 NEWS BYTES
The American Immigration Law Foundation (“AILF”) is bringing a class action lawsuit against the INS to force the adjudication of family unity applications that have been pending for an unreasonable length of time. At this point, they are seeking information about applications that have been pending with the Texas Service Center for more than one year. If you are an immigration lawyer and think you have a client that may be a potential member of the class, please e-mail the following information to ailf@visalaw.com and we will get it to the right person at AILF: * Your name * Your client's name and A number * The date that the I-817 and/or I-765 was filed * SRC number(s) * What, if any, action the TSC has taken any action on the application.
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Arkansas has initiated a statewide effort to provide increased programs in English as a Second Language. Over the past ten years, the Hispanic population of the state has grown substantially, and existing ESL programs have become increasingly burdened. The new initiative will work to incorporate ESL instruction into general adult literacy programs, and will develop a more efficient network for providing services to people who are not yet proficient in English.
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The Center School District in Kansas City has been accused of denying Hispanic children the opportunity to enroll in public schools because the children are suspected of being in the US without authorization. A civil rights complaint was filed with the US Department of Education on behalf of some of the students, who were not only not in the US illegally, they were born here and were thus US citizens. According to the complaint, the parents of the children were told they would need to present a passport and a green card, and were asked about how they entered the US. School officials also threatened to call the INS. Even were they undocumented, under a 1982 Supreme Court decision, they have the same right to a public school education as all other children. According to the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy organization, such incidents are becoming more common as Hispanics more into areas where they have not traditionally lived. School district officials say that they are also investigating the accusations.
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Last week saw the third annual Suburban Immigration Conference in Chicago, in which immigrants who live in the suburbs of the city debated ways in which to best become a political force. More than 150 advocates attended, representing churches, unions and ethnic advocacy organizations, examining ways to unite the more than 100,000 immigrants that have moved to Chicago area suburbs during the 1990s. One of the hottest topics of discussion was a bill recently introduced by Chicago area Rep. Luis Gutierrez that would create a far-reaching amnesty for undocumented immigrants. Organizers believe that such an amnesty could motivate the larger immigrant community to make efforts to organize for future activism.
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Police in Connecticut arrested seven people last week that tried to apply for jobs at a casino using false identification documents. Police believe that these arrests may be just the tip of the iceberg of widespread use of fraudulent documents by undocumented immigrants.
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The INS has recommended that Consuelo Sanchez, a Colombian diplomat and former judge, be granted asylum in the US. She applied for asylum last October, after the Colombian government requested that she return. In 1988, Sanchez, who had been a judge, was placed on diplomatic assignment in the US to protect her after she received death threats prompted by her signing of an arrest warrant for Pablo Escobar, then Colombia’s most powerful drug trafficker. When it recalled her, the Colombian government pointed to the disbanding of Escobar’s Medellin cartel following his death in 1993, and said that she would be in no more danger in Colombia than anyone else. Sanchez argued that the Colombian government made those arguments only to secure foreign aid from the US. Following an FBI background check, the asylum recommendation will become final.
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Two immigration officials in Hong Kong were acquitted last week of charges that they intimidated a US permanent resident into wrongfully admitting that her passport was fraudulent. Lin Qiaoying, 18, a Chinese citizen, lives in New Jersey. She was on her way home from visiting family in China in 1999, when US immigration officials in Hong Kong stopped her. Lin said that she was told she could be executed if she did not admit that her passport was false. According to the judge who issued the acquittal, there were “major discrepancies” in Lin’s testimony against them.
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This week the State Department Country Condition Reports for 2000 are now available on its website at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/. These reports are often highly influential in asylum petitions.
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Almost 100 years ago, Takuji Yamashita, a Japanese citizen, graduated from the University of Washington law school near the top of his class. Despite his excellent performance, the State of Washington refused to admit him to the bar because under US immigration law at that time, Asians were not eligible to become citizens. This week, this long-standing injustice was finally rectified when the state posthumously admitted Yamashita to the practice of law.
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According to a document filed with a federal district court in Virginia, thousands of undocumented immigrants have come to the state to obtain driver’s licenses because of the state’s loose rules on obtaining them – the state does not require the applicant to show proof of residency in Virginia, but only to provide a notarized statement that they live there. Identity can also be proven through a notarized statement. Officials say that people are making money by charging the immigrants anywhere from $ 300 to $ 700 to drive them to Virginia and help with the license process. As part of the crackdown, officials arrested a notary public based in Arlington, Virginia on charges that she had notarized thousands of false residency and identity statements.
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