Blog - Poarch Thompson Law

A Response to Recent Questions about the Florida Bill

Written by Mary Sirmans on May 19, 2023. Posted in Blog, News. Leave a Comment

The Florida law proposals have been a huge question and many have inquired regarding the specifics. While many of the specifics may still be unknown as to how it will be carried out, the general provisions are explained below.

As of May 2, 2023, Florida Senate Bill 1718 has been approved by both chambers of the Florida Legislature. With the assumption that this bill will be carried out, it intends to do the following:

Require business owners to use E-verify to check employee work eligibility;
Suspend employer licenses for unqualified workers;
Enhance human smuggling penalties;
Ban local governments from issuing identification cards; and
Require hospitals to collect data on immigrants without legal status.

Below are some specific provisions of the law:

Driver’s licenses and other IDs

The bill addresses the effect of driving with a driver’s license issued by another state. In some states, like in Virginia, unlawfully present immigrants are allowed to obtain a driver privilege card that allows a resident of that state to drive lawfully even if they do not have lawful status within the state. This new bill allegedly allows Florida to treat this type of license as invalid, thereby treating the license holder as if they are driving without a license. Violation of this law could result in a citation to the driver, which would be considered a misdemeanor if found guilty.

Transportation Limits

According to this proposal, a person cannot knowingly bring a person who is unlawfully present in the United States into Florida. If a person has reason to believe they are bringing someone unlawfully present in the United States into Florida, they could also be in violation of this law. Violation of this law could result in a conviction of a third-degree felony. Bringing a child into the state of Florida when it is known or should be known that the child is unlawfully present in the United States could result in a conviction of a second-degree felony.

Healthcare Requirements

This bill would also require hospitals that accept Medicaid to include a question on their intake forms that asks if a person is in the United States lawfully or unlawfully. Hospitals must then submit a quarterly report each quarter stating how many people were admitted to the hospital that reported their status as unlawfully present.

Employment Considerations

Lastly, this bill would affect a person who knowingly employs a person who does not have authorization to work in the United States. If an employer knowingly employs a person without legal authorization to work in the United States, that employer can be subjected to a fine. Public employers must verify an employee’s eligibility to work within three business days after the employee begins working. Private employers with 25 or more employees are also subjected to this requirement.

Any person with any pending immigration application or petition before the USCIS or the Immigration Court should be cautious when traveling anywhere and should contact their attorney if they have any questions. This summary is intended to provide guidance but not legal advice. Contact your attorney for more information.

Updates for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status Recipients

Written by Rachel Thompson on May 27, 2022. Posted in Blog, Immigration, News. Leave a Comment

There has been a lot of movement with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Several changes are important and noteworthy:

DEFERRED ACTION/WORK AUTHORIZATION:

On March 7, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is updating the USCIS Policy Manual to consider deferred action and related employment authorization for noncitizens who have an approved Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification but who cannot apply to adjust status to become a lawful permanent resident (LPR) because a visa number is not available.

Deferred action is an act of prosecutorial discretion that defers proceedings to remove a noncitizen from the United States for a certain period. Deferred action does not provide lawful status. USCIS will consider deferred action on a case-by-case basis and will grant it if the SIJ warrants a favorable exercise of discretion. USCIS will automatically conduct deferred action determinations for individuals with SIJ classification who cannot apply for LPR status because a visa number is not available. A separate request for deferred action is not required and will not be accepted by USCIS. If USCIS grants deferred action, it will be valid for a period of four years. Beginning on May 6, 2022, a SIJ who has been granted deferred action will be able to apply for employment authorization for their period of deferred action by filing Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization.

MARRIAGE:

The Department of Homeland Security recently issued a final rule which will update the regulations regarding Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS); specifically, 8 CFR § 204.11, § 205.1, and § 245.1.1 The purpose of the updates is to reflect statutory changes, modify certain provisions, codify existing policies, and clarify eligibility requirements. The regulations went into effect on April 7, 2022, and overall are a positive development for SIJS petitioners.

An important change in policy, USCIS has removed marriage of the SIJS beneficiary as a basis for automatic revocation. This means the SIJS petitioner only needs to be unmarried at the time of filing the SIJS petition and the time of adjudication of the SIJS petition. This dramatic and valuable change will allow many young people to move forward with marriage while waiting for their priority date to become current. However, it is not known at this time whether USCIS will apply this change in policy retroactively to individuals who previously married after their SIJS petition was approved but before their adjustment of status application was adjudicated.

SIJS OVERVIEW:

Due to the large number of SIJS applications, for the last 5-6 years, there has been a backlog for children from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico. As of April 2021, there are 44,000 SIJS beneficiaries remaining in the backlog. SIJS beneficiaries from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have waited an average of 4 years before their priority date is current to apply for adjustment of status.

SIJS visas are part of the employment-based fourth preference category. The fourth category receives only 7.1% of the 140,000 visas generally available per year. SIJS beneficiaries are also subject to annual country caps applicable to employment-based immigration: 7% per-country limit. There is an overwhelming number of SIJS beneficiaries who are also in removal proceedings: 92% of Honduran SIJS adjustment applicants, 90% of Guatemalan applicants, and 84% of Salvadoran applicants.

If someone you know can benefit from Special Immigrant Juvenile Status due to abuse, neglect or abandonment by one or both parents, please contact our office today.

COVID-19: Preguntas frecuentes sobre estímulo económico y desempleo

Written by Joey Poarch on April 27, 2020. Posted in Blog, Immigration, News.

[author] [author_image timthumb=”on”]https://poarchthompsonlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/PLHeadshots19_082-1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Rachel L. D. Thompson es socia de Poarch Thompson y se mudó por primera vez al suroeste de Virginia cuando asistió a Liberty University School of Law (Lynchburg, Virginia), graduándose en mayo de 2012.[/author_info] [/author]

Los abogados de inmigración han recibido muchas preguntas sobre los beneficios de desempleo, el paquete de estímulo y lo que podría significar para ellos. Este blog contesta las preguntas más comunes sobre el paquete de estímulo como resultado de COVID-19.

1. ¿Reciben un cheque de estímulo los ciudadanos estadounidenses que presentaron impuestos juntos con su esposo/a inmigrante?

Similar al paquete de estímulo de 2008, el paquete de estímulo actual, conocido como la Ley CARES, no incluye a los contribuyentes que presentaron impuestos conjuntos con su esposo no ciudadano que no tiene un número de seguro social. Si el esposo inmigrante que usa un número de Número de Identificación de Contribuyente Individual (ITIN) presentó impuestos conjuntos con el cónyuge ciudadano de los EE. UU., El cónyuge ciudadano de los EE. UU. que de otro modo hubiera sido elegible para un cheque de estímulo no sería elegible para recibir un cheque de estímulo. La única excepción a esta regla es para las familias militares. Con la fecha de limite extendido, le recomendamos que hable con un contador.

2. ¿Recibir un cheque de estímulo se lo consideraría un beneficio público que resultan en inadmisibilidad?

USCIS no ha respondido explícitamente a esta pregunta, pero muchos abogados de inmigración creen que la respuesta es no. Primero, la verificación de estímulo depende en las pruebas de medios económicos y, por lo tanto, no se consideraría un beneficio público. En segundo lugar, el Manual de Reglas de USCIS en el Capítulo 10 explica que la “asistencia en efectivo para el mantenimiento de los ingresos” es un beneficio público a efectos de la inadmisibilidad de la carga pública. Sin embargo, también explica que “USCIS considera cualquier otra asistencia federal, estatal y local en efectivo para el mantenimiento de ingresos (que no sean créditos fiscales)”.El cheque de estímulo se considera un crédito fiscal para 2020 pagado por adelantado sin una opción a devolverlo. Por lo tanto, no se consideraría un mantenimiento de ingresos sino más bien un crédito fiscal que no se considera un beneficio público.

3. ¿Puedo recibir beneficios de desempleo y se consideraran una carga pública que resulten en inadmisibilidad?

Similar a recibir un cheque de estímulo, los beneficios de desempleo no están sujetos a pruebas de recursos y, por lo tanto, no se consideran un beneficio público. Para ser elegible para beneficios del desempleo, todos los trabajadores (ya sean ciudadanos o no ciudadanos) deben cumplir con ciertos requisitos según las leyes determinadas por el estado. Los no ciudadanos con autorización de trabajo válida y con números de seguro social que han cumplido con los requisitos estatales pueden recibir beneficios del desempleo sin estar considerados inadmisibles. USCIS considera el desempleo como un beneficio ganado que está excluido de la evaluación de la carga pública.