More Immigration Policy Changes Being Pushed By The House Of Con

By Felicia J. Persaud

News Americas, MIAMI, FL, Fri. July 13, 2018: While most of the US and the world for that matter are focused on the ‘House of Con,’ headed by ‘Don The Con,’ and it’s cruel and inhumane separation of children from their parents, which continues to drag on despite a court order, the administration of mafiosos and deplorables has pushed through several immigration policies soundlessly, which will have significant impact on black and brown immigrants. Here are four you should know of that will have significant ramifications:

1: Revoking Citizenship Of Naturalized Immigrants

The Department of Homeland Security, (DHS), says it plans to devote more than $207.6 million to look for cases of possible citizenship fraud. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (ICE), is set to hire 300 new Homeland Security Investigations agents and scores of additional staffers, using that money, according to the proposed ICE FY 2019 budget.

The main thrust of this push is to track down people who gamed the deportation system: those who were ordered deported but later gained citizenship under a different identity or did not disclose a previous crime, despite how minor, on their citizenship application. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services is also devoting new resources to this effort – immigrants who lied on their applications – opening an office in Los Angeles specifically to work on these cases.

It is hiring “several dozen lawyers and immigration officers” to staff it, Citizenship and Immigration Services Director L. Francis Cissna told the Associated Press. Staffers have been working at the new office since January 2017, which the agency says will be the central office for reviewing potential denaturalization cases. Ten lawyers have already been hired for that office, according to officials at the Justice Department.

The administration is also devoting new resources to this effort, opening an office in Los Angeles specifically to work on these cases. It is hiring “several dozen lawyers and immigration officers” to staff it, Citizenship and Immigration Services Director L. Francis Cissna told the Associated Press. Staffers have been working at the new office since January 2017, which the agency says will be the central office for reviewing potential denaturalization cases.

Ten lawyers have already been hired for that office, according to officials at the Justice Department.

From 1990 to 2017, only 305 denaturalization cases were pursued, an average of 11 per year. But this has been ramping up since President Trump took office as immigration officials have reportedly already referred more than 100 cases to the Department of Justice. A January news release stated that they now plan to refer an estimated 1,600 more cases based on reviews of un-digitized fingerprint files from old deportation orders looking for immigrants who lied on their applicants to strip them of citizenship and of course, the right to vote.

2: Revocation Of Legal Residency Making Green Card Holders Deportable

The DHS through this new ICE budget is also going after legal residents or green card holders who were ordered deported but later gained legal residency under a different identity. Any fraud by holders of permanent residency will be grounds for revocation and make them deportable. The new ICE staff will be reviewing files from more than 700,000 deportation orders, looking for missing fingerprints with matches elsewhere in their database.

The 700,000 files come from a larger collection of deportation orders going back to 1990.

3: Denying Citizenship To Special Immigrant Soldiers

Thanks to the Associated Press, this issue has gotten more national attention in recent weeks. The administration, dead set on executing its anti-immigrant, anti-foreign agenda, is now targeting immigrant soldiers who are willing to put their lives on the line for this country. So much for we all bleed red. This is a reversal of an immigrant recruitment program that was created under President George W. Bush to allow the military to enlist people with specialized skills and qualify for U.S. citizenship.

That program has now abruptly ended, with the U.S. Army discharging some immigrant recruits and reservists, citing unfavorable security screenings, incomplete background checks and a security risk because they have relatives abroad.

The AP said it was unable to quantify how many men and women who enlisted through the special recruitment program have been booted from the Army, but immigration attorneys say they know of more than 40 who have been discharged or whose status has become questionable, jeopardizing their futures. Some of these immigrants are legal residents while others are DREAMERS who entered the military under President Obama’s DACA program which of course has also been cancelled.

4: End Of Visa Exemption For Caribbean Seasonal Workers

Another one of the policies the government has changed is the exemption of the Non-Immigrant Visa Exemption for certain Caribbean nationals coming to the United States as H-2A or agricultural or temporary or seasonal workers.

They include nationals of British, French, or Netherlands national, or a national of Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, or Trinidad and Tobago, who has his or her residence in British, French, or Netherlands territory located in the adjacent islands of the Caribbean area, or in Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, or Trinidad and Tobago.

These immigrants and their spouse and children are now required to obtain a valid, unexpired visa if proceeding to the United States as an H-2A agricultural worker.  DHS and DOS both said the previous rules were “outdated and incongruent.”

If there was any doubt of the xenophobic nature of this administration, look no further than the continued erosion and rolling back of all policies on immigration and ask yourselves if it really is only about MS-13 or criminal immigrants?

The writer is CMO at Hard Beat Communications, Inc. which owns the brands: NewsAmericasNow, CaribPRWire and InvestCaribbeanNow.