Mirror of Justice

The Illegal US Immigration Problem

July 18th, 2009 at 10:39pm Under Immigration Law

At the moment there are between ten and twenty million illegal immigrants residing in the United States. This is the case because illegal us immigration has become greater than legal us immigration over the last couple of years. Seventy-five percent of illegal immigrants arrive in the U.S. by crossing the southern border with Mexico. And since Mexico is the largest contributor to the us immigration problem, it is necessary to understand why.

It’s a well known fact that fifty-three percent of Mexico’s population of one hundred four million residents lives in poverty, which is defined as less than two dollars a day. Twenty-four percent of them live in extreme poverty, which is defined as less than one dollar a day. Mexico’s unemployment rate is approaching forty percent and there is little healthcare. Only seeing these factors one gets the idea why there is such a big problem in regards to illegal us immigration. But this is only the beginning.

U. S. companies look for cheap, exploitable labor in order to increase their profit margins. Such companies hire illegal workers and offer them only poor working conditions, very low pay as well as no benefits, because the U. S. companies only need to accept identification that appears authentic from these workers and fake ID cards are readily available in every major city. So this factor as well enlarges the illegal us immigration problem.

Due to both the legal and illegal us immigration, the Hispanic population is dramatically increasing and is now the largest ethnic group in the United States, and of course politicians are quite aware of the changing demographics and fail to adequately enforce laws that they perceive will not be popular with their Hispanic voters.

The U.S. Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was meant to provide for penalties against companies that hire undocumented workers. In 1999, under the Clinton Administration, the U.S. government collected a meager 3.69 million from 890 companies in fines while in 2004, under George W. Bush, the amount of money collected in fines from companies hiring undocumented workers was zero. It is estimated that in that same year in 2004, three million illegal immigrants entered the United States.

In summary, Mexican people living across the border in poverty see the opportunity in the United States to put food on the table for their families. And as long as there are willing employers in the United States ready to offer them work, with low wages, poor working conditions and without benefits illegal us immigration will continue to grow. The fact is that for illegal immigrants, these conditions are still far better than the poverty of Mexico. Illegal immigrants enter the country through very porous borders then they acquire fake identification on the streets of America’s cities and work for companies which exploit them. And one mustn’t forget the fact that the career politicians in charge of government fail to enforce the immigration laws in place and adequately patrol the southern borders for fear of offending Hispanic voters.

Finally, illegal immigrants and the American people are both victims because they are both affected by the problem of illegal US immigration. The U.S. government needs to enforce the laws in place and there is a need for coherent us immigration policy. The selective enforcement of laws is divisive and confusing.

Canada Immigration Facts to Know About

July 17th, 2009 at 10:39am Under Immigration Law

Canada immigration is usually based on non – discriminatory principles. According to some survey there are round about 200 million international immigrants present. And out of them 50% of them are illegal. The world wide immigration is increasing day by day.

Some of the people who are migrating are taking help of Lawyers, some agents and so on. But the legal guidelines and proper way is to take the help of Lawyers. The main reason is that they are totally well known by immigration law and new US immigration laws and the other reason is that immigration law and society doesn’t help and not even support illegal immigrants.

There are two ways of applying to migrate US or Canada. You can do all the work yourself and save a lot of money, or you can pay an Immigration Lawyer between US$1,000 to US$3,000 or more to prepare the files for you. Talking in general this is the good and a legal way to undergo the immigration process.

The person who is going to apply for immigration is assessed using a pointing system. An applicant is assessed under the federal skilled worker class based on various factors. The other thing to be assessed is that the financial background is sound or not because they want to make sure that the applicant is capable to settle down in Canada properly or not. Ideal applicants should possess employment skills. They are having efficient experience. The applicants applied for Government Job Offers are approved quickly if selected. Canada allows immigrant under Business immigration process which includes three factors Investors, Entrepreneurs and Self-Employed.

But most immigrants who Plan their immigration with proper research and knowledge of immigration laws and procedures are normally able to achieve their immigration goals successfully. Their immigration plan is similar to a good business plan. Their every immigration step is pre planed and anticipated. They know their limitations of resources and set realistic immigration targets to be achieved.

So the conclusion of the whole article is that if immigration is to be done legally then the person is to take the help of the legal Lawyer or the legal consultant.

The New Bite in Immigration Enforcement—it’s not Just for Undocumented Aliens

July 16th, 2009 at 10:39pm Under Immigration Law

My practice is exclusively immigration law.  Friends, family, and folks I meet when out and about invariably ask me if I see a lot of Hispanics.  Immigration law is not just a matter for the millions of undocumented foreign nationals, many millions of whom are not Hispanic. 

The mistake many business owners, employers, executives, managers, and supervisors make is to think immigration law does not affect them.   Most business owners, executives, managers and supervisors will never file a visa application for a worker. But the mistake they make is assuming they do not need to worry about immigration laws.  

Despite the focus on immigration in the news, a large number of companies fail to comply with the I-9 laws that have been in place since 1986.  I-9’s are required of every employer for every employee.  I-9’s have to be completed timely, correctly by both the employee and the employer, some employees need to have their I-9’s reviewed, every employer has to properly retain their I-9’s.  Business owners, company officers, executives, managers and key employees are liable personally for civil and criminal penalties for I-9 related errors.

An estimated 5 percent of the U.S. work force is not eligible to be lawfully employed.  Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workplace arrests have soared 869 percent since 2002. With Congress unable to agree on immigration law changes, state governments are applying their own pressure. In 2007, 19 states enacted a total of 33 laws relating to immigration and employment issues, including worker verification by employers and contractors.

Why should you care?  You should care because business owners, executives, managers and supervisors can be prosecuted for criminal (also known as “how good do you look in an orange jumpsuit?”) liability, in addition to company monetary penalties.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (”IRCA”) provides that every employer in the country is required to verify the identity and work authorization status of every employee of the business on an I-9 Employment Verification Form, that every worker must complete on the day of hire or earlier. Failure to comply with IRCA’s I-9 rules can result in significant fines, loss of access to government contracts and highly negative publicity for a company.

What penalties does an employer face for I-9 violations? Employers face stiff penalties for IRCA and I-9 violations substantial fines and debarment from government contracts. Penalties can be imposed for hiring unauthorized workers as well as simply for committing paperwork violations even if all workers are authorized to work. Fines for hiring unauthorized workers will amount to anywhere from $250 to $5,500 per worker depending on the prior history of violation. Employers can also be barred from competing for government contracts for a year if they knowingly hire or continue to employ unauthorized aliens. Paperwork violations can also result in significant fines. Each mistake or missing item on a form can result in a $100 penalty up to $1000 for each form. A missing I-9 Form would automatically be assessed at $1000. An employer, for example, that had 100 employees and did not complete I-9 Forms might face a $100,000 fine. IRCA investigators have considerable discretion in assessing fines and will look at factors like the size of the company, the seriousness of the violations, whether the employer was trying to comply in good faith and the pattern of past violations.  

Employers should also be cautioned that knowingly accepting fraudulent documents from employees, or accepting them with “constructive knowledge”,  is a different kind of violation that can be criminally prosecuted, including individual criminal liability for officers, executives, managers and supervisors, under other immigration laws.  

Aside from federal violations, many states have passed or are considering passing laws that would penalize employers violating IRCA including barring such employers from state contracts and revoking their business licenses.

You are not familiar with ICE enforcement?  Read some of my favorite quotes from Julie Myers, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Director of ICE)

 

One of ICE’s more active special agents, Brian M. Moskowitz, reinforces his boss’ enforcement bite:

 

So next time you think immigration law only affects undocumented foreign nationals, think about whether any immigration laws may impact you, your family, your neighbors, and whether they are up to speed on the new bite in immigration enforcement.

You can visit my I-9 website for everything you want to kjnow about I-9 employment eligibility and verification, and ICE worksite enforcment.

 

State Laws and Employer I-9 Employment Verification Responsibilities

July 16th, 2009 at 02:56pm Under Constitutional Law

E-Verify is an Internet-based system operated by Department of Homeland Security (DHS/U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA). E-Verify is currently free to employers and is available in all 50 states. E-Verify provides an automated link to federal databases to help employers determine employment eligibility or work authorization of new hires and the validity of their Social Security numbers.Employers or “Designated Agents” (e.g., payroll companies) must register online and agree to the terms of participation to use E-Verify. [Registration includes agreeing to the DHS/Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). A discussion of the ICE E-Verify MOU is outside the scope of this post.]E-Verify will soon be required of all federal contractors. DHS is now promulgating “final” E-Verify regs. I present an E-Verify overview and update in this post.

U.S.A. and Canada Immigration Law Differences

July 15th, 2009 at 04:39pm Under Immigration Law

The U.S. processing of immigration applications has political aspects that must be taken into account when establishing how much will be needed in the way of legal services to achieve citizenship. The procedure is streamlined in Canada by the fact that the motivation of the government is economic rather than political, rather like a job interview where your skills are needed and you’re being recruited to start a business to help the country thrive. USA work visas are issued grudgingly, only after it’s shown that a U.S. citizen cannot perform the same job.

American citizenship has always come with the understanding that new arrivals should strive to become American in culture and learn the language sufficiently to pass a test. People have to be familiar with the country and understand political notions regarding security and patriotism. This was done in a “howdy neighbor, welcome to our shores but let’s check the exclusion list first” fashion since several laws were enacted to halt a flood of Asian immigrants and in 1952 an exclusion list began on possible communists.

Canada and Australia are traditionally the most popular destinations for people re-locating for the purpose of finding a better life. The low population of these countries makes for less competition for jobs and housing; however in a recent survey involving 17,000 young people in 16 countries, India’s number one choice was the U.S.A. at 38% of the respondents. This may be a reflection of the U.S. economic collapse of jobs in the manufacturing and industrial sectors: one mirror may be that coincidental figure of 38% – the exact percentage of the American labor force now working in the service sector according to figures released by The Venus Project, an economic and scientific think-tank. The majority of young people in India are already working in service sector jobs – IT, web design, telemarketing, customer service, and so on. Many of the jobs have been outsourced from North America and the English language is common there.

Given the multiple layers of American bureaucracy and defensive security this would be improbable, but it’s almost as if there was some conscious recruiting going on by the U.S. for economic purposes to get the largely entrepreneurial East Indians to open up shop to spur the economy like other countries might. Since the twin towers fell, the only concern has been keeping people out of the country and the U.S. Immigration Service has become intertwined with the Office of Homeland Security. Immigration to the United States is predictably concerned with your history and background to the point where extra legal advice should be planned for to avoid delays just in case additional problems come up in the process of becoming a permanent resident. Those qualified for Immigration to Canada will encounter fewer roadblocks but should ensure that they obtain the services of an immigration lawyer for the timely issues of work permits and visas. Mistakes can cause people to repeat the process from the beginning.

The encouraging attitude of the government makes immigration easy out of financial necessity in a low-population country like Canada. There’s no concern for assimilation; a person can live and die in Canada without ever speaking either of the official languages. It’s extremely attractive to couples with new children for they can avail themselves of universal free health care and social benefits not present in American society.

The enormous paramilitary reaction to 9/11 caused proclamations by the government that the nation was under attack permanently by terrorists and the public should join in a frenzy of patriotic indignation and fear, justifying the creation of a whole new type of security sector. The laws are largely interpreted by the agency involved and so the applicant should expect an investigative atmosphere. If you can put up with stringent security confrontations in paperwork or in person then you are both well-served by your lawyer and well-equipped to face the challenges in your new home.

US and Canada Immigration Law

July 12th, 2009 at 04:38am Under Immigration Law

To find a qualified legal representative for U.S. and Canada immigration case is often a challenging task as immigration law is not easy to understand and changes quite often. Thus, for an accurate immigration case assessment, it’s utterly important that you take up a good lawyer into a service who can efficiently assist you throughout your immigration process.

Andy J. Semotiuk, US and Canadian Immigration Lawyer offer full immigration services for almost 20 years. By the way of his rich experience exclusively in the field of Canadian and US immigration laws, he is immensely capable to provide a representation and heed a piece of advice to an individual too who are in quest of acquiring a Canada and United States visa through which they can enter Canada or US on a permanent or temporary basis.   

You can implicitly trust on our legal advice on the basis of a reason that our U.S. law firm is AV (highest) Martindale-Hubbell rated. Beside this, with us, you can also look forward for complete discretion of your personal affairs as well.    

Andy J. Semotiuk and his staff provide full range of Canadian and United States immigration services to foreign individuals, small enterprises and multi-nationals alike. In addition to all this, we offer ongoing representation in applications with regard to visas, work permits, study permits, permanent residence, and passports.

Thus analyzing all this, it will not be hard for you to count on Andy J. Semotiuk for its completely priced one-stop service.