Posted on 07/22/2018 7:58:27 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
The Trump administration is stepping up efforts to curb legal immigration, taking a series of actions in recent weeks that could lead to deportation for people already granted citizenship.
The director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) – an office established in 2003 to process immigrant applications for visas, work permits, green cards and citizenship – told the Associated Press recently that the agency is hiring dozens of lawyers and immigration officers to review cases of immigrants who are suspected of having lied to officials during the naturalization process.
The office made public on July 5 a memo announcing its plan to start issuing Notices to Appear for a wider range of cases. Those notices, require an immigrant to appear before an immigration judge on a certain date, can be the first step in deportation proceedings.
Experts say that policy change, coupled with what came next, could vastly expand the number of individuals being referred for removal.
The agency said last week that starting Sept. 11 its adjudicators will have the ability to outright deny applications that are missing information. That’s a departure from an Obama-era policy of sending requests for more evidence or issuing a warning of their intent to deny the application.
“The memos are really, layer by layer, going after people who are in line doing the right things,” Anastasia Tonello, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said.
The administrative changes highlight how Trump officials, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions and White House adviser Stephen Miller, aren’t just seeking to curtail illegal immigration -- they’re also taking steps against naturalized citizens in an effort to reduce the number of foreign-born residents in the U.S.
USCIS says the policy changes are an effort to ensure the nation’s immigration laws are faithfully executed to keep communities safe and secure.
Michael Bars, an agency spokesman, said in a statement to The Hill that immigrants can always file an appeal when a benefit is denied.
But immigration experts say the changes -- along with the agency’s new mission statement emphasizing the security of U.S. citizens -- mark a noticeable shift in an agency that was previously focused on customer service.
“There’s a reason we set up our benefits agency separate from our enforcement agency, and it seems like a bunch of changes have been put in place to make USCIS more of an enforcement agency,” said Sarah Pierce, a policy analyst with Migration Policy Institute’s U.S. Immigration Policy Program. “It’s problematic and very concerning.”
USCIS called the allegation that it is transitioning to an enforcement agency false and inaccurate.
“The truth is that many open borders advocates believe the U.S. should turn a blind eye to cases of illegal immigration, fraud, human trafficking, gang activity and drug proliferation at the expense of public safety and the integrity of our laws,” Bars said.
“Each year, immigration benefits including the great privilege of citizenship are attainable for many legitimate individuals each seeking greater opportunity, prosperity, and security as newly entrusted members of society,” he said, adding that USCIS is committed to adjudicating all petitions and applications fairly, efficiently, and effectively on a case-by-case basis.
The additional lawyers and immigration officials announced in June by USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna are for a new office that the agency says will serve as a centralized location to review and refer appropriate cases for denaturalization to the Department of Justice.
The cases involve individuals who had been ordered to be removed from the country and intentionally used multiple identities to defraud the government to obtain citizenship, USCIS said.
The new office is the byproduct of an investigation completed in 2016 by the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) discovered in 2011 that it was missing fingerprint records of immigrants who were fugitives or convicted criminals, as well as those who had deportation orders.
The investigation found that USCIS has granted U.S. citizenship to 858 immigrants who had been ordered deported or removed under another name.
More than 2,500 naturalization cases have been determined to require an in-depth review for possible denaturalization, of which almost 100 have been referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for denaturalization, according to USCIS.
So far, six individuals have been denaturalized, meaning ICE will decide whether to pursue deportation proceedings.
With so few denaturalizations for fraud, policy experts say the new office isn’t worth the investment.
Ruth Wasem, a clinical professor of public policy at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, said most people haven’t done anything wrong.
“It’s hard not to think it’s pretty hateful to be assuming people who are trying to go through the legal process are somehow sinister,” she said.
But keep in mind there have been many 'precedents' put in place which have made enforcing existing immigration laws increasingly difficult to enforce.
We need to force the system to 'follow the rule of law' and not 'precedent'.
It's going to take a lot of work to untangle the knot of legal and illegal immigration laws and 'precedents'.
Also, Trump deflects critics who say he's only targeting illegal aliens.
The fact is the whole system needs a good high colonic.
The Hill’s title is misleading. it should read “Trump makes sure legal immigrants follow the law”.
But of course that wouldn’t make Trump look bad. So let’s stick with a title implying Trump hates all immigrants, even legal ones.
The director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) – an office established in 2003 to process immigrant applications for visas, work permits, green cards and citizenship – told the Associated Press recently that the agency is hiring dozens of lawyers and immigration officers to review cases of immigrants who are suspected of having lied to officials during the naturalization process.
...
The title is misleading since, in fact, these may not be legal immigrants.
Of course, our definition of "legal immigrants" is a little sketchy.
Mark Steyn has commented on an area regarding chain migration that Trump’s people should look at. Apparently people will sponsor a ‘relative’ when in reality there is no relationship. Probably a pay-off somewhere or other. Maybe DNA testing is in order before accepting these folks.
Ending chain migration would be fine, too!
“The memos are really, layer by layer, going after people who are in line doing the right things,” Anastasia Tonello, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, saidConsider the source.
Fake news.
Legislation and chain migration
In reaction to the flood of new immigrants brought by the Hart–Celler Act (1965), and increasing numbers of undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Latin America, Congress attempted to reverse the consequences of the 1965 legislation by enforcing border patrol, using amnesty for undocumented immigrants in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, and proposing limits to family reunification policies. The effects of the ending the Bracero Program were increased undocumented Mexican migration because of the social capital gained during that period. Chain migration had provided relatively easy access to migration for Mexicans that the immigration legislation of the 1980s to the present has attempted to deal with.
I was under the impression the memos relate to immigrants doing the wrong things.
I wonder if someone saved a copy of the information on muslims that Obama made them delete.
That would be a good starting point.
I wonder if someone saved a copy of the information on muslims that Obama made them delete.
That would be a good starting point.
How about he ramp up ICE to catch and immediately deport? How about he ramp up arrests of any and all who aid and abet illegals including priests, lawyers, employers, relatives, etc.?
try lying on your taxes and filing them, then see what happens when the IRS finds out...crap- they don’t even need to find out- they can just call you out to prove what you filed is legit..
We can call it Comprehensive Enforcement.
No doubt the obama admin did just like city schools and just passed them along without any education or vetting.
Good analysis.
Yep
Where did the idea come from that there is some sort right to enter the United States, legally or not, and to stay as long as they want once here?
Trump ramps up scrutiny of legal immigrantsShouldn't that be "scrutiny of alleged" legal immigrants.
“So far, six individuals have been denaturalized, meaning ICE will decide whether to pursue deportation proceedings.”
I am amazed that there is any decision to be made by ICE here. Their citizenship has been revoked, just what else is necessary to remove them from the country. Do we just let them revert to being Green Card carriers and let them staty?
The article even says:
"The new office is the byproduct of an investigation completed in 2016 by the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) discovered in 2011 that it was missing fingerprint records of immigrants who were fugitives or convicted criminals, as well as those who had deportation orders.
The investigation found that USCIS has granted U.S. citizenship to 858 immigrants who had been ordered deported or removed under another name. "
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