The Golden Door: October 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: Oppose Proposed Rule That Attacks Family-Based Immigration
A proposed rule is aimed at making it more difficult for US citizens and permanent residents to sponsor an immigrant, and thus more difficult for potential immigrants to get green cards and eventually, citizenship.
An affidavit of support is a form a sponsor must sign to accept financial responsibility for the intending immigrant (the applicant who is applying for a green card). The sponsor must show the US government that they have the income and/or assets to support the intending immigrant. The sponsor’s income must be at least 125 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, according to the size of the household.
The proposed rule adds many requirements for sponsors, including:
Requiring sponsors to submit three years of tax returns, bank account information, credit scores, and credit reports, while currently they just have to submit one year of tax returns;
No longer including the sponsor’s adult or married children, parents, or siblings in their income;
Requiring sponsors to find a joint sponsor if the sponsor used a federal means-tested benefit within the last three years.
Comment against the rule and explain why this rule may discourage or even disqualify people from sponsoring family members for green cards, especially low- and moderate-income households. Explain how that will hurt our communities.
Comments are due before midnight on November 2.
Election Day - November 3!
Don’t forget! Election Day is November 3rd. If you have an absentee ballot, it is too late to mail your ballot, so have a plan to either take your ballot to the appropriate location or to vote in person. Find out more from the League of Women Voters of Maine.
Summaries of the presidential candidates’ positions on immigration from:
Senate Adjourns Without Passing COVID-19 Relief
The Senate adjourned this week without taking any action toward COVID-19 relief. ILAP signed on to a letter with over 150 other organizations urging the Senate to act on behalf of immigrant families who have been left out of COVID-19 relief.
Unfortunately, the prediction in the letter that “[t]aking on a divisive partisan debate over a Supreme Court nomination will only serve to reduce the likelihood of a bipartisan compromise on pandemic response” came true – the Senate sped through a Supreme Court confirmation process within one month, while it has not moved on COVID-19 relief for 7 months.
ICE Expands Expedited Removal
Expedited removal is a fast-track deportation program. Under a new policy, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers can detain certain undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S for less than two years. These persons can be ordered deported without a hearing by an immigration judge.
Expedited removal does not apply to:
Any individual with valid immigration status, including U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents (green card holders), those with valid and unexpired visas, refugees, or asylum seekers;
Unaccompanied minors;
Individuals who have been admitted to the U.S., even if they have overstayed a visa;
Anyone who has been in the U.S. for two years or more.
Read more on ILAP’s Expedited Removal page.
Hundreds of Children Still Separated From Parents
The administration’s devastating and cruel 2018 “zero tolerance” policy that separated at least 5,500 children from their parents is still traumatizing hundreds of children and their families. We are learning this information because of ongoing litigation over this policy and internal investigations. You can learn more from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s timeline of family separation.
A draft report from the Justice Department’s inspector general details how the administration implemented family separation. The report describes how the administration made the deliberate decision to take parents away from their children – even nursing babies from their mothers – in order to deter future asylum seekers from coming to the United States for safety. It did not matter to administration officials that those children would be too young to even know their parents’ names.
This month, the ACLU reported that at least 545 children’s parents have not been located. Remember – our government did not keep complete records on the families separated, and these families were fleeing persecution and violence. That means advocates must now locate parents who have been deported from the US and may be in hiding, or even killed.
Families belong together. While we cannot undo the horrors perpetrated by the administration against these families, Congress can and must act to keep families together and out of detention.
Online Asylum Workshop Series
Join our Asylum Team for weekly asylum workshops on ILAP’s Facebook page! Led by ILAP attorney Felix Hagenimana, the workshops will run through November and December and feature a detailed presentation on the topic of the day with time for questions at the end. The series includes translations in Lingala, French, Portuguese, and Kirundi/Kinyarwanda.
Topics Include:
Am I Eligible for Asylum? An Overview of Asylum Eligibility
Overview of the Defensive Process for People Who Came to the US Without a Visa
How to Submit an Asylum Application with Immigration Court
Master Calendar and Individual Hearings in Immigration Court for Unrepresented People
Click here for the full schedule! The videos will be saved and available on our Facebook page after the event for those who can't join us live.
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!
Indigenous Rights & Immigrant Justice
October 12th marked Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a holiday officially recognized last year by the state of Maine in place of Columbus Day. This change was an important and long overdue step. And still, there is much to be done to acknowledge the truth of our country’s history and advance tribal sovereignty at the local, state, and federal levels today.
ILAP’s offices and the communities where we work and live are in the homeland of the Wabanaki, the People of the Dawn. For thousands of years, the Wabanaki people spanned northern New England, the Canadian Maritimes, and Quebec before colonizers arrived, decimating tribal populations and lands. Wabanaki people remain in Maine today, resilient and strong, still fighting for rights in their homeland.
We extend our respect and thanks to the Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy [1 and 2], Penobscot, and Abenaki Nations and all of the Indigenous communities who have lived for thousands of generations in what is currently known as Maine. Visit native-land.ca to learn about the history of the land on which you live.
We have a lot to learn from the original stewards of our land and waters, especially in the immigrat rights movement. Let us work together to decolonize our ideas about the immigration system, recognizing the importance of Indigenous perspectives.
As Elizabeth Ellis, citizen of the Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma, writes in The Border(s) Crossed Us Too, "By including Native people and respecting Native sovereignty…we not only support America’s original and rightful inhabitants in their struggles against colonial borders, walls, state power, but also challenge the claims of the United States to make exclusionary [immigration] policies.”
Keep Learning:
Bangor Daily News: Happy Indigenous Peoples Day by Maulian Dana, Penobscot Nation Tribal Ambassador and President of the Board of the Wabanaki Alliance
Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, ME
Hemispheric Institute: The Border(s) Crossed Us Too: The Intersections of Native American and Immigrant Fights for Justice
India Street Society Celebrates Virtually
Our annual India Street Society Gathering is an opportunity for us to thank the community of supporters who make ILAP’s work possible - India Street Society members, volunteers, partners, and more.
During last week's event, we gathered virtually to celebrate our wonderful Executive Director, Sue Roche, as she marked 20 years with ILAP and hear from special guest Phuc Tran, a Portland-based educator, classicist, tattooer, and author of the acclaimed memoir Sigh Gone: A Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In.
Although it's just one night, our sincere appreciation and gratitude extends throughout the year. From all of us at ILAP, thank you! Special thanks to our dedicated event sponsor, cPort Credit Union!
Visit ilapmaine.org/india-street-society to view the full recording of the event.
