On October 7, 2009, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) formally issued a final rule rescinding the Social Security “no match” rule. The “no match” rule, which was never implemented, would have forced employers to fire workers based on discrepancies in their Social Security records. DHS first announced its plan to rescind the rule in July, and with the October 7 publication of a final rule in the Federal Register, the rescission will go into effect in 30 days.
A civil rights coalition challenging the policy charged that the rule would put the livelihoods of authorized workers – including U.S. citizens – at risk and have a devastating impact on the already suffering U.S. economy. A federal court blocked the "no match" rule in October 2007, after the American Civil Liberties Union, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and National Immigration Law Center (NILC) filed a lawsuit against DHS, charging that enforcement of the rule would put authorized workers at risk of losing their jobs and would cause discrimination against workers who look or sound "foreign."
ICE DETENTION REFORM
On October 6, 2009, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton announced new initiatives as part of the Department's ongoing immigration detention reform efforts—enhancing the security and efficiency of ICE's nationwide detention system while prioritizing the health and safety of detainees.
"These new initiatives will improve accountability and safety in our detention facilities as we continue to engage in smart and effective enforcement of our nation's immigration laws," said Secretary Napolitano.
"These new reforms will establish consistent standards across the country, prioritizing risk, strengthening oversight and increasing efficiency in our immigration detention system," Assistant Secretary John Morton said.
The reform efforts address the seven major components of the detention system outlined in a comprehensive review conducted by Dora Schriro, the former ICE Office of Detention Policy and Planning Director, over the past several months, focusing on greater federal oversight, specific attention to detainee care, and uniformity at detention facilities.
Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863 set the precedent for America's national day of Thanksgiving
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN AMERICAN AS SEEN THROUGH ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION OF 1863
1863 was a dark year in American history despite the January 1 Emancipation Proclamation. Some highlights of 1863, the second year of the Civil War, include the Battle of Chancellorsville, Battle of Jackson, Siege of Vicksburg, Siege of Port Hudson, Battle of Brandy Station, and Battle of Gettysburg. That was only the first half of the year. To provide hope to a badly fragmented and war weary nation, Abraham Lincoln issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation. At this time, Thanksgiving was not celebrated as a national holiday. The president drew on powerful imagery of American's Puritan past. Just as the early Puritan colonists survived hardships and deprivations and lived to celebrate that first Thanksgiving, a nation divided by civil strife would survive.
Ask anyone who is studying for the USCIS naturalization test. The question about Thanksgiving asks "What holiday was celebrated by the first time by the American colonists?" The brillance of Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation was to connect the past to the present. We know that the colonists overcame adversity and from their efforts a nation was born. Remember how close those colonists came to being wiped out by hunger, cold, disease, or the indigenous peoples. Then, remember the powerful symbols of the first Thanksgiving with the colonists sitting down to a meal of plenty with those same indigenous people. What does it mean to be an American? To be an American is to participate in the collective past. To be an American is to overcome adversity like the early colonists.
If anyone could stare into the face of a suffering nation and also see that Americans were capable of survival, it was Abraham Lincoln. He pointedly embraced the paradoxes of a "year filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies" and a "civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity" (Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1863). Again, the president wrote that the "population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom." (Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1863).
Lincoln called on American citizens to evoke the collective memory of the first Thanksgiving and to remember "singular deliverances and blessings" and to offer "humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience". Being a citizen is to be part of the nation. It is to be share the collective memory. "It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people." (Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1863).
IMMIGRATION BOOKS
JAMAICAN IMMIGRANTS IN THE US AND CANADA: RACE, TRANSNATIONALISM, AND SOCIAL CAPITAL
by Tracy-Ann Jones
2007, LFB-Scholarly Publishing
Tracy-Ann Jones contributes to the discussion of recent immigration and American Society in Jamaican Immigrants in the US and Canada. Jones finds that the experiences and socioeconomic progress of immigrants are largely dependent on their contexts of reception. She bases her findings on her study of Jamaican immigrants in Miami-Fort Lauderdale (South Florida) and Toronto (Canada). Of particular relevance are the racial and ethnic compositions of the two areas, their labor markets, and the immigration policies of the two countries. She compares the socioeconomic status of Jamaican immigrants in these two areas, using education, occupation, and income as the main indicators. Jamaicans in South Florida fare better in all three indicators than they do in Toronto. A primary reason for this is the presence of a large native-born black population in the U.S., creating a network for the Jamaicans.
Terry-Ann Jones is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Fairfield University. She earned her Ph.D. in International Studies from the University of Miami in 2005. Her main research area is Latin American and Caribbean migration to the United States and Canada. Her other research interests include temporary labor migration and human trafficking.
For five consecutive years (2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006), Los Angeles Immigration Attorney Curtis Pierce has been selected as a Super Lawyer by Law and Politics and Los Angeles Magazine. After a survey of 65,000 lawyers, a blue ribbon panel review process and independent research of his background determined that he is among the top 5% of lawyers in all practice areas and top 2% of attorneys practicing immigration law in Southern California.
PROCESSING TIMES & CASE STATUS
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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 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
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