Testimony Submitted to the New York City Council, Committee on Immigration

In support of Int. No. 982 and Int. No. 989

Local Law to Amend the Administrative Code of the City of New York, in relation to Persons Not to be Detained and Persons Not to be Detained by the Department of Correction

 January 25, 2013

 The Emerald Isle Immigration Center is a 501(c) (3) organization providing immigration, social services and employment related services to immigrants through its offices in Woodside, Queens, and Woodlawn in the Bronx.  We assist more than 20,000 clients annually by providing case assistance, information and referrals. The EIIC offers legal counseling on immigration and naturalization matters to needy immigrants and New York City residents.

The EIIC would like to thank the New York City Council Committee on Immigration for the opportunity to submit testimony today on the proposed Local Laws to amend the Administrative Code of the City of New York, in relation to persons not to be detained and in relation to persons not to be detained by the Department of Correction.

We also thank Chairperson Daniel Dromm and the Committee on Immigration and the New York City Council for their continued support of our work to assist the New York City immigrant community through the Immigrant Opportunities Initiative (IOI).

The EIIC supports the amendments of administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to persons not to be detained.

The Criminal Alien Program, Secure Communities and 287(g) are programs in which the collaboration between local law enforcement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has caused an erosion between the cooperation of local law enforcement and the immigrant community with local police becoming the gateway to deportation.

In particular, undocumented immigrants who are victims of crimes and especially domestic violence victims will be hesitant to come forward for fear of deportation for themselves and their abusers. What undocumented immigrants fear the most are ICE’s immigration detainer. This detainer asks local officials to detain an individual in their custody for 48 hours longer than they would otherwise, in order to facilitate transfer to ICE. Regardless of booking charge, ICE issues holds for any person booked into jail who ICE considers to be potentially deportable. The reality for undocumented immigrants is the potential of months in detention followed by deportation for an otherwise minor offense that would have been resolved within  a few hours of jail time.

As confirmed by federal courts and ICE itself, detainers are not mandatory, merely requests. Since detainers are not mandatory, local governments have to analyze how their communities will bear the costs of facilitating deportations through their participation. Specifically a study performed in 2010 by Aarti Shahani, Justice Stategies, New York City Enforcement of Immigration Detainers demonstrated that individuals with ICE detainers spend an average of 73 more days in jail than similarly situated individuals without ICE holds. In these situations, New York City is subject to unnecessary economic costs.

The Warren Institute at Berkeley Law School released a report titled “Secure Communities by the Numbers.” It examines the profile of individuals who have been apprehended through the program and funneled through the system. The report finds that Secure Communities, (1) Leads to costly mistakes: Approximately 3,600 U.S. citizens have been arrested by ICE through the program, (2) Affects American families: More than 1/3 of those arrested through the program have a US citizen spouse or child, (3) Disproportionately affects Latinos:  Latinos make up 93% of those arrested through S-Comm.—disproportionately more than their 77% of the unauthorized population, (4) Results in a lack of due process and violation of civil rights:  Only 24% of those arrested through Secure Communities who had an immigration hearing were represented by an attorney—far less than the 41% of all immigrants in immigration court who have lawyers. They are more likely to be placed in detention, spend more time in detention and are unlikely to get out on bond and (5) Does not result in relief: Only 2% of those arrested through S-Comm. were granted some form of relief from deportation, compared to 14% of all immigrants in immigration court who are granted relief.

The Police Executive Research Forum’s Police & Immigration: How Chiefs are leading their communities through challenges reveals how undocumented immigrants are easily victimized. The report indicates undocumented immigrant workers are who work in jobs such as landscaping are targets of daily robbery and lose all their equipment to provide for their families. On the other spectrum, an undocumented woman immigrant is slapped and choked by her husband. Due to her immigration status, she is unwilling to report incident to the police. Her main fear is to be taken away by ICE and be separated from her young daughter.

EIIC would like to continue to advocate for the protection of all New Yorkers, specifically the most vulnerable undocumented immigrants and allow New York City to be a place where all can come out of the shadows.

Secretary Napolitano Announces Final Rule to Support Family Unity During Waiver Process

Released: Jan. 2, 2013
Contact: DHS Press Office, (202) 282-8010

WASHINGTON— Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today announced the posting of a final rule in the Federal Register that reduces the time U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives (spouse, children and parents), who are in the process of obtaining visas to become lawful permanent residents of the United States under certain circumstances. The final rule establishes a process that allows certain individuals to apply for a provisional unlawful presence waiver before they depart the United States to attend immigrant visa interviews in their countries of origin. The process will be effective on March 4, 2013 and more information about the filing process will be made available in the coming weeks at www.uscis.gov.

“This final rule facilitates the legal immigration process and reduces the amount of time that U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives who are in the process of obtaining an immigrant visa,” said Secretary Napolitano.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received more than 4,000 comments in response to the April 2, 2012 proposed rule and considered all of them in preparing the final rule.

“The law is designed to avoid extreme hardship to U.S. citizens, which is precisely what this rule achieves,” USCIS Director Mayorkas said. “The change will have a significant impact on American families by greatly reducing the time family members are separated from those they rely upon.”

Under current law, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who are not eligible to adjust status in the United States to become lawful permanent residents must leave the U.S. and obtain an immigrant visa abroad. Individuals who have accrued more than six months of unlawful presence while in the United States must obtain a waiver to overcome the unlawful presence inadmissibility bar before they can return to the United States after departing to obtain an immigrant visa. Under the existing waiver process, which remains available to those who do not qualify for the new process, immediate relatives cannot file a waiver application until after they have appeared for an immigrant visa interview abroad and the Department of State has determined that they are inadmissible.

In order to obtain a provisional unlawful presence waiver, the applicant must be an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, inadmissible only on account of unlawful presence, and demonstrate the denial of the waiver would result in extreme hardship to his or her U.S. citizen spouse or parent. USCIS will publish a new form, Form I-601A, Application for a Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver, for individuals to use when applying for a provisional unlawful presence waiver under the new process.

Under the new provisional waiver process, immediate relatives must still depart the United States for the consular immigrant visa process; however, they can apply for a provisional waiver before they depart for their immigrant visa interview abroad. Individuals who file the Form I-601A must notify the Department of State’s National Visa Center that they are or will be seeking a provisional waiver from USCIS. The new process will reduce the amount of time U.S. citizen are separated from their qualifying immediate relatives. Details on the process changes are available at www.regulations.gov.

Applicants that were scheduled to appear at an ASC that was closed on Monday, October 29 and Tuesday, October 30, will be rescheduled. If you are an applicant that was processed at an ASC after your previously scheduled date of Monday, October 29 and Tuesday, October 30, you do not need to report to the ASC for a second time and can disregard this rescheduling appointment.

If you are scheduled to appear at an ASC that continues to be closed, please refer to the list of office closures on the USCIS public site and continue to monitor for updates on rescheduling of these appointments.

If you plan to visit a USCIS office in an area affected by the severe weather or you believe may be affected by severe weather, please call the

National Customer Service Center (NCSC) 1-800-375-5283

to ensure the office is open for business and for further instructions on rescheduling your appointment if the office is closed. Please continue to monitor this page for changes.

Offices Remaining Closed on Thursday, November 1, 2012

New Jersey

• Newark Asylum Office
  1200 Wall Street West, Fourth Floor
  Lyndhurst, NJ 07071
• Hackensack, NJ Application Support Center
  116 Kansas Street
  Hackensack, NJ 07601-4044

New York

• New York Asylum Office
  One Cross Island Plaza, 3rd Floor
  (133-33 Brookville Boulevard)
  Rosedale, NY 11422
• New York, NY District Office & Field Office
  26 Federal Plaza
  New York, NY  10278-0127
• Queens, NY Field Office & Application Support Center
  2735 Jackson Avenue
  Long Island City, NY 11101-2917
• Hicksville, NY Application Support Center
  87 Bethpage Road
  Hicksville, NY 11801
• Manhattan, NY Application Support Center
  201 Varick Street, 10th Floor
  RM103
  New York, NY 10014
• Port Chester, NY Application Support Center
  40 South Main Street
  Port Chester, NY 10573
• Woodside, NY Application Support Center
  63-05 Rossevlt Ave.
  Woodside, NY 11377

Offices Reopening on Thursday, November 1, 2012

New Jersey

• Newark, NJ District Office & Field Office
  Rodino Federal Building
  970 Broad Street
  Newark, NJ  07102-2506
• Elizabeth, NJ Application Support Center
  285 North Broad Street
  Elizabeth, N.J. 07208

New York

• Long Island, NY Field Office & Application Support Center
  30 Barretts Ave
  Holtsville, NY  11742
• Bronx, NY Application Support Center
  1827 Westchester Ave.
  Bronx, NY 10473
• Brooklyn, NY Application Support Center
  1260-78 60th Street
  Brooklyn, NY 11219
• Queens/Jamaica, NY Application Support Center
  153-01 Jamaica Ave.
  Jamaica, NY 11432

Offices that Reopened on Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Connecticut

• Hartford, CT Field Office
  AA Ribicoff Federal Building
  450 Main Street
  Hartford, CT 06103-3060
• Hartford Application Support Center
  467 Silver Lane
  East Hartford, CT 06118

Delaware

• Dover, DE Satellite Office & Application Support Center
  250 Gateway South Blvd, Ste 270
  Dover, DE 19901

Maryland

• Baltimore District Office & Field Office
  Fallon Federal Building
  31 Hopkins Plaza
  Baltimore, MD  21201
• Baltimore Application Support Center
  Bank of America Building
  100 S. Charles Street, Suite 201
  Baltimore, MD  21201
• Glenmont Application Support Center
  12331 Georgia Avenue, Suite C
  Wheaton, MD  20906
• Salisbury, MD Application Support Center
  2040 Shipley Drive, Suite 2C
  Salisbury, MD  21801

Massachusetts

• Boston, MA District Office & Field Office
  JFK Federal Building
  15 New Sudbury Street
  Government Center, Room E-170
  Boston, MA  02203-0701
• Lawrence, MA Field Office & Application Support Center
  2 Mill Street
  Lawrence, MA  01840
• Boston Application Support Center
  170 Portland Street
  Boston, MA 02114

New Hampshire

• Manchester, NH Field Office & Application Support Center
  9 Ridgewood Road
  Bedford, NH  03110

New Jersey

• Mount Laurel, NJ Field Office – may have limited service available depending on network availability
  530 Fellowship Road
  Mount Laurel, NJ  08054

New York

• Albany, NY Field Office & Application Support Center
  1086 Troy-Schenectady Road
  Latham, NY  12110

Pennsylvania

• Philadelphia, PA District Office & Field Office
  1600 Callowhill Street
  Philadelphia, PA  19130-4106
• Philadelphia Application Support Center
  10300 Drummond Road
  Suite 100, First Floor
  Philadelphia, PA  19154
• York, PA Application Support Center
  Meadowlands Business Center
  3516 Concord Road
  York, PA 19402-9893
• Pittsburgh, PA Field Office
  3000 Sidney Street, Suite 200
  Pittsburgh, PA  15203
• Pittsburgh, PA Application Support Center
  800 Penn Avenue, 1st Floor
  Pittsburgh, PA  15222

Rhode Island

• Providence, RI Field Office & Application Support Center
  1543 Atwood Avenue
  Johnston, RI  02919
• Providence Application Support Center
  105 Sockanosset Cross Road, Suite 210
  Cranston, RI 02910

Virginia

• Washington District Office & Field Office (Fairfax, VA)
  2675 Prosperity Avenue
  Fairfax, VA  22031-4906
• Alexandria, VA Application Support Center
  8850 Richmond Hwy, Suite 100
  Alexandria, VA 22039
• Norfolk, VA Field Office
  Norfolk Commerce Park
  5280 Henneman Drive
  Norfolk, VA  23513
• Norfolk Application Support Center
  2500 Almeda Ave,  Suite 114
  Norfolk, VA 23513