New York, March 2011
The United States Immigration Newsletter
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U.S. Plans Deportation of 700 criminal Haitians in 2011
 Washington, D.C.:
According to immigration authorities, the U.S. government will deport 700 Haitians in 2011. After the catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti in January of 2010, deportations to the island stopped and many Haitians were granted Temporary Protection Status (TPS) by the U.S. immigration authorities. In December last year, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made it known that Deportations would start again, and in January of 2011, 27 Haitians were removed from the United States and sent back to their home country. All of the 27 that were deported had criminal records. Immigration advocates expressed concern when the deportations were announced. The advocates claimed that lawlessness and decease made it unsafe to deport people to Haiti. Now ICE announces that the U.S. State Department has worked with Haitian authorities to make sure that deportations can be conducted safely and humanely, and without jeopardizing the Haitian rebuilding efforts. According to
immigration authorities, there are currently 31,000 Haitians in the U.S. who have been ordered to leave the country. The 700 Haitians are removed in line with ICE policy of prioritizing deportations of criminal immigrants who pose the greatest threat to public safety in the U.S., according to ICE officials. The Temporary Protection Status granted to Haitians expires in July, but officials in the U.S. have said that those who were granted TPS will not be deported. More than 61,000 Haitian nationals have applied for TPS, but only those who were already living illegally in the U.S. when the earthquake hit
Haiti are eligible.
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Easer for Cuban Immigrants to visit Family
 Washington, D.C.:
Chartered flights to and from Cuba can now take off and land at eight new airports in the United States. This makes it more convenient for those who are allowed to travel to Cuba, among them immigrants who wish to visit family
in Cuba. Federal authorities have cleared Baltimore-Washington, Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, O’Hare in Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, New Orleans, Pittsburg, Tampa and San Juan airports for handling
Cuba flights. Previously, flights to and from Cuba have only been able to take off and land at three airports in the United States; in Miami, New York and Los Angeles. Several airlines, including American Airlines, operate flights for charter companies. However, there are still no commercial flights to Cuba. The main reason is that the United States
still restricts travel to Cuba. Only people who have religious, academic, journalistic or cultural reasons for traveling to Cuba are allowed to go. Spokespeople for Baltimore-Washington International say they already have charter companies who want to fly from BWI, but they will probably have to wait until the end of 2011 or
the begining of 2012 before the first chartered flight can leave the tarmac. According to Jonathan Dean the charter companies have to work with the U.S. and the Cuban governments in order to get the necessary authorizations in place first. Cuban authorities do issue visas to travelers as they arrive on the island. However, all travelers to Cuba should obtain the appropriate
visa prior to departure, along with any authorizations that might be required by Cuban authorities. Although U.S. citizens are welcomed in Cuba, they are generally not allowed by U.S. authorities to visit Cuba, even if they travel from a third country. U.S. citizens who travel to Cuba unauthorized risk criminal prosecution as they return to the United States. |
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Florida City Wants Immigration Detention Facility
 Florida City, FL:
Florida City in Miami-Dade county is hoping for a new immigrant detention center to create a large number of new jobs in the area. The city is applying for a grant to build the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility that would consist of as many as 2,300 beds and cost $150 million. Two other Florida counties also want the new immigration center, that is expected to provide job opportunity to 300 construction workers and create 600 permanent
job positions. A spokesperson for ICE says the new facility would be used to detain immigrants who are waiting to be deported from the United States, as well as immigrants who are currently in
removal proceedings. Both medium-security detainees and those with no criminal record could be housed in the new center. Immigration officials aim to make a decision as to the location of the new detention center within four months, and do not expect any new proposals for the new immigrant detention center. The three that have applied are Florida-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Immigration authorities have asked that the county that gets the new immigration enforcement facility provide it with public transportation, to service both employees and visitors. Commissioners in Miami-Dade have asked the county’s transit department to extend public transportation services to the new immigration detention center if it is built in Florida City. |
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USCIS Issues Employment Authorization and Advance Parole on Single Card
 Washington, D.C.:
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced last month that certain immigrants in the United States who are applying for permanent residency (green card) or change of status
now can be issued work permit and travel authorization on one single card. Individuals who have applied for permanent
residency or adjustment of status and whose cases are still pending, risk having their application denied in the case that they leave the United States without first obtaining special permission, called Advance Parole. Currently, applicants who are granted Advance Parole are issued Form I-512 paper documents. The new card will look like an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). However, additional text on the new dual-purpose card will read, “Serves as I-512 Advance Parole.” Green Card applicants may get the new card if they apply for work authorization (Form I-765) and a travel permit (Form I-131) at the same time or after they apply for permanent residency or adjustment of status. Applicants will still be able to obtain Advance Parole documents and EAD
cards separately, but the new dual-purpose card will be both more secure and
more durable than the old Form I-512 paper document. The new card is accepted as
a list-A document by employers who are completing Form I-9, Employment
Eligibility Verification for new employees. Individuals carrying Form I-512,
Advance Parole, are not guaranteed admission into the United States. The Card is used to request parole at the port-of-entry as the
applicant returns to the United States from abroad. |
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Wealthy Chinese Interested in Investment Green Cards
 Long Beach, CA:
A number of wealthy Chinese investors from the city of Quingdao are visiting sister city Long Beach, California on a tour arranged by the Long Beach-Quingdau Association. The Chinese investors are visiting the United States because they are interested in taking advantage of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, that makes it possible to obtain a green card by investing at least $500,000 through an approved
EB-5 lending center. In Long Beach, the newly-formed company U.S. Employment Development Lending Center administers the EB-5 program by accepting investments from foreigners. The investment money will be used to issue loans to businesses in the United States. According to the Long Beach-Quingdao Association, the prospective Chinese EB-5 Green Card investors are mostly middle aged entrepreneurs who have enjoyed economic success in the wake
of loosening economic restrictions in their home country. One reason why Chinese investors want to relocate to the U.S. is that many wish to get their children into universities in the United States. The
Chinese visitors to Long Beach will spend time around the city meeting local businesses and economic development organizations, as well as look at real estate in the area. The Long Beach-Quingdao Association says they are expecting several new groups of prospective Chinese investors from Long Beach’ sister city to visit the area in the near future. The EB-5 visa program has gotten increasingly popular after the recent economic recession. Earlier the EB-5 program required a minimum investment of $1 million, but in certain areas the minimum
requirement has been lowered to $500,000. A foreigner who invests in the U.S. through the EB-5 program can get a conditional
green card that could become permanent if it can be shown that the investment created ten jobs in the U.S. over two years. Spouses and unmarried children of the investors can green cards through the same investment. |
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Day Laborers in Immigration Enforcement Sting get $650,000 in Settlement
 Danbury, CT:
A group of day laborers who were arrested in a sting operation in Danbury, Connecticut, in 2006, have sued both the local and federal authorities for racial profiling and violation of their civil rights. In two separate settlements, eight laborers will receive a total of $650,000. Previously Danbury city officials
and the group of day laborers called the Danbury 11, agreed on a $400,000 settlement. In addition the
day laborers will receive $250,000 from the federal government. In the sting operation that happened more than four years ago, the workers were picked up by a van driven by a Danbury city police officer who posed as a contractor. The police officer then delivered the workers to the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE). The workers who were arrested in the sting operation claim that they were victims of racial profiling. The Yale Law School student who represented the Danbury 11, Katie Chamblee, says the settlement is the “largest monetary settlement ever paid out to day laborers by any municipality in the country.” According Danbury mayor Mark Boughton, the settlement shows that the city did nothing wrong, because no one who’s civil rights were violated would be satisfied with a
money settlement, but would demand a change in policy. A representative for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network says settlements with immigrant workers usually involve policy change by the local governments. |
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