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.