California Immigration Attorney Blog

Mexico's Human Rights Commission is sending inspectors to U.S. border crossings to monitor deportations that could result when Arizona's new law goes into effect on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.

Our Los Angeles immigration attorneys and Lancaster immigration lawyers are watching to see what impact the new law has on California's immigrant population. As we have reported, many expect border states to experience an influx of immigrants who choose to flee Arizona.

The federal government is suing the state over the law, which requires authorities to question those suspected of being in the country illegally and to take those without proper documentation into custody for deportation proceedings.

The Mexican government said it will send monitors to border gates in Tijuana, across from California, Nogales, next to Arizona, and Ciudad Juarez and Reynosa cross from Texas. The monitors will be in place to ensure that immigrants are treated properly.

"The implementation of the Arizona Law SB1070 represents a threat to migrants' full exercise of their human rights," the commission said in a statement. "The law violates the principles of nondiscrimination, equality before the law and freedom from arbitrary arrest."

Supports continue to argue the law is necessary to deal with the issue of illegal immigration in the wake of the federal government's failure to enact comprehensive reform. Opponents argue it will lead to racial profiling, trample the rights of millions of immigrants and result in a return to the legalized racism of America's past.

Continue reading "Mexican officials to monitor immigrant rights as Arizona immigration law goes into effect" »

California voters are evenly divided on Arizona's tough new immigration law, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Our Los Angeles immigration lawyers have reported extensively on the fallout of Arizona's unprecedented anti-immigration measure. The law, which is being challenged in federal court by the Obama Administration, is set to take effect next week. It would permit law enforcement to stop and question those suspected of being in the country illegally and to turn those without proper documentation over the federal authorities for deportation proceedings.

A Field Poll found that 49 percent of California voters support the law while 45 oppose it. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.8 percentage points, making the results and even split.

Regardless of where you stand on the issue, the Arizona law has move the debate on immigration reform to center stage.

In recent weeks, our Los Angeles immigration attorneys have reported:

-States' rights a hot-button issue as Californians ponder immigration reform

-More troops ordered to the California-Mexican border

-Key challenges exist in immigration reform debate in California and nationwide

-California immigrant rights advocates assist in rallying the Hispanic vote

-Arizona law could lead to influx of Hispanic immigrants into California

Continue reading "California voters split on Arizona immigration law as reform moves to center stage " »

The Washington Post reports that immigration has increased during the two-decades of increasing border security and that the largely neglected issue of jobs is the real driver of illegal immigration.

As our Los Angeles immigration lawyers reported earlier this week on our California Immigration Attorney Blog, Obama has approved a $500 million plan to add 1,200 soldiers to the border. The move is largely political and will have little practical effect -- the 20,000 troops already patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border is double the number of troops that were stationed on the border in 2004.

In an apparent effort to please hardline Republican's, Obama acknowledged the need to tough border security, both in a Fourth of July speech on immigration reform and in moving additional troops to the border on Aug. 1. The Post noted that "sealing" the border was a precondition of Republicans during 2007's failed attempt to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

Congress ordered more than 670 miles of border fencing, walls and spikes in 2006 and that work in nearing completion at a cost of $4 billion. Border patrol costs another $4 billion annually. Including the cost of National Guard troops, the cost is about $10 billion a year.

Research by Princeton University sociologist Douglas Massey found that increasing border security actually discourages seasonal laborers from going back to Mexico when they are not working. The Post article even contends that Arizona's tough new immigration law is a byproduct of tighter border security in Texas and California, which sent immigrants following the path of least resistance through Arizona's Sonoran Desert.

For 150 years, American's immigration levels have been trailing indicators of its economy -- increased immigration follows good economic times and low immigration levels follow economic downturns.

The Great Recession has been no different. In the past three years, more than a million illegal immigrants have left the country, or about 10 percent of the nation's estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants.

Continue reading "California immigration impacted by jobs, not border security " »

An opinion piece in the Sacramento Bee argues that we must support a state's rights to act on immigration reform in the absence of a federal response.

The piece comes as a federal judge hears a lawsuit that seeks to block Arizona's immigration law from taking effect on July 29. As our Los Angeles immigration lawyers reported last month on our California Immigration Attorney Blog, the federal government argues that the Arizona law circumvents federal authority, upsets the balance of federal law enforcement priorities and could even impact homeland security.

The article cites the removal of some 30,000 illegal immigrants who were criminals. We won't waste our breath on that here, other than to point out that the criminal issue is nothing more than a scare tactic by anti-immigration advocates. The vast majority of immigrant families are hardworking, law abiding, would-be citizens. In reality, a greater percentage of criminals would likely be found upon studying the areas legal residents.

What our Riverside immigration attorneys find to be a more compelling argument is the contention that states' rights should not be infringed. We think simply flipping the table and looking at the issue from the other direction dilutes that argument. After all, what would have happened, if instead of cracking down on undocumented immigrants, Arizona had thrown open the border and welcomed Mexican citizens with open arms?

We think the government's argument about homeland security and law enforcement priorities would look much stronger -- which means it must be viewed so in this case. Yet isn't that what California has done with the medical marijuana issue and the upcoming ballot issue aimed at legalizing marijuana?

Taken something that is against federal law and legalized it?

Does that mean that when the federal government ultimately passes immigration reform, states that are in disagreement will be free to change the law by adopting state rules and regulations? We think we will be hearing much more about the issues of state's rights before the issue of immigration reform is ultimately settled.

Continue reading "States' rights a hot-button issue as Californians ponder immigration reform" »

Hundreds more National Guard troops will be deployed to the U.S.- Mexican border on Aug. 1 as part of the Obama Administration's efforts to increase borders security, the New York Times reported.

Our Los Angeles immigration attorneys reported last month that another $500 million will be spent to deploy additional troops along the Mexican border. Meanwhile, arrests at the border are already at the lowest level since the 1970s and the number of troops has doubled since 2004 and now stands at more than 20,000.

Obama signed the order in May, which will send about 500 more soldiers to the Arizona border while another 700 will be spread along the Mexican border in New Mexico, Texas and California.

Our Santa Ana immigration lawyers question to need for the troops but not the political reasoning behind the move. As we reported here, the downturn in the American economy has had the biggest impact in the decline on illegal immigration. But showing a commitment to border security (even when the additional troops will serve no practical purpose) is a good political move as the administration seeks movement on immigration reform from hardline Republicans and prepares to fight against Arizona's new immigration law.

When we say no practical purpose, that is precisely what we mean: A thousand additional troops is an increase in troop strength of about 5 percent. Using the standard law enforcement ratio of 4-1 (it takes four officers on the force for every one patrolman on the street because of 24-hour work days and rotating days off), the announcement will add one soldier for every eight miles of border.

"These troops will provide direct support to federal law enforcement officers and agents working in high-risk areas to disrupt criminal organizations seeking to move people and goods illegally across the southwest border," said Janet Napolitano, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Napolitano, the former governor of Arizona, also wrote a guest column published in the Arizona Republic, that state's largest newspaper.

Continue reading "More troops at the California-Mexican border next weekend as feds launch $500 million plan" »

Amid the public outcry and the political rhetoric surrounding the issue of immigration, our Glendale immigration lawyers enjoyed seeing the report in the Glendale News Press about the thousands of immigrants who are becoming U.S. citizens.

A total of 3,340 Southern California residents packed the Los Angeles convention center earlier this month, where they took the oath and became U.S. citizens. A U.S. District Court judge administered the oath to the thousands in the crowd who hailed from more than 100 countries, including Mexico, Iraq, Armenia and Korea.

More than 100,000 candidates became naturalized citizens last year in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services District 23, which includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

While our Los Angeles immigration attorneys enjoy hearing such success stories, the article made no mention of the enormous backlog of visa cases or the other impossible roadblocks that are too often in the way of the path to citizenship. Millions of hardworking immigrant families want nothing more than to enjoy similar celebration.

But until the federal government delivers on long-promised immigration reform, such ceremonies will be little more than window dressing covering the real issues.

Continue reading "Naturalized citizens celebrate in California; hardworking immigrants wait" »

Temecula city council officials unanimously passed an ordinance this week requiring all local businesses to use the E-verify system to confirm eligibility for employment in the United States.

The Southwest Riverside News Network reported the vote came as more than 100 protesters gathered outside City Hall. Most of the protesters were anti-immigration advocates who identified themselves as members of the Tea Party movement.

Under the new ordinance, a business that fails to comply could risk having his or her license revoked. However, business owners should understand the risk of using the system, which could include employment discrimination lawsuits. Our Temecula business defense lawyers offer confidential appointments to any business owner threatened by the city under this new ordinance.

Our California Immigration Attorney Blog has continued to report problems with the E-Verify system. One recent case in Chicago involved a 25-year UPS employee. Despite being a U.S. citizen who had worked for the company for more than two decades, she was flagged as a possible illegal due to a name change resulting from marriage. She was forced to prove her identity or risk losing her job.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reports the system is wrong in 4 percent of all cases and is so unreliable the federal government is searching for alternatives. Our Temecula immigration lawyers encourage employees who are harassed as a result of E-verify results to contact our office for a consultation to discuss your rights.

Having survived the Republican primary by trotting out the ghost of California's anti-immigration past, Gubernatorial Candidate Meg Whitman is now singing a different tune ... en Espanol.

As our Los Angeles immigration lawyers reported on our California Immigration Attorney Blog, during the primary Whitman combated Poizner's anti-immigration stance by trotting out former Gov. Pete Wilson, who said "Meg will be tough as nails on illegal immigration."

Wilson rode the state's anti-immigration frenzy into office more than a decade ago and was involved in the state's Proposition 187 initiative, which attempted to deny educational and social services to illegal immigrants until it was ruled unconstitutional by the federal court.

But our Costa Mesa immigration attorneys continue to report one clear fact: It is unlikely that Whitman can win statewide office without the support of the enormous Hispanic vote. Voter activism is one reason for the mellowing of California's political climate when it comes to immigration. And, with the Republican primary now behind her, it seems Whitman is dancing to a different tune ... one with a decidedly Latin flare.

The Auburn Journal reports that Whitman needs at least 30 percent of the Latino vote to win. The Hispanic population controls over 20 percent of the total electorate and Whitman's reputation among those voters is decidedly shaky. As is the reputation of most Republicans. "This issue is killing the Republican Party," said Republican Strategist Allan Hoffenblum, of the perception of the GOP within the Latino community.

Now Whitman has released two expensive Spanish language ads. One highlights her opposition to the controversial Arizona law and says she opposed Proposition 187. The other focuses on jobs for Latinos.

The reference to Proposition 187 is particularly hypocritical, having invoked it with the help of former Gov. Wilson during the primary. And she has said she opposed Arizona's law because she had a tougher plan in mind.

Continue reading "Whitman singing in Spanish, dancing to the Latin beat as courtship of California immigrants begins" »

The California Independent Voter Network reports the conclusions of a study that found the state pays $22 billion a year for social services to undocumented immigrants. The study was conducted by the Federation for Immigration Reform.

Our Riverside immigration lawyers and California immigrant rights attorneys believe this report is a prime example of the kind of "studies" conducted by anti-immigration groups that leaves voters uncertain about the issue.

While the group likes to go by the acronym FAIR, it is about as "fair" as FOX news is impartial and balanced. The group seeks immigration policies that would result in a significant reduction in both legal and illegal immigration. The Southern Poverty Law Center has classified the organization as a hate group and author Andrew Wroe has written that the group is viewed by many as an extremist organization.

When it comes to the argument that undocumented families contribute substantially through all sorts of taxes that each of us pay -- and that comprehensive reform would better allow state and local governments to collect such taxes -- the article falls apart. FAIR claims only about one-third of the money government's spend on undocumented immigrants are recovered in federal taxes. And only about 5 percent are covered at the state and local level.

The article inexplicably produces these numbers as a qualifier for the argument that immigration reform will better assist with tax collection. Yet these are FAIR's reported figures today -- not after reform. And, frankly, they are as suspect as the rest of the reporting in the organization's "study" regarding the cost of immigration.

To the extent that immigrant families are not paying taxes, it is because they are kept from participating in the system that is available to the rest of us. This is a group of people that would like to pay taxes and become fully vested in the United States of America. How can we fault them for the disjointed and unfair patchwork of immigration measures that have been allowed to fester in this country through decades of half-hearted debate in Washington?

As we reported earlier this year on our California Immigration Attorney Blog, reputable studies suggest illegal immigrants employed in the U.S. have contributed more than $1.5 trillion to the economy in the last decade, while deporting them likely results in a net negative for federal, state and local governments.

Continue reading "California immigrant rights groups continue to refute biased "studies" on the cost of immigration" »

Having signed into law a racist immigration measure under attack by border states and the federal government, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has now apparently canceled a critical meeting among governors of border states, the New York Daily News reported.

Our Anaheim immigration lawyers continue to report the deteriorating relations the Arizona law has caused among the border states of California, New Mexico and Texas. The leaders of these states are heavily influenced by an activist Hispanic voting block and are facing a number of consequences of Arizona's new law. As we continue to report on our California Immigration Attorney Blog, thousands of immigrant families are fleeing Arizona, many to California, and dozens of California governments have boycotted the state of Arizona in response to its unprecedented new law.

The law permits law enforcement to request documentation from those suspected of being undocumented immigrants and to turn those found in violation over to authorities for deportation proceedings. It has been decried as a return to America's racist past by numerous human rights organizations and is being challenged in federal court by the Obama Administration.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson want the meeting of border governors to go on, despite Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's decision to cancel the meeting, which had been scheduled to occur in Phoenix in September. The 28th Annual meeting was to have included six governors from northern Mexico and the four border governors in the United States.

The Mexican governors said they would boycott the meeting because they are against Arizona's new immigration law. Schwarzenegger and Richardson said they would reschedule the conference to another state, without Arizona's participation. Brewer said she didn't know whether she'd be able to attend.

"Gov. Brewer doesn't have the authority to cancel the Border Governors Conference," Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesperson for Richardson, told Fox News. "She may not want to host it for political reasons, but that's not a reason to sidestep the tough issues that border governors must address, including migration and border violence."

Continue reading "California wants conference of border governors to continue despite Mexican boycott of Arizona" »

The Los Angeles Times is calling for action in the wake of President Obama's speech last week on the need for immigration reform.

While our Riverside immigration attorneys and Anaheim immigration lawyers were pleased to see the administration calling for the reform promised with the election of the President nearly two years ago, we share the frustration of California immigrant rights advocates who are tired of long delays and few specifics.

Obama was right in calling for our nation to reaffirm its identity as a nation of immigrants. As we reported on our California Immigration Attorney Blog, the Fourth of July celebration, which included citizenship ceremonies at Ellis Island, is an annual reminder that America was built by immigrants seeking a better life for themselves and their families.

The Times outlines several key challenges to immigration reform:

-Boarder Security: Those calling for a secure border are ignoring the fact that the U.S. Mexican border is 1,930 miles of rugged terrain.

-Diplomatic Relations: Comprehensive reform can only come through addressing many of the internal and external pressures that encourage illegal immigration.

-Bureaucracy: Eliminating red tape and other challenges in the current system is critical to eliminating the backlog that leaves eligible applicants waiting for years to be reunited with family members.

-Employment: Supplying work visas more readily will ease the problem of illegal labor performed by eligible immigrants, as will requiring employers to verify the legal status of workers.

-Amnesty: While it has become a hot-button issue, bringing the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants out of the shadows is critical in drafting any true measure of reform.

Politics: As long as the two sides in Congress insist on playing politics instead of working on behalf of the American people, little action will occur.

Continue reading "Key challenges exist in immigration reform debate in California and nationwide" »

Arizona immigrant rights advocates hope to get out the Hispanic vote to combat the state's anti-immigration policies, taking a play from the playbook of California immigrant rights advocates, who used the same tactic more than a decade ago, The L.A. Times reported.

As our Los Angeles immigration lawyers have reported on our California Immigration Attorney Blog, immigrant rights advocates continue to pressure California politicians, most recently by issuing scorecards on how well elected officials are doing in representing Hispanic voters.

Immigrant rights advocates in Arizona are going door-to-door to turn out the vote, registering some Hispanic residents who have been U.S. citizens for decades but have not voted. One 60-year-old resident said he registered after his 39-year-old daughter, a Phoenix native, was stopped by officers multiple times and asked in broken Spanish to say where she was born.

Advocates hope opposition to Arizona's new immigration law -- which permits law enforcement to stop and question suspected illegals and take those without proper paperwork into custody -- will galvanize the Hispanic vote.

The same thing happened in California after the passage of Proposition 187 in the 1990s. That law sought to withhold public education and social services from illegal immigrants and was ruled unconstitutional in federal court. The active Hispanic voice in California politics has been a primary reason for the shift in support toward more compassionate reform measures supported by many California politicians.

After Proposition 187 passed in California, more than 1 million California Latinos became citizens. The uprising changed the entire political landscape of the state, pushing it solidly into Democratic hands and pushing the crackdown on illegal immigrants onto the margins of political issues in the state.

"It's the same energy I saw with 187," said Ben Monterroso, a Service Employees International Union official who spearheaded voter registration in California in 1994 and now oversees the Arizona operation. "People are saying enough is enough."

Perhaps the Republican party will have to lose big there as well. More likely, it will find its office holders have all manner of compassion for the plight of Arizona's Hispanic residents when it becomes evident that to do otherwise will mean losing an election.

The new immigration law is popular among Arizona residents, except among Latinos, who oppose it by a margin of more than 80 percent. Nearly 1 in 5 of the state's voters are Hispanic.

Continue reading "California immigrant rights advocates assisting in rallying the Hispanic vote in Arizona" »

The U.S. Department of Justice has officially filed a lawsuit attacking Arizona's tough new immigration law, CNN reported.

Our Orange County immigration attorneys and Costa Mesa immigration lawyers applaud the government's action even as we continue to point to the federal government's inaction in passing comprehensive immigration reform as the primary reason for Arizona's aggressive immigration stance.

The Arizona law permits law enforcement to seek identification from those suspected of being in the country illegally and to detain those in violation and turn them over for deportation proceedings. States bordering Arizona, including Texas and California, are bracing for an influx of immigrants from Arizona as hardworking, law-abiding families are uprooted by fear and intimidation.

On Tuesday, the federal government also asked for an injunction to stop enforcement of the Arizona law, which took effect last month. The government argues that the state law is invalid because it circumvents federal authority when it comes to issues dealing with immigration.

"In our constitutional system, the power to regulate immigration is exclusively vested in the federal government," the brief said. "The immigration framework set forth by Congress and administered by federal agencies reflects a careful and considered balance of national law enforcement, foreign relations, and humanitarian concerns -- concerns that belong to the nation as a whole, not a single state."

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer immediately went on the attack.

"Today's filing is nothing more than a massive waste of taxpayer funds," Brewer said. "These funds could be better used against the violent Mexican cartels than the people of Arizona."

The federal court filing argues that the U.S. Constitution does not permit states to develop a patchwork of policies throughout the country. "The State of Arizona has crossed this constitutional line," the government argues.

The brief argues that the Arizona law disrupts federal law enforcement priorities and poses a threat to national security and public safety. The sheriff of Santa Cruz County in Arizona and several officials from the Department of Homeland Security have voiced support for the federal government's quest to stop the measure from being enforced.

In a speech last week, President Obama prodded Congress to begin working on comprehensive immigration reform and said the majority of Americans are in favor of a measure that would resolve the status of an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants.

Continue reading "Feds sue over Arizona immigration law, Southern California immigrant rights advocates watch and wait" »

The Los Angeles immigration lawyers and staff at HOWARD | NASSIRI wish each of you a safe and joyous Fourth of July holiday.

And we offer our congratulations to the 3,800 people who will become naturalized U.S. citizens this Fourth of July weekend. The Associated Press reports that 150 of those were sworn in as U.S. citizens at a ceremony on Ellis Island.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reports those at Ellis Island took the Oath of Allegiance on Friday, overlooking the Statue of Liberty, in the very place that has come to symbolize the founding of our country as a nation of immigrants.

Each year, 680,000 people become naturalized U.S. citizens. Those eligible must be at least 18 years old, legal permanent residents of the U.S., have lived here continually for the last five years and pass a written test.

But the process leaves millions of immigrants out of luck when it comes to gaining legal status. Many of them have lived in this country for years, or even decades, and are hardworking, law abiding residents.

Until politics can be set aside and comprehensive immigration reform can be passed, these ceremonies on the Fourth of July offer little more than symbolism.

Ellis Island was the busiest immigration station in the United States from 1892 to 1954. Over 100 million Americans -- one third of the population -- can trace their roots to a relative who arrive in the United States via Ellis Island. In its peak year, 1907, more than a million immigrants arrived at the island to begin their lives in the New World.

Nearly 12,000 arrived on a single day.

Continue reading "Los Angeles immigration attorneys wish you a wonderful Fourth of July weekend " »

In a speech on immigration that supporters have been awaiting since he entered the Oval Office 18 months ago, President Obama said the U.S. immigration system "offends are most basic American values," and blamed Republicans for preventing sorely needed change, the L.A. Times reported.

Our Anaheim immigration lawyers and Riverside immigration attorneys have repeatedly reported on the dissatisfaction within the immigrant community on the lack of reform efforts.

While short on specifics, Obama's message appeared to rally supports for comprehensive reform at the speech before a large crowd at American University.

"I think it was a clarion call," said Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. "He implied, 'The ball is in your court.'"

However Republicans quickly panned the speech and dismissed claims that the border is more secure than it has been in years. As we have reported, the number of troops at the nation's border has doubled since 2004, fewer immigrants are crossing than at anytime since the 1970s and Obama has already pledged more than 2,000 additional troops and $500 million to increase protection.

It is clear that Republicans are going to have to do more than stonewall on an issue that has been debated for too long, and gone unresolved for decades. The actions by several states, including Arizona which recently passed its own controversial measure, threaten a number of border states with an influx of immigrant residents. And hardworking immigrant families continue to be subjected to racism, abuse, fraud, and other crimes.

"Unfortunately, reform has been held hostage to political posturing and special-interest wrangling," Obama said. "Now, under the pressures of partisanship and election-year politics, many of the 11 Republican senators who voted for reform in the past have now backed away from their previous support."

Continue reading "Obama's immigration reform speech blasts Republicans for stonewalling change" »