Mediaboss Marketing

On his first day in office President Joe Biden gave Christian Martinez, and 650,000 others like him living in the U.S., a little space to breathe.

Through an executive order, the newly inaugurated president directed the Department of Homeland Security to preserve and fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The order solidified the reversal of a much challenged decision by the Trump administration to attempt to end the program in 2017.

Biden has since announced plans for more sweeping immigration reform policies that could see a pathway to citizenship for some 11 million people living without legal status in the U.S.

WASHINGTON>> It's taken only days for Democrats gauging how far President Joe Biden's bold immigration proposal can go in Congress to ac

Its a new ray of hope for the 20-year-old Martinez, who is among 5,250 other young people in Michigan shielded from deportation and allowed to legally work under the DACA program, according to the American Immigration Council. He and his parents, who moved from Mexico when he was three, live in Waterford with his two younger siblings, who were born in the U.S.

Throughout the Trump administration we had so many worries. I was constantly thinking about what I could do to take care of my siblings if my parents had been taken away, Martinez said. In the neighborhood where I live, week after week, we would see heads of families taken away and I always gave God thanks that my dad wasnt one of them.

Martinez was in his last year of high school in the Waterford School District when Trump first tried to overturn the program. He was just months away from going through his first renewal process to keep his status active. At the time, he worried it would be his last.

Christian Martinez was just three-years-old when he came to the United States.

While the federal government did continue to accept renewals for the DACA program, new applications were halted. The first new applications to be approved in several years were announced in early January, according to the Associated Press. A total of 171 new applications were approved from Nov. 14 to the end of 2020. More than 2,700 people applied.

NEW YORK>> The Trump administration must accept new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that protects so

Yumana Dubaisi, an immigration attorney and director of the Immigration Legal Department at the International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit, said her organization has seen a wave of new potential DACA applicants in recent weeks. The institute offers low cost and free immigration services to the southeast Michigan region.

People who didnt have the chance to apply before can apply now and thats a big win, Dubaisi said. People in these communities have lived in fear of the unknown and changed the way they lived their lives because of it. Theres constant fear of family separation, from being caught up in anything, like a misdemeanor.

The Trump administrations attempt to close down DACA was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal judges over the course of three years. Ultimately, the nations highest court ruled that the program wasnt ended properly followed by a federal judges ruling to completely restore the program in December 2020. That same month however, new legal challenges to DACA appeared in a federal court in Texas as nine states asked to end the program claiming it was unconstitutional. There was no immediate ruling for the case.

PHOENIX (AP) The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the program that protects immigrants who were brought to the country as children and allows t

Were hoping that this immigration reform will pass, and if its approved by Congress, the chances of these lawsuits and the potential of more lawsuits will be minimized to nonexistent, Dubaisi said. Were hoping that congress will take care of these 11 million people. I cannot begin to express the fear many of these kids have had, of being deported, of being separated from their families.

Dubaisi calls the potential new immigration reforms aimed at providing citizenship as long overdue. For Martinez, that sentiment can be felt in the apprehension underneath the new hope of DACAs comeback.

Were excited about DACA, but were anxious too. When I see my friends that are natural citizens can come and go wherever they want, I feel like theres a barrier between us, Martinez said. My mom really wants to be able to go to the grocery store or appointments by herself, instead of me having to leave work to drive her.

Christian Martinez, 20 of Waterford, poses for a photo in Clarkston after working his construction job.

More than anything else, he said, Martinez just wants the opportunity to actually visit the country hes been afraid he and his family could be deported to. Hes lost family in Mexico to the coronavirus pandemic, as have his other DACA recipient friends. His siblings have never crossed the border. They have an older brother, 24, who theyve never met and who Martinez hasnt seen in 16 years.

All of my DACA friends are excited, and happy. Were all really hoping well be able to travel soon, to at least see our family members tombstones, Martinez said.

The cities of Farmington Hills and Troy are opening warming centers to assist the public as temperatures will hover around 0 degrees, with the

Less than two months into the mass COVID-19 vaccination program, there are positive signs of getting more shots into more arms in Oakland Coun

The M1 Concourse motorsports club and raceway in Pontiac is preparing to bring on a new chief executive officer this spring.

Federal authorities are warning of scam artists using a ploy that claims to involve U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and officers.

Read the rest here:
With hope and apprehension, DACAs Dreamers look to new era of immigration policy - The Oakland Press

Last updated on February 9, 2021, at 02:40 pm

Alabama Republican Congressman Mo Brooks introduced three immigration bills in the 117th Congress: the No Social Security for Illegal Aliens Act of 2021, the Arrest Statistics Reporting Act and the American Jobs First Act of 2021.

The No Social Security for Illegal Aliens Act would prohibit the distribution of Social Security benefits to undocumented immigrants who perform unauthorized work in the United States. Brookss office, in a press release, said that demonstrating their contempt for American law, undocumented immigrants often use fraudulent Social Security numbers to flout law that forbids undocumented immigrants from receiving Social Security payments.

About the No Social Security for Illegal Aliens Act, Brooks said:

The prospect of free government services and benefits is a giant magnet for illegal aliens. Congress should do absolutely everything in our power to eliminate that giant magnet. Thats why Ive reintroduced the No Social Security for Illegal Aliens Act. It would prohibit the distribution of Social Security benefits to illegal aliens who perform unauthorized work in the United States. The bottom line is, NO illegal alien should be rewarded with government benefits for breaking Americas laws.

The Arrest Statistics Reporting Act does two things. It would require that arrest reports already sent to the FBI by state and local governments include the best-known immigration status of the arrestee. Second, it would require the federal government to publish crime data related to undocumented immigrants in the FBIs annual crime reports. Brookss office said that this data will better inform the public and lawmakers about illegal alien crime and help lawmakers make better decisions needed to protect American lives.

About the Arrest Statistics Reporting Act, Brooks said:

Americas policymakers face an information gap that undermines our ability to make immigration policy decisions that protect American lives from the threat posed by illegal alien crime. Policymakers know that, in FY 2020, Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted 103,603 administrative arrests. Those arrested had criminal histories including more than 1,800 homicide-related offenses, 1,600 kidnappings, 3,800 robberies, 37,000 assaults, and 10,000 sex crimes. But, federal crime data alone is insufficient. Many of the most heinous crimes, such as murder, rape, violent assaults, and the like, are prosecuted at the city, county and state level. Currently, Congress does not have access to city, county and state-level data on crimes committed by lawful immigrants or illegal aliens.

The American Jobs First Act overhauls the H-1B visa program that, according to Brooks, too often harms American workers. The American Jobs First Act is aimed directly at combatting American worker replacement like the Tennessee Valley Authority attempted last summer. As was widely reported, TVA planned to layoff at least 120 of its American technology workers with the intention of replacing them with lower-cost foreign H-1B guest workers.

The American Jobs First Act:

About the American Jobs First Act, Brooks said:

My American Jobs First Act will bring much needed reform and oversight to the H-1B visa program to ensure that U.S. workers are no longer disadvantaged in their own country. To end the allure of cheap foreign labor, the bill will require employers to pay any H-1B workers a minimum amount of $110,000. And to stop American worker replacement, my bill will require companies seeking H-1B labor to not have fired any American workers for at least two years without just cause and commit to not firing any workers without just cause for two years after. Commonsense H-1B reform measures like these, alongside ending the unfair Optional Practical Training (OPT) and diversity visa lottery programs, all serve to promote American interests when it comes to immigration.

Brooks was praised by groups seeking legislation to crack down on illegal immigration.

Congressman Brooks has established himself as a leader in Congress in fighting to end illegal immigration and to create a legal immigration system that better serves the interest of American workers, said Chris Chmielenski, the deputy director of NumbersUSA. With these bills, its clear that Congressman Brooks plans to take this fight to the 117th Congress.

RJ Hauman, the government relations director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said: Congressman Mo Brooks is once again leading the charge on protecting American workers and families at a critical time. These three pieces of legislation check a few of the most important boxes on immigration policy proper illegal alien crime data, no taxpayer benefits for illegal aliens, and finally reforming a deeply flawed guest worker program. We applaud him and urge every one of his colleagues to cosponsor.

With Democrats in control of both chambers of Congress as well as the presidency, it will be very difficult for any of these bills to pass. Brooks represents Alabamas 5th Congressional District.

Read the rest here:
Brooks introduces three immigration bills - alreporter.com

In his first weeks in office, President Joe Biden has made his administrations approach on immigration policy clear: reviewing or replacing four years of his predecessors hardline approaches.

In less than three weeks in office, Biden has sent to Congress a massive immigration reform bill that would provide a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants, issued executive orders to refortify the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and ordered a review of interior enforcement policies and the controversial Migrant Protection Protocols.

Advocacy groups and immigration attorneys have cheered those early steps, but warn that Bidens overall success could be limited if hes unable to tackle another problem that has been growing for years: the ever-growing case backlog in federal immigration courts. Without addressing the backlog, they say, Biden's mission of achieving a fair and equitable immigration system won't be complete.

The immigration courts and the backlog are not a physical border wall, but it is a paper border wall, said Austin Kocher, a research assistant professor at the Transactional Research Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, which uses Freedom of Information Act requests to track immigration court cases. Its one of the ways to keep people from participating in society in a full and complete way.

As of Jan. 1, there were 1.3 million cases pending before the countrys immigration courts, including about 360,000 asylum cases, according to TRAC data. Thats more than double the 542,411 cases pending when Donald Trump took office in 2017. Texas courts have about 162,000 pending cases, the second-largest total behind Californias 187,000. The backlog includes people from more than 200 countries.

The backlog means that asylum seekers and other undocumented immigrants often have to wait years between hearings. In El Paso courts, there was an average wait time of 715 days or just under two years between when a person was given a notice to appear before a judge and the next hearing. And that's a relatively quick turnaround: The average was nearly four and a half years in Dallas courts and 4.8 years in Houston courts, according to the TRAC data.

The backlog grew under Trump despite the former president adding hundreds of immigration judges. But that wasnt enough to contain the tsunami of new cases filed in court under the Trump administration's enforcement-heavy approach, a TRAC report states.

Leaders from both parties, including Vice President Kamala Harris, have supported appointing even more immigration judges. But simply adding more judges misses the point, said Gregory Chen, director of government affairs for the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Instead, he said judges need more freedom to use their discretion to remove or dismiss cases from their dockets that involve people the federal government doesnt deem a security or flight risk, including thousands of cases that have been pending for years.

There are also 460,000 cases in the current backlog involving immigrants who could qualify for legal status, Chen said.

Just adding more judges doesnt make the system more fair or independent, he said. "[The Department of Justice] is not a judicial body, and so what weve seen happen is the law enforcement and immigration enforcement priorities have interfered with the courts independent operation and ability to be impartial."

There is also growing pressure on Biden to address the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who have been placed in the Migrant Protection Protocols program, which sends most asylum seekers back to Mexico as they wait for their asylum hearings in American courts. As of last month, more than 70,400 people had been enrolled in the program.

Biden on Tuesday signed an executive order requiring Department of Homeland Security officials to promptly review and determine whether to terminate or modify the program." Advocates are calling for the outright end to the program, which they say Biden promised on the campaign trail.

Theres nothing to review about a policy that leads to people getting beaten, tortured and kidnapped regularly, as they wait like sitting ducks on the southern border, said Erika Andiola, the chief advocacy officer for Texas-based Refugee and Immigrant Center or Education and Legal Services, or RAICES. Everyone impacted by it over the past two years should be welcomed into our country with open arms.

Because none of Biden's early executive orders mentions the court backlog, Kocher said he hopes Bidens proposed immigration bill addresses it.

Biden has been in office for less than a month, so it is too early to draw conclusions about where the court backlog fits within his priorities, he said. The only thing we know for certain is, these 1.3 million people must be taken into account or the integrity and legitimacy of our immigration system will continue to be undermined and mired in dysfunction.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/04/joe-biden-immigraton-court-backlog/. The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

Read more from the original source:
Biden's Early Immigration Overhaul Has Overlooked One Growing Problem: A Massive Court Backlog - GovExec.com

President Bidens first weeks in office have been spent dismantling many of his predecessors policies on immigration.

Biden signed three executive orders on Tuesday aimed at undoing changes Trump made to U.S. immigration policy, creating a task force to reunite families separated at the border and ordering a review of Trump's immigration practices.

This is in addition to a broad plan Biden unveiled on his first day in office that would carve a path to citizenship for the more than 11 million immigrants who are living in the U.S. illegally, among other reforms.

This shows the presidents desire to make a clean and aggressive break with the Trump administration, says Ali Noorani, president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum.

If there's anything that President Trump defined his administration on, it was being as anti-immigrant as possible, he says.

A direct vision on immigration reform was missing from the Obama administration, he says, in contrast to Bidens clear moves on the matter only days into his presidency.

Noorani says immigration reform has a long history of enjoying bipartisan support. Congress can quickly address some issues pertaining to those with temporary protected status such as the so-called DREAMers in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and migrant farmworkers by moving legislation that was already passed in the House. Passing that legislation alone would address about 3 million to 4 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, he says.

Taking swift action to improve policies for those with temporary protected status shows the nation that immigration reform is good for the American worker, good for their families, Noorani says.

So far, Bidens executive orders have gotten the U.S. back to square one. Activists are pushing for a complete overhaul of the terribly antiquated immigration system, which hasnt been reformed in decades, he says.

Comprehensive reform to Noorani includes the legalization and a path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. More than 5 million immigrant workers have been on the frontlines of essential labor during the COVID-19 pandemic, he points out.

To address the future needs of legal immigration, Bidens plan needs to lay out a vision for work and family visas, he says, because the U.S. must increase legal immigration by about 317,000 people per year in order just to maintain the old age dependency ratio.

The third piece of an all-inclusive reform plan would be reassessing the immigration enforcement system to include measures based on actual risk.

A border wall is not based on any sort of a risk, he says. Securing and resourcing ports of entry that's actually based on data because the majority of drugs, guns and money are smuggled through ports of entry. That's what we should be fortifying.

The pandemic has only made immigration in the U.S. more complicated. The massive immigration backlog since visa applications were suspended last April has already surpassed the projected growth rate of increasing legal immigration by 317,000 people per year. About 380,000 visa applications are waiting for review.

Noorani says Bidens executive orders this week will begin chipping away at the visa application list.

In past administrations, theres been bipartisan support for certain immigration reforms, but the spirit of cross-aisle cooperation has eroded in Washington in recent years. But Noorani remains hopeful because of the many different options for reform.

He says Democrats can engage Republicans who were just turned off by the Trump administrations approach to immigration. And if Democrats dont have enough support from their GOP constituents, the Senate could also forge ahead on a party line vote and have Senate Democrats blow up the filibuster, for example.

He says it would be a smart move for Democrats, particularly in the Senate, to begin making moves on immigration because theres a history and theres a desire for change.

Alexander Tuerkproduced and edited this interview for broadcast withTinku Ray.Serena McMahonadapted it for the web.

Originally posted here:
Biden Continues Dismantling Trump Immigration Policy As Advocates Push For Comprehensive Reform - Here And Now

We are long overdue for immigration reform that fixes our guest worker visa system and provides stability for those currently working in agriculture. In every region of the country I visit, I hear from farmers who are facing shortages and delays in hiring skilled employees to help keep up with the demand for safe, sustainable American-grown food, fiber and renewable fuel. Workforce shortages have been one of the greatest limiting factors for growth in U.S. agriculture, and its time we find a solution that works for all.

Its good to see renewed energy and enthusiasm from the Administration around addressing this complex issue. Farm Bureau has long called for immigration reform that addresses the needs of our current farm employees while ensuring agriculture can continue to fill its workforce needs. Its been about 35 years since Congress last passed a comprehensive reform bill, and a lot has changed in agriculture over that time. Responsible immigration reform will take all of us working together to get it right.

The current farm workforce is aging, and farmers are struggling to keep up with filling positions.

A robust agriculture industry is essential to our economy, national security and environmental sustainability. We must work together to ensure U.S. agriculture has the resources it needs to continue to provide and fill these essential farm jobs.

While advances in robotics have replaced some farm jobs, we need skilled employees to manage that equipment. Other farm jobs like tending livestock and pruning or picking fresh produce still require a human touch. Farmers pay competitive wages, in addition to added benefits under the H-2A program, but its a constant challenge to recruit and retain employees. Ive met with farmers who have even added benefits such as on-site cafeterias and health clinics for employees to promote well-being and increase employee retention, and they still face workforce shortages. We also recognize not all growers are able to undertake these initiatives to attract new employees. Other smaller-sized farms have built long-term relationships with their employees as they work side-by-side building the business together. Yet, staffing remains a challenge.

Even with competitive wages and added benefits, there is less interest in farm jobs as folks leave rural areas and are more removed from the farm. Meanwhile the current farm workforce is aging, and farmers are struggling to keep up with filling positions. Margins are slim even in the best seasons on the farm, and farmers can find it hard to stay competitive with other industries and lower-priced agricultural imports.

Demand in the H-2A program has grown significantly in recent years, and theres no sign of that slowing down. The number of certified H-2A positions has increased more than three times compared to 10 years ago, according to DOL data. But the program falls short in giving the flexibility employers and employees need. Delays in processing applications have often left farmers without the workers they need in time for harvest, even before the pandemic. Crops shouldnt be left to rot while paperwork sits in an agency inbox.

U.S. agriculture needs a flexible guest-worker program that allows contract and at-will employment options that work for both seasonal and year-round needs on the farm. We also need to make sure wage requirements take into account the economic conditions of the agriculture industry and enable farms to remain viable. The American Farm Bureau is ready to work with the Administration and Congress to bring these long overdue reforms to our guest worker program to help provide long-term security to our employees, farm businesses and the rural economy.

Theres no question that farm work is tougheveryone puts in a full days work when it comes to tending and harvesting crops and caring for animals. Farmers know how hard this work is because we have invested our sweat and tears in the soil, often for generations. Its time we find a solution that provides farmers, our employees and our families the stability we all need to keep Americas farms growing.

Zippy DuvallPresidenttwitter.com/@ZippyDuvall

Vincent Zippy Duvall, a poultry, cattle and hay producer from Greene County, Georgia, is the 12th president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

View original post here:
Immigration ReformTime to Get It Right - Farm Bureau News