Discussion Points for Punto Legal –July 17, 2019
1. Immigration Raids.
Last weekend, there were supposed to be dramatic ICE raids in 10 major U.S. cities. But they did not happen. ICE teams went out, but very few immigrants got arrested. Here is a true story from Houston, TX.
A 19-year-old named Kaylin Garcia decided to keep watch for ICE in her neighborhood. Ms. Garcia sat in her car near her family’s apartment, in a largely Hispanic section of southwest Houston. She saw four ICE agents walk by. They were knocking on apartment doors. She took a picture of the agents with her phone, posted it to her Facebook page and notified her neighbors.
One of her neighbors saw Ms. Garcia’s picture and heard about her warnings. The family slid the chain closed on their door. When the agents knocked on the door, the family – an undocumented Mexican man and his wife, along with their American-born children and another relative – kept silent and never opened it. After a minute or two, the agents left.
This is the first line of defense. Don’t open your doors to ICE. Don’t let your kids open your doors to ICE.
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2. El Chapo coming to Colorado.
El Chapo is probably coming to Colorado. As you know, El Chapo was sentenced to life in prison today. I think the Bureau of Prisons will put him in the federal super-max prison in Florence, Colorado. At the Supermax, prisoners spend 23 hours per day in single, soundproof cells made of poured concrete. They have no idea where they are within the prison. They do have black and white TV’s that play educational programs via a closed circuit system.
2. Immigrants and Social Media.
Many of you have Facebook accounts and are big users of social media. Did you know that immigration officials are now looking at your Facebook page when you apply for a benefit? Do you have photographs on Facebook of you and a gun? Do you have photos on Facebook show drug use? If you are seeking an immigration benefit, make a point of cleaning up your Facebook page and other social media.
3. Parole in Place (“PIP”).
There were rumors out of Washington last week that the Trump Administration was going to cancel the “parole in place” or PIP program for spouses and parents of members of the military. If you have applied for or are thinking about applying for PIP, you should consult an immigration attorney right away. One thing you may want to do is get your application in quickly.
