January 4 was a historic day for our paralegal Hulda Mazariegos, who I first met 7 years ago when I represented her in deportation proceedings. Hulda became a U.S. Citizen.

This might not sound like such a great accomplishment, but Hulda overcame incredible obstacles to reach this stage. Univision did a terrific job in reporting on Hulda’s citizenship ceremony and even pulled out 2004 archival footage from when she was in deportation proceedings.  (That’s me with Hulda’s family members, waving their “papers” after winning their immigration cases at 26 Federal Plaza.)

Hulda’s family fled from the civil war in Guatemala nearly 20 years ago. They were caught by immigration agents and later ordered deported from the United States.  Hulda, who was just 8 years old when she crossed the border, did not let something as trivial as a deportation order stop her.  Living in poverty with her eight siblings in a 2-bedroom cottage in Wyandanch, she excelled in high school and became the school’s valedictorian. St. Joseph’s College offered her a full-paid scholarship, but when school officials discovered that she was not only illegal but also had a deportation order, they quickly withdrew their offer. She spent the year after graduation working at a deli.

Fortunately, the stars aligned and thanks to her father’s legal status, we were able to reopen Hulda’s case.  On July 28, 2004, Hulda and her younger siblings walked out of 26 Federal Plaza with their “papers” — proof that they had been approved for green cards.  The New York Times did an excellent front-page article about Hulda and other “DREAM Kids” on Long Island. She went on to complete college with honors and and start her family. Then then returned to work for our office as a paralegal. Her next goal — no doubt about it — is to go to law school and become an attorney (hopefully for our office!).

Please take a few minutes to watch Univision’s coverage.  Her story has been an inspiration to thousands of undocumented immigrants who have so much to offer to this country. They want to become Americans and to share our values and ideals. Let’s hope their dreams come true, also.

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January 4 was a historic day for our paralegal Hulda Mazariegos, who I first met 7 years ago when I represented her in deportation proceedings. Hulda became a U.S. Citizen.

This might not sound like such a great accomplishment, but Hulda overcame incredible obstacles to reach this stage. Univision did a terrific job in reporting on Hulda’s citizenship ceremony and even pulled out 2004 archival footage from when she was in deportation proceedings.  (That’s me with Hulda’s family members, waving their “papers” after winning their immigration cases at 26 Federal Plaza.)

Hulda’s family fled from the civil war in Guatemala nearly 20 years ago. They were caught by immigration agents and later ordered deported from the United States.  Hulda, who was just 8 years old when she crossed the border, did not let something as trivial as a deportation order stop her.  Living in poverty with her eight siblings in a 2-bedroom cottage in Wyandanch, she excelled in high school and became the school’s valedictorian. St. Joseph’s College offered her a full-paid scholarship, but when school officials discovered that she was not only illegal but also had a deportation order, they quickly withdrew their offer. She spent the year after graduation working at a deli.

Fortunately, the stars aligned and thanks to her father’s legal status, we were able to reopen Hulda’s case.  On July 28, 2004, Hulda and her younger siblings walked out of 26 Federal Plaza with their “papers” — proof that they had been approved for green cards.  The New York Times did an excellent front-page article about Hulda and other “DREAM Kids” on Long Island. She went on to complete college with honors and and start her family. Then then returned to work for our office as a paralegal. Her next goal — no doubt about it — is to go to law school and become an attorney (hopefully for our office!).

Please take a few minutes to watch Univision’s coverage.  Her story has been an inspiration to thousands of undocumented immigrants who have so much to offer to this country. They want to become Americans and to share our values and ideals. Let’s hope their dreams come true, also.

Una propuesta para corregir un notorio inconveniente en la ley de inmigración podría permitir a cientos de miles de inmigrantes indocumentados obtener una tarjeta de residencia permanente.

La propuesta, anunciada por el gobierno de Obama el 6 de enero, repararía la trampa burocrática que ha mantenido a los cónyuges y a los niños inmigrantes de ciudadanos de los E.U.  en situación ilegal.
La nueva norma, que se espera entre en vigor en aproximadamente un año, permitirá a algunos familiares indocumentados de ciudadanos de los E.U. solicitar un perdón de “presencia ilegal” en el país. Actualmente, la ley requiere que los inmigrantes que “entraron sin inspección” (EWI por sus siglas en ingles)  regresen a sus países de origen para tratar de obtener un estatus legal a través de procesos consulares.
Sin embargo, esta vía representa muchos riesgos, por lo que la gran mayoría de los beneficiarios que entraron ilegalmente (EWI) deciden quedarse en los Estados Unidos de manera ilegal en lugar de enfrentarse a la posibilidad de no poder retornar al país y ser abandonados en sus países de origen y separados de sus familias, si el perdón por presencia ilegal fuese finalmente negado.
El problema surgió con una ley del año 1996 que impone castigos de entre 3 y 10 años de espera para  re-entrar a los Estados unidos a cualquier persona que estuvo “ilegalmente” en el país durante seis meses o más .
La nueva propuesta permite a los cónyuges de inmigrantes y otros familiares cercanos solicitar un perdón por “presencia ilegal” dentro de los Estados Unidos. Una vez aprobado, el inmigrante podría regresar a su país de origen, lo que garantiza que su visa de no inmigrante sería aprobada.
Los inmigrantes que entraron con visas, se quedaron dentro del país  y posteriormente se casaron con ciudadanos de los E.U. …

no están sujetos a estas restricciones. Simplemente, pueden solicitar el “ajuste de estatus” en los Estados Unidos para obtener una tarjeta verde.
Beneficiados

Los beneficiaros principales de esta nueva regla serían inmigrantes indocumentados y menores de edad (21 años) que entraron el país ilegalmente y ahora tienen un cónyuge o padre (incluyendo padrastro y madrastra) ciudadano.  El anuncio no incluyó nada sobre otras categorías, pero es bien posible que se incluya a otros familiares, como cónyuges de residentes permanentes e hijos adultos de ciudadanos.
Aunque se desconoce el número de inmigrantes ilegales a quienes beneficiaría la nueva disposición, se calcula que esta propuesta podría beneficiar a más personas que el “DREAM Act”.

La nueva propuesta es parte de un cambio de política en la administración de Obama que  coincide con la campaña de reelección del presidente. Obama prometió impulsar una reforma migratoria integral en su primer año de mandato, sin embargo, ha acelerado considerablemente el ritmo de las deportaciones, cerca de 400,000 en cada uno de los tres últimos años.

En los últimos seis meses, el gobierno ha empezado a aplicar una nueva política que pone mayor énfasis en la deportación de recién llegados, criminales violentos, “fugitivos” (aquellos que no obedecieron una orden de expulsión) y otros ciudadanos extranjeros que poseen riesgos para la seguridad pública.
La última reforma de inmigración de importancia tuvo lugar en la administración Reagan. Desde entonces, millones de inmigrantes ilegales que entraron en los Estados Unidos se establecieron y iniciaron su familia; en la actualidad hay más de 11 millones de inmigrantes indocumentados en el país.

Hay que enfatizar que nada va a pasar al menos por un año.  Sin la menor duda, habrá “notarios” y otros “consejeros” que van a tratar de aprovechar esta noticia, por lo que .

es mejor es asesorarse de un abogado de confianza o una organización legal sin fines de lucro, como CARECEN o Caridades Católicas.
Hasta que el Congreso tome acción sobre el tema de la reforma migratoria, correcciones administrativas, como la propuesta de perdón para los parientes inmediatos de ciudadanos de los E.U., están proporcionando alivio provisional. SIn embargo, tarde o temprano el gobierno federal tendrá que aprobar una reforma integral de inmigración que sea justa y humana para los millones de inmigrantes respetuosos de la ley.
*David Sperling es un abogado de inmigración con oficinas en Central Islip, Huntington Station y Hempstead. Se puede comunicar con su oficina en el website, www.davidsperlinglaw.com.

      The past year was the most exciting, challenging and successful year in our firm’s history. 

      The stories of two of our clients, Emily Ruiz and Julia Caceres, make headlines around the world and put a human face on the issue of illegal immigration.   In a year dominated by hateful legislation and rhetoric, we were able to portray the cruel and inhumane consequences of the administration’s immigration policies.

       I have no doubt that our clients’ stories, along with the stories of millions of other law-abiding and hard-working immigrants, put pressure on the Obama administration to enact a new policy, encapsulated in a memo signed by ICE director John Morton.  The “Morton Memo”   — if properly implemented — will help keep mixed-status  families together and end the horrific unintended consequences of the administration’s deportation policies. Last year was another record year for deportations — nearly 400,000 in total,  the vast majority of whom were Latinos  from Central and South America.

       The story of Julia Caceres, a young mother from Ecuadorwith two U.S. citizen children, put a spotlight on everything that is wrong with U.S. immigration policy.  Julia was caught up in a workplace raid in 1996, and was ordered deported. She was pregnant at the time and did not leave. Her long-time companion held a Green Card, her father was a U.S. Citizen, and she had four USC brothers and sisters. That didn’t mean anything to the five  ICE agents who apprehended Julia in an early-morning raid on her house in Corona, Queens in October, months after the administration’s supposed new priority shift to hard-core criminals. 

         Julia’s  previously attorney had pleaded with ICE to stop the deportation, and provided voluminous proof of the hardship that her forced removal would cause the family.  ICE simply issued a boilerplate denial and put her on flight to Ecuador.  Once aboard, someone noticed that she had been bleeding and was pregnant.  She was pulled off the flight, given medical attention. Thanks to Univision and assistance of several key legislators, Julia was released and reunited with her family after a joyful reunion at a detention center in New Jersey.

     Emily Ruiz was a 4-yer-old U.S. Citizen, but her two parents were illegal immigrants from Guatemala.  When she was returning home last March with her grandfather, the plane was diverted to Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C.because of stormy weather conditions.  It was there that an officer from Customs and Border Protection determined that Emily’s grandfather had previously violated his immigration status.  The grandfather was ordered to return toGuatemala.  The officer then got in  touch with Emily’s father and came to the conclusion that he was here illegally. So he gave Emily’s dad a stark choice:  The girl would either return with her grandfather to Guatemala or be placed in a juvenile facility in Virginia. No other choice.

    So a U.S. citizen was, in effect, “deported” just because of her parents’ status. It was an outrage. Emily’s father went to Univision to plead for assistance to get her daughter back, and I was asked to provide legal commentary.  I was shocked that the government would mistreat an innocent young girl that way, and so took on their case pro-bono.  Two other members of our firm went with me toGuatemalalast March to bring Emily back. The story went around the world, and spotlighted the plight of mixed-status families and so-called “anchor babies.”  I am very proud that her story did not turn into a media circus and we were able to protect the family’s privacy. Not one outside reporter pestered Emily or came close to taking her picture.

   (A big tip of the cap to America’s Voice, a pro-immigrant lobbying organization that helped spread the story of Emily’s plight and organized news conferences in Guatemala City–my first press conference in Spanish! — and New York City.) 

        Although the “Morton Memo” emphasizes prosecuturial discretion and lenient treatment toward law-abiding unauthorized immigrants, not everyone has gotten the message. Indeed, the pace of deportations remains at a record level.  The  administration’s so-called “Secure Communities” policy has been very successful at netting unauthorized immigrants, though a small fraction of those are violent criminals or otherwise threats to public safety.

    In addition to the two cases cited previously, we have been very successful in obtaining the release of many immigrants held in ICE custody.  Their deportations would have resulted in untold suffering by their family members, many of whom are U.S.Citizens and Legal Permanent Residents.

     Last year was also a watershed moment in our firm’s growth.

    I am honored to work with a terrific, dedicated and loyal  staff that makes my job so enjoyable and rewarding.  We are honored that our clients place so much trust in our firm, and we will do whatever is necessary to help them acheieve their goals.

      Despite some unexpected personnel changes, we ended the year with our best team ever, and expanded to a third location, in Hempstead.  Our new satellite office is located in the Hempstead Law Center, owned by my long-time friends, Rafael Penate and Gary Miller. 

   Our two new associates, Marta Villacortaand Lia  Suntoso, have been great assets to our firm.  Marta, who was born in El Salvador,  came to theUnited States at an early age with her immigrant parents and settled in Central Islip. While in high school and college, Marta interned with our firm for three summers. She then went on to graduate from Boston College Law Schooland served as clerk to federal judges in Georgia and California before joining our firm.

     Lia Suntoso is nationally recognized expert in U.S. immigration law.  Born in Indonesia, she graduated from law school in theUnited States and has written and edited many articles and treatises on immigration law for the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Her enthusiasm and passionate dedication to immigrant rights meshes perfectly with our firm’s advocacy efforts and zealous representation of clients.

     I am very proud of our staff for upholding the firm’s zealous and passionate representation of immigrants.  Without them, we would never have been so successful and earned the trust and confidence of the immigrant community.

    Last  but not least, we have a new website!   We are beginning the new year with a highly interactive website that will help further our firm’s mission of providing the best legal representation at reasonable fees.  I have always been a believer in high-tech as a means to improve productivity exponentially.  Our new website is part of our reliance on cutting-edge technology to better communicate with the pubic and our clients.  We are also involved in the new social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

    This past year was amazing, and we look forward to an even more successful and rewarding year in 2012.

SALT LAKE CITY – México y otros 14 países latinoamericanos estiman que la nueva ley inmigratoria de Utah perjudica las relaciones diplomáticas con Estados Unidos.

El periódico Deseret News reportó el miércoles que 14 países latinoamericanos presentaron recientemente un escrito del tipo Amicus curiae -de los realizados por terceros ajenos a un litigio- en apoyo a una demanda entablada por el Departamento de Justicia contra los intentos del gobierno estatal de Utah para controlar la inmigración indocumentada.

Más en Univision.com: Content goes here…

Tal vez, quien se lleva el primer puesto en la competencia para emular al “ogro verde” es el alguacil de Maricopa, Joe Arpaio.

“El presidente Obama y su grupo de hombres alegres también podrían erigir su propio anuncio neón de color rosa en la frontera entre México y Estados Unidos que diga: ‘Bienvenidos todos los ilegales a los Estados Unidos, nuestra casa es su casa’”, dijo Arpaio en una ocasión.

“Es muy simple. Tengo la solución. Pero nadie quiere escucharme. Tenemos que ir a buscarlos a las fábricas y a las granjas. Y si no tienen los documentos en regla, debemos arrestarlos y deportarlos”, había dicho el sheriff en un acto del Tea Party en el 2010.

Otro que se suma a la lista de “peludos cascarrabias” es el gobernador Robert Bentley, de Alabama, que promulgó este año la ley HB56 que penaliza la inmigración indocumentada.

“Tenemos un problema real con la inmigración ilegal en este país…Yo defendí las leyes de inmigración más severas y estoy orgulloso de la Legislatura por trabajar incansablemente para crear la legislación más fuerte del país”, dijo Bentley al firmar el 9 de junio dicha legislación, considerada la más estricta del país.

Ya Bentley comenzó a recoger sus palabras, porque la ley ha sido demandada, entre otros por el departamento de Justicia, y él ha tenido que comprometerse a revisar los términos de la misma, aunque insiste en que su esencia “no cambiará”.

Para la candidata del Partido del Té a la nominación republicana, Michelle Bachmann, sólo hay una solución para la inmigración indocumentada.

“Construiré una doble muralla” en toda la línea que divide a EE.UU. y México, dijo en un debate entre los republicanos, el 18 de octubre.

Y otro de sus copartidarios, Rick Perry, al parecer está de acuerdo con ella, aunque piensa resolver el problema de manera diferente.

But it wasn’t until she lost her baby in the feds’ custody that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials decided to allow her to stay, her family said. “She fainted, and she started bleeding,” said Casares’ partner, Marco Guartan.

“They couldn’t force her onto the plane in that state — she’s a human being.” She is expected to be released from custody Thursday. Casares’ lawyer, David Sperling, said that following a Univsion report on her case, top ICE officials overruled the Newark field office, allowing her to stay. She will now be able to remain in the country for at least a year. Immigration advocates say that what happened to Casares reveals that ICE is not properly implementing Obama’s plan to review 300,000 deportation cases to identify violent criminals who should be booted immediately. Homeland Security “has not provided clear guidance to ensure that immigration officials are exercising the appropriate discretion in line with the new policy,” said Jackie Esposito of the New York Immigration Coalition. “We are calling on the President to articulate a clear plan for how his new deportation policy will be carried out.” ICE spokesman Harold Ort confirmed that Casares was being released for medical reasons “so she can make arrangements to depart the U.S. on her own.

“The agency exercises prosecutorial discretion, on a case-by-case basis,” he said. ICE picked up Casares, a part-time catering worker, in September during an early morning raid on the Corona home she shares with Guartan and their two children. The feds had flagged her because she had skipped out on a 1998 agreement to leave the country after getting nabbed previously in a raid on her workplace. Prior to her miscarriage, the agency had moved Casares to a deportation facility in Jena, La. Her pregnancy was two months along when she collapsed on Oct. 22 aboard a plane that had yet to depart for Ecuador, her relatives said.

Three days later, doctors determined her fetus no longer had a heartbeat. “She has been crying every day; this has been so painful,” Guartan said. “But she’s been better now that we have hope she’ll be home.”

When she returned less than three weeks later, she arrived first-class and was treated like a princess by 22 officials and agents of Customs and Border Protection.

Little Emily is the U.S. Citizen girl who was mistreated by federal authorities and in effect deported to Guatemala because her parents were illegal immigrants. Fortunately, I and two members of my Long Island law firm — Bryan Johnson and Hulda Mazariegos — were able to bring her back on Wednesday, safely and securely. She is now at home with her parents and little brother (also a U.S. Citizen) on Long Island, where she belongs.

For the first few days after this story broke on the Spanish-language Univision and then later in the New York Times, I was bombarded with media requests. But mostly, everyone wanted to speak to Emily”s undocumented parents or later to take photos and video of Emily. It was a great human-interest story, but virtually no one wanted to do any real investigation.

I have spent a great deal of time with Emily’s father, Leonel Ruiz, and her grandfather, Luis Dubon. I am convinced that they are telling the truth.

Here’s what happened: Emily’s parents sent her to Guatemala five months ago because she had been suffering from asthma, and they thought the fresh country air would improve her health. When she returned on March 11 with her grandfather, who had a valid H-2B temporary visa, their flight was diverted to Dulles because of weather problems.

That’s when everything happened. A Customs and Border Protection agent determined that the grandfather had illegally entered the country in the mid-1990s. As a result, CBP decided to deport him. Mr. Dubon had a panic attack and was rushed to a nearby hospital and then later returned five hours later to the airport.

So CBP was left with a dilemma. What to do with an unaccompanied 4-year-old U.S. Citizen? First of all, CBP has no jurisdiction over U.S. Citizens. How is it that they got involved with Emily in the first place? Emily’s grandfather was carrying with him a letter with the name and phone number of her father. So a CBP agent called Mr. Ruiz at about 3pm in an attempt to get Emily to
her parents. So far, so good.

But then, five hours later, CBP called again, inquiring about the legal status of the parents. The agent asked Mr. Ruiz if he had entered “by plane or the border” and other specific questions to determine whether he was here legally. Mr. Ruiz, who was 17 when he entered the United States in 1996, told the truth. The agent then told him that he could not return Emily to her family because he was an illegal immigrant. The agent gave Mr. Ruiz two choices: to have Emily sent back to Guatemala with her grandfather, or to have her placed in a juvenile facility in Virginia.

Fearing that Emily would be put in foster case or put up for adoption, Mr. Ruiz chose to send Emily back to Guatemala with her grandfather. At no time was Mr. Ruiz offered the opportunity to pick up his daughter.

That’s not what CBP says. At least two spokesmen say Mr. Ruiz was given the opportunity to pick up his daughter, but that he “elected” to send her back to Guatemala, insinuating that as an undocumented immigrant, he was afraid that he would be deported also.

Pure rubbish. Mr. Ruiz would have done everything to get his daughter back. Desperate, he went by himself before a reporter and camera at Univision and identified himself, a huge risk for an illegal immigrant to take.

While in Guatemala on Monday and Tuesday, I had the opportunity to speak in Spanish to Emily’s grandfather. He had been coming and going to the United States on his H-2b visa for five years without any problems. There was no way he could have anticipated any problems with Immigration authorities.

Mr. Dubon told me that the CBP agent was “arrogant and prejudiced.” He said that when he returned from the hospital, he found Emily underneath a bench, cold and hungry, and put his jacket around Emily to keep her warm. Altogether, she was at Dulles for more about 24 hours, until she joined her grandfather on a flight back to Guatemala early the next morning.

Most reporters, especially from English-language media, swallowed the government line unquestioningly. Yes, she was given an opportunity to be reunited with her parents, but perhaps because he did not speak English that well, he misunderstood. A simple communications problem. Or he was afraid to get deported, so he sent Emily back to Guatemala. The reporters were just interested in the human-interest angle, “deported” U.S. Citizen girl reunited with parents. Happy ending. End of story.

But why didn’t the media try to resolve these conflicting accounts? I have the ID number of the CBP agent who signed off on the deportation order and a physical description of the agent who mistreated Emily. Why doesn’t anyone want to follow up and determine who is telling the truth? Although this story became huge, appearing in media outlets throughout the world, not one reporter ever asked me who the CBP agent was, or how to investigate this further.

As a youth, I vividly recall the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon’s resignation. Enterprising reporters sniff a wrongdoing, and through tireless dedication they uncover the truth. This never happened with Emily. No one challenged the possibly false statement that CBP issued. An illegal immigrant’s word against a government spokesman. Who is going to believe the illegal immigrant?

When Emily returned home on March 30, she was treated like royalty by 22 CBP officials and agents in Miami, Atlanta and New York City. One female CBP agent held her hand and called her “the princess of Miami.” Another agent in Atlanta said, “It was the least we could do.”

Damage control? No doubt. We can’t blame everyone at CBP for the actions of one or more rogue agents at Dulles. But why is the Dulles CBP director covering up, blaming Emily’s father instead of taking responsibility for an atrocious violation of the fundamental rights of a little 4-year-old girl, who just happens to be a U.S. Citizen

David Sperling is an immigration attorney with offices on Long Island, N.Y. He formerly worked as an editor for the Miami Herald and Newsday.

USCIS has also notified that November 22, 2011, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012. The final receipt date is the date on which USCIS determines that it has received enough cap-subject petitions to reach the limit of 65,000. Properly filed cases will be considered received on the date that USCIS physically receives the petition; not the date that the petition was postmarked. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY 2012 that arrive after November 22, 2011.

USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap; DOD petitions; and Chile/Singapore H-1B1 petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012. In addition, petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap will not be counted toward the FY 2012 H-1B cap. Accordingly, USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed to:

extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the U.S.;
change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and
allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.
Employers (except cap-exempt organizations) desirous of filing new H-1B petitions will now have to wait until April 1, 2012 to be able to file again for a start date no sooner than October 1, 2012.

The H-1B cap numbers for FY 2012 saw a sudden acceleration during the last 3 to 4 weeks. Just about a month ago, as of October 21, 2011, USCIS had reported receiving only about 46,200 cap-subject petitions. In just over a month, USCIS has received approximately 20,000 cap-subject petitions. Also, when compared to last fiscal year, the H-1B cap has reached nearly 2 months sooner in FY 2012. In the last fiscal year, USCIS announced that the H-1B cap had reached on January 27, 2011, and the 20,000 under the ‘advanced degree’ cap reached on December 22, 2010 against November 23, 2011 and October 19, 2011, respectively this fiscal year. Is the sudden increase in H-1B filings a sign that the US economy is on its way to revival?

To learn more on how you must evaluate and utilize alternatives to the H-1B category visit What Would You Do If the H-1B Cap is Reached?