Two Canadian Teenagers Commit Inadvertent Illegal Border Crossing While Playing Pokémon Go

I recently came across a peculiar instance of illegal immigration that could quite literally have only happened in 2016. As reported by Reuters, two Canadian teenagers in Alberta were fixated on searching for Pokémon while playing Pokémon Go on their phones.[1] They were in fact so fixated that when they were discovered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), they had crossed over the Canadian border into what the article describes as a “remote part of Montana.” Fortunately for the two teenagers, no immigration proceedings were required as the CBP reunited them with their parents at a nearby CBP border patrol station.

In many cases, Canadian citizens seeking to enter the United States from Canada will not even need to procure a visa in order to be admitted to the United States temporarily for business or pleasure [see category]. It is even possible under certain conditions for a Canadian citizen to be admitted on TN status for employment without a visa [see article to learn more]. A Canadian citizen with questions about visiting the United States for business or pleasure or who is seeking a nonimmigrant or immigrant status in the United States should consult with an experienced immigration attorney. With regard to wandering into a different country while playing Pokémon Go, one should not need the counsel of an experienced immigration attorney to know that it is best to look up once in a while and be aware of one's immediate surroundings, much less one's country of current location.

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

1. Herskovitz, Jon. “Pokemon GO Blamed for Illegal Border Crossing from Canada to U.S.” Reuters. Ed. Bernard Orr. Thomson Reuters, 23 July 2016. Web. 04 Aug. 2016.

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com

Filling Out Form I-589 Application for Asylum

Introduction

In order to file for asylum and/or withholding of removal, an applicant must file the Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal.  There are two situations in which a person may file the Form I-589:

• I. Affirmative Asylum Application – The applicant is applying for asylum outside of removal proceedings.
• II. Defensive Asylum Application – The applicant is filing for asylum as a defense during removal during proceedings.  The application will also be considered for statutory withholding of removal and for withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture (either if the applicant requests such consideration or if the evidence submitted suggests that relief under the Convention Against Torture may be appropriate).  The statutory bars to applying for asylum do not prevent a person from filing the Form I-589 in removal proceedings because the application can be considered for withholding of removal.

If a person believes that he or she may be eligible for asylum and/or withholding of removal, it is crucial to consult with an experienced immigration attorney.  In addition to the high stakes faced by a person who fears violence, persecution, or torture if removed to his or her home country, the Form I-589 application is complicated, and the applicant will need to submit compelling evidence to support his or her claims for immigration relief.  An experienced immigration attorney will be able to determine if the person has a bona fide case for relief (there are penalties for frivolous asylum applications) and, if so, to guide the applicant through the asylum/withholding application process if he or she does.

Filing a Form I-589

If the applicant is making an affirmative asylum application, he or she must file the Form I-589 with the appropriate USCIS Service Center having jurisdiction over his or her place of residence.  If the applicant is filing the Form I-589 while in removal proceedings, he or she must file with the Immigration Court having jurisdiction over the case.

There is currently no filing fee for the Form I-589.  Biometrics services may be required at no cost.

What is on the Form I-589 Application for Asylum and Withholding?

The Form I-589 asylum/withholding application is broken into several Parts. Before continuing, it is important to note that the Form I-589 is filled out under penalty of perjury. An applicant must fill out the Form I-589 with the understanding that he or she may face serious consequences if the information provided is not truthful.

The application will ask for information about the background of the applicant and his or her spouse or children (Part A); the basis on which relief is being sought along with evidence (Part B); additional information about the history of the applicant and his or her family members in their home country; their U.S. criminal history (Part C); and certification, under penalty of perjury, that all of the information provided is truthful (Part D; and Parts F/G depending on whether the application was affirmative or defensive).  Part E is for information about the preparer of the form, if it was not the applicant or his or her family member.  Supplement A addresses additional information about the applicants’ children.  Supplement B concerns additional information pertaining to the applicant’s application for asylum.  The applicant is required to submit reasonably available corroborative evidence for his or her claims for relief.  If he or she is unable to procure such evidence at the time of preparing the application, the Supplement B should be used to explain the reasons.

The Form I-589 instructions go into detail about the requirements for submitting a complete Form I-589 asylum application. It is important to follow these directions carefully, because the USCIS will return any incomplete applications. It is important to note that for many documents, including the Form I-589 itself, the instructions require that the applicant submit a certain number of copies. Additional documentation will be required if the applicant has extensive supplementary materials with his or her application or if he or she is including relatives in the application.

If the application is incomplete, USCIS will return it within 30 days.  An application will be incomplete if any questions on the Form I-589 are left blank; if it is unsigned; if it is submitted without the required photograph; if it is sent with insufficient copies of supporting materials; or if the applicant specifies that someone besides the applicant or an immediate family member prepared the form, but the preparer failed to complete Part E.

Conclusion

This article provides a brief overview of what one may expect to find on the Form I-589. As I noted at the beginning of the article, it is important to talk to an experienced immigration attorney before filing for asylum, and to work with an experienced immigration attorney throughout the asylum application process.

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

Resources and materials:

Alexander J Segal - "Asylum in the United States"

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com

Election Issues and Immigration #2: The Immigration Record of Mike Pence

THE SELECTION OF MIKE PENCE

After much speculation, the presumptive Republican nominee for President, Donald Trump, selected Indiana Governor Mike Pence of Indiana as his running mate. Prior to his single term as Governor of Indiana, Pence served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (2001-2013). During his tenure in the House, Pence also served one term as Chair of the House Republican Conference (2009-2011). Pence generally has a reputation as a solid conservative (however, his selection has notably angered many social conservatives) and is not known for his flamboyance, arguably providing some balance to the ticket. However, Pence is a curious choice in other respects. Before the decisive Indiana Primary, Pence endorsed Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, albeit while spending much of his endorsement announcement praising Trump. That contrasted with many reports, including one by the National Review's Tim Alberta, that Pence had expressed to friends that he “loathed” Trump.[1]

While it is impossible to say what effect Governor Pence will have, if any, on the positions that Trump adopts during the election, Pence's time in government provides a window into his positions on immigration. In this post, I will examine Pence's record on immigration and compare it to the positions taken by Donald Trump during his campaign. To learn about some of Trump's inconsistent immigration positions over the years, please see my blog post [see blog]. To see other entries in my series of posts about immigration issues and the November elections, please see my introductory post [see blog].

MIKE PENCE ON IMMIGRATION

In Congress, Pence generally voted with his party on immigration issues. In 2006, Pence supported The Board Protection, Anti-terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, which proposed numerous border security measures including a 700-foot wall along the Mexican Border.

In 2009, Pence supported legislation to end birthright citizenship for children of non-permanent resident aliens who are not performing active service in the armed forces [see blog on subject].[2]

Pence spoke on a variety of immigration issues in a lecture he gave to the Heritage Foundation on June 2, 2006 [see link].[3] In his lecture, Pence supported drastically increasing the number of border patrol agents. Pence opposed amnesty, which he defined as “allowing people whose first act in America was an illegal act to get right with the law without leaving the country.” However, his solution was to encourage such aliens to “self-deport” before allowing them to seek readmission as employment-based guest workers. Under Pence's proposal, an alien who self-deported would be able to seek admission as a guest-worker by applying at an “Ellis Island Center” run by private employers but sponsored by the U.S. government. Pence stated that a virtue of his program would be that many aliens would only have to depart the United States for a week before returning as a temporary worker. He proposed letting the program run for three years before reassessing it based on Department of Labor employment statistics, and subsequently looking to deport those aliens who were present illegally but declined to self-deport. Pence proposed allowing guest workers under his plan to seek citizenship after two three year increments on guest worker status.

As Governor of Indiana, Pence sought to prevent Syrian refugees from being settled in his state. Interestingly, Pence was harshly critical of suggestions, most prominently floated by Donald Trump, that Muslims should be barred from entering the United States as immigrants or nonimmigrants. Pence even went as far as to describe the proposals as “unconstitutional.” However, in an interview after being announced as the presumptive Vice Presidential nominee, Pence stated that he supported Trump's more recent proposal to “suspend immigration from countries where terrorist influence and impact represents a threat to the United States.” Pence supported Trump's proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and agreed with Trump's assertion that Mexico would pay for it.[4]

WILL PENCE HAVE AN EFFECT ON TRUMP'S IMMIGRATION PROPOSALS?

It is too early to say whether the addition of Pence to the Republican ticket will have any discernable effect on Trump's immigration proposals. During his initial statements since being selected as Trump's running mate, Pence has adopted and defended the positions of Trump, thus indicating that his role will likely be defending Trump's proposals rather than adding many of his own.

Interestingly, Pence's proposal for encouraging aliens who entered the United States illegally and never gained status to self-deport bears certain similarities to not only Mitt Romney's proposal to encourage self-deportation in 2012, but also Donald Trump's proposal in that Pence sought to provide ample opportunity for aliens who self-deported to return to the United States with legal status and, eventually, a path to citizenship. While Trump proposed deportations as opposed to self-deportations, he has also expressed an interest in allowing many of the very people he would order deported to expeditiously return to the United States with legal immigration status. Pence's proposal, while certainly more humane than Trump's, can just be well described as “touchback amnesty” for the ease it would have allowed aliens who self-deported to have a pathway to citizenship. Pence's insistence that his proposal was not for amnesty or “touchback amnesty” because an alien would have had to self-deported for as little as a week is unconvincing.

While I disagree with some of his Pence's immigration proposals, such as for building a wall across the U.S.-Mexican border (unrealistic), touchback amnesty (I support a long pathway to citizenship for certain otherwise law-abiding persons here illegally so long as it is tied to demonstrable border security benchmarks and strict background checks), and ending birthright citizenship, Pence brings a wealth of policy experience and a generally pro-legal immigration perspective to the Republican ticket. While Pence has not always struck the perfect balance between promoting legal immigration and immigration enforcement, his record on immigration issues has been far superior to that of Trump's or Hillary Clinton's. Accordingly, Trump could do far worse (as he often has) than to seek the counsel of Pence and other experienced Republicans in developing a solid and coherent platform on immigration issues. Unfortunately, the preponderance of the evidence from the 2016 campaign thus far would indicate that it is far more likely that Pence will be defending Trump's immigration proposals than that he will have the opportunity to cause Trump to consider developing a better immigration platform.

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

1. Alberta, Tim, “Why Cruz is Going All-In on Indiana,” National Review Online, (Apr. 20, 2016), available at http://www.nationalreview.com/article/434265/ted-cruz-indiana-primary-strategy
2. http://www.ontheissues.org/IN/Mike_Pence_Immigration.htm
3. Pence, Mike, “Border Security and Immigration: Building a Principled Consensus for Reform,” heritage.org, (2006), available at http://www.heritage.org/research/lecture/border-security-and-immigration-building-a-principled-consensus-for-reform
4. Johnson, Jenna, “In introducing Mike Pence, Donald Trump keeps the spotlight on himself,” Washington Post, (Jul. 16, 2016), available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/07/16/in-introducing-mike-pence-donald-trump-keeps-the-spotlight-on-himself/

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com

What is Withholding of Removal Status?

What is withholding of removal?

Withholding of removal is a form of relief from removal that prevents an alien against whom a final order of removal has been entered from being removed to a specific country. Withholding of removal does not confer a withholding of removal status. It merely prevents an alien from being removed to a specific country and does not entitle an alien to immigration benefits. An alien who has been granted withholding may be removed to a third country to which he or she would not be likely to be persecuted or tortured.

Two Distinct Forms of Withholding of Removal

1. Statutory withholding of removal allows an alien to seek withholding from a country where he or she presents evidence indicating that it is more likely than not that he or she would be persecuted on the basis of one of five enumerated grounds. Unlike asylum, the alien may not rely upon past persecution to demonstrate eligibility if he or she cannot demonstrate likely persecution in the future.
2. Withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) allows an alien to seek relief by presenting evidence that indicates it is more likely than not that he or she would be tortured in the country of intended removal.

If an alien is falls under a statutory mandatory denial ground for withholding of removal, he or she will be ineligible for both statutory withholding of removal and withholding of removal under CAT. However, if such an alien demonstrates that it is more likely than not that he or she would be tortured in the country of intended removal, the alien shall be granted deferral of removal to that country instead of withholding of removal.

Applying for Withholding of Removal

If an alien in regular removal proceedings applies for asylum, his or her application will also be considered for withholding of removal. If an alien makes an affirmative asylum application and is never placed in removal proceedings, the application will not be considered for withholding of removal. While asylum can be denied on discretionary grounds, an alien must be granted withholding of removal if he or she satisfies the requisite burden of proof.

The process for seeking withholding of removal is slightly different for an alien who is subject to a final order of administrative removal or administrative removal. In such a case, the alien must establish a “reasonable fear” of persecution or torture in in an interview with an asylum officer. If the alien is subject to expedited removal proceedings, he or she must establish a “credible fear” of persecution or torture in an interview with an asylum officer.

Conclusion

Withholding prevents an alien from being removed to a country where he or she would likely be persecuted or tortured. An alien in removal proceedings should consult with an experienced attorney for guidance in pursuing defense from removal. If appropriate, an experienced immigration attorney can help an alien pursue asylum and/or withholding of removal.

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

Resources and materials:

Alexander J Segal - "Eligibility for Statutory Withholding of Removal"

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com