January 31, 2012 in Immigration, Legal, Legal Articles by jferris

Illegal Immigration Policies Have Gone Too Far

Are the current strict immigration enforcement policies going too far? Evidence would suggest that is the case.

While this might not come as any great surprise to some, others found it shocking. The man who put together Arizona’s highly inflammatory and controversial immigration law was voted out of office. This Arizona law was heavily debated, and other statutes of a similar nature are now in the courts. While this law was considered to be tough, the worst one was in Alabama and caused a big backlash that is expected to drive major changes.

These uproars over immigration reform legislation have many wondering if the heavy emphasis on decreasing illegal immigration has gone too far. It appears from the news, the rumors and the rumblings in the various states that many are not happy with the lack of federal government direction. Many think that things have run off the rails and gone overboard?

Let’s look at the latest media reports from Alabama, the state with the toughest immigration enforcement laws. Despite the fact that they stand behind their law, and think it was the right thing to do, they are now amending it due to serious criticism from business owners and residents. It appears that their laws had unintended consequences that went far beyond trying to deter illegal immigrants.

The story about what happened to a German executive would have had its moments of hilarity, but he did not find anything funny about what happened to him. He was in Alabama and driving a rental vehicle without proper identification. He only had a German ID and was on a trip to the U.S. to visit the Mercedes manufacturing plant located in the state. Prior to the new and supposedly improved law, he would only have received a ticket. Under the new law, he needed to produce a valid ID card or run the risk of being tossed in jail and thoroughly questioned about his immigration status. You can see how awkward that would be.

The awkwardness does not stop there though. The wording of the law is brutally convoluted and says that law enforcement needs proof of legal status for any transaction between a person and the state or a political subdivision of the state. Say what? So people could face criminal charges for just about anything. That is obviously something they will need to fix. The state acknowledges that they do need to fix it, which begs the question of how the law got passed in the first place with loopholes.

All eyes should be focused on the White House in the midst of this avoidable debacle. The states are passing their own laws because Washington is not properly enforcing the existing federal laws, not to mention the fact that these laws have not been replaced with anything better. So far, the prospect of these laws changing is pretty dim.

Above the din of clashing politicians is the lament of states that want some action. They are tired of running out of money and state resources being channeled to illegal immigrants. They want to serve their legal residents first. It is a good point. Just what will happen next is anyone’s guess.

Sally Odell – Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, PA is an immigration lawyer in Miami with immigration law offices in Orlando and Miami Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.rifkinandfoxisicoff.com.

January 20, 2012 in Immigration, Legal, Legal Articles by jferris

Immigration Debate Still Centers Around Balanced Position

Despite the various points of view touted by multiple politicians, immigration reform still needs to be balanced.

Here we are, how many years past the initial proclamation that immigration reform was just around the corner, and we still have not turned the corner. Either it is a very contentious battle or someone cannot get their act together. Frankly, most people would opt for number two – someone cannot get their act together. Evidently, no matter what politicians say, their actions speak louder than their words.

They say what one part of the electorate wants to hear. Then they do what the other part of the electorate wants them to do. To say that would likely result in mixed metaphors, inaction, and stalling tactics would be a major understatement.

If you want to see whiplash in action, try listening to some of the pre-campaign rhetoric. It is truly amazing, if only it were true. For example, Newt Gingrich once said he endorsed an individual mandate for health reform. He dropped that position after the “HillaryCare” debates in the 1990s. Interestingly enough, Obama picked up that same position and ran with it. Look what we don’t have now.

Gingrich’s remarks on immigration enforcement, which summed up in its entirety goes like this: if you are in the U.S. now, with no ties to the country, go home. If you have ties, pay taxes and obey the laws, we will not forcefully boot you out. Really? Then what has been happening over the last few years that caused the government to proudly boast about its increased deportations? Have the ICE raids stopped?

Being that this is such a political issue, those remarks lit a fire. Mitt Romney said Gingrich was, in essence, trolling for more illegal immigrations. Michele Bachmann said he was advocating amnesty for everyone, and Rick Perry, who really should remain nameless for his recent series of blunders relating to the DREAM Act, said secure borders were the ticket.

Anyone know where Newt sits now? Not really, which might be just the way he wanted it to come off. After all, he really only said that the first step in immigration reform needed to start with controlling the border. Well alright then, that means securing over 11 million illegal immigrants inside the United States. What then? Newt says be discrete about applying deportation, and do not hand out blanket forgiveness.

This is actually plain old common sense. In other words, this is nothing new, and continues more of the same old policy just articulated a slightly different way. This may mean the 2012 election should elect candidates that espouse the principals of common sense. It is rather doubtful that this would work, which still leaves immigration reform up in the air.

Most illegal immigrants will eventually leave under their own steam if they’ve got the money. That is already happening in this dismal economy. And if push comes to shove, most prosecutors would rather deport the bad guys who are a threat, not the ones who make an effort to contribute to the community. And most Americans? What do they want?

From recent polls, it seems 42 percent favor a balanced approach between border enforcement and a path to legalization. On the other hand, 36 percent want to see the enforcement model – period. In other words, right down the middle and in balance is what the solution seems to be. Let’s see if that position gets elected in 2012.

Sally Odell – Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, PA is an immigration lawyer in Miami with immigration law offices in Orlando and Miami Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.rifkinandfoxisicoff.com.

December 30, 2011 in Immigration, Legal, Legal Articles by jferris

Immigration Reform Might Be Possible in Bits and Pieces

Maybe chunking the immigration reform behemoth into smaller hunks is the answer. A new point of view is making itself known inside the Republican camp.

What if the Administration took a run at immigration reform and broke it down into manageable chunks? Would it eventually make the necessary changes? Those are valid questions, and they are also tough to answer. With an election looming, most of the campaign rhetoric is about electric fences, mobilization of the military and moats to keep the borders safe. Lost in the shuffle is what, if anything, the government is doing about immigration reform.

Most people assume immigration reform is actually dead, and if you spend any time reading the reports and watching TV, you would also reach that decision. The point – nothing has been done since Obama was elected that has made any difference to the immigration system, other than that border security was stepped up and deportations increased, which kind of defeats the purpose of reform.

Obama says he wants to make it easier for illegal immigrants to become American citizens, but that may well be hard to do when his enforcement team is hard at work deporting those same people so fast their heads spin. Talk about a disconnect between what Obama says and does. It makes for good media coverage, but it certainly does not get much done other than alienate the very people he swears he wants to help.

Down on the floor of the House, the new representatives are making small changes to help bring order to an immigration system that is out of control, thus helping to slowly change their anti-immigration image. The kicker though is that even though they want to introduce reform in small increments, they still want to also push hard for better border control. If this split personality scenario continues, nothing will be done which may be the whole point in the first place.

If they hope to repair the damage that has been done to the Hispanic voting population, they hardly have a chance. The damage has already been done, and the block of votes that got behind Obama the first time will not be there again. Frankly, it is not just political damage that is part of the fallout over the failure to do something about immigration reform; there is also the economic impact and upheaval to an economy that hardly needs to be bludgeoned any further.

The bottom line is what? The bottom line is that the system is not working, which should not come as a surprise to anyone. But just who is going to do something about it?

Sally Odell – Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, PA is an immigration lawyer in Miami with immigration law offices in Orlando and Miami, Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.rifkinandfoxisicoff.com.

December 22, 2011 in Immigration, Legal, Legal Articles by jferris

Concerns Abound With Immigration Reform and Prosecutorial Discretion

The latest band-aid applied to immigration reform is prosecutorial discretion. What does that mean?

Despite presidential promises that immigration reform would be passed and things would change, what has happened instead is that the borders are even more locked down with stricter enforcement measures being put into place, and more than one million people were deported over the last three years. You could call this a classic case of saying one thing and doing another.

So what is really going on? In a word, politics is what is going on. The current U.S. Congress is primarily Republican, and they are dead set against immigration amnesty, one of the main reasons the DREAM Act never saw the light of day no matter what the House said. The composition of the administration is such that Obama is having a tough time finding someone to move his immigration reforms ahead.

Failing to find enough favor to move immigration reform forward the way it was envisioned, Obama has announced something he refers to as prosecutorial discretion. What? Ideally, this newer policy gives law enforcement the authority to decide to prosecute or not prosecute (and to what extent) the law in any given case on a case by case basis. Put another way, ICE or prosecutors can use good judgment in deciding whether they want to file deportation cases, permit a deferred action or go ahead and enforce a deportation order.

In this instance, apparently the discretion may be employed based on the guidelines spelled out in a policy memo. That is hardly a comforting thought either, as one person’s idea of discretion is rarely the same as another’s and usually nowhere near what the official line is supposed to be.

Despite the nod to go ahead and use discretion, deportations are not slowing down. A mélange of all types of illegal immigrants are being booted back across the border without regard to the families left behind or taking into account that those numbers also include people with no criminal history whatsoever.

Just what are the guidelines where discretion may come into play? The memo says low priority deportees can get their cases closed administratively and granted employment authorizations. High priority cases or criminals are to be deported. This sounded good to thousands of illegal immigrants in the midst of deportation hearings, as this choice to utilize discretion may mean their case would be dismissed. But there is no such luck. Instead, most of the requests for prosecutorial discretion have been flatly turned down. In fact, the review of 300,000 removal cases in various pilot programs has not even been started. And there are some that call this progress?

While this nod to making a difference on the grassroots level is nice, and has the potential to deal with illegals that are no threat to U.S. society with a measure of common sense, there seems to be difficulty in actually implementing it. When is the Administration going to truly do something about immigration reform, instead of nitpicking at it?

Sally Odell – Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, PA is an immigration lawyer in Miami with immigration law offices in Orlando and Miami, Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.rifkinandfoxisicoff.com.

November 30, 2011 in Immigration, Legal, Legal Articles by jferris

Another High Level Official Quits Working on Immigration Reform

Either the writing is on the wall in regards to immigration reform or people working on it are tired of never seeing their efforts come to fruition.

Immigration reform has been a long road to essentially nothing. In other words, there has been more talk than action and more saying than actual doing. It is not for the lack of having top-notch people working on the finer points of an immigration reform policy, nor is it because the idea is not a good one in many respects. After all, the immigration system as it stands today is badly broken and something needs to be done. But when will reform happen? This is a long, unanswered question.

And now, the same high-level people with the best of intentions to make changes to the immigration system have started resigning from their appointed posts. For instance, the former police chief of Sacramento, Arturo Venegas Jr., just recently quit trying to reform immigration laws. He is not the first person to quit, and the list includes some very well-known governors of large states.

Why are they quitting? They are quitting largely because they feel the Administration is wrong in supporting immigration enforcement policies that are making the process of revamping the system virtually impossible. It is much like trying to go uphill pushing a piano while a train is on the other side pushing back. You may get some sort of equilibrium for a short period of time, but ultimately the train will win.

Many of the people resigning from the process of fixing the immigration system hold the belief that Obama needs to suspend the Secure Communities program because it is arresting way too many wrong people. This has evidently been mentioned to the President and others on more than one occasion, with no appreciable results and no evident action.
And, when the time came for a final report on changes to the system, it did not include stricter controls for the police.

That prompted five members of the committee to quit; five members that were leaders in their fields of expertise, including policing, labor and the law. Where is this process going? That is one tough question and the five that quit could not come up with an answer that made any sense.

The Secure Communities program mandates that the FBI share fingerprint data for every individual locked up in local jails by Homeland Security. The idea behind this program is to capture illegal aliens that are dangerous criminals. What is happening instead is that illegal immigrants are being sent to jail for minor crimes. The statistics speak for themselves in this matter.

In 2010 there were 392,862 immigrants deported and 29 percent of them did not have criminal records. Put another way, 197,090 had zero convictions and 195,772 did have convictions, but how many of these convictions were for serious crimes? It seems the people being nabbed are those who may end up in a routine traffic stop or victims of a crime that had to deal with police over this incident.

Is there a backlash to this type of behavior from law enforcement and the government? Indeed there is, because now immigrant communities will no longer talk to the police to report crimes or offer tips. You only have to read the story about New York Governor Cuomo suspending that state’s participation in Secure Communities for that very reason to know it is a problem. New York’s police force had a hard time doing their job in the face of the immigrant community’s fears of being deported for no real valid reason.

Cuomo is not alone. Joining him in pulling out of the program was Illinois, along with Boston not wanting to continue to be a part of the program either. How many more states will take control of their jails and programs and say no to being in a program that goes contrary to what immigration reform is supposedly attempting to accomplish? And the bigger question – when will immigration reform ever come to pass?

Sally Odell – Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, PA is an immigration lawyer in Miami with immigration law offices in Orlando and Miami, Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.rifkinandfoxisicoff.com.

November 23, 2011 in Immigration, Legal, Legal Articles by jferris

Illegal Immigrants Get $4.2 Billion in Child Tax Credits in 2010

It appears illegal aliens are making it a habit to milk the federal government for child tax credits by filing fraudulent returns. Guesstimates range in the billions of dollars.

In a recent news report by the U.S. Treasury Department, it looks very much like illegal aliens are filing fraudulent child tax returns and receiving billions of dollars illegally. Figures show the amount handed out in 2010 by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was around the $4.2 billion mark. It goes without saying that this is money the economy desperately needs and begs the question of what is the government doing about this issue?

At the moment, it appears the matter is being glossed over and being held in abeyance until someone can come up with an idea to deal with the matter. Illegal aliens are using the additional child tax credit in a fraudulent manner, which was originally approved to hand out more money to taxpayers who could not claim a full tax credit for their children.

How is the system being abused? It is being abused because all wages earned, and that means even money earned illegally, is taxed. However, since illegal aliens are not able to get a valid social security number, the federal government has to track that income in some manner and collect their monies. They use what is referred to as individual taxpayer identification numbers that are given to taxpayers who cannot get a social security card.

A quick look at the figures being used by the Treasury Department show that illegal immigrants claimed $924 million in 2005 and that number has shot up to $4.2 billion in 2010. What is going on? The report points a finger at what they consider to be the problem; individual taxpayer identification numbers are handed out no matter what the applicant’s immigration status is because residents and non-residents may have a U.S. filing/reporting mandate under the IRS Code.

Generally speaking, the identification numbers are to report federal taxes – period. That means the IRS gives out the numbers to help individuals to comply with the tax laws and to account for taxes and payments for illegals who are not eligible for a social security number. The number does not allow a person to work in the U.S. or offer eligibility for Social Security benefits, but the IRS does handle claims for the additional child tax credit that those with identification numbers file.

The main problem with this setup is that the credit may be claimed even if a filer does not pay income tax, which means there is a lot of money going out for no good reason. In other words, this particular loophole has the potential to cost the federal government a lot of money that should be put towards achieving something for a nation that desperately needs to be pulled out of the downward economic spiral.

It is quite obvious that this inadvertent incentive for aliens to come and live and work in the U.S. without being authorized to so do flies directly in the face of both federal policy and law. Does one hand not know what the other one is doing? Or does the government wish to continue to hand out free money to illegal residents? More to the point, when are they going to stop giving out money to fraudsters?

Sally Odell – Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, PA is an immigration lawyer in Miami with immigration law offices in Orlando and Miami, Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.rifkinandfoxisicoff.com.

October 25, 2011 in Immigration, Legal, Legal Articles by jferris

Immigration Reform Impeded Amidst Backdrop of Down Economy and Debating Politicians

Statistics can be confusing when they document the amount of people arrested for illegally crossing the border. There used to be at least 12 million illegals living in the U.S., and actually, that number is still debated by politicians and the media. However, the fact is that the number dropped to 11.2 million in 2010. Contrast this number against the number of U.S. border patrol agents protecting the border, and check the numbers of those arrested, which has dropped by 36 percent. Something is obviously going on. If it is not the mass deportations, raids and arrests at the border, then what is it?

Many pundits seem to think that the reason the numbers of illegals trying to come to the U.S. has dropped so precipitously is that the economy is lousy. Think about that for a minute. The economy is indeed in a royal mess and the country’s credit rating has been downgraded, which is not a good sign. Why then would people come to try and find work in this kind of atmosphere? There is hardly any demand for workers, other than the usual ones needed for seasonal work. Other areas that used to hire them have dried up, waiting for the almost dead economy to be revived, which might be a long wait.

Historically, when the economy does kick into high gear, the demand for workers increases and so does the number of undocumented aliens coming across the border to find work. Call it a symbiotic relationship or call it serendipity, but these two factors often go hand-in-hand.

Track back to 2008 when the election campaign was in full swing and immigration reform was a main part in Obama’s platform. He won by a resounding victory, thanks in part to the Latino vote, and yet, what has he done to really push immigration reform or at least the reforms he campaigned on?

So, what we have here is a strange picture – a President calling for a new movement to assist illegal aliens, and their families, and referring to that movement (whatever that might be) as a moral imperative. Supposedly, he is now aiming to administratively evade the Immigration Act to make his political dream come true, and is also trying to change the immigration laws. At this point, you are probably thinking, “Say what?”

This movement is also taking place against a backdrop of undocumented workers holding steady, a screaming debt crisis that no one seems to know how to handle, the existing government cutting benefits to its own citizens and rancorous opposition to any changes. And somewhere in all this mess are the remnants of comprehensive immigration reform. When do you think you will see that pass?

Sally Odell – Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, PA is an immigration lawyer in Miami with immigration law offices in Orlando and Miami Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.rifkinandfoxisicoff.com.

October 11, 2011 in Immigration, Legal, Legal Articles by jferris

Mass Deportation Does Not Instantly Resolve Immigration Problems and Help Immigration Reform

No matter how long the immigration debate continues, mass deportation is not going to be a viable option.

The immigration debate has been all over the map for so many years that people sometimes forget where it all started and what it is supposed to mean. Certainly the media has been full of reports on this debate, and they have covered everything possible from amnesty as a solution to increased border patrol, and even coverage about the DREAM Act to the other side with mass deportations and raids.

Has anyone ever thought that the whole debate might not be focused and that there might be another approach to this? Has anyone given any thought to what would happen financially if the U.S. continues its massive deportation program? Consider this: mass deportation forces those who depend on an undocumented illegal to use public assistance; businesses would be out of luck finding labor; and, enforcing such a huge exit would create a need for way more police than exist right now. Essentially, mass deportation does absolutely nothing to deal with the illegal alien problem.

Amnesty does not resolve the problem either. Does anyone recall the last amnesty in 1987? That round legalized an estimated two million illegal people. As a result of that program, there was an influx of millions of other aliens coming to the U.S. That is why there are now 12 million aliens in the country. Another amnesty would likely boost that number to close to 20 million, adding in all the others that came along with those who were granted amnesty. How does this take care of the border control issue? Furthermore, how does it deal with the illegal immigration that would still happen? The answer is, it does not resolve any of these issues.

This is not a problem that happened overnight, and accordingly, it is not a problem that will be solved overnight either. The way the government and others are trying to deal with this conundrum is to try and do the whole thing at once. If they choose to approach it like a lawyer preparing for a case, dealing with one issue at a time with careful deliberation and attention to each issue as it is raised, this might not be the major fiasco that it is today.

The other thing most people seem to be missing is that every part of the immigration system varies, and using one solution for the whole system just will not work. The immigration system as it stands right now is too unwieldy. This is why politicians and the general public cannot wrap their heads around the issue as a whole.

What is the bottom line? The bottom line is that there needs to be some new ideas, because there have not been any for a long time and the whole situation is bogged down in rhetoric. Rhetoric does not move our nation any closer to an immigration reform solution.

Sally Odell – Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, PA is an immigration lawyer in Miami with immigration law offices in Orlando and Miami Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.rifkinandfoxisicoff.com.

March 16, 2011 in Immigration, Legal Articles by jferris

Florida Is The Latest Political Hotbed In Immigration Reform Dilemma

Comprehensive Immigration Reform has gone around the block so many times and come back a different thing that no one seems to know what it is now and what it was in the first place.

Florida seems about ready to open a can of worms over comprehensive immigration reform and it may well be interesting to watch the politicians balance on the sharp picket fence. One politico, Adam Putnam, the new commissioner of the Agriculture department, is not happy with a gangbusters approach to illegal immigration.

Putnam has actually been around long enough to have a fairly well developed opinion about CIR on the federal and state levels and he is worried that some of the latest proposals to deal with illegal immigration will end up mimicking Arizona’s hardball laws. His point of view, which is an interesting one, but perhaps a bit skewed, suggests that the adoption of a law like the one in Arizona may boomerang and damage Florida’s reputation for being the focal point of tourism and trade.

It is not a major secret that Florida is a preferred location for international R&D, investment capital and international tourism, particularly from those who hail from Latin America. In other words, if Florida does the wrong thing handling the immigration issue, they can expect to pay dearly in lost economic opportunities. Putnam feels it is best to walk softly and carry a big conciliatory stick, even though he does acknowledge that reform is necessary, but at the federal level.

On the other side of the fence, Florida Governor Rick Scott favors an Arizona-style law and he has stuck by that opinion ever since he was sworn in, early in January. Scott is not averse to seeing change at the state level, but the issue remains that only Congress is able to negotiate with foreign countries and change laws relating to student visas, work permits and border patrol questions. Therein lies the potential for a mighty political clash, stoked by the governor saying things that suggest the federal government stay out of his state.

Putnam’s larger concern is how largely unenforceable laws, which may well result in human rights violations, are going to affect agriculture; an industry that offers more than 400,000 jobs. Thus, he is a proponent of reform, but done carefully and with common sense. The last thing that Florida needs is for a law to impinge on the ability of the powers that be to hand out temporary visas for agricultural workers; a disaster in wolf’s clothing, as Americans do not want the jobs.

So, where is CIR these days? Either it is buried in a hail of bullets, hiding in immigration raids and deportations, or it is still somewhere waiting for the politicians to get with the program. It may be a long wait.

Sally Odell – Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, PA is an immigration lawyer in Miami with immigration law offices in Orlando and Miami Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.rifkinandfoxisicoff.com.

March 15, 2011 in Immigration, Legal Articles by jferris

Perhaps The Immigration System Really Is Not Broken After All

In an interesting twist to the CIR fiasco, one voice is suggesting that maybe the immigration system is not broken.

This interesting point of view came from a man who followed the “system” to become an American citizen. He went from a student visa to a work visa to a work permit and then a green card. Within three years, he was an American citizen. He did it legally and used the existing system to get from point A to point B. He does not understand why people suggest that the immigration system is broken beyond repair and needs to be fixed.

This man’s opinion is that immigration is legally achievable, and within the system that is currently in place. Further, he feels that the system is there for a reason and that people have broken it, and now they want to government to fix it for them. It is an interesting point of view and one that may have a great deal of merit if you stop to think about it for a minute – sort of like the chicken and the egg question. Definitely food for thought.

This brings up a whole passel of questions relating to federal authority, what laws can be defended in a court of law, which laws will not fly in court, how the laws may affect various citizens and other constitutional questions. Call it a melting pot of immigration issues, flavored with the uncertainty of where a state fits into the picture.  Immigration is largely a federal concern, with states attempting to deal with their immigration problems in their own fashion and not always doing such a fine job. Think Arizona.

What is happening right now is that the federal government is not doing anything about CIR and this has forced the States to play in their own sandbox and make up immigration rules and laws as they go. The resulting dog’s breakfast of federal laws versus state laws is undeniably a complete mess, which makes the point of view that if it really “isn’t broke, don’t fix it” a very refreshing and piquant point of view.

Of course, it’s a point of view that very few others may agree with, but, perhaps it is time for some common sense to prevail – something that is undoubtedly in very short supply in the face of political agendas. Maybe it is time for another agenda; one that says we are the authors of our own misfortune and need to abide by what is in place and stop trying to bend the rules to our benefit.

Sally Odell – Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, PA is an immigration lawyer in Miami with immigration law offices in Orlando and Miami Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.rifkinandfoxisicoff.com.