Green Card, Visa, Citizenship News: August 2015 Immigration Tidbits And Rumors

10 Essential Immigration News
Stories You Should Know About
http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com
August 2015

1
Asian Pacific And Latin
American Youth: Different
Approaches To Temporary
Deportation Relief

August 2015 marked the
3rd anniversary of DACA.
DACA (Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals
provides temporary relief
from deportation as well as
work authorization for
immigrant youth who
entered the U.S. without
authorization.

Approximately 979,000
unauthorized immigrants
from Latin America and
the Asia Pacific met all
criteria for DACA at the
August 2012 launch.
Far less Asian Pacific
youth sought DACA:
• Latin America – 77%
• Asia Pacific – 21%

The top application rates by
eligible youth by country:
Latin America
• El Salvador 91%
• Argentina 91%
• Mexico 82%
• Honduras 81%
Asia Pacific
• Pakistan 28%
• Philippines 23%
• India 20%
• South Korea 20%

2
Immigration Jails
Facing Financial
Collapse?

Jails built to profit from an
illegal immigration boom
are now weighing down the
finances of rural counties in
the U.S. Sunbelt.
In Maverick County,
situated along the banks of
the Rio Grande River, an
immigrant detention facility
built in 2007 using $43
million in revenue bonds is
slated to close this month
after failing to service its
debt. http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com

The current financial downturn in
the profits of immigration jails has
a direct connection to deportation
and detention policies.
The drop-off follows a two-decade
boom that saw the number of
immigrant detainees mushroom.
County jails grew overcrowded.
Now, as apprehensions slow, the
profits slow down as well.
The average daily population in
ICE detention was 31,164 in June.
This is down 16% from the same
period a year ago.

It‟s simple economics. Private
businesses must make a profit,
or at least break even, to stay in
business. The less detainees, the
less revenues.
As various reports have show,
the key to jail profitability has
been the immigrant bed quota
set by Congress of 34,000
detainees per day.
It costs about $159.00 per day to
house one detainee. The average
detention time is 31 days.

3
Will Advertising Slow
Down Refugee Flow?

The U.S. Customs and
Border Protection
(USCBP) and the
Department of State
have created ads to
warn the public in
Mexico and Central
America about false
information regarding
U.S. immigration
laws.

The first-of-its-
kind ad campaign
is centered on four
countries:
• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Mexico

The Spanish language ads say:
“The U.S. immigration law has
not changed. Those trying to
cross the border without proper
documents do not have
permission and will be the
subjects for immediate
deportation under President
Obama‟s recently-announced
immigration guidelines.”
“If anyone says or promises
something different, please, do
not believe them. Protect
yourself!”

4
Trump‟s Plan To End
Birthright Citizenship

Presidential candidate
Donald Trump does not
want children born in
America to acquire U.S.
citizenship if their
parents are in the
country illegally.
Birthright citizenship,
legally known as jus
soli, guarantees the right
of citizenship to people
born on American soil.http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com

Trump calls birth right citizenship
the biggest magnet for illegal
immigration.
He is wrong for several reasons:
1. The „magnet” argument has never
been proven. There is no empirical
evidence that ending citizenship
rights deter unauthorized
immigration.
2. Repealing the 14th Amendment is
not a deportation magic wand. It
might disenfranchise second-
generation immigrants, but most will
continue living in the country.

3. The undocumented population in the
country would swell. The number of
immigrants living in the shadows
would grow to 25 million if the law
applied to children with just one parent
living here without permission.
4. The economy would suffer. No
matter what skills they have,
immigrants do better and contribute
more to society when they have legal
protections like citrizenship.
5. Anchor babies mythology. U.S.
citizens children cannot sponsor
parents until they are 21 years old,
making anyone using the anchor baby
scheme unlikely to succeed.

5
Filipino Immigration:
A Quick Glance

In terms of immigrants
arriving in the U.S. since
1990, the Philippines has
been consistently among
the top five countries.
It was the fourth largest
immigrant community in
2013, accounting for
4.5% of the 41 million
immigrants in the United
States.

In 1934, the Tydings-
McDuffie Act was passed.
The act committed the U.S.
to grant Philippine
independence by 1945, but
it limited immigration from
the island to only 50 per
year.
At the end of World War II,
the United States viewed
Filipinos as loyal allies and
the quotas were doubled in
1946 to 100 per year.

The Filipino immigrant
community in the U.S. began to
jump in 1965.
Part of the increase was due to
the removal of the national-
origin system under the
Immigration And Nationality
Act.
Long-established governmental
and business relationships
between the two countries,
following World War II, also
played a big role in the growth of
Filipino immigration to the U.S.

6
A Lack Of Compassion:
Vandals Destroy Desert
Water Stations

Vandals are
targeting water
stations that
help migrants
survive the heat
when they cross
the desert.

Humane Borders is a non-profit
organization in Tucson, Arizona.
Their goal is to take death out of the
immigration equation.
Humane Borders:
• Works with property owners
to provide water stations for
migrants crossing the desert
• Collects data about migrant
travel patterns
• Coordinates agency
partnerships to reduce migrant
deaths, identify deceased
individuals, and lessen the
suffering of families whose
members have passed away on
desert trails.

Joel Smith, the Director of
Operations, says it takes longer
for someone to destroy a water
station than it takes for him to
set it up. He said he is not going
to let the vandals win.
Smith explains, “The stations are
there for people who need it. The
water is there for life. It‟s all
about life.”
Anyone who wishes to donate to
Humane Borders can visit
humaneborders.org.

7
Illegal Immigrants Add
$12 Billion Per Year To
Social Security

According to estimates,
7 million people are
currently working in the
U.S. without
permission.
About 3.1 million are
using fake social
security numbers, yet
also paying automatic
payroll taxes.

Overall, undocumented
immigrants pay $13
billion per year to the
Social Security Trust
Fund. They only get about
$1 billion back. The net
gain for the SSA is $12
billion per year.
Because they are in the
U.S. illegally, it is unlikely
they will be able to benefit
from their contributions
later in life.

Under the Social Security protection
Act of 2004, the SSA is restricted
from authorizing benefits to
undocumented immigrants unless
they were provided a social security
number for work or admitted to the
U.S. with a temporary visa for
business purposes.
Unauthorized workers usually prove
their work eligibility with fake ID
cards and social security numbers.
They have taxes taken out of their
checks, like any other employee. The
money goes to the federal treasury to
fund programs like Social Security
and Medicare.

8
A Growing Crisis: The
Burnout Of Judges

Since 2007, the immigration
court backlog has increased
by 160%.
The number of immigration
judges rose by just 15%.
The result: delayed hearings,
delayed justice.
A real example. In one of my
cases, two weeks ago, a new
date was set. The date is in
November 2019. That‟s four
years away.

There are ongoing efforts
to increase the number of
judges. But the hiring
cannot be done quickly
enough.
Given the huge caseloads,
scarce resources, and
public stories of stress and
burnout, finding attorneys
trained in immigration
law to accept judicial
positions is not an easy
sell.

Comments from judges
responding to a recent survey
include:
“Hearing asylum cases, especially
the ones in which the witnesses
testify credibly, has affected my
view of the world. I have lost
most of my faith in humankind,
and I fear deeply for the future.”
“I have been in government
service for decades, including
combat duty, and I have never
detested a working environment
more than I do in this capacity.”

9
Should Street Gangs Be
Considered Terrorists?

In a move almost certain to
spark U.S. asylum cases,
the El Salvador Supreme
Court ruled that street
gangs are to be viewed as
terrorist groups.
Last summer, over 60,000
immigrants from Central
America arrived at U.S.
borders seeking entry to
escape the violence of
gangs in their homelands.

Lawyers representing
Central America youth
refugees will likely raise
the El Salvador court
decision to support their
clients claims.
El Savador‟s gangs were
already notorious for
kidnapping, prostitution
rings, extortion, and
drug trafficking.

The court decision was
reached after 14 members
of the Barrio 18 gang were
killed in a prison.
While defense lawyers for
gang members challenge
the new law, El Salvador
will continue to tap the
telephones and freeze funds
belonging to known gang
members.

10
Why Sanders Would
Revitalize Immigration
Reform Efforts

The campaign of
Bernie Sanders for
President stands in
stark contrast to that of
Donald Trump.
Whereas Trump
proposes to curtail
citizenship rights,
Sanders proudly
asserts that America is
a nation of immigrants.

Trump argues illegal immigrants
take more out of the U.S. tax system
than they put into it, and that they
steal jobs of American workers.
On the other hand, Sanders feels
America is a story of hard-working
families coming to the U.S. to
create a brighter future for their
children and for the good of the
nation.
Sanders points out that poor U.S.
free trade policies like NAFTA have
created economic and political
problems for all involved countries.

Since the implementation of
NAFTA, the number of
Mexicans living below the
poverty line has increased by
over 14 million people.
Almost 2 million small
farmers have been displaced.
Sanders notes it is not
surprising there has been an
unprecedented growth in the
number of undocumented
immigrants from Mexico
from 1992 to 2011.

Do You Want To Know How To Choose
An Immigration Attorney?

Do You Want To Know
More About Immigration?
Carlos Batara
Attorney at Law
Tel: (800) 646-0667
Fax: (951) 929-0782
Email: carlos@bataraimmigrationlaw.com
Web: http://www.bataraimmigrationlaw.com
Helping Immigrants Live And Work Legally In
The United States

Carlos Batara
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Green Card, Visa, Citizenship News: August 2015 Immigration Tidbits And Rumors

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