PIERCE'S IMMIGRATION LAW E-NEWSLETTER is free. It is published by the Law Offices of Curtis Pierce, Certified Specialist, Immigration & Nationality law, The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. 523 West Sixth St., Suite 348, Los Angeles, CA 90014. (213) 327-0044.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained 18 employees at Sun Valley Floral Farms Wednesday during a raid that is part of an ongoing investigation, according to federal officials.
Dozens of agents took part in the operation, escorting several handcuffed workers to a pair of white vans with whited-out windows around noon. Onlookers waited outside the Arcata company's gate, some waiting to hear from family members or friends who were inside, while an ICE surveillance plane circled overhead.
ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said the agency was executing a search warrant to gather evidence and had arrested 18 people. Agents reportedly uncovered evidence that some workers used Social Security and alien registration numbers that were fraudulent or did not belong to them, or that did not authorize employment. Some also allegedly falsely claimed to be United States citizens or legal residents.
”One of the things we do see with increasing occurrences are cases involving identity theft,” Kice said, adding that the use of other people's identification information has resulted in some victims being denied social services and medical benefits, and even falsely arrested.
The 14 men and four women are Mexican citizens, according to ICE, and were photographed, fingerprinted and processed at the U.S. Coast Guard Station in McKinleyville. Four of those arrested were released Wednesday afternoon, ICE said. One man who allegedly had an extensive criminal record and an outstanding warrant was turned over to the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office. Three others were released on humanitarian grounds, which may have included medical conditions, or if the person is a sole caregiver, Kice said.
Sun Valley said the operation targeted 52 people, though ICE would not confirm that figure.
As detained workers were driven off the Sun Valley property, three people -- who identified themselves as concerned members of the community -- linked hands across Upper Bay Road in an attempt to stop the white ICE vans from removing the employees. They dispersed after the van made a U-turn in the opposite direction.
”While we have the utmost concern and compassion for all Sun Valley team members, we respect that the law is the law and we are cooperating fully with ICE,” Sun Valley owner Lane DeVries said in a statement. “In light of this cooperation we are extremely disappointed that ICE has chosen to escalate their approach to working with us on their concerns, as they have today.”
In June, Sun Valley Floral Farms turned away 283 employees after ICE notified the company about the workers' incorrect Social Security numbers. Kice would not confirm whether that incident is related to Wednesday's detentions, but did say that the current investigation was prompted by a tip reported through the agency's tip line.
After further reviewing the company's records, ICE notified Sun Valley Floral Farms on August 25 that 40 of its employees who were hired between November 2007 and May 2008 appeared to be ineligible to work in this country, according to the Sun Valley statement.
The company notified the employees Tuesday that they could no longer work until they are able to provide verifiable documentation that indicates they are legally able to work in the United States. The notice to the 40 workers was not related to the search warrant for 52 specified individuals, Sun Valley spokesman John Armato said.
Since June, the company has added the E-Verify system to its hiring process to ensure that all employees have valid identification, the company said.
Times-Standard, Sept. 4, 2008
ICE'S "OPERATION SCHEDULED DEPARTURE" HAS BEEN CANCELLED
On August 22, 2008, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that it has cancelled Operation Scheduled Departure, a program where aliens with an order of deportation could turn themselves in for departure. The intent was for aliens and families to benefit from coordinated removals. This program was open to non-criminal fugitive aliens in order for them to avoid arrest and deportation.
Operation Scheduled Departure operated in five cities. It was a notable failure as only eight people in total turned themselves in for departure.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has been highly critical of Operation Scheduled Departure. "To call the effort half-hearted would give ICE half a heart too much credit," said Charles Kuck, President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). "It was never anything more than a public relations ploy so that ICE could say in the end 'gosh, we tried, but no one turned up, now we can go back to doing enforcement our way,' which is precisely what they are now saying. It was never a serious effort."
The government spent $40,000 on advertising for the program. Again, the president of AILA critiques the use of government funds. "Had the government applied the resources and attention it gave to this so-called operation to improving their detention conditions, enhancing alternative detention options, or beefing up the immigration court system, some small progress to a workable system might have been made," said Kuck. "Instead, ICE is concentrating on PR ploys in order to justify the heavy-handed tactics that have marked its more recent operations."
Tennessee Williams once said, "There is a time for departure even when there's no certain place to go". The failure of Operation Scheduled Departure appears to contradict that.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE U.S PASSPORT
AND THE U.S. PASSPORT CARD
The U.S. Passport card is designed to facilitate travel for residents of northern and southern border communities. Therefore, the card is limited. It is valid only for land and sea travel, not international air travel. It is not recognized globally. Its use is limited to land and sea crossings between the U.S. and Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. In contrast, a U.S. Passport Book is valid globally.
The U.S. Passport card is less expensive than the U.S. Passport Book.
A U.S. citizen may hold both a U.S. Passport and a U.S. Passport card. The advantages of a U.S. Passport Card may ease the process of land and sea travel for residents of the border communities.
U.S. PassportBookU.S. Passport Card
Validity
10 years for adults 10 years for adults
5 years for children 5 years for children
Size
Book form - 5" x3 1/2" Wallet Size
Cost for First Time Applicants
$100 adults $45 Adults
$ 85 minors $35 minors
Renewal Fee
$75 $20
Expedited Service
Available for a fee. No expedited service available.
Overnight delivery for a fee. No overnight delivery available.
Electronic Chip in U.S. Passport Card
To facilitate the frequent travel of Americans living in border communities, and to meet the Department of Homeland Security’s operational needs along the land borders, the passport card will have a vicinity-read radio frequency identification (RFID) chip. With this technology, Customs and Border Protection inspectors will be able to access photographs and other biographical information stored in secure government databases before the traveler reaches the inspection station.
Radio Frequency Identification technology (RFID) has been used successfully along our land borders with Canada and Mexico since 1995 in the Department of Homeland Security’s trusted traveler programs, such as NEXUS, SENTRI and FAST. U.S. border officials are able to expedite legitimate cross-border travel and trade of those trusted travelers who carry membership cards with vicinity read RFID chips that link to government databases. Membership in these programs currently exceeds 400,000.
RFID technology has been commercially available in one form or another since the 1970s. It can be found in car keys, highway toll tags, bank cards and security access cards. The Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, who staff the ports of entry, anticipate that the speed of vicinity RFID will allow CBP officers, in advance of the traveler’s arrival at the inspection booth, to quickly access information on the traveler from secure government databases, and allow for automated terrorist watch list checks without impeding traffic flow. In addition, they foresee that multiple cards can be read at a distance and simultaneously, allowing an entire car of people to be processed at once.
The RFID technology embedded in documents will not include any personally identifying information; only a unique number that can be associated with a record stored in a secure government database will be transmitted.
Standards of Adjudication
The passport card is a fully valid passport that attests to the U.S. citizenship and identity of the bearer. As such, the passport card is adjudicated to the exact standards as the passport book. Applicants must provide documents which attest to their U.S. citizenship and identity such as birth and naturalization certificates.
Application Procedure
First time adult and minor applicants under the age of 16 will need to submit a completed Form DS-11 "Application for a U.S. Passport", 2 photos, evidence of citizenship, the application fee for the passport card and the execution fee. These applicants must apply in person at a Passport Application Acceptance Facility.
Adult applicants with fully-valid passports can apply for the passport card by mail by submitting Form DS-82 "Application for a U.S. Passport By Mail", 2 photos, fully valid passport issued within the last fifteen years, and the passport card application fee.
The expedited time for receiving the U.S. Passport Card is approximately four weeks. No expedited service is available. Neither is overnight delivery. All U.S. Passport Cards are mailed via the U.S. Postal Service.
IMMIGRATION NEWS & INFORMATION
USCIS UPDATES PROJECTED NATURALIZATION PROCESSING TIMES
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it continues to make steady progress in reducing the significant number of naturalization applications it received last year. USCIS now anticipates naturalization application processing will average 10-12 months nationally by the end of September 2008 – a substantial improvement from its estimated average processing time of 16-18 months first announced last year.
“USCIS is committed to providing customers with clear expectations and regular updates about the agency’s progress to reduce its backlog,” Acting USCIS Director Jonathan Scharfen said. “We are working steadily toward achieving our goal of processing all naturalization applications within five months by this time next year.”
During Fiscal Year 2007, USCIS received 1.4 million naturalization applications, nearly double the normal annual volume. In July alone, USCIS received 460,000 applications for naturalization prior to the implementation of its July 30, 2007 fee increase. As a result, average processing times significantly increased.
In response to the surge in applications, USCIS implemented a work plan to reduce the backlog, including implementing an aggressive hiring plan and expanded work hours. As a result of this effort, USCIS anticipates completing more than one million naturalization applications by the end of this fiscal year, including most of the applications received during the summer of 2007.
Last year’s application surge did not impact USCIS offices evenly across the country. Although most offices have already processed cases received during the 2007 filing surge, a handful of offices will have a small percentage of their 2007 cases pending at the end of Fiscal Year 2008. That will result in processing times longer than the 10-12 month national average. USCIS will continue to shift resources to ensure that all local offices achieve the goal of five month processing times.
USCIS field office projections are listed below. These projections indicate the average time it will take to complete a naturalization case as of the end of September 2008.
Estimate of Local Office Naturalization Processing Times by September 2008
· To view processing times and your case status, click one of the links below to connect to the correct U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services information page.
It is published by the Law Offices of Curtis Pierce, 213-327-0044.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter is analysis and commentary of a general nature. Nothing in this newsletter applies to a specific case nor does it constitute legal advice.
Schedule appointment: For legal advice on your case, please schedule an appointment with Curtis Pierce, Certified Specialist, Immigration & Nationality Law, The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.
“The only title in our democracy superior to that of President (is) the title of citizen”.
Former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. (In the case Ng Fung Ho v. White, 259 U.S. 276, 284 (1922), Justice Brandeis wrote that deportation can deprive an individual of "life, or of all that makes life worth living.")
In the words of President John F. Kennedy, the United States is a "nation of immigrants."
IMMIGRATION LAW E-NEWSLETTER
curtis f.pierce
Attorney At Law
certified specialist, immigration & nationality law
the state bar of california board of legal specialization
TEL (213) 327-0044 FAX (213) 327-0066
