 NEWS BYTES
The INS has proposed adding two new occupations to those eligible for TN visas under the North American Free Trade Agreement. They are actuary and plant pathologist. It is also proposing an amendment that would eliminate the requirement that Canadian applicants for TN visas have a license, if required, in Canada. They would still need to obtain a license for the state in which they intend to work in the US.
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Police in Neosho, Missouri arrested 25 people in a three-day period for possession of forged or stolen identification documents. According to prosecutors, the people, most of whom are from Mexico and Guatemala, bought fake birth certificates and Social Security cards in Kansas and then came to Neosho to obtain driver’ licenses.
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Over the past six months, the INS in Atlanta, Georgia has been engaged in an all out effort to deport undocumented immigrants with DUI convictions. The agency monitors local jails for people convicted of DUIs and when it learns that someone is not a citizen, begins deportation proceedings. So far, almost 200 people have been deported. While the agency says that it is improving community safety and enforcing immigration laws, the Mexican consul general in Atlanta says targeting DUI offenders is “political,” and that the agency would better serve communities by targeting serious offenders.
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The El Paso, Texas, city council recently voted in favor of a resolution urging Congress to restore discretion to Immigration Judges hearing deportation cases involving permanent residents convicted of criminal offenses. The council is concerned that the 1996 immigration law, which vastly expanded the grounds for deportation, is tearing families apart. Council members know that their desires carry no legal effect, but they felt an obligation to point out what they perceive as an injustice.
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A federal judge who was to be involved in hearing the lawsuit over the raid last April that reunited Elian Gonzalez with his father has recused himself at the request of the Department of Justice. Judge Federico Moreno is a close friend of two people who were in the Miami house when the raid occurred. He was also part of the mediation team that tried to facilitate Elian’s transfer. The lawsuit was filed by Elian’s Miami family against the Justice Department and the City of Miami, saying that the raid was a civil rights violation.
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Alejandro Lago, a Cuban national who spent the past three years and five months in INS detention, was released this week. He was detained after being released from prison after serving a sentence for shooting a man who was attempting to rob he and his wife. He was released four years early because of his good behavior. He was to be held for only 90 days, but because the US does not have a repatriation agreement with Cuba, the days stretched into years. Lago filed suit against the INS in 1999 seeking his release, and with the assistance of an attorney, was able to demonstrate that he would not be a danger to the community. Lago, comparing the time he spent in prison with the time he spent in INS detention, called prison “nothing,” and detention “hell.” He was not allowed to meet with family members while in detention, and was shuttled from one detention center to another.
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An investigation by the immigration agency of the government of Japan has shown that over the past couple of years the number of Chinese nationals obtaining fraudulent Japanese passports to use to enter the US and Canada. Over the last year, 410 people with fake passports were caught trying to board planes for the US or once in the US. The INS has requested that the Japanese immigration agency work with airlines to eliminate the problem. Japanese citizens can enter the US without a visa under the Visa Waiver Program, but Chinese citizens require a visa for all visits to the US.
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The Justice Department this week announced that it would not seek to prosecute the four policemen who shot Amadou Diallo, a West African immigrant, to death two years ago. According to the US attorney in New York, where the shooting occurred, there was no evidence that the officers had a specific intent to use an unreasonable amount of force. Diallo was shot 19 times as he reached for his wallet in the vestibule of his apartment building. The four police officers were acquitted of all criminal charges after a state court trial one year ago. The Diallo family has filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages from the city of New York.
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Mountain After Hours Corp., which operates three medical clinics in Kentucky, has entered a guilty plea to charges that it submitted false statements to the INS and the Labor Department. The company failed to pay foreign medical doctors the money that it stipulated it would. It will pay at least ,000 restitution to seven doctors, as well as a fine.
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The National Association of Immigration Judges, the union that represents immigration judges across the country, has filed a complaint against the Executive Office of Immigration Review for refusing to enter into good faith bargaining. The EOIR takes the position that immigration judges are management level employees and thus not able to use collective bargaining. The Federal Labor Relations Authority rejected this position, but the EOIR has continued to refuse to enter bargaining talks.
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The results of a year-long study into the costs associated with undocumented border crossings are now available, and they show that cities and towns along the border spend almost 0 million a year dealing with it. The study, which was funded by the Department of Justice, examined the costs of jailing, prosecuting and providing emergency medical care to undocumented border crossers in the 24 counties along the US-Mexican border. The study was conducted by the University of Texas at El Paso, the University of Arizona, New Mexico State University, and San Diego State University. Preliminary numbers from the study show that counties in New Mexico spent about million, in Texas about million, in Arizona about million, and in California about million. These figures are expected to be used in the ongoing effort by border states to obtain federal reimbursement for expenditures associated with undocumented immigration.
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