With G.O.P. in Command, Senate Votes to Shift Money From Iraq War to Border Security
Via NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON, April 26 — Prodded by Republicans, the Senate voted on Wednesday to trim President Bush’s financing request for the Iraq war by $1.9 billion and to use that money to improve border security.
The vote, 59 to 39, was on an amendment to an emergency spending
measure and was cast on a day of difficult choices for Republicans.
They passed up opportunities to strip the bill of provisions unrelated
to its primary purpose of paying for hurricane relief and military
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The action was unusual
because Republicans have been adamant that the war is the highest
priority and have been quick to attack Democrats who show signs of
wavering on the issue. Three Republicans voted against the shift in
money, seven Democrats voted for it and two Democrats did not vote.
With
Mr. Bush promising to veto the $106.5 billion spending measure unless
it is pared to less than $95 billion, senators who wanted to improve
border security, a cause that grassroots conservatives have declared a
main goal this election year, felt they had to do so without letting
the underlying bill expand.
“This bill is about national defense,
especially relative to terrorism,” said Senator Judd Gregg, the New
Hampshire Republican who is the amendment’s lead sponsor. “And, yes,
fighting the war in Iraq is critical to this war on terrorism. Fighting
the war in Afghanistan is critical to this war on terrorism. But I have
to think equally important is making sure that our borders are secure.”
Fear of raids grips S. Fla. immigrant workers
Rumors about random raids by immigration agents are sparking widespread fear among unauthorized immigrants in South Florida.
Panic gripped South Florida’s undocumented immigrant communities as
rumors spread throughout the nation that immigration agents were
conducting random raids — detaining people on the streets, in stores,
restaurants and shopping malls.
From Homestead to Key Biscayne and Aventura — and from Pembroke
Pines to Lake Worth — potentially thousands of undocumented immigrants
are staying home this week. Many fear venturing onto the streets lest
they wind up deported, even though no evidence surfaced of widespread
sweeps.
Business managers throughout South Florida said they saw a dramatic
drop in the number of immigrant workers showing up at work sites since
Monday. In Homestead, where anywhere from 200 to 300 workers wait on a
street corner near Krome Avenue most every morning to be picked up by
employers, only a couple dozen were spotted Tuesday.
Mario, an undocumented Guatemalan in Homestead who would not give
his last name, said he was afraid to go out since reports of
immigration raids began over the weekend.
”I try to go find work in the morning and then go straight home
after I finish working,” he said. “Before, I’d go and do some
shopping or get together with friends after work.”
Dan Shaw, president and chief executive officer of Associated
Builders and Contractors in Coconut Creek, said more than 100 immigrant
construction workers had left work sites in Broward and other parts of
South Florida and not returned since rumors began.
”This scared off immigrants at multiple work sites,” Shaw said.
But even though immigration agents conduct operations, and detain
foreign nationals every day, they generally go after people wanted for
crimes or those who have evaded deportation orders. Immigration
authorities insisted they do not engage in random raids.
In fact, there was no evidence that any of the raids people called
The Miami Herald about over the last three days actually happened.
The rumors appeared to be just that.
Nevertheless, they spread alarm through South Florida’s tense
immigrant communities — just days before planned marches and rallies,
and a proposed immigrant work stoppage on Monday, as part of
International Workers Day.
Some immigrant rights activists worried that the loud, national
debate over undocumented workers’ future had left many nervous and
easily spooked.
Opponents, they suggested, could be spreading rumors of raids just to scare workers away from political events.
”I honestly think it’s psychological warfare in retaliation against
immigrants in anticipation of the May 1 protests,” said Jonathan Fried
of WeCount! in Homestead.
Raid rumors were not limited to South Florida.
Homeland Security officials said they were flooded with telephone
calls around the country from the media and the public about the
alleged random raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
”ICE agents conduct operations every single day in locations around
the country,” said Jamie Zuieback, an ICE spokeswoman in Washington.
“Operations are not random sweeps, but carefully planned enforcement
actions that result from investigative leads and intelligence.”
U.S. officials said they believe the rumors started after Homeland
Security Secretary Michael Chertoff last week announced a crackdown
against employers who hire undocumented foreign workers.
Chertoff’s announcement came coupled with the disclosure that ICE
agents detained 1,187 unauthorized immigrants in 26 states, including
38 in Tampa.
Then on Monday, ICE officials in Miami announced the biggest sweep
of criminal and undocumented immigrants in Florida in a decade.
A total of 183 people, including 43 convicted criminals, were detained in the Miami area and three other cities.
Most of the migrants, 130, had evaded deportation orders — but
another 53 were detained because they were nearby when immigration
officials found the alleged absconders.
Immigrant boycott aims to “close” US cities
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pro-immigration activists say a
nationwide boycott and marches planned for May 1 will flood
Americas’s streets with millions of Latinos to demand amnesty
for illegal immigrants and shake the ground under Congress as
it tackles reform.
But while such a massive turnout could make for the largest
protests since the civil rights era of the 1960s, not all
Latinos, nor their leaders, were comfortable with such
militancy — fearing a backlash in Middle America.
“There will be 2 to 3 million people hitting the streets in
Los Angeles alone. We’re going to close down Los Angeles,
Chicago, New York, Tucson, Phoenix, Fresno,” said Jorge
Rodriguez, a union official who helped organize earlier rallies
credited with rattling Congress as it debates the issue.
Immigration has split Congress, the Republican Party and
public opinion. Conservatives want the estimated 12 million
illegal immigrants to be classified as felons and a fence built
along the Mexican border.
Others, including President George W. Bush, want a guest
worker program and a path to citizenship. Most agree some
reform is needed to stem the flow of poor to the world’s
biggest economy.
“We want full amnesty, full legalization for anybody who is
here (illegally),” Rodriguez said. “That is the message that is
going to be played out across the country on May 1.”
Organizers of the May Day marches, which have strong
support from big labor and the Roman Catholic church, vow that
America’s major cities will grind to a halt and its economy
will stagger as Latinos walk off their jobs and skip school.
Teachers’ unions in major cities have said children should
not be punished for walking out of class. A spokeswoman for the
Los Angeles Unified School District said school principals had
been told that they should not try to keep students in class
but instead should walk with the children to help keep order.
In Chicago, Catholic priests have helped organize protests,
sending information to all 375 parishes in the archdiocese.
CRITICS CHARGE INTIMIDATION
Chicago activists predict that the demonstrations will draw
300,000 people — compared to the 100,000 who turned out on
March 10 to clog downtown streets. Minneapolis-based
agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. said it will close seven
meatpacking plants so workers can participate.
In New York, leaders of the May 1 Coalition said a growing
number of businesses had pledged to close and allow their
workers to attend a rally in Manhattan’s Union Square.
But some Latinos have expressed ambivalence about the
boycott and marches, saying they could stir up anti-immigrant
sentiment amid an incendiary atmosphere surrounding the issue.
Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Los Angeles archdiocese, who
has emerged as an outspoken champion of immigrant rights —
even calling on priests to defy laws aimed at those who would
help illegals — has lobbied against a walkout.
“Personally I believe we can make May 1st a ‘win-win’ day
here in Southern California,” Mahony said in a statement. “Go
to work, go to school, and then join thousands of us at a major
rally afterward.”
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the son of a
Mexican immigrant who has long fought for immigrant rights, has
taken a low profile on the issue. A Villaraigosa spokeswoman
said the mayor expects protesters to be “lawful and respectful”
and wants children to stay in school.
Critics have accused pro-immigrant leaders of stirring up
uninformed young Latinos by telling them that their parents
were in imminent danger of being deported and accuse them of
trying to bully Congress.
“It’s intimidation,” Jim Gilchrist, founder of the
Minuteman volunteer border patrol group, said of the May 1
events. “It’s intimidation when a million people march down
main streets in our major cities under the Mexican flag.”
“It angers the people you are trying to impress,” he said.
“This will backfire just like the Mexican flag parades
backfired.”
Immigrant protest may leave New Yorkers hungry
Via Yahoo.com
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Anybody who’s eaten at one of New
York’s many big-name restaurants may like to think the food was
lovingly prepared by a celebrity chef. The reality is it was
more likely made by a poorly-paid Mexican immigrant.
If all the city’s immigrants walk off the job in a
nationwide protest called for Monday against proposals to crack
down on illegal immigration, many New Yorkers will go hungry,
or at least be forced to eat at home for a change.
Anthony Bourdain, author of “Kitchen Confidential” and
executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles, said immigrant workers
are an often invisible presence in New York restaurants.
“I really think there’s a resistance to having a
mestizo-looking guy walking around the dining room in a French
restaurant,” said Bourdain, whose own chef de cuisine, is a
naturalized Mexican.
“Every time you read a restaurant review they always say
‘The chef has a sure hand with the spices.’ If the chef’s name
is widely known, the chances are it’s really some Mexican guy
who has a sure hand with the spices,” Bourdain said.
Sean Meade, assistant manager of Colors, an upscale
Manhattan restaurant cooperatively-owned by a group of
immigrant workers whose colleagues were killed in a top floor
restaurant in the attack on the World Trade Center, said
immigrants frequently climb the ladder from dishwasher to
busboy to cook.
“They do a lot of the work that many American citizens do
not want to do because they think it’s beneath them, they fill
that void,” said Meade.
US agriculture and immigration tied in a knot
Via Yahoo.com
04/26/2006
CHICAGO (Reuters) – In the debate about how tough the
United States should be on millions of illegal immigrants, Big
Agriculture is warning Americans that the $12 trillion U.S.
economy could be forced to go on a big diet if illegal
immigrants are restricted.
Immigrants have flooded into many industries in what President George W. Bush calls “the jobs Americans don’t want.”
Agriculture is a prime area where mostly Mexican immigrants
have sent down roots so strong that companies may no longer be
able to operate without them.
“To find and deport workers who are in the country right
now would throw a wrench into the economy of the United States
that would leave people in disbelief,” said Dave Ray, spokesman
for the American Meat Institute, a meat industry group.
“What makes food so cheap in the United States is because
we do things efficiently and if you wiped out that efficiency
by creating an unnecessary labor shortage, it essentially will
foist a high food price on to consumers,” Ray said.
The meat production unit of privately held Cargill Inc on
Tuesday said it decided to close down operations at five U.S.
beef plants and two hog plants next Monday.
Cargill, the No. 2 U.S. beef producer and No. 3 pork
producer, will close so employees can participate in mass
rallies scheduled across the country to protest a bill passed
by the U.S. House of Representatives that would erect a fence
along much of the U.S.-Mexico border and declare illegal
immigrants felons.
“We talked with employees and many wanted to participate in
the May 1 activities. Because we share the concerns of many
employees … we felt it was appropriate to change the
schedules,” said Cargill spokesman Mark Klein.
Similar rallies on April 10 cut U.S. meat production at top
meat producer Tyson Foods Inc. Industry officials say all U.S.
slaughterhouses and meat processing plants depend on immigrant
labor.
“What we’ve seen with the mobility of labor, particularly
from Mexico, has enabled that industry to stay in the United
States,” Chris Hurt, agricultural economist at Purdue
University, said of meat processing. “It’s entirely possible
that if labor had not been mobile that parts of the industry
would have to moved to other countries like Mexico.”
MEAT PRODUCTION, BUT MUCH MORE
But production in the multibillion-dollar meat industry,
from farms to processing, is only the tip of the iceberg when
it comes to immigrant labor in U.S. agriculture.
World Perspectives, an agricultural consulting firm,
estimated that 40 percent of all immigrants in the United
States work in agriculture. Of that, 25 to 75 percent of U.S.
farm laborers are “fraudulently documented,” it says.
From crop production to grain and oilseed processing to
turf farms, horticulture and lawn services, Hispanic labor —
legal and illegal — permeates the U.S. countryside.
A recent study by the American Farm Bureau Federation said
a crackdown on illegal immigrant labor could cause production
losses in U.S. agriculture of $5 billion to $9 billion in the
first one to three years and up to $12 billion over four or
more years.
Most of the immediate effects would be seen in the fruit
and vegetable sector but problems would be felt everywhere in
the crop and animal-feeding sectors, notably in the Midwest.
“It’s not just a fruit-and-vegetable California problem.
This affects anyone who owns the machines, custom harvests —
virtually these jobs are a 100 percent migrant work force,”
said Austin Perez, policy director for the AFB.
“You find the highest illegal immigration counties are now
in the Midwest,” Perez added.
AFB says that despite heavy use of machines to plant and
harvest the largest U.S. crops — corn, soybeans and wheat —
Midwestern farmers often rely on cheap labor to fill positions
that family members once performed.
The size, concentration and tight margins of industrial
farm production have fueled a continuous demand for cheap labor
to keep the pipeline running.
Dairy operations from a few hundred to many thousands of
cows are round-the-clock milking and feeding jobs. Massive hog
and poultry barns now housing thousands of animals in close
quarters also require constant labor and monitoring in what can
be harsh, unsanitary and dangerous conditions.
So “raids” by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS) can be disruptive, analysts said.
“A few years ago INS did a raid in Nebraska and it messed
up the cattle market. It drove live cattle prices lower —
$1.50 to $2 per hundredweight because there weren’t enough
employees in packing plants to run the cattle through,” said
World Perspectives analyst Dave Juday.
Passport Rules May Be Scaled Back for Some
Via Yahoo.com
04/26/2006
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration is facing a rebellion by northern
border-state lawmakers who want to push back deadlines requiring
passports or tamperproof ID cards from all who enter the United States.
In a bow to lawmakers whose states neighbor Canada, the Homeland Security Department is considering easing some of the rules for infrequent
border crossers. But many in Congress, backed by Canadians, say the
compromise isn’t enough, and are pushing to delay the restrictions, set
to take effect in 2008, by 18 months.
The administration may initially address part of what some in
Washington call the “Aunt Tilly” problem — occasional visitors to
Canadian border communities who might be prevented from returning to
the U.S. because they didn’t know to bring acceptable ID. The law
applies to U.S. citizens and foreign visitors alike.
“We are working on that, we’re concerned about that, and the last
thing we want to do is discourage traffic,” Jim Williams, director of a
Homeland Security Department program that monitors international travel
to the U.S., said in an interview. “We’ve got to come up with solutions
that meet people’s needs.”
Specific plans are still being worked out. Williams said the
administration was looking at issuing short-term passes, or one-day
passes, for legitimate border travelers who have neither a passport nor
the proposed “PASS” card that is being developed.
To people who repeatedly try to cross the border without the right
ID, however, “we might say, ‘Look, we won’t let you back in if you
continue to do this and not get a passport or card,'” Williams said.
“We don’t want to discourage that person’s travel, but, on the other
hand, we want to move people to where we can identify them.”
The ID rules were part of a 2004 intelligence overhaul law,
overwhelmingly approved by Congress, to tighten U.S. borders against
terrorists. They have since pitted lawmakers from border states against
those from the heartland, strained relations with Canada, and forced
Homeland Security to roll out technology and training under a deadline
that may prove too aggressive to meet.
Concerns were highlighted last week by Canadian Public Safety
Minister Stockwell Day, who questioned Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff about whether the rules would be ready.
“Obviously I raised concerns, some of the same questions that you
raised, in terms of, is it feasible?” Day told reporters in Washington.
“Those are concerns of interest, those are concerns neighbors raise
because they might be concerned about what their neighbor is doing.”
The rules are not as controversial on the nation’s southern border,
where more than 8 million Mexican and U.S. citizens carry laser visas
that let them easily travel between the two countries. Those who enter
the U.S. from Canada now need only common forms of identification, such
as a driver’s license and a birth certificate.
Critics fear the rules will dramatically reduce travel and tourism
across the northern border, damaging local economies, as visitors shy
away from the $97 cost of a passport. The PASS cards are expected to
cost half that much, and perhaps far less, said Assistant Secretary of
State Maura Harty.
Lawmakers want to delay the rules by up to 18 months to give the administration more time to allay lingering concerns.
“We all recognize the security issues. But there’s practical and
economic impacts that me and my colleagues all have been hit with, and
we’re sensitive to,” said Sen. Norm Coleman (news, bio, voting record), R-Minn.
Homeland Security “needs to tell us exactly how this is going to
work, exactly what the costs are going to be,” said Coleman, who voted
for the 2004 law mandating the border crackdown. “We don’t think we’re
at that stage.”
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (news, bio, voting record),
D-N.Y., said Homeland Security “is listening and is beginning to
understand our problem, but we’re not going to rest until there’s a
solution that solves it.”
Congress this week is holding hearings on the program — dubbed the
Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative — and a bipartisan group of
senators are threatening to push for the delays in immigration
legislation that will be considered as early as next month.
Know Your Rights: Can an Employer Fire an Employee Because the Employee Participated in an Immigration Rally?
<a href="/files/4941-4844/Know_Your_Rights.pdf”>Know_Your_Rights: Can an Employer Fire an Employee Because the Employee Participated in an Immigration Rally?
Via AILA.org
Recently, people from across the country missed work to participate in immigration rallies. Unfortunately, a number of these individuals lost their jobs. These recent events have many wondering whether an employer can lawfully terminate an employee for missing work to attend an immigration rally. This pamphlet provides a general overview of the law. It is not intended to provide legal advice.
Employees have the right to join together in an attempt to improve their wages, hours and other employment conditions.
This right, however, does not permit employees to be late for work or to miss work. In most situations, an employer can fire an employee when the employee is absent without permission, even when the employee misses work to exercise her legal rights. Therefore, if an employee misses work to attend an immigration rally, an employer may be able to lawfully terminate the employee if the following conditions are met:
• The employee was hired at will. In other words, both the employer and the employee can terminate the relationship at any time for almost any reason
• At the time of the absence, the employer had an attendance policy in place
• Under the attendance policy, the employee’s absence is considered unexcused. These policies usually categorize an unexcused absence as any absence where an employer has not approved an employee’s request to use vacation, personal or sick leave. Employees should check their employer’s policy to determine what constitutes an unexcused absence
• The employer impartially granted employees’ requests to use their personal or vacation time, whether the employee requested time off to attend an immigration rally or for another reason
• The employer has a legitimate business reason for having an attendance policy
• The employer did not punish employees who missed work to attend the rallies more severely than other employees who had unexcused absences
How to Attend an Immigration Rally and Avoid Being Terminated
• Try to use your vacation or personal time Look at the attendance policy and determine how far in advance you need to request vacation or personal time. Keep in mind that your employer may limit the number of employees that can be absent on any particular day. Ask your employer whether their attendance policy limits the number of employees that can be absent on a particular day. If the policy does limit the number of employees that can be absent, then ask your employer how they determine which employees get the day off.
• Try to switch shifts or work extra shifts. If you cannot use vacation or personal time, ask your employer before the rally if you can be absent on the day of the rally in exchange for working extra shifts or switching shifts with another employee.
If your employer allows you to switch days or work extra shifts, have your employer put your agreement in writing. Then, if you do get terminated, you will have a record of your agreement.
• Review your employer’s sick leave policy. Most likely the policy will limit sick leave to instances when you or a family member is actually ill.
• Review your employer’s attendance policy. Specifically, review the consequences for an unexcused absence. Ask your employer what will happen if you miss work in order to attend the rally. Ask your employer to put his response in
writing. This will serve as a record in case you are terminated.
• Other options. If you are unable to take the day off, try to participate in the rally during your breaks or over your lunch hour.
What to Do If You Are Fired for Attending an Immigration Rally
• Stay calm. Do not panic or yell at your boss. Listen very carefully to what is being told to you. Calmly ask for some time to think about what has just been said, and to ask any questions you may have. If you are told to leave the job site immediately, ask for the name and phone number of the person you should call if you have any questions. Request an opportunity to gather your personal possessions, and leave. Be certain to collect any tools, property, or supplies you personally brought to the job
• Ask why you were fired. Even if you are an “at will” employee, you should ask the person firing you why you are being fired. If you receive only one reason for being fired, that might be the only reason your employer can give to a court or agency determining unemployment compensation or other benefits. Carefully record the exact reason you were given. Write down the name of the person who told you. Some states have laws that require employers to tell employees in writing why they are being fired. If the company fails to respond to your request, you may be able to sue your former employer. You typically cannot be fired just for participating in a political rally. However, if there are other valid reasons (you skipped work or left early with out permission, or you came in late), it may be more difficult to contest the decision.
• Ask who made the decision to fire you. Be sure you have the name of the person who actually had the ability to fire you, even if the person telling you that you are fired was your boss. If the person who had authority to fire you was not the person who supervised you, ask how the person with the ability to fire you made their decision, and who they spoke to about firing you. If the decision to fire you was based on someone else’s word, or other erroneous information, and you were not given an opportunity to defend yourself, you may be able to talk to the person who made the decision.
• Think carefully about what you were promised. If you are promised the entire day off or the time of the rally off, write down the time and place that promise was made, who made the promise and who witnessed it. At times, these promises can be considered binding contracts. If you ask your employer to reconsider a decision because of a promise that was made to you by a supervisor, your employer will need specific information about what was promised, and who promised it.
• Ask to see your personnel file. Not all states require employers to show terminated workers the contents of their personnel files. However, if you are able to view this file, it could contain favorable recommendations and comments that may protect you from getting bad recommendations as you look for a new job. If your performance record is poor, you may be barred from contesting your employer’s decision to fire you. If your employer refuses to let you see the contents of your file, ask for written confirmation that the file will not be shared with anyone else without your permission.
• If you signed a written employment contract, reread it. Look carefully at what it says about termination. If the company fails to act according to the contract, your rights may have been violated, and you may be entitled to payment. Also, carefully review your employment handbook, or company rules. While these are not always considered part of your employment contract, in certain cases they can be.
• Ask for your final paycheck. In most states, you are entitled to payment for all hours you have worked up to the time you are fired, and payment for unexpired vacation or sick leave time you have accrued, at the time you are fired. If your employer refuses, you may be able to sue for payment.
• Carefully review all documents before you sign them. Sometimes employers ask employees to sign a “release,” or a promise not to sue, in exchange for money. You are entitled to money you have already earned regardless of whether you sign a release or not. In fact, in most states, an employer is not allowed to use your last paycheck as a way to force you to sign a release. However, if you have already received your final paycheck, and an employer is offering you money in exchange for your signature,
be sure you understand what you are signing before you sign it.
• Return company property. Do not take any tools or supplies provided by your employer, and do not wait for your
employer to ask for you to return any items he or she provided to you. Things like automobile keys, tools, phones, and samples must be returned to avoid claims of theft, fraud, and breach of contract. When returning items by mail, get a receipt to prove delivery. When returning items in person, ask your employer to provide you with a signature stating that he or she has received the item. Remember that if you signed a paper to receive an item, you probably need to sign the same or another paper stating that you returned the item.
• Find out if you are eligible for unemployment benefits under state law. While undocumented workers are often barred from receiving benefits, you do not have to be a U.S. Citizen to claim unemployment. You can request a hearing if you feel benefits were unfairly denied.
• Find out what your employer intends to tell others about you. Many states have enacted anti-blacklisting statutes that punish employers for intentionally trying to prevent former employees from finding work. In some states, untruthful job references are treated as crimes. You may also be able to assert a lawsuit based on defamation and emotional distress if you discover that your employer is sharing confidential information with others.
If you find out your former employer is providing negative references to potential employers, send a letter, by certified mail, return receipt requested, informing your former employer of what you have learned and put the employer on notice of your desire to take prompt legal action if the problem persists.
• Find a lawyer you trust. If you are owed wages, vacation pay, or other compensation, or believe the employer violated the law or your contract, speak with an attorney. Many statutes offer attorneys’ fees if you prevail. Some attorneys take cases on a pro bono (for free) basis. Some attorneys may take a case on a contingency basis, which means you don’t have to pay them if you don’t win your case. All lawyers should be able to find someone who can translate into your language.
Every state has a state bar association that keeps a list of lawyers who accept referrals for various types of cases, and are willing to consult with you for a certain amount of time for a set fee. Other lawyers and lawyer organizations (often called bar associations) may be able to provide referrals.
Keep all your documents related to your employer together. You will need to keep any notes you write about what your employer has stated, and any documents your employer gives you, from the day you were hired, to the day you are fired, in a place where you can easily find them. This will help you or your attorney to provide quick and accurate information if you contest the decision, or if you are asked by a potential employer.
Can an Employer Re-Evaluate an Employee’s Immigration Status Because the Employee Participated in an Immigration Rally
In general, the answer is no. If an employer properly examined and verified an employee’s I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form, then an employer may not review the employee’s immigration status again except as described below.
An employer has properly examined and verified an employee’s I-9 form if the employer reviewed the eligibility and identification forms that accompanied the I-9. If the documents appear to be genuine, then an employer must accept the documents as true. Therefore, in most cases, an employer cannot re-evaluate an employee’s immigration status just because the employee participated in an immigration rally.
There are some exceptions that allow an employer to review an employee’s immigration status even after the employee is hired:
• Confession of fraudulent documents: If an employee confesses that their documents are fraudulent, then an employer is allowed to review their immigration status. The law requires the employer to immediately terminate the employee.
The employer has the right to rehire the employee if the employee submits a genuine I-9 form and documents proving employment eligibility and identification that are free of misrepresentation and fraud.
• Employer knows that employee is unauthorized to work: It is illegal for an employer, who knows that an employee is or has become an unauthorized alien, to continue their employment.
• The government can check an employee’s status: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, can investigate an employee’s immigration status at any time. If the government determines an employee is unlawfully employed, it can issue a warning or notice of intent to fine to the employee or employer. The government will not fine an employer for hiring an individual with fraudulent documents, if the employer reviewed the documents and believed that they were genuine.
• The employee had temporary work authorization. If the original I-9 indicated the employee was temporarily authorized to work, the employer is required to re-verify eligibility for continued employment on or before the date the temporary work authorization expires. This may only be done in connection with expiring work authorization however.
For more information see:
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services at:
http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/EEV.htm
ICE Increases Sweep and Arrest Activity
Via The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)
04/26/2006
Following on the heels of the employer raids last
week that made national headlines and resulted in the arrests of over
1,000 alleged undocumented workers, and the arrest and criminal
indictment of several corporate managers, further reports are reaching
AILA that ICE is conducting additional sweeps in communities in various
parts of the country. This is consistent with DHS’s announced intent to
beef up enforcement of immigration laws within the U.S. as part of the
Secure Border Initiative. It appears that there are two prongs to the
interior actions: investigations of employers and sweeps looking for
individual alien “absconders.”
Reports from New York and New Jersey indicate that sweeps and
arrests have taken place in Brentwood, Bay Shore, and Farmingville on
Long Island, and in Newark, Elizabeth, and Willowbrook, and at the
Garden State Plaza. The AP reported yesterday 183 arrests in Florida
last week related to enforcement of deportation orders involving aliens
convicted of crimes.
AILA is also hearing that ICE is conducting employer actions,
including multi-state raids on specific companies, with reports from
AILA members of employer clients being raided in New York, Ohio and
Illinois.
At a press conference Thursday, April 20, 2006, announcing that
week’s raids and arrests, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff announced a
crackdown on employers, saying: “We are looking at those people who
adopt as a business model the systematic violation of U.S. laws,”
Chertoff said. “We are continuing to investigate other companies.”
AILA will continue to monitor these events and update members as events unfold.
AILF has just compiled and posted an Employer Sanctions and “Know Your Rights” resource list that provides links to important materials and information. In
addition, AILA and AILF are working on an updated advisory for
employers faced with workplace raids.
Struggle on two fronts
Soldier fights in Iraq, wife battles deportation efforts
Sgt. Elhadji Mansour Ba has too much on his mind for a man in a combat zone.
He’s fighting for his country, while his country is trying to deport his wife.
Ba is working in one of Iraq’s most dangerous provinces, al-Anbar,
near the Syrian border. It’s his second tour in Iraq for the U.S. Army,
this time backing up Marines who are fighting the insurgency.
“I cannot protect my family when I am far away trying to protect our country,” he said.
So, Ba, 32, is leaving his post there temporarily to defend his
wife, Nana Diallo, at a hearing tomorrow in U.S. Immigration Court in
Arlington County. He is a member of the 506th Quartermaster Company,
based at Fort Lee.
He reported to the unit on Aug. 20, three days after the government ordered his wife into removal proceedings.
A native of Senegal, Diallo, 33, faces deportation to her country of
citizenship, France, for staying here long after her temporary visa
waiver expired nine years ago. The Department of Homeland Security also
has accused her of fraud because of the mistakes her husband said he
made on the application to allow her to remain here legally.
“I was confused,” Ba said in a phone interview from Iraq last week.
Diallo is a military wife in a waiting game, living in a neat home
in Colonial Heights with the couple’s son, Ibrahim, who will turn 5
next week. The child is a U.S. citizen, as is his father, who was born
in Senegal but naturalized in 2000.
“I don’t know what I am going to do,” she said.
Anita R. Schneider, her immigration lawyer, is a little perplexed,
too. Diallo’s plight won’t be easy to solve because she went to Paris
with her husband last summer to obtain a visa from the U.S. Consulate
there. She got the visa, but she technically hasn’t been allowed back
into the country.
If Diallo had stayed in the United States, she could have gotten
legal permanent residence as the wife of a U.S. citizen. Now, the
government regards her as an “arriving alien,” not someone who has
lived here since 1997.
The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement would not comment
on Diallo’s case. The Bureau of Customs and Border Protection said her
case doesn’t meet the criteria for a humanitarian parole.
Diallo and her husband traveled to Paris in late June, a few days
after Ba re-enlisted in the Army. They had married in 2003, while he
was home on leave from his first tour of duty in Iraq. After he
returned in early 2004, he started the process of making his wife’s
presence in the country legal.
The problem was, he thought his wife and son would join him in
Germany, where he was stationed with the 147th Ordinance Unit. He put
Germany as her home address, which the government later would cite as
one instance of alleged fraud. The National Visa Center instructed them
to travel to Paris for the visa because Diallo is a French citizen.
Diallo went to the consulate in France and received the visa in late
July. When she returned home she was stopped at Dulles International
Airport, where border and customs officials questioned her. They didn’t
detain her but gave her deferred inspection status to sort out the
problems they found with her papers.
They wanted to know why she had put Germany as her home address.
They also wanted to know why she had answered “no” instead of “yes” to
a question that asked whether she had been unlawfully present in the
United States for more than a year. It was part of a larger question
about whether she had ever committed an aggravated felony and been
ordered to be removed from the country.
“I did not think that this described the wife of a U.S. soldier who
had never been in trouble,” Ba explained in an affidavit last month.
Ba also mistakenly said in another part of the application that
Diallo had overstayed her visa waiver from 1997 through 2003, instead
of 2005. Her lawyer, Schneider, said the error was immaterial because
they had not tried to conceal her illegal status. “There was no fraud,”
she said in exasperation.
This was the type of problem the couple had tried to avoid when Ba
completed the papers for his wife. “He was telling me he was going to
do everything because he didn’t want me to make any mistakes,” Diallo
said.
The biggest mistake of all was leaving the country to process her
visa. Not only did Diallo become inadmissible, but she also faced a
10-year bar from returning because she had lived here illegally for so
long. They didn’t know that because they didn’t have a lawyer.
“We would have said, ‘Don’t leave the country, no, no, no!'” Schneider said.
Tomorrow, Schneider will ask an immigration judge to grant Diallo a
waiver of the 10-year bar so that she can formally enter the country
and adjust her status.
Ba is traveling from Iraq to attend the hearing. He’s an
automated-logistics specialist, but his duties there range from setting
up portable showers to manning a gun truck.
He moves constantly in dangerous territory. He worries about his wife and son.
“I keep saying to myself, what’s going to happen to them if something happens to me?”
Impetus for debate revives US immigration reform hopes
Via MSNBC.com
Bill Frist, the Republican majority leader,
plans to resume Senate debate on immigration reform next month,
encouraging business groups who fear that the partisan bickering that
sidetracked the legislation two weeks ago had damaged chances for the
measure.
“We
haven’t really lost the momentum,” said Angelo Amador, the director of
immigration policy at the US Chamber of Commerce. “We were afraid that
might happen with Congress away for two weeks.”
Bush, senators seek common ground on immigration
President: Bill should allow guest workers, improve security
WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush met Tuesday at the White House with a bipartisan group of senators to discuss ways to overhaul immigration, a chat that earned the president kudos from two men normally among his staunchest critics.
The
discussion came as an immigration bill sits stalled in the Senate and
as Majority Leader Bill Frist prepares to bring the issue back to the
Senate floor by Memorial Day.
After the meeting, the senators
said Bush expressed support for a package that would create a
guest-worker program and would determine ways to address the status of
more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the country.
The U.S. Immigration Law Blog by Ashwin Sharma 
Something to think about: A day without Mexicans in Chicago
Via ChicagoTribune.com
How will Chicago, and the country,
answer the Mexican question? Will Mexican immigrants ever learn English
and become “real” Americans? As two third-generation Eastern Europeans
we know the same question was asked about our grandparents. Now we are
hearing some immigrant-descended parents asking the same things about
current immigrants.
One of us is the grandson of an immigrant Slovak who worked as a
butcher in Chicago’s stockyards; the other’s grandfather was an
immigrant Bohemian carpenter. We are especially sensitive, therefore,
to the historical fact that the major impetus for the Immigration
Restriction Act of 1924 was the eugenics movement of that time.
Eugenicists, characterized by one historian as fearing that “the
American gene pool was being polluted by a rising tide of
intellectually and morally defective immigrants–primarily from Eastern
and Southern Europe,” played a significant role in ending the greatest
era of immigration in U.S. history. Evolution performs miracles,
apparently. Through some highly improbable genetic mutation–possibly a
recessive or airborne gene–the Slovak grandson is now teaching college
classes to another group of questionable immigrants, Mexicans; the
Bohemian grandson is a researcher of Latino immigration. Fitting
careers for Slovak and Czech descendants since, after all, Eastern
Europeans were the Mexicans of their day.
So, what would a day
without Mexicans be like for Chicago–and, more to the point, what does
such a day tell us about what life would be like if there were no
Mexicans in Chicago at all?
– When you wake up in the morning
think twice about indulging in the luxury of someone else making your
coffee and cooking your breakfast at a neighborhood cafe or restaurant.
Almost all kitchen help, food-prep workers and cooks in Chicago are
Mexican.
– If any of you reading this are business travelers
staying in Chicago for a couple of days, you had better get used to the
idea of making your own bed Thursday morning; the hotel housekeeping
staff is almost entirely immigrant and largely Mexican.
–
You’ll have a slow day if you sell meat or poultry; close to 100
percent of Chicago’s packing-house cutters and meat packers are Mexican.
– On construction crews the “Mexican work” will have to be done by
other guys, since there will be a severe shortage of drywallers and
roofers.
– City landscaping crews engaged in the ongoing
beautification of Chicago parks, parkways and public spaces will need
to pull a few weeds today; no trees or shrubbery will be on hand since
the suburban nursery workers who dig, burlap-wrap and load trees and
shrubbery for planting are, yes, you’ve guessed it, Mexican.
–
And if you think you deserve a break tonight to think over your
position on “the Mexican issue” and eat Japanese, you may experience a
bit of a wait for your food since nearly a third of all Chicago sushi
chefs are Mexican.
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