The Golden Door: September 2020

 

Legal and Policy Issues

We are closely monitoring state and federal immigration law and policy. Please check our social media accounts for more frequent updates.

Call to Action: Comment Against Sweeping New Biometrics Rule

The Trump Administration has proposed an expansive new rule that would radically increase the amount of personal data collected by immigration agencies. Currently, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requires fingerprints, photographs, and signatures from anyone over the age of 14 who applies for certain immigration benefits. 

The rule would:

  • Require anyone associated with an immigration application, including US citizens and even children under 14, to appear for biometrics collection;

  • Expand the type of biometrics collected by the government, including palm prints, facial images, iris images, voice prints, and DNA;

  • Would allow immigration agencies to keep those biometrics indefinitely and share with law enforcement; and

  • Would change how survivors of domestic violence or trafficking demonstrate something called “good moral character” and remove the presumption of good moral character for children under 14.

This rule is designed to drastically expand surveillance of millions of people in the United States. Aside from the grave privacy and civil liberties concerns, expanding biometrics in this way will only make the immigration backlog longer. This adds to the administration’s “invisible wall” preventing noncitizens from gaining permanent status in the United States.

We only have until October 13, 2020, to comment. Remember, you must personalize your comment when using a template, or it will not be considered. You can use CLINIC’s commenting tool, or go directly to the government’s website to submit your own comment opposing the proposed rule.

Cruel Fee Rule Blocked by Court

A federal court has issued a nationwide preliminary injunction in Immigrant Legal Resource Center v. Wolf, temporarily stopping the new fee rule from going into effect on October 2nd! 

This new fee rule was yet another attack on immigrants and would have hiked fees and eliminated many fee waivers. The final rule includes dramatic increases in many current application fees as well as the creation of a fee for asylum applications. Moreover, the rule would eliminate almost all existing fee waivers. Fee waivers allow low income and vulnerable immigrants to improve their legal status despite not having the funds to pay high immigration fees.

This rule would have a devastating impact on our immigrant and asylum-seeking communities, especially low-income individuals and families who would face a major barrier to maintaining life-changing legal status or reuniting with loved ones. The judge agreed, writing that "Plaintiffs persuasively argue that the public interest would be served by enjoining or staying the effective date of the Final Rule because if it takes effect, it will prevent vulnerable and low-income applicants from applying for immigration benefits, will block access to humanitarian protections, and will expose those populations to further danger."

This ruling means that, for now, the government cannot enforce the new fee rule. Even though this could change, it is still a big win. Check www.ilapmaine.org/ilap-news/fee-increase for updates.

All Immigrants to be Counted in Census

In September, a court in New York blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to exclude immigrants without status from being counted in the 2020 Census, a huge win for voting rights and immigrants’ rights.

Maine was one of the plaintiffs in the case and ILAP submitted a declaration that was considered by the judges (pg. 51).

Public Charge Rule Back In Effect

USCIS has announced that it is reinstating the public charge rule, applying to future and pending green card applications filed after February 24, 2020.

A court had temporarily stopped the rule in July due to the pandemic, but further orders from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals have allowed USCIS to once again enforce the wealth test to get a green card.  

Remember, refugees, asylees, asylum seekers, and other humanitarian statuses are exempt from the rule. The rule does NOT impact people with green cards who are applying for citizenship. Under the final rule, only receipt of benefits by the individual - not their family members - is considered.

We are very concerned about the chilling effects of this rule, and particularly now in the midst of a global pandemic. COVID-19 programs do not impact public charge. These include testing, treatment, or preventative care for COVID-19, unemployment insurance, stimulus payments, and pandemic-EBT.

Despite the current application of the public charge rule, litigation continues.

Stay up to date at www.ilapmaine.org/public-charge. 

Court Allows Trump Administration To End Temporary Protected Status (TPS)

This month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Trump administration, allowing it to go ahead with its plans to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, and El Salvador. TPS holders have lived in Maine for sometimes decades and many have US citizen children, work, and are an integral part of our communities.

ILAP condemns the administration's attacks against TPS. This decision is a particularly cruel blow in the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis. The facts are clear -- the administration's attempts to end TPS are motivated by racism and are based on arbitrary criteria. The ACLU has said that they will be appealing this decision.

This decision DOES NOT take effect right away. The earliest these programs could end is next year. When we know more, we will post updates on our website, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Remember, Congress has the power to act and pass legislation that grants TPS holders a pathway to permanent status in the United States. The Dream and Promise Act passed last year in the House of Representatives but did not go anywhere in the Senate. Call Senator Collins (202) 224-2523 and Senator King (202) 224-5344 and tell them to save TPS!

Reports From Georgia Facility Expose Systemic Medical Neglect in ICE Prisons

An incredibly brave nurse came forward this month to expose the violent health practices of Irwin County Detention Center, a privately-run Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Georgia. Nurse Dawn Wooten made public the facility’s alarmingly high rate of hysterectomies performed without consent and the pattern of medical neglect, including a complete lack of COVID-19 testing and history of shredding immigrants' medical requests.

The horrific conditions Wooten witnessed do not represent an isolated incident, rather a pattern of systemic medical neglect and inhumane conditions in immigration detention across the country.

The House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform published findings of its investigation into private ICE facilities. The Committee Chairman, Representative Jamie Raskin stated that the report "makes clear that the shocking mistreatment of immigrant detainees is far more pervasive than one doctor or one facility. An epidemic of medical neglect and mistreatment at detention centers has caused undue suffering and even death."

ILAP strongly condemns the inhumane treatment and continued detention of immigrants. We call for the release of immigrants being held in detention centers and a full investigation into this medical abuse.

A Closer Look

We recently launched this section of the Golden Door, which takes “a closer look” at immigration using an intersectional approach, based on a monthly theme. Let us know what you think! 

Latinx Heritage Month

September 15th through October 15th marks Latinx Heritage Month, a period known also for the independence anniversaries of several Latin American nations. We are proud to celebrate alongside and uplift the Latinx, Hispanic, and Latino-identified communities and organizations living and working here in Maine.  

In the late 1990’s, Latinx immigrant farmworkers from the blueberry industry began making Milbridge in Washington County their year-round home. Many more still travel from Mexico and other Latin American countries for seasonal work and other Latinx communities have settled in urban areas in Southern Maine. Migrant farmworkers make up the backbone of Maine’s wild blueberry, broccoli, lumber, and seafood processing industries and represent 15% of ILAP's clients, as of last year. 

Our state's Latinx communities, while vibrant, diverse, and essential, are often made invisible and barred from state and federal support, as exhibited recently during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This month, ILAP is excited to highlight two Maine-based organizations led by and for Maine's Latinx community. 

  1. Mano en Mano (Hand in Hand) is one of ILAP’s key partners in our Rural Maine Project and has been an advocate and resource for Latinx and immigrant communities in Downeast Maine since 2005. Earlier this year, the organization set up a mutual aid fund, in total distributing over $150,000 to farmworkers and immigrant families who faced financial challenges due to COVID-19. To learn more and support their work, visit www.manomaine.org.
     

  2. Another community organization, ¡Presenté! Maine, works for the empowerment of Latinx people throughout Maine. Since the pandemic's outbreak, ¡Presenté! Maine has worked tirelessly to organize support for people with the least access to support, launching Brigade de Viveres or the Food Brigade. Crystal Cron, the organization's president, said "For us, this isn't the beginning of the crisis. We've been in crisis for years, decades, centuries, living in poverty, being colonized peoples." You can find the latest updates and support their efforts here: www.facebook.com/presentemaine

Keep Learning: 

The Golden Door, ILAP NewsILAP MaineCall to Action, Public Comment, Biometrics, Fee Increase, Census, Public Charge, TPS, ICE, Detention, Community Partners