Mayor of D.C. reaffirmed that D.C. police will not cooperate with ICE in determining local residents' immigration status.

On October 19, 2011, D.C. Mayor reaffirmed that District police will not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), leaving it up to federal immigration officials to determine on their own whether a resident is in the country illegally. Under the new guidelines, D.C. police and corrections officials will not ask those they come in contact with about their immigration status; and will not enforce an ICE detainer or warrant issued against someone who has not committed another crime.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-wont-cooperate-with-federal-immigration-enforcement-mayor-says/2011/10/19/gIQAznSpyL_story.html

19 U.S. Senators wrote to Pres. Obama asking to stop new Immigration Policies on Prosecutorial Discretion.

On September 26, 2011, 19 U.S. Senators are questioning the Obama
administration's Immigration policies that "go beyond the scope of the law and
allow people who have broken our laws to remain in the country."

The Senators are demanding that the Obama administration stop the bypassing of
Congress with regard to immigration policies that circumvent Congressional
jurisdiction and authority.

In a letter sent to President Obama, the Senators cite a June 17th memo and an
August 18th directive which outline and encourage increased use of prosecutorial
discretion and administrative closure of cases pending before the courts.

See full text of the letter here
http://grassley.senate.gov/judiciary/upload/Immigration-09-26-11-letter-to-Presi\
dent-on-Backdoor-Amnesty.pdf


Leading the charge is Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who said, "The administration
has repeatedly ignored and dismissed our reservations with its policies that
circumvent Congress and provide a safe-haven for illegal immigrants. Its
policies ignore the rule of law and take the powers provided to the
administration to an entirely new level,"

"We write to express serious concern about your immigration policies and ask
that you require the Department of Homeland Security to overturn recent
directives regarding the increased use of prosecutorial discretion. We also
request that the Administration halt any initiative, whether through regulation
or otherwise, that circumvents Congress or aims to ensure that illegal
immigrants are afforded every possibility to remain in this country," the letter
begins.

"After the release of the June 17th Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
memorandum, which called for the increased use of prosecutorial discretion,
several members of the Senate wrote to Assistant Secretary John Morton. While
prosecutorial discretion is justifiable in certain cases, this initiative may
result in an impermissible intrusion on Congress's plenary authority over
immigration law. Accordingly, we asked Assistant Secretary Morton to rescind the
memorandum outlining ICE's prosecutorial discretion policies. That request has
been ignored," the letter continues.

"We are also concerned that the initiative announced by Secretary Napolitano on
August 18th will result in the administrative closure of an untold number of
cases currently pending before our immigration and federal courts. In
combination with the June 17th ICE memo, these new policies send the message
that your Administration is turning a blind eye to those who have broken our
immigration laws. We are also concerned that these policies appear to be a
direct attempt to categorically legalize those who are unlawfully in the country
and to allow undocumented individuals to remain in violation of the law without
fear of apprehension or deportation. The security of our country depends on our
ability to prevent unlawful entry and to respond when such criminals have
overstayed their visa or avoided inspection. These policies have the potential
to undermine the rule of law and threaten our nation's security," the Senators
declared.

The letter states the Executive Branch is not entitled to bypass… Congress by
administrative fiat.

"While we appreciate Secretary Napolitano's assurances that these initiatives
will not provide categorical relief for any group, we remain concerned about
statements being made by certain advocates and members of Congress. For example,
in a September 20th speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Senator Dick Durbin
stated that these initiatives "pave the way" for DREAM Act students. He further
stated that "[the Administration] said recently that those eligible for the
DREAM Act, good moral character, graduates of high school and pursuing college
degrees are not going to be their targets." The United States Senate and the
American people have rejected the DREAM Act and the Executive Branch is not
entitled to bypass that determination by administrative fiat"

Obama has been quoted saying, "Believe me, the idea of doing things on my own is
very tempting. I promise you not just on immigration reform. But that's not how
our system works,"

The letter addresses that statement: "…in a recent speech before the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Congressman Luis Gutierrez stated:
"[President Obama] said, `But I can't bypass Congress,' and people in the
audience said, `Yes you can,' and you want to know something? They were right –
he could and he did." Such statements will only create a rush to the border and
encourage the undocumented population to come forward in hopes of receiving a
benefit."

The Senators ask Obama to correct the path this policy is on. "We request that
you promptly rescind these initiatives, dismantle the working group designed to
identify "low priority" cases before our immigration and federal courts, and
direct the agencies within the Department of Homeland Security to abide by our
Nation's immigration laws. We also ask that you make Secretary Napolitano
available to members of the Senate for questioning about the Department's
immigration enforcement policies, including granting parole, deferred action,
and prosecutorial discretion to keep unlawful immigrants in this country."

"It is unjustifiable for the Administration to sidestep Congress to implement
policies that are contrary to the law and the wishes of the American people,"
the letter states.

Read at
http://libertynews.com/2011/09/29/19-senators-tell-obama-to-stop-bypassing-congr\
ess/

Work Permit, EAD, for immigrants who were granted Deferred Action under new DHS Enforcement Policy 08/18/2011. ICE FAQs published 08/30/2011.

Work Permit for immigrants who are granted Deferred Action, FAQs published by ICE on 08-30-2011:

Will beneficiaries of an exercise of prosecutorial discretion automatically receive work authorization?

No. Nothing about this process is automatic and nobody who goes through this process is automatically
entitled to work authorization. Per longstanding federal law, individuals affected by an exercise of
prosecutorial discretion will be able to request work authorization, including paying associated fees, and
their requests will be separately considered by USCIS on a case-by-case basis.

http://www.ice.gov/doclib/about/offices/ero/pdf/immigration-enforcement-facts.pdf

USCIS switches to electronic forms & filing: new rule effective date November 28, 2011.

Say goodbye to traditional immigration processing forms.

08/29/2011

In preparation for a long-delayed transition to online processing of immigration
applications, the Homeland Security Department has released new rules for
describing forms and filing procedures in official policies.

The 43-page federal notice published Monday instructs the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services, a unit of DHS, to stop typing on documents the traditional
numbers and titles for various benefit claims, such as "Application for
Naturalization, form N-400." Instead, to accommodate the new computerized
Transformation system, USCIS policies and rules will carry more generic phrases,
such as "the form designated by USCIS."

Rule effective date is November 28, 2011.

The goal of the $2.4 billion Transformation program, according to the
guidelines, is to improve customer service by offering applicants online
accounts for submitting and tracking their cases. Agency employees also should
be able to work faster because they will be collaborating on documents
electronically, rather than physically transferring folders between offices.
USCIS receives about 6 million forms annually.

All this digitization should tighten security by enabling staff to cross-check
information from multiple applications so they can better detect identity fraud,
DHS officials said.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-08-29/pdf/2011-20990.pdf and
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20110829_3929.php

August 18, 2011 DHS Deportation or Prosecutorial Discretion New Policy is NOT an Amnesty: you can NOT apply for a work permit or ANY status under this policy at this time.

In view of August 18, 2011, public announcement by the DHS, the American Immigration Lawyers Association issued the following warning:

WARNING!

Do NOT believe anyone who tells you they can sign you up for a work permit
(Employment Authorization Document or “EAD”) or get you legal status
based on the Secretary Napolitano’s August 18, 2011 announcement!
Anyone who says that is not to be trusted!

There is NO “safe” way to turn yourself in to immigration and there is NO
guarantee that your case will be considered “low priority.” ANY person who
comes into contact with immigration authorities may be arrested, detained
or even removed.

Only a QUALIFIED IMMIGRATION LAWYER can evaluate your case and tell
your about your rights.

Do NOT seek legal advice from a notario or immigration consultant.
For more information about avoiding immigration scams go to
www.StopNotarioFraud.org

What the new policy is NOT:

** The Obama Administration announcement is NOT an
amnesty, it is NOT about granting legal status, and is NOT
something that you can sign-up for!

The Obama Administration made very clear that the announcements do NOT
provide any way to “apply” for a work permit or “EAD” nor is there a new way to
apply to remain in the United States. The change announced is not about giving
people work permits or legal status. The announcement applies ONLY to cases
already in the system, ensuring that low priority cases do not continue to clog
up an already overburdened immigration court system.

***What the new policy IS:

The Obama Administration announced the creation of a high-level working group made
up of Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice officials who are to
do the following:

** Review all cases already pending before the immigration courts. Those that are
considered “low priority” may be administratively closed. Those that are
considered a “high priority” will be prosecuted more aggressively.

** There are no rules or guarantees that a particular type of case will be considered
a “low” or “high” priority. Recent guidelines are helpful, but no one can tell you if
your case is a low priority--only immigration authorities will make that decision.

** In the future, immigration authorities will review the cases people before they are
placed in removal proceedings. Those that are “low priority” may not be referred
to the immigration court.

**Create department-wide guidance to help USCIS, CBP, and ICE agents and
officers make better, more consistent decisions about who to place in removal
proceedings.
** Issue guidance on providing discretion in compelling cases for persons who
already have a final order of removal.

In other words, the August 18, 2011 announcement was preliminary and nothing has been
implemented yet. Any details about how the review process will work, what cases will
be considered low priority or how to have a particular case considered have not been
decided.

The best course of action is to consult an immigration lawyer or accredited
representative, not to take action because a friend, neighbor or coworker
encourages you to act.

Even if a friend, neighbor or coworker encourages you to act, do NOT try to contact
immigration authorities or fall for a scam!

NOTE: At this time, there is NO application to fill out, NO form that can be filed, NO filing fee that can be paid and NO guidance from immigration authorities AT ALL as to how the review of cases
will happen.

Eventually, as the government decides how to proceed, that information
should be available from official government websites, such as USCIS.gov .

Read at http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=36705