach of ICE under the Obama administration to focus its efforts on removing criminal illegal immigrants “who pose a national security or public safety threat,” Homeland Security Deputy Press Secretary Matt Chandler said in a statement.”

Despite this report, one must question how many of those with “criminal records” were really threats as criminals in the U.S. Although it says these illegal immigrants were ones with criminal records, there is no distinction in the news report between those whose acts were misdemeanor offenses or felony offenses. Under immigration law, some misdemeanor offenses can be waived and therefore allow an immigrant to stay in the U.S. Is immigration being unnecessarily hard on those whose offenses were misdemeanors or is ICE going after those who have committed serious felonies?

Paris Hilton is not big in Japan. The socialite and entrepreneur was denied entry into the country by immigration officials because of her very fresh conviction for cocaine possession, and flew home to the United States yesterday, the Associated Press reports. She also canceled her appearances in Malaysia and Indonesia, but told reporters she hoped to return soon.

Hilton, who was detained and grilled by immigration officials for hours Tuesday, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor cocaine possession and obstructing a police officer after she and her boyfriend were busted in Las Vegas by a motorcycle.

What is she was a foreign national trying to enter the US?

Proposals have been made in Congress for many years to confer an opportunity for the young students to become legalized. These proposals, commonly known as the “Dream Act”, so far have not gone too far in the legislative process. The terms of the Dream Act various. According to the latest proposal in 2009, a person must be between the ages of 12 and 35 when the law was enacted, must have arrived in the United States before the age of 16, must have resided continuously in the United States for at least five (5) consecutive years since the date of their arrival, must have graduated from a U.S. High School or obtained a General Education Diploma GED, and must have good moral character. If eligible, these individuals will be able to obtain temporary residency for a six year period.

There have been many instances in which immigrant students were released from detention after they were arrested for being without immigration status in the U.S. There is a clear federal policy to suspend or defer enforcement efforts on them, according to various reports. These students were brought to the United States by their parents who did not have legal status. They attended schools and adopted an American lifestyle. Many are now high school graduates but have difficulties continuing their education on account of their illegal status. Although the current immigration policy is temporarily sparing these youngsters from deportation, their future will remain uncertain without actual changes in immigration law. Within the six year period, a qualified student must have acquired a two-year degree from a community college or completed 2 years of a program for a bachelor’s degree or higher degree in the United States. Alternatively, he or she may also serve in the military for at least two years. If the applicant fails to meet one of these three requirements, the student shall revert back to the immigration status that he or she had immediately prior to receiving conditional permanent resident status.

Furthermore, although the applicant would not be eligible for Pell grants, they would be entitled to apply for student loans and work study. However, should these students commit a serious crime or a drug-related violation during these six years, they would lose their conditional status and subject to deportation. Upon successful completion of the requirements at the end of the six years, the applicant will be eligible for lawful permanent status. Legalizing these young students would actually bring in a new pool of educated people to the workforce, reduce costs associated with social problems, and foster family unity. If passed, the law will benefit more than 700,000 individuals throughout the United States. Energetic and educated, these students have become increasingly vocal in fighting for their rights.

ICE officials provided a copy of a new policy memo dated Aug. 20 that instructs government attorneys to review the court cases of people with pending applications to adjust status based on their relation to a U.S. citizen. ICE estimates in the memo that the effort could affect up to 17,000 cases.

The Department of Homeland Security is systematically reviewing thousands of pending immigration cases and moving to dismiss those filed against suspected illegal immigrants who have no serious criminal records, according to several sources familiar with the efforts.

Opponents of illegal immigration were critical of the dismissals.

Who deported more Bush or Obama? TRAC report finding that ICE data shows a ten percent increase between the number of noncitizens removed during the first nine months of FY 2010 as the result of ICE enforcement compared to the same period in FY 2008, the last fiscal year of the Bush administration.

During the first nine months of FY 2010, 279,035 non-U.S. citizens were removed* from the country as a result of ICE enforcement. This number is ten (10) percent more than the same period during FY 2008 — the last fiscal year of the Bush administration. This represents almost a doubling of the rate of removals that have taken place during the past five years.

In addition to increases in alien removals under the Obama administration, the data also show that ICE — rather than simply trying to ramp up numbers — has also directed more of its attention to going after noncitizens who have committed crimes while in this country.

A former member of the Bosnian Serb Army has left the U.S. to return to Serbia after a federal judge ordered his denaturalization based on concealment during his application for U.S. citizenship that he served in the military during the Bosnian war.

What is Denaturalization ? Denaturalization is the reverse of naturalization, when a state deprives one of its citizens of his or her citizenship. From the point of view of the individual, denaturalization means “revocation” or “loss” of citizenship. Denaturalization can be based on various legal justifications. The most severe form is the “stripping of citizenship” when denaturalization takes place as a penalty for actions considered criminal by the state, often only indirectly related to nationality, for instance for having served in a foreign military. In countries that enforce single citizenship, voluntary naturalization in another country will lead to an automatic loss of the original citizenship; the language of the law often refers to such cases as “giving up one’s citizenship” or (implicit) renunciation of citizenship.

In this case Jadranko Gostic, 47, a former resident of St. Petersburg, Fla., departed the United States on June 1, 2010. U.S. District Court Judge James Moody in Tampa, Fla., ordered his denaturalization on May 26, 2010.