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Salt Lake City Immigration & Naturalization Law Blog

Report says sexual harassment is common for female farm workers

A report released this week by the advocacy group Human Rights Watch has revealed a widespread problem of sexual harassment and sexual assault for female farm workers in the United States. A vast majority of these women are immigrants and about 60 percent of them are undocumented. The report says that's many of the women are threatened with loss of work and deportation by their abusers, and as a result these crimes go unreported and unpunished.

This is the exact situation that the U-visa program is designed to avoid, but unfortunately many undocumented women are not aware of that fact. As Human Rights Watch pointed out in the report, this is a human rights issue and should transcend concerns about illegal immigration. Human rights are protect through both domestic and international law, which means that there should be no difference in rights for people who are citizens and those who are not.

Farmers blame strict immigration laws for labor shortages

Farmers in some states have been forced to plant fewer crops recently as a result of labor shortages that make it impossible to harvest a full yield. This year many have chosen to cut back significantly rather than risk seeing crops rot in the field. This is a concern for many states, including Utah, that have recently enacted immigration reform laws that make it harder for undocumented immigrants to continue working. Although Utah's law is currently not being enforced, potential labor shortages in the future are an issue of concern for employers.

The labor shortage is primarily affecting Alabama and Georgia at this time, but many fear that as strict immigration laws are passed in more states, this will begin to have a significant impact on farms around the country. This phenomenon is consistent with one of the central goals of the laws, which is to encourage immigrants to self-deport for fear of being apprehended by law enforcement officials.

Woman faces deportation 20 years after adoption by Utah family

A woman who was adopted from India by a Utah family when she was a baby now faces deportation from the United States over procedural issues that have prevented her from becoming a United States citizen. She was brought to the United States at only three months old and sadly lost her adoptive mother when she was eight.

As a teen, she was convicted of check forgery and served some time in prison and on probation. Now, she faces deportation over improperly filed paperwork and her criminal record.

Advocates question GOP amendments to VAWA, U visa program

Advocates for victims of domestic violence are questioning a change to the Violence Against Women Act which is being proposed by some Republican lawmakers as an effort to prevent fraud. The women's advocates are saying that the program does not have a history of fraud and that there are no documented cases.

The U visa program under the Violence Against Women Act is designed to allow undocumented immigrants who are victims of domestic violence to report the crime and seek shelter without fear of deportation. The program originated in 1994 and has been quite successful and has helped many women leave an unsafe home.

Native born U.S. citizens struggle to pass USCIS immigration test

A recent telephone survey of over 1,000 native-born American citizens found that only 65 percent were able to correctly answer enough questions to pass the citizenship test given to immigrants. The test is written and administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and consists of civics questions about American history and government. About 93 percent of immigrant applicants successfully pass the test.

One element that makes the test difficult for some people is the open-ended questions. Rather than have a choice of several possible answers, test takers must come up with their own answer and fill it in. For some questions, such as "who is the current president?" that may be easy. For other questions about history or the functions of government, the answers can be harder to produce on a moment's notice.

Unaccompanied minors present unique challenges at U.S. border

There has been an unexplained surge recently of unaccompanied children being caught at the United States southern border with Mexico. Many of these children are coming from Latin American countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras (among others). Those who are apprehended provide similar reasons to other people attempting to cross the border, including that they are trying to find family members that are already in the U.S., that they are seeking work, or that they are escaping violence or abuse in their home country.

However, unlike adult undocumented immigrants, children who are found at the border cannot be directly deported. When adults are apprehended at the border, they are typically detained for a hearing and then deported if the judge determines that they are not in the country lawfully. However, courts all over the country and in Utah have special rules for processing minors, and in order to complete the immigration hearing several other steps must be taken to ensure that they have a fair proceeding.

Salt Lake City residents protest state immigration laws

Utah is one of five states whose immigration laws are on hold as the Supreme Court takes up the issue of federal versus state power in the Arizona immigration law challenge. A rally in Salt Lake City this week reflected.

Many people have concerns about the practical effects of these types of immigration laws. Opponents of the Utah law say that it will allow increased racial profiling and a deterioration of civil rights for people who may appear to be from another country. The Supreme Court is not addressing this aspect of the law, but rather is focusing on whether or not states have the authority under the constitution to enact immigration enforcement measures.

Undocumented immigration from Mexico reaches historically low level

Despite all the high profile news coverage of the issue of undocumented immigrants coming from Mexico, statistics show that levels of this type of immigration are at a historic low. At the same time, the population of documented immigrants has increased, reaching 5.8 million immigrants from Mexico alone.

Experts say that the change may be partly due to the lagging U.S. economy and the low availability of jobs for people coming into the country. Undocumented immigration rose significantly during the housing boom years due in part to the easy availability of jobs. In fact, many undocumented immigrants have returned to Mexico as job prospects in the United States are less attractive. This also contributes to the net standstill of immigration rates.

Prosecutorial discretion system can be unpredictable

Changing immigration enforcement guidelines can make the deportation process unpredictable. We've written before about different individuals who have been lucky enough to be granted a suspension of a deportation order through prosecutorial discretion, but many aren't. Those who are not granted the suspension may still experience long wait times for decisions, leaving them in an uncertain situation while courts work through the backlog of cases.

The deportation process begins typically begins with an investigation, which may be prompted by an arrest or other activities considered suspicious by immigration enforcement officials. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement may take the person into custody for a period of time. Many people choose to post a bail bond so that they can return home before their hearing. A recent policy change by the Obama administration allows officials to shelve lower-priority cases through prosecutorial discretion.

Undocumented law school graduate seeks professional licensing

In a past post, we discussed the case of two high school students who sought reprieve from their deportation order. These two highly accomplished students were brought to the United States without documentation when they were children. Their case brought up some pressing issues that they and others like them face on their path to legal citizenship.

Many young people who were brought to the United States as babies or very young children are not undocumented by any action of their own. Raised mostly in the U.S., some of these young people are now accomplished students and are seeking admission to college or a future in a professional field in the United States. Recently, an undocumented man in Florida applied for admission to the state bar association so that he can become licensed to practice law. He has already received a degree from an accredited law school there, and aside from his citizenship status, he would be a good candidate for bar admission.

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