Arnold Jaffe Speaks on Television Program

-----Original Message-----
From: William Smithers
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 5:40 PM
To: Arnold Jaffe
Subject: Your "Just Between Us!" interview is a WAVE finalist!

Dear Mr. Jaffe,

Lorrie and I would like you to know that your interview with us for our Channel 17 television program "Just Between Us!" is one of two of our shows- among three finalists - that have been nominated for the 2011 WAVE (Western Access Video Excellence) Award in the category "Talk Show- Issues (Community Producer)." Award winners will be announced in San Jose on October 8, 2011.

The interview is available at our website:
http://SB-JustBetweenUs.com
via the "Directory of TV Interviews" page.

Friends, family, co-workers and clients who did not see the original broadcast or who would like to see it again may do so there.

I would think that the League of Women Voters, at whose lecture program I first saw you, would be interested to know this.

Very best wishes from Lorrie and me,

Bill Smithers

Improving the Naturalization Process

September 19, 2011

Washington D.C. - Citizenship Day, which was celebrated this past Saturday, September 17, is a good time to reflect on the naturalization process and the need for better integration policies in America. Today, the Immigration Policy Center releases, Improving the Naturalization Process: Better Immigrant Integration Leads to Economic Growth, by Mary Giovagnoli, Esq.

Becoming a citizen is hard work. A new country, new rules, high costs, and little targeted support for new immigrants makes what should be a journey of exploration and opportunity one that may be frustrating and lonely. Integration is an often overlooked but key component of U.S. immigration policy. Successful integration of immigrants fuels their success, strengthens communities, and builds bridges between newcomers and other community members.

Time and again, an influx of immigrants has been shown to reverse economic decline and breathe new life into urban areas, small towns, and rural communities. Moreover, integration can be a key to entrepreneurship and future economic growth. Solid integration policies offer benefits to both the immigrant and the receiving community. The investment in immigrants, therefore, is an investment in the country’s own well-being.

To read the piece in its entirety, see:

Improving the Naturalization Process: Better Immigrant Integration Leads to Economic Growth by Mary Giovagnoli, Esq.

Deportation Program Sows Mistrust, U.S. Is Told

September 15, 2011

By JULIA PRESTON

A task force advising an Obama administration deportation program has sharply criticized immigration officials for creating confusion about its purposes and has found that the program had an “unintended negative impact” on public safety in local communities.

In a report on the program, known as Secure Communities, the task force said that the program had eroded public trust by leading to the detention of many immigrants who had not committed serious crimes, after officials said its aim was to remove “the worst of the worst” immigrant criminals from the United States. The task force report was completed Wednesday. The report also said that immigration officials had created tensions with local authorities by making inconsistent statements on whether states and cities were required to participate.

In the most significant of its recommendations, the task force said that fingerprint identifications through the program should no longer lead federal agents to deport immigrants arrested by local police officers for minor traffic violations. The task force, which included law enforcement chiefs from four major cities as well as immigrant advocates and state homeland security officials, urged Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that operates the program, to start over to “reintroduce” it in many places where local opposition had swelled.

The report added to the controversy surrounding the Secure Communities program, a centerpiece of the Obama administration’s efforts to curb illegal immigration by deporting as many as 400,000 foreigners a year.

John Morton, the director of the immigration agency, named the task force in June to channel and address resistance from state officials, local police chiefs and immigrant organizations. But in the final hours of work on the report, new dissension arose in the task force. Five of its 19 members, including all three who represented labor unions, resigned on Wednesday rather than endorse the final report.

The report shows that divisions persisted among the remaining members of the diverse group. Some thought the program was too deeply flawed to continue. Others, especially the police officials, argued that information-sharing among law enforcement agencies under the program was too vital to halt.

Under Secure Communities, fingerprints collected from anyone arrested by local or state police are checked against F.B.I. criminal databases — a routine police procedure — and also through Department of Homeland Security databases, which record immigration violations. After initiating the program in 2008, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has extended it across about half of the country, recently to growing outcry.

Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, who was the task force chairman, said there was a “strong consensus” in the group that Secure Communities should focus on deporting serious and violent felons. But many local police officials told the task force that the program had eroded trust between them and immigrant communities by leaving the impression that they were engaged in enforcing federal immigration laws. Some communities had become reluctant to report crimes.

“You can’t mix in low-level offenders and not lose credibility in the communities,” Mr. Wexler said. In four public hearings, the task force learned of many cases of illegal immigrants stopped by the police for minor traffic offenses — or, in some cases, for no offense at all — who were swept into deportation after being flagged by a Secure Communities check.

“To the extent that Secure Communities may damage community policing,” the task force report found, “the result can be greater levels of crime.”

The task force said immigration officials had made confusing statements about the legal authorities underpinning the program. After initially suggesting that state officials could delay their participation, administration officials now say they are required to extend the program nationwide by 2013.

The task force said the immigration agency should make broader and far more systematic use of prosecutorial discretion to concentrate its resources on deporting convicted criminals.

In a letter submitted Wednesday, representatives of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and two unions of immigration officers said they were resigning from the task force because the final report “demonstrates a clear absence of our voice.” They did not detail their disagreements.

Arturo Venegas, the former police chief of Sacramento, and director of the Law Enforcement Engagement Initiative, a police organization, said in a resignation letter that the recommendations did not go far enough to ensure that immigrants detained for minor offenses would not be deported. A representative of the National Immigration Forum, an advocacy group, also resigned. Roberto Villaseñor, the police chief of Tucson, Ariz., and a task force member who did endorse the report, said the police had to continue sharing fingerprints with the immigration authorities. “I don’t think that as law enforcement we should turn away from that,” he said.

Mr. Morton said he would meet with the task force members who resigned to hear their concerns.

Rethinking Conventional Wisdom on Border Security

September 12, 2011

Washington D.C. - Today, the Immigration Policy Center releases two “Perspectives” on border enforcement: How to Fix a Broken Border: Hit the Cartels Where It Hurts, part one of a three-part series by Terry Goddard, former Arizona Attorney General, and Guns, Drugs, and Money: Tackling the Real Threats to Border Security, by Josiah Heyman, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology and Chair of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the University of Texas, El Paso.

Terry Goddard argues in How to Fix a Broken Border: Hit the Cartels Where It Hurts that “much of the ‘secure the border’ debate is nonsense. Again and again, symbols trump reality, misinformation buries the truth. Programs like building a bigger border wall or enlisting police in the local enforcement of immigration laws are sold as ways to make the border more secure. They will not.” According to Goddard, our border-enforcement resources should be deployed not against unauthorized immigrants, but against the criminal cartels in Mexico that control the smuggling of people, drugs, guns, and money across the border. “A more effective border strategy starts with the…torrent of cash pouring across the border into the cartel pocketbooks. So, go after the money. Taking away the profit cripples the organization. Conversely, as long as the money from drug sales and human smuggling—which may total more than $40 billion a year—flows to the cartels, the violence in Mexico, the sophisticated smugglers crossing our border, and the perception that nothing is being done to defend the border will continue.”

Josiah Heyman argues in Guns, Drugs and Money: Tackling the Real Threats to Border Security that: “1) the U.S. border communities themselves are secure; 2) the main risks to that security are potential, not actual—stemming from the dangers posed by criminal organizations, not by migrants or international terrorists; and 3) there is a mis-prioritization of resources away from ports of entry toward migration enforcement.” Heyman recommends that the federal government “take an intelligence-driven approach to homeland security, rather than a mass migration enforcement approach.” And he recommends that the government “shift resources from enforcement in between ports of entry (border patrolling, fences/walls, drones, etc.) to ports of entry, the higher likelihood travel path for guns, drugs, assassins, and terrorists.”

To view the papers in their entirety, see:

How to Fix a Broken Border: Hit the Cartels Where It Hurts, by Terry Goddard (IPC Perspectives, September 2012)

Guns, Drugs, and Money: Tackling the Real Threats to Border Security, by Josiah Heyman (IPC Perspectives, September 2012)

Who May Qualify to Remain in U.S. Under New Obama Immigration Policy

The president [on August 18] made a major shift in immigration policy, announcing that the administration might allow many of the 300,000 illegally immigrants currently facing deportation to remain in the country.

The White House announced that it would use more discretion and review deportation cases on an individual basis, possibly sparing those who aren’t deemed a true threat to public safety. Here’s an article from WSJ’s Miriam Jordan announcing the policy shift.

So, under the president’s new case-by-case approach to deportation, what type of folks stand an improved chance of remaining in the U.S. ? The administration fortunately has provided some guidance.

We start with a statement posted to the White House blog from Cecilia Munoz, the White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs.

“There are more than 10 million people who are in the U.S. illegally; it’s clear that we can’t deport such a large number,” she writes. “So the Administration has developed a strategy to make sure we use those resources in a way that puts public safety and national security first.”In deciding who to deport, Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department will apply “common sense guidelines,” Munoz writes. She links to a June 17, 2011 memo written by John Morton, director of U.S. Custom and Immigration Enforcement, which spells out the sort guidelines that will be used.

In deciding whether to prosecute an individual, Morton writes, immigration officials should consider such factors as:


  • the person’s length of presence in the United States;

  • the circumstances of the person’s arrival in the United States, particularly if the alien came to the United States as a young child;

  • the person’s pursuit of education in the United States, with particular consideration given to those who have graduated from a U.S. high school or have successfully pursued or are pursuing a college or advanced degrees at a legitimate institution;

  • whether the person, or the person’s immediate relative, has served in the U.S. military, reserves, or national guard;

  • the person’s criminal history, including arrests, prior convictions, or outstanding arrest warrants;

  • the person’s ties and contributions to the community, including family relationships;

  • the person’s age, with particular consideration given to minors and the elderly;

  • whether the person has a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse, child, or parent;

  • whether the person is the primary caretaker of a person with a mental or physical disability, minor, or seriously ill relative;

  • whether the person or the person’s spouse is pregnant or nursing.

Morton cautions that the list of factors he provides is not exhaustive and that no one factor is determinative of whether a person will stay or go.



  1. A senior administration official told WSJ that the new immigration policy is designed to make better use of limited immigration-enforcement resources and to help ease overburdened immigration courts. But a natural question that arises is whether immigration authorities, with their limited resources, will have the bandwidth to make the sort of case-by-case deportation determinations called for by the new policy.

    Thanks to Victor Nieblas for providing the information above.
    **

    ADVICE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT IN DEPORTATION PROCEEDINGS (OR HAVE A PENDING DEPORTATION ORDER)


    1. undocumented immigrants who are not in deportation proceedings can NOT get a work permit
    2. undocumented immigrants, who are not in deportation proceedings or have a deportation order, should NOT pay even one dollar to an attorney or consultant to try to benefit from this policy. ALERTA! NO HAGA CASO A LOS QUE LE PROMETEN UN PERMISO DE TRABAJO O LEGALIZACION SI UD. LE PAGA DINERO. ESTO NO ES UNA AMNISTIA O LEGALIZACION!!


    ADVICE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE IN DEPORTATION PROCEEDINGS (BUT DO NOT HAVE AN ADMINISTRATIVELY FINAL DEPORTATION ORDER



  1. DHS/ICE, principally through the who represent ICE in deportation cases, will review the 300,000 cases of people currently in deportation (removal) proceedings to determine which cases should be administratively closed.

  2. There is a possibility (but not a guarantee) that persons whose cases are closed will be able to apply for a work permit.

  3. There are no ICE guidelines or procedures written specifically for the implementation of this new policy.

  4. One group which was specifically mentioned as worthy of favorable prosecutorial discretion and the closing of their cases are young people who meet the requirements for the DREAM Act. See the part in bold above.

  5. DHS said that it wanted to focus deportation proceedings on those who have committed crimes which represent a danger to the community. We don’t know yet if ICE is likely to close cases of immigrants in deportation proceedings who have an arrest or conviction for driving without a license.

  6. If a person is in deportation proceedings and does not have a lawyer, she should obtain one soon.

  7. If the person is in deportation proceedings and has a lawyer, she does not need to contact the lawyer in most cases before November 1st….

  8. …unless the person has an immigration court hearing before January 1, 2012 or…

  9. ..unless there is something the lawyer and client are supposed to file soon (such as a notice of appeal or an application).

    ADVICE FOR PEOPLE WHO ALREADY HAVE A DEPORTATION ORDER BUT NEVER LEFT



  1. Obtain a consultation with a good immigration attorney, show the attorney as many of the papers in your case that you have, and definitely bring your “A number”

  2. It is less clear how this new policy will apply to people who already have a deportation order.

Quién Puede Calificar para Permanecer en los E.U. Bajo la Nueva Política de Inmigración de Obama?

Por Mark Silverman, Immigrant Legal Resource Center

** LOS UNICOS QUE PODRIAN BENEFICIAR DE ESTA NUEVA POLITICA SON LOS QUE ESTAN EN PROCESO DE DEPORTACION, PRINCIPALMENTE EN LA CORTE DE INMIGRACION.

LOS QUE NO ESTAN EN UN CASO DE DEPORTACION NO PUEDEN OBTENER UN PERMISO NI BENEFICIAR EN NINGUNA MANERA DE ESTA NUEVA POLITICA.
EJEMPLO DE DOS AMIGOS:

ERNESTO ENTREGADO YA ESTA EN EL PROCESO DE DEPORTACION PORQUE TIENE UN CASO EN LA CORTE DE INMIGRACION.

· No tiene ORDEN de deportación, pero tiene un caso de deportación en la corte de inmigración en San Francisco.
· ERNESTO PODRIA BENEFICIAR DE ESTA NUEVA POLITICA. Los abogados de ICE deben revisar su caso para decidir si van a cerrar el caso.
· Si cierran su caso, Ernesto ya no tendra riesgo de deportación y TAL VEZ puede obtener un permiso de trabajo – aunque esto no es claro todavía.

ISRAEL INCOGNITO NO ESTA EN EL PROCESO DE DEPORTACION. No tiene un caso en la corte de inmigración, ISRAEL NO PODRIA BENEFICIAR DE ESTA NUEVA POLITICA.**

El presidente hizo [el 18 de agosto] un cambio en política de inmigración, anunciando que la administración podría permitir que muchos de los 300,000 inmigrantes ilegales que actualmente enfrentan el proceso de deportación permanecer en el país.

La Casa Blanca anunció que usaría más discreción y revisión de los casos de deportación individualmente, preservando posiblemente a aquellos que no son considerados como una verdadera amenaza a la seguridad pública. Aquí está un artículo de Miriam Jordan del Wall Street Journal anunciando el cambio de política.

Así, bajo la nueva vía de acceso a la deportación caso-por-caso del presidente, qué tipo de gente tiene una mejor oportunidad de permanecer en los E.U.? Afortunadamente la administración ha proveído cierta guía.

Comenzamos con un comunicado puesto en el blog (vía internet) de la Casa Blanca de parte de Cecilia Muñoz, Directora de Asuntos Intergubernamentales de la Casa Blanca.

“Hay más de 10 millones de gente que están en los E.U. ilegalmente; está claro que no podemos deportar a tan grande número," escribe ella. “Por lo tanto, la Administración ha desarrollado una estrategia para asegurar que usemos aquellos recursos de una manera que ponga a la seguridad pública y la seguridad nacional primero."

En cuanto a decidir a quien deportar, el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional y el Departamento de Justicia aplicarán "directivas de sentido común," escribe Muñoz. Ella hace una liga (enlace) con un memo del 17 de junio, 2011 escrito por John Morton, Director de la Implementación de leyes de Aduana e Inmigración de los E.U., el cual deletrea la clase de directivas o principios que serán usados.

Al decidir si se procesa a un individuo, Morton escribe, los oficiales de inmigración deberían de considerar factores tales como:




  • el tiempo que la persona ha estado presente en los Estados Unidos;

  • las circunstancias de la llegada de la persona a los Estados Unidos, particularmente si el extranjero vino a los Estados Unidos como un niño pequeño;


  • la búsqueda de educación de la persona en los Estados Unidos, dándole consideración particular a quienes se hayan graduado de una escuela preparatoria (high school) de los E.U., o que han buscado o están buscando exitosamente un colegio (universidad) o cursos avanzados en una institución legítima;


  • si la persona o los parientes cercanos a la persona, han servido en las fuerzas armadas, las reservas, o la guardia nacional de los E.U.;


  • la historia criminal de la persona, incluyendo arrestos, sentencias anteriores, u órdenes de arresto pendientes;


  • los vínculos y contribuciones de la persona a la comunidad, incluyendo relaciones familiares;


  • la edad de la persona, dando consideración particular a menores y a los ancianos;


  • si la persona tiene un/a esposa/o, hijo/a, o padre/madre ciudadano/a de los E.U. o residente permanente;


  • si la persona es el guarda principal de una persona con una incapacidad mental o física, un menor, o un pariente cercano seriamente enfermo;


  • si la persona o la esposa de la persona está embarazada o amamantando.

Morton advierte que la lista de factores que el proporciona no es exhaustiva y que ningún factor es determinante de si una persona permanece o se va.

Un oficial superior de la administración le dijo a WSJ (Wall Street Journal) que la nueva política de inmigración está diseñada para hacer un mejor uso de los limitados recursos que hay para implementar las leyes de inmigración y para ayudar a aligerar las sobrecargadas cortes de inmigración. Pero una pregunta natural que surge es si las autoridades de inmigración, con sus limitados recursos, tendrán la capacidad para clasificar las determinaciones de deportación caso-por-caso citadas por la nueva política.

CONSEJO PARA LA GENTE QUE NO ESTA EN PROCESO DE DEPORTACION



ALERTA! NO HAGA CASO A LOS QUE LE PROMETEN UN PERMISO DE TRABAJO O LEGALIZACION SI UD. LES PAGA DINERO. ESTO NO ES UNA AMNISTIA O LEGALIZACION!!

1. No pueden solicitar un permiso de trabajo ni beneficiar de esta nueva politica en ninguna manera.
2. No deben de pagar ni un sólo dólar a un abogado o consultor para tratar de beneficiarse de ésta política.

LO QUE PUEDEN HACER AHORA PARA PREPARAR EN CASO DE QUE ICE COMIENZA UN CASO DE DEPORTACION CONTRA USTED EN EL FUTURO



  1. Ahorrar dinero para pagar una fianza.


  2. Poner sus documentos en orden desde que entro a los Estados Unidos para mostrar su estancia aqui, como por ejemplo:
    a. como todos sus documentos de rentas
    b. cuentas bancarias
    c. documentos de la escuela de usted o sus hijos,
    d. pasaportes de usted y sus hijos
    e. talones que cheques
    f. archivos médicos,
    g. partidas de nacimiento de sus hijos,
    h. certificados de matrimonio
    i. y cualquier otra prueba que verifique su entrada y presencia en los Estados Unidos.
CONSEJO PARA GENTE QUE ESTA EN PROCESO DE DEPORTACION



  1. DHS/ICE, principalmente a través de quienes representan a ICE en casos de deportación, revisarán los 300,000 casos de la gente que actualmente está en proceso de (supresión) deportación para determinar cuales casos deberían de ser cerrados administrativamente.


  2. Hay una posibilidad (pero no una garantía) de que personas cuyos casos están cerrados, podrán solicitar un permiso de trabajo.


  3. No hay directivas o procedimientos de ICE escritos específicamente para la implementación de ésta nueva póliza o política.


  4. Un grupo, el cual fué mencionado específicamente como merecedor de discreción favorable en el procesamiento y la conclusión o cierre de sus casos, son gente joven quienes reúnen los requerimientos para el DREAM Act o Acta del SUEÑO. Vea la parte en letra más obscura o remarcada arriba.


  5. DHS (el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional) dijo que quería enfocar el proceso de deportación en aquellos que han cometido crímenes, los cuales representan un peligro para la comunidad. Aún no sabemos si es probable que ICE cierre casos de inmigrantes en proceso de deportación que tengan un arresto o sentencia por conducir sin licencia.


  6. Si una persona está en proceso de deportación y no tiene un abogado, el/ella debería de obtener uno pronto.

CONSEJO PARA LA GENTE QUE YA TIENE UNA ORDEN DE DEPORTACION PERO QUE NUNCA SE FUE



  1. Obtenga una consulta con un buen abogado de inmigración, muestre al abogado todos los papeles y documentos que tenga sobre su caso, y definitivamente traiga su “A number” (Número con USCIS, empieza con la letra A).


  2. Está menos claro cómo ésta nueva política será aplicada a la gente que ya tiene una orden de deportación.
Gracias a Victor Nieblas por proveernos con parte de la información de arriba.