Today's New York Times featured an article revealing that New York Governor David Paterson is establishing a state panel to review pardon applications for legal immigrants who may face deportation because they were convicted of minor crimes in the distant past.
Governor Paterson, in a speech to judges, called some of our immigration laws "embarrassingly and wrongly inflexible". He stated that "in New York, we believe in rehabilitation."
Does this mean that New York is following Arizona's lead in usurping what is the responsibility of the federal government? Just the opposite. Federal immigration laws, at 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(A)(vi), specifically provide that certain classes of persons who would otherwise be subject to removal from the U.S. because of criminal convictions are automatically granted a waiver of removal "in the case of an alien with respect to a criminal conviction if the alien subsequent to the criminal conviction has been granted a full and unconditional pardon by the President of the United States or by the Governor of any of the several States."
In reality, Governor Paterson is simply exercising his authority to pardon persons who were convicted of criminal offenses, and in doing so, federal law prohibits the USCIS from deporting the person.
In a previous blog post, we have written about the unrealistic and inhumane portions of the immigration law that if applied to any of the past three Presidents of the United States would result in them being deported.
We hope that the other 49 governors follow Governor Paterson's lead.
The result would be that fewer lawful permanent residents would face deportation and separation from their families based on minor convictions which occurred many years ago.
This story was from a few days ago, but I couldn't let it pass without at least a mention. Can you believe this guy was once a serious contender for the GOP nomination for President?
Despite a severe recession, Americans still largely support immigration reform efforts that include tough enforcement measures, dealing with future flows of immigrants, and legalizing the undocumented population. According to Politico, two new polls are out showing solid support for comprehensive immigration reform. The New York Times reports a legalization-centered solution with 64% support.
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, appointed by President Reagan, recently made comments on the new law in her home state of Arizona:
In a question-and-answer session after a speech to alumni at St. Ignatius College Preparatory School - from which her late husband, John, graduated in 1947 - O'Connor avoided passing legal judgment on the far-reaching law, which would make it a crime for immigrants to be in Arizona without valid residency papers.
Still, she said, Arizona 'may have gone a little too far in its authority, in encouraging local law enforcement officers to take action' against anyone they reasonably suspect of being an illegal immigrant.
O'Connor did, however, urge people not to boycott her state.
There have been numerous stories on this already, but this story in the Wall Street Journal will certainly grab the attention of many in the Republican Party.
The Phoenix Suns NBA team will make a political statement of solidarity with Hispanics by donning jerseys that say "Los Suns" rather than the normal jerseys in tonight's playoff game against San Antonio.
The Phoenix Suns basketball franchise announced that they will be wearing “Los Suns” jerseys on Wednesday night for Game 2 of their playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs. The game is being played in Phoenix.
Team owner Robert Sarver, a Republican, said the jerseys will “honor our Latino community and the diversity of our league, the state of Arizona and our nation.” Sarver also made clear in a statement that the selection of the Spanish-language jersey — which will coincide with Cinco de Mayo — is a political statement against Arizona’s new anti-immigrant law:
The frustration with the federal government’s failure to deal with the issue of illegal immigration resulted in passage of a flawed state law. However intended, the result of passing this law is that our basic principles of equal rights and protection under the law are being called into question, and Arizona’s already struggling economy will suffer even further setbacks at a time when the state can ill-afford them.
After about 13,000 H-1B petitions were claimed in the first week of this year's cap season, USCIS is reporting only about 3,000 additional visas were claimed in April. At that pace, the 65,000 would not be reached this year. However, we can expect a pick up in filings later in the year as the economy continues to mend and graduates of US institutions going in to professions requiring licenses start filing cases.
Law.com reports that the American Bar Association is being pressured to move a conference in Phoenix scheduled for next week after its co-sponsor for the event, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, announced it was pulling out of the event. Other groups that planned to send representatives, like the City Bar Justice Center in New York, called for the conference location to be moved. A number of speakers at the event have also announced they will not attend.
Law.com also reports that Alpha Phi Alpha, the national black fraternity, announced plans to move its annual conference in July from Phoenix to Las Vegas.
On April 26, 2010, the California Board of Registered Nursing announced that it would no longer accept applications that do not have a Social Security Number. The California BRN reasons that since the Nursing Practice Act provides for automatic issuance of the license upon approval, the Social Security Number is a prerequisite to the filing of the application. This is problematic for overseas nurses who are ineligible for Social Security Numbers by virtue of not having US visas and work authorization.
If a nurse has passed the NCLEX and the only issue holding up the issuance of the license is the lack of a Social Security Number, the USCIS should still approve the visa petition. This process would be consistent with the USCIS’ long-standing procedure on petitions solely lacking Social Security Numbers.
Carl Shusterman is the managing attorney of Law Offices of Carl Shusterman based in Los Angeles, CA. He has specialized in immigration law for over 30 years and his six-attorney law firm represents clients in all 50 states. Mr. Shusterman is a 1973 graduate of the UCLA School of Law. He served as an attorney for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) until 1982 when he entered private practice. He is authorized to practice before the Supreme Court of California, the Federal District Court in the Central District of California, the U.S. Court of Appeals in a number of different circuits and the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Shusterman is a former chairman of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Southern California Chapter and served as a member of AILA's National Board of Governors (1988-97). He has chaired numerous AILA Committees, spoken at dozens of AILA Conferences and has contributed a number of scholarly articles to AILA's publications. Mr. Shusterman is a Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law, State Bar of California. He has served as a member of the Immigration and Nationality Law Advisory Commission for the State Bar. He has been named as one of Best Attorneys in America and as a SuperLawyer for many years. He is a frequent writer and lecturer on immigration law. Mr. Shusterman has testified as an expert witness before the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration in Washington, D.C. His website, www.shusterman.com, receives over 1,000,000 hits each week, and his free, e-mail newsletter has almost 60,000 subscribers in more than 150 countries.
Greg Siskind is a partner in Siskind Susser's Memphis, Tennessee, office. After graduating magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University, he received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Chicago. Mr. Siskind is a member of AILA, a board member of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, and a member of the ABA, where he serves on the LPM Publishing Board as Marketing Vice Chairman. He is the author of several books, including the J Visa Guidebook and The Lawyer's Guide to Marketing on the Internet. Mr. Siskind practices all areas of immigration law, specializing in immigration matters of the health care and technology industries. He can be reached by email at gsiskind@visalaw.com.
Christopher T. Musillo is a partner at MusilloUnkenholt Immigration Law. He is a graduate of Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania. When not zealously representing his clients, Chris enjoys outdoor sports, listening to music, traveling and reading.
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of ILW.COM.
