The Demise of DAPA

{3:18 minutes to read} Thursday, June 22, the President issued a policy directive that essentially extended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which is the program that granted safe status for young people who had entered the United States as children. At the same time, he terminated Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), which is the executive action President Obama had announced that extended safe status for parents of US citizens.

The DAPA program is the one that had been held up in the federal courts for more than a year, and which was due to be decided by the United States Supreme Court. However. the Supreme Court “tabled” it last year when Justice Scalia passed away. At this point, that Supreme Court case is not going to go forward, and so the policy is not going to go forward either. In fact, the President has withdrawn the policy.

For people who are dreamers, the DACA is good news. They'll be able to remain in the United States legally for the time being. We assume they're going to be able to get work cards going forward, and hopefully, some of them can obtain legal status.

The loss of the DAPA program, however, is a huge blow to millions of people who have lived in the United States for years. Many now have no way of obtaining legal status, despite the fact that they have children who are US citizens.

This ties in with what we've been talking about the last several months. Although they have US citizen children, and although those children can petition for them when they turn 21, the parents who have been in the United States illegally for a year or more still have no path to permanent residency.

They would have to leave the United States and stay out for as long as 10 years before they could get their green cards. So again, we're talking about a situation that makes it virtually impossible for millions of undocumented immigrants to ever get their green cards.

There are waivers available that allow certain people to get around or waive the 10-year bar, but those waivers are not available to parents of US citizens. The citizen child is not one of those qualifying people that allows undocumented immigrants to apply for the waiver.

Although the President's action is good news for people with DACA, it's very bad news for millions of others who were hoping that, somehow, Donald Trump would change his mind and allow that program to go forward.

Mitchell C. Zwaik

Zwaik, Gilbert & Associates, P.C.
5014 Express Drive South
Ronkonkoma, NY  11779
www.zwaik.com 

The Supreme Court Allows a Limited Portion of the President’s Travel Ban

{2:24 minutes to read} The Supreme Court recently allowed certain parts of the President's travel ban to go into effect. That travel ban had been halted or stayed by lower federal courts that claimed it was discriminatory and unconstitutional. What the Supreme Court has said in effect is that they will deal with that issue in the fall, but over the summer, they are going to let a small part of the travel ban go into effect.

The Court didn't permit the entire executive order to be implemented. All it said was people from the six countries that are designated by the travel ban (Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen) can come into the United States freely if they have already been processed for a visa. If you are from one of these six countries and have not yet been processed, the government can prevent you from entering the United States.

The decision has a very limited effect. It does not apply to anyone from any country other than the six named and does not affect people who have green cards. The people most affected will be those who have been processed for refugee status or other visas but have not yet had visas issued to them.

The most important thing that I want to get out to people is: Do not be afraid to travel if you have visas, green cards, or advanced parole that has already been issued. We are getting hysterical calls from people in various countries, particularly Muslim countries, where visa applications are being processed. We are even getting calls from green card holders who are frightened that they will not be allowed to return to this country. To them, we say there is no reason to panic because it is safe for them to return.

As to the validity of the rest of the executive order? Stay tuned!

Mitchell C. Zwaik

Zwaik, Gilbert & Associates, P.C.
5014 Express Drive South
Ronkonkoma, NY  11779
www.zwaik.com 

Why is DHS Delaying the Additional H-2B Visas Authorized by Congress?

{2:06 minutes to read} A recent article in the New York Times has highlighted the fact that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not yet extended, or increased, the number of H-2B visas, despite the fact that Congress authorized an increase. It seems logical that Congress would not have authorized it if they did not intend for DHS to issue these visas.  

These visas are for seasonal workers who typically come into the United States for periods of 6, 8, or 10 months in order to work for companies that have a high need for employees during certain periods of time. Here on the east end of Long Island, traffic in the Hamptons explodes during the summertime. If you travel to the Hamptons at this time of year, you will see "Help Wanted" signs everywhere you go.

We represent pool companies, restaurants, hotels, convenience stores, 7-11s and other types of convenience stores, and they're all suffering. The season hasn't even started, in the sense that the warm weather is just now beginning to arrive. These people are frantic because they cannot get U.S. workers to do these jobs, and the government has effectively prevented bringing in additional H-2B workers for the season, despite the fact that Congress has authorized DHS to issue those visas.

What is the holdup? These are people entering the United States legally, to take jobs that U.S. workers don't want. These are jobs that employers need to advertise, and begin the very difficult, time consuming and expensive recruitment process, in order to satisfy the Labor Department that they're not taking jobs away from U.S. workers.

It's hard to understand how putting these companies out of business is going to help the U.S. labor market. And it's going to cost American jobs when these businesses are forced to close or curtail hours and services.

It is really becoming an emergency that this administration doesn't seem to care about.

Mitchell C. Zwaik

Zwaik, Gilbert & Associates, P.C.
5014 Express Drive South
Ronkonkoma, NY  11779
www.zwaik.com