Tag: President Trump

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FAQs on Trump’s Proclamation Suspending Immigration

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President Trump issued a proclamation “Suspending Entry of Immigrants Who Present Risk to the U.S. Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the COVID-19 Outbreak.” This proclamation became effective on April 23, 2020 and will expire 60 days from its effective date.

1. Who is covered by the Proclamation?
The ban applies to any individual seeking to enter the United States as an immigrant who is outside of the United States on April 23, 2020 and does not have a valid immigrant visa on the effective date, and is not in possession of a valid travel documents (such as a transportation letter, boarding foidl or advance parole document) effective on or after the date of the temporary suspension.

Those severely affected are those outside the United States who are immigrant applicants.

2. Who are exempt from the suspension of immigration?
Among others, these are the categories of individuals who are not affected by the Proclamation:

  • Those adjusting status in the United States.
  • Green card holders or immigrant visa holders at the time of the proclamation. If an individual is already in possession of an immigrant visa or green card before the Proclamation, they can still travel back to the United States.
  • Those with temporary travel documents can still enter the U.S. Examples are individuals in possession of transportation letters issued by the U.S. Embassy, re-entry permits and advance parole issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
  • Health care workers, professionals and other essential medical workers alleviating the effects of COVID-19 are exempt
  • Temporary visa holders such as tourists, student visa holders and working visa holders. They can still enter the U.S. if their visas are still valid.
  • Minor children (below 21 years old) and spouses of U.S. citizens may still continue to be processed for their immigrant visas and travel to the U.S.

3.  A tourist visa holder plans to visit his U.S. citizen parent during this pandemic, will he still be allowed to enter the United States?
Yes. As long as the tourist visa is still valid, the traveler may still enter the United States as tourist visa holders are non-immigrant visa holders that are not covered by the Proclamation.

4. Are other non-immigrant visas such as student visa holders or those with working visas still allowed to enter?
Yes. As long as the student visa and working visa holders have valid visas, they will still be considered and permitted to enter the United States. For those with working visas, considering the COVID-19 pandemic, they have to make sure that they still have jobs from their U.S. employers to avoid the technicality of having the working visa be declared void. This refers to working visas that are employer specific such as the professional H1B visas.

5. A beneficiary of an approved visa petition was issued a printed immigrant visa on his passport after an interview with the consular officer at the U.S. Embassy. He was not able to enter travel to the U.S. yet and now wants to plan on going to the U.S. He is afraid that the Trump Proclamation will apply to him and would result in his inability to travel to the U.S. Will this individual be prevented from entering the United States because of the Proclamation?
No. The Proclamation does not affect those who are in possession of immigrant visas. Although he has not received his actual green card, he is considered to have gone through a completed process for him to be considered as an immigrant visa holder, hence, he can travel to the United States.

6. If the individual who was issued an immigrant visa by the U.S. Embassy is not ready to travel to the United States during this COVID-19 pandemic, will he risk losing his immigrant visa by revocation?
No. Valid immigrant visas issued before the proclamation and that were not used for travel will not be revoked under this Proclamation. This was confirmed by the Department of States.

7. An adjustment of status applicant left the United States for a temporary visit abroad, will this adjustment applicant be able to return with his advance parole document ?
Yes. An advance parole is considered as a travel document not covered by the Proclamation, hence this individual may travel back to the U.S. using his advance parole document.

8. A lawful permanent resident plans to file a visa petition for his minor children, will he be permitted to file a visa petition with the USCIS?
Yes, lawful permanent residents may still file for visa petitions on behalf of their minor children. What the Proclamation prohibits is the issuance of visas for these individuals. The proclamation exempts only minor children and spouses of U.S. citizens.

9. A visa petition was approved for a parent of a U.S. citizen. The parent was already interviewed before the Proclamation effectivity date of April 23, 2020 but no visa has been issued yet. Can this parent follow up on the issuance of his visa and travel to the United States?
No. Clearly under the Proclamation, parents of U.S. citizens who have not been issued visas or are not in possession of visas and may not be allowed to immigrate for 60 days from April 23, 2020. They are covered by the Proclamation and are not exempt from the ban.

10. Following up on question number 9, what if the parent of a U.S. citizen has a valid tourist visa, can he travel on a tourist visa?
While tourist visas are not covered by the Proclamation, an immigrant visa applicant especially one who was already interviewed by the consular officer may risk being denied entry to the U.S. not based on the Proclamation but as an intending immigrant.

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Updates

What Trump’s Latest Proclamation Suspending Immigration Means to Our Families?

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President Trump issued a proclamation “Suspending Entry of Immigrants Who Present Risk to the U.S. Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the COVID-19 Outbreak.” This proclamation became effective on April 23, 2020 and will expire 60 days from its effective date and may be continued.

Coverage and Exemptions

Those severely affected are those outside the United States who are immigrant applicants. It does not affect those adjusting status in the United States. There are several exemptions to the Proclamation, among these categories are:

  1. Green card holders or immigrant visa holders at the time of the proclamation. If an individual is already in possession of an immigrant visa or green card before the Proclamation, they can still travel back to the United States.
  2. Those with temporary travel documents can still enter the U.S. Examples are individuals in possession of transportation letters issued by the U.S. Embassy, re-entry permits and advance parole issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
  3. Health care workers, professionals and other essential medical workers alleviating the effects of COVID-19 are exempt
  4. Temporary visa holders such as tourists, student visa holders and working visa holders. They can still enter the U.S. if their visas are still valid.
  5. Minor children (below 21 years old) and spouses of U.S. citizens may still continue to be processed for their immigrant visas and travel to the U.S.

Families of Immigrants Severely Affected

There are three categories of family members adversely impacted by this Proclamation.

First on the list are the parents of U.S. citizens and preference categories beneficiaries of petitions filed by green card holders and U.S. citizens.

The parents of U.S. citizens should have been considered as immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and should have been included in the exemption. The goal of the proclamation as stated is to protect U.S. workers, but how are parents of U.S. citizens a threat or in competition with U.S. workers?On the contrary ,should they not be immigrating right now to allow them to assist in caring for their grandchildren especially during this time of COVID-19 pandemic? U.S. citizens parents, with minor children who are still in school, are shuffling between engaging in essential work (such as the health care workers)or work from home and taking care of their children’s online schooling. The presence of a grandparent or any additional member of the family will be beneficial to a typical immigrant household.

Second category of those affected are families of U.S. citizens who are adults, married or unmarried, their siblings and families of lawful permanent residents who are spouses, minor or adult unmarried children. This group of visa applicants will have their visa processing outside the U.S.suspended as a result of this Proclamation. But take note that these are the relatives who have waited for many years, some for more than 2 decades, to be reunited with their families. Considering the lengthy delay before visas become available, the majority of the petitioners are now elderly citizens. It is these elderly U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who actually need the company of their adult children during this COVID-19 epidemic. Depriving them family reunification at a critical time when they are needed most is certainly detrimental given the importance of family to the immigrants.

The third and last category of immigrants affected are the minor children who are aging out. The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) may protect certain minor children from aging out but several categories of aging out children may not qualify under the CSPA. With the Proclamation suspending immigration of those in the preference categories, minor children who aged out will be rendered ineligible as minor children or derivative minor children. There will be no protection from them while the Proclamation is in effect resulting in prolonged separation from their lawful permanent resident parents.

Trump has always targeted these families of immigrants and U.S. citizens in his proposals to limit immigration. He has found a ‘convenient’ time to implement his intended policy in the guise of protecting U.S. workers. If it is indeed to protect U.S. workers, why are there more family based immigrants affected over employment based workers who are already in the United States? There is no valuable national interest in suspending family reunification. We are in critical times, the priorities should be focused on directly addressing the COVID-19 crisis and not in weakening our family support system.

(Atty. Lourdes S. Tancinco is an immigrant advocate and legal counsel based in San Francisco CA. She is the principal and co-founder of Tancinco Law Offices and may be reached at law@tancinco.com, tancinco.weareph.com/old, facebook/tancincolaw, or at 1-888-930-0808)

 

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Updates

Trump to Sign Executive Order to Suspend Immigration for 60 Days

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On Monday night, Trump tweeted that he will be signing an Executive Order that will temporarily suspend immigration to the United States. As of Tuesday, April 21, 2020, Trump said in his press conference that those affected are those seeking immigrant visas or green cards including spouses of American citizens and those entering based on employment based immigrant visas. It will not block from entering students, tourists or those on temporary work visas.

The actual Executive Order has not been released or signed as of this writing and we cannot provide you the details of this new rule. Our office will be monitoring this situation and will update you as quickly as possible on this development.

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Global Pinoy

Know Your Rights in Case of ICE Arrest

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At the recently concluded American Immigration Lawyers Association conference held at New Orleans, representatives from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement indicated the lack of detention centers and beds. It was mentioned several times, that Trump’s policy on interior enforcement is being executed and they expect increase in apprehension.

If a non-U.S. citizen who is without legal status is arrested by ICE agent, what steps may be taken? What rights if any do they have at the time of arrest?

Below are the “Know Your Rights” information being disseminated by Immigration Legal Resource Center and certain non-profit organizations, which may be asserted if the inescapable ICE visit or arrest takes place.

You have the right to remain silent.

You can assert your fifth amendment right. You can refuse to speak to an ICE agent. Do not answer any questions, especially about your birth place, immigration status or how you entered the United States. Say that you want to remain silent until you speak with a lawyer.

You have the right to demand a warrant before letting anyone into your home.

The ICE agent may not enter your home without a warrant. You do not have to give permission for him to enter. It is okay not to open your door unless the agent shows you the warrant. If the warrant is presented to you, ask the agent to slip it under the door or through the window. Make sure it is signed by a judge with your correct name, address and date of birth.

You have the right to speak to a lawyer and the right to make a phone call.

It is important to have your attorney’s phone number handy. You will be entitled to make a phone call. If you do not know your attorney’s number, call a trusted friend or relative to coordinate with your attorney.

You have the right to refuse to sign anything before you talk to a lawyer.

There will be some documents that will be presented to you for signing after you are apprehended and taken into custody. Do not sign anything. If you sign without understanding the nature of the document, it is possible that you are signing a waiver of your rights to a lawyer or to a hearing. And if you waive these rights, it may result in your immediate removal without a hearing.

You have the right to refuse to show any documents before speaking with a lawyer.

When you are visited by an ICE agent, you do not have to give permission to search any of your belongings unless there is a warrant. You can ask to speak with a lawyer before you submit any documentation. Each case of an unauthorized individual is distinct and all non-U.S. citizens must be vigilant about their rights. During these challenging times, a legal advice from a professional immigration attorney becomes indispensable to figure out what legal options may still be available.

(Atty. Lourdes S. Tancinco is a San Francisco CA based immigration attorney at Tancinco Law Offices and may be reached at law@tancinco.com, facebook.com/tancincolaw, or at 1 888 930 0808 or at 1 415 397 0808.)

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Updates

Re-written Travel Ban Released March 6, 2017: Green Card Holders and Visa Holders are Exempt

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An Executive Order titled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, which is the re-written travel ban, was signed by President Trump on March 6, 2017. The prior travel ban, Executive order 13769 of January 27, 2017, will be revoked on March 16, 2017.

This travel ban covers on 6 countries and Iraq was taken off the list. Also, green card holders and visas from these 6 countries are not affected by the new travel ban.

Travel Ban for Nationals of 6 Countries

For the next 90 days, foreign nationals from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen who are outside the United States on the effective date of the order, do not currently have a valid visa on the effective date of this order, and did not have a valid visa at 5:00 eastern standard time on January 27, 2017, are not eligible to travel to the United States. The 90-day period will allow for proper review and establishment of standards to prevent terrorist or criminal infiltration by foreign nationals.

Iraq Nationals are Exempt from the Travel Ban

As a result of this increased information sharing, Iraqi citizens are not affected by the Executive Order. Of course, all normal immigration processing requirements continue to apply, including the grounds of inadmissibility that may be applicable.

Green Card Holders and Visa Holders Exempt from the Travel Ban

The Executive Order does not apply to certain individuals, such as lawful permanent residents of the United States; foreign nationals admitted to the United States after the effective date of the order; individuals with a document that is valid on the effective date of the order or any date thereafter which permits travel to the United States; dual nationals when traveling on a passport issued by a non-designated country; foreign nationals traveling on diplomatic, NATO, C-2 for travel to the United Nations, G-1, G-2, G-3, or G-4 visas; and individuals already granted asylum or refugee status in the United States before the effective date of the order.

Visas to Be Issued on Case by Base Basis

DHS and the Department of State have the discretionary authority, on a case-by-case basis, to issue visas or allow the entry of nationals of these six countries into the United States when a national from one of the countries demonstrates that the denial of entry would cause undue hardship, that his or her entry would not pose a threat to national security, and that his or her entry would be in the national interest.

Country by Country Review of Identity and Security Information

In the first 20 days, DHS will perform a global, country-by-country review of the identity and security information that each country provides to the U.S. Government to support U.S. visa and other immigration benefit determinations. Countries will then have 50 days to comply with requests from the U.S. Government to update or improve the quality of the information they provide.

Refugee Program Suspended for 120 Days

Similarly, the Refugee Admissions Program will be temporarily suspended for the next 120 days while DHS and interagency partners review screening procedures to ensure refugees admitted in the future do not pose a security risk to the United States. Upon resumption of the Refugee Admissions Program, refugee admissions to the United States will not exceed 50,000 for fiscal year 2017. The Executive Order does not apply to those refugees who have already been formally scheduled for transit by the State Department. During this 120-day period, similar to the waiver authority for visas, the Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security may jointly determine to admit individuals to the United States as refugees on a case-by-case basis, in their discretion, but only so long as they determine that the entry of such individuals as refugees is in the national interest and would not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States.

Uniform Screening for All Immigration Programs

The Department of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the Department of State, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Department of Justice, will develop uniform screening standards for all immigration programs government-wide as appropriate and in the national interest.

Improving the Entry-Exit System

The Secretary of Homeland Security will expedite the completion and implementation of a biometric entry-exit system for all in-scope travelers entering and departing the United States. As part of a broader set of government actions, the Secretary of State will review all nonimmigrant visa reciprocity agreements to ensure that they are, with respect to each visa classification, truly reciprocal.

Visa Waiver Program to be Restricted

The Department of State will restrict the Visa Interview Waiver Program and require additional nonimmigrant visa applicants to undergo an in-person interview.

Effective Date

The Executive Order is effective at 12:01 A.M., Eastern Standard Time, on March 16, 2017.