This week the media presented us with heart-jerking stories of undocumented aliens facing deportation followed by amazing intercessions. When I was a child I used to watch Superman with George Reeves on TV. I remember one scene, I think it happened a lot, where a man was about to be wrongly executed. Superman busted through a brick wall of the death chamber and stuck his arm in the switch just as the arm was being lowered to execute the victim in his electric chair. The immigration stories this week are reminiscent of Superman’s heroics.

One story was of a Harvard College student. News reports indicate that he was caught while trying to use his Harvard ID (apparently the lack of judgment at age 19 trumps the intelligence it takes to get into Harvard) to travel on an airplane from San Antonio, Texas, to Boston, back to Harvard where he just completed his freshman year. He was brought to the United States at the age of 4, presumably without inspection. He was arrested on June 7 and was scheduled for immigration court in July where he could ask for relief from deportation. The types of relief available to someone like this gentleman are usually: (more…)

Aliens seeking benefits from USCIS or the immigration court need to be fingerprinted by USCIS. USCIS provides the service to aliens for the immigration court as well. The immigration judges do not have access to the fingerprint result databases, so ICE must report the results to the immigration judge. An alien in removal proceedings seeking a benefit must be printed. He must arrange it through USCIS, which then places the results in a database that ICE accesses and reports the results to the immigration judge. Such is the marvel of all the executive departments and bureaus responsible for immigration laws and benefits. Curiously, ICE fingerprints people all the time. Aliens in detention seem to be fingerprinted all the time. CBP, which also detains aliens, also fingerprints them. Oddly, these fingerprints do not enter the USCIS database that ICE then taps to report results to the immigration judge. To be clear, DHS fingerprinting by CBP and ICE is routinely done but that printing cannot be reported by ICE to the immigration judge. Only the fingerprints USCIS takes can be reported by ICE to the immigration judge. (more…)

Paula Poundstone

Paula Poundstone, a comedienne (if you consider “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” funny, which I actually do) pled guilty in September 2001 of a felony charge of child endangerment and a misdemeanor charge of inflicting injury on a child. She had originally been arrested for committing lewd acts on a child. Ms. Poundstone maintained her innocence regarding the lewd act charges. The child endangerment and injury on a child charges were supposedly based on driving under the influence of alcohol with children in the car. Child endangerment and inflicting injury on a child are deportable offenses under INA § 237(a)(2)(E)  as a “crime against children” either as “child abuse” or “child neglect.” (more…)

In this blog I have posted some surveys. Today, I post a final exam question.

Here is the scenario. 

Fred is walking down the street in San Diego, California. His clothes are neat and clean and he stands out in no way other than perhaps an ethnic physiognomy. Immigration officers stop him and ask him where he was born. Fred asks the officers why they want to know. They answer him, “Listen, Shecky, we ask the questions here!” Fred then says, “I do not want to answer. Am I free to go?” The officers tell him he is not free to go and then arrest him. They search him and find no identification. They take him “downtown” and fingerprint him. The prints indicate a conviction for Violating Arizona Revised Statute 13-1509, the new Arizona immigration law, a.k.a. SB 1070, which reads, in part:

Trespassing by illegal aliens; assessment; exception; classification

A. In addition to any violation of federal law, a person is guilty of trespassing if the person is both:

1. Present on any public or private land in this state.

2. In violation of 8 United States Code Section 1304(e) or 1306(a).

B. In the enforcement of this section the final determination of an alien’s immigration status shall be determined either:

Alien’s immigration status shall be determined by either:

1. A law enforcement officer who is authorized by the federal government to verify or ascertain an alien’s immigration status.

2. A law enforcement officer or agency communicating with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the United States Border Protection Pursuant to 8 United States Code Section 1373(c).

(more…)