ICE: Prison Terms for Employers/Conspirators for Harboring, Transporting and Employing Illegal Aliens

5 residents pled guilty, on July 16, 2010, to knowingly harboring, transporting and employing illegal aliens, as a result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents (such as special agents).

ICE’s, an investigation agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), functions are to protect national security, public safety and the integrity of the U.S. borders by enforcing criminal and civil federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration.

The defendants transported and paid cash to these illegal foreign nationals for employment at various work sites, and used various properties to harbor and conceal them, to gain competitive economic advantage over their competition in the chicken industry. The defendants were sentenced to at least 12 to 30 months in prison, with supervised release thereafter, and forfeiture of properties totaling over $1.87 million.

It is important to be proactive in legal compliance:
1. Employers or their personnel should comply with various laws such as immigration, employment and tax law when hiring personnel in the U.S.
2. Before immigration crisis such as investigations, arrests, detention or removal/deportation, families living with or having relatives without legal immigration status in the U.S. should seek professional legal immigration help to legalize their immigration status within legal and ethical boundaries.

For further information, please visit ICE News Release at http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1007/100720fortsmith.htm .

By Aik Wan Kok, Attorney at Law, at Tiya PLC; Tel: 202-506-9767
www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; www.immigrationresource.net

We represent companies, and individuals and their families in U.S. immigration law such as green card, work visa and waiver matters. We represent clients within the U.S. and abroad.

All Rights Reserved.
This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as a legal advice or an attorney-client relationship.

ICE Immigration Enforcements & Compliance with U.S. Immigration Law

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a department within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is responsible for a broad-range of civil enforcement of U.S. immigration law such as the apprehension, detention and/or removal of non-U.S. citizens or foreign nationals. Given its finite resources, scope of enforcement actions, and the enormous immigration or administrative violations in the U.S., ICE only has resources to remove approximately 400,000 non-U.S.-citizens each year (which is less than 4% of the estimated foreign nationals illegally present in the U.S.), and must prioritize its enforcement actions.

ICE’s priority is to secure the U.S. national border, and to safeguard the U.S. national security and public safety. For this reason, ICE has reiterated its priorities in civil immigration enforcement in the following categories of foreign nationals or non-citizens:

1. Priority 1 will be placed on foreign nationals or non-citizens who pose a danger to national security or risk to public safety. These foreign nationals include, but are not limited to, those suspected of terrorism/espionage and involved in certain crimes.

2. Priority 2 will be placed on foreign nationals who committed recent violations of illegal entries (attempted entries or otherwise).

3. Priority 3 will be placed on immigration fugitive foreign nationals or those obstructing U.S. immigration law. These foreign nationals include, but are not limited to, those who are involved in certain crimes, ordered removed/failed to depart the U.S., re-entered illegally upon removal, obtained (or attempted to obtain) immigration benefits by fraud.

It is extremely important for foreign nationals traveling to or for those already in the U.S. to adhere to and comply with the complex U.S. immigration law to avoid serious immigration complications. This applies to U.S. lawful permanent residents (LPR) as well as compliance with other U.S. laws. Some of the general matters to consider include, but are not limited to, not overstaying the period of authorized stay (such as the expiration date as endorsed on the I-94 departure/arrival record for non-LPR); not accepting employment in the U.S. without first seeking proper immigration authorization; not perpetrating, committing or attempting to commit visa or immigration fraud; not committing or attempting to violate U.S. criminal law.

By Aik Wan Kok, Attorney at Law, at Tiya PLC; Tel: 202-506-9767
www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; www.immigrationresource.net

We represent companies, and individuals and their families in U.S. immigration law such as green card, work visa and waiver matters. We represent clients within the U.S. and abroad.

All Rights Reserved.
This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as a legal advice or an attorney-client relationship.

U.S. Citizen Pled Guilty to Marriage Fraud & Sponsored Wife is Now a Fugitive

As a result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), on June 22, 2010, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen pled guilty to marriage fraud in that he entered into a phony marriage with a Cambodian national for the purposes of assisting her to evade U.S. immigration law and to obtain U.S. permanent residency.

In exchange for entering into the fraudulent marriage, the U.S. citizen was paid about $7000, and the marriage fraud conspirators also paid for his other various expenses such as his overseas trip to Cambodia to meet with a Cambodian female for the purpose of establishing a bogus relationship to sponsor her to the U.S., and sexual services with a different Cambodian woman.

The Cambodian female arrived in the U.S. using a K-1 fiancée visa. The U.S. citizen and the Cambodian got married. Later, they participated in an immigration marriage interview, and falsely represented to the U.S. immigration official that they had a good faith marriage for the purpose of allowing her to obtain U.S. lawful residency as a spouse. Subsequently, they got divorced.

The U.S. citizen now faces a maximum potential punishment of 10 years imprisonment, $500,000 fine, and supervised release of 6 years.

Marriage fraud is also an extremely serious immigration violation for non U.S. citizens entering/participating in such schemes. The ex-spouse is now a fugitive and is wanted by ICE.

For more information, please see ICE News Release at http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1006/100622louisville.htm .

By Aik Wan Kok, Attorney at Law, at Tiya PLC; Tel: 202-506-9767
www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; www.immigrationresource.net

We represent companies, and individuals and their families in U.S. immigration law such as green card, work visa and waiver matters. We represent clients within the U.S. and abroad.

All Rights Reserved.
This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as a legal advice or an attorney-client relationship.

ICE Arrests: Targeting Immigration Fugitives and Foreign Nationals Arrested or Convicted of Certain Crime (Foreign Nationals & Green Card Holders Take Note!)

Foreign Nationals or non-U.S. citizens (including green card holders) with criminal histories, removal/deportation orders, immigration hearings or notice to appear at immigration hearings should have their immigration options thoroughly analyzed and represented.

From May 10 to May 4 of 2010, and from May 24 to 28 of 2010, the local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) fugitive operations teams (FOT) arrested 72 foreign nationals (65 men and 7 women) in Chicago. FOT is one of the divisions of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s broader strategy to heighten and implement its strategies to effectively identify and remove dangerous criminal foreign nationals from the U.S.

This May 2010 FOT operations targeted immigration fugitives and criminal foreign nationals because the top priority for ICE is to enhance public safety. These arrestees originated from various countries such as China, Columbia, South Korea, Mexico, Peru, Jamaica, Israel, India, Honduras, Ecuador, Czech Republic, El Salvador, Lithuania, Macedonia and Columbia.

Immigration fugitives include foreign nationals who have failed to appear for immigration hearings, or who have absconded after being ordered by an immigration judge to leave or be removed from the U.S. Criminal aliens include non-citizens who have been convicted of or arrested for certain crimes which include, but are not limited to, drug possession, drunken driving, domestic battery, theft, burglary or larceny.

Last year, FOT made over 35,000 arrests nationwide. Over 31,000 or 81% of those arrests involved immigration fugitives and foreign nationals with prior criminal convictions/histories.

By Aik Wan Kok, Attorney at Law, at Tiya PLC; Tel: 202-506-9767
www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; www.immigrationresource.net

We represent companies, and individuals and their families in U.S. immigration law such as green card, work visa and waiver matters. We represent clients within the U.S. and abroad.

All Rights Reserved.
This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as a legal advice or an attorney-client relationship.

Temporary Suspension of Removal of Foreign Nationals to Haiti, U.S. Immigration Response to Haiti's Earthquake Tragedy

On January 13, 2010, in response to the devastation caused by
the recent earthquake in Haiti, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton halted all removals to Haiti for the time being.

News Headline: Woman Sentenced to 3 Years & $1 million in Restitution for Immigration Fraud: Washington Post

Immigration Headline: Woman Sentenced to 3 Years & $1 million in Restitution for Immigration Fraud: Washington Post, September 22, 2009