New York Times: “Supreme Court Tie Blocks Obama Immigration Plan”

Today the US Supreme Court issued a 4 to 4 split decision in the long-awaited case, United States v. Texas, effectively upholding the lower court’s injunction halting the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the creation of a new program called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). The original DACA program launched in 2012 remains in place. This one-sentence decision is a major blow to the executive actions President Obama proposed in November 2014 as a result of congressional inaction on comprehensive immigration reform. The decision will potentially affect as many as five million undocumented immigrants who would have been shielded from deportation and allowed to legally work in the United States had these programs been allowed to proceed.    

President Obama, speaking at the White House, criticized the 4 to 4 tie. “But for more than two decades now, our immigration system, everybody acknowledges, has been broken. And the fact that the Supreme Court wasn’t able to issue a decision today doesn’t just set the system back even further, it takes us further from the country that we aspire to be.” After Obama announced his executive actions in 2014, Texas and twenty-five other states challenged the plans, which were subsequently blocked in federal district court the next year. “Today’s decision keeps in place what we have maintained from the very start: one person, even a president, cannot unilaterally change the law,” Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, says in an issued statement. “This is a major setback to President Obama’s attempts to expand executive power, and a victory for those who believe in the separation of powers and the rule of law.”

Steve Vladeck, CNN contributor and professor of law at American University Washington College of Law, says the decision illustrates how handicapped the Supreme Court is when it’s not fully staffed, referring to the death of Justice Antonin Scalia earlier this year. The Supreme Court will not be able to issue an official ruling on the case until a ninth judge is confirmed. Vladeck tells CNN: "Although proponents of President Obama's immigration plan might prefer this result to a 5-4 loss, which would have set a nationwide precedent, rulings like these create uncertainty for the courts and the country going forward—uncertainty that, at the end of the day, puts more pressure on the political branches and dilutes the role of the Supreme Court." 

This decision is a disappointment to many activists who have been campaigning for comprehensive immigration reform for years. Summarizing the frustrations that many feel, Victor Nieblas Pradis, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), says: "In another blow, the Supreme Court has denied the opportunity for parents of United States citizens and students to seek refuge and protection from a dysfunctional immigration system that is broken and apparently unfixable by our elected leaders.” And Benjamin Johnson, AILA Executive Director, adds: “Though today's decision is disappointing, we must remember that this is not the end of the road for these incredibly important programs. The lower courts will continue to consider the case and ultimately, I would not be surprised if it ends up before the Supreme Court once again. In the meantime, Congress must do its job and pass smart immigration laws that will keep families united, benefit the economy, and propel our country forward.”

O Visas for the Film and Television Industry: 10 Common Questions (and Answers)

So you’re a German production company looking to shoot a feature film in the United States, or an Australian actor who has been hired for a recurring role in an American television series. You’ve done a little research, possibly read our previous post on special considerations for film and television visas or common O-1 misconceptions, and now you realize that you and/or your production team are in need of O visas. (Almost any foreign national working on commercial or entertainment film or television projects in the US, for any length of time, will need an O-1 or O-2 visa.)

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Fusion: “Undocumented victims of Orlando shooting face unique challenges and fears”

Among the many affected by the tragic mass shooting in Orlando last week are undocumented immigrants. While all those recovering from the horrific tragedy face obstacles and challenges, undocumented immigrants have their own unique problems due to their legal status. “In addition to the uncertainty about whether they qualify for state and federal assistance programs,” Fusion reports, “the undocumented immigrants have to worry about whether their legal status puts them at additional risk, and what it means to be outed from the shadows by a violent tragedy.”

Out of the three undocumented immigrants who have been identified as such, one is Victor, a twenty-four-year-old Salvadoran who was shot twice. With no relatives nearby and no idea when he will be able to return to work, he’s worried about how he’s going to pay for his hospital bills. Another undocumented immigrant recovering is a thirty-three-year-old Mexican man named Javier Nava, who was shot in the abdomen. Juan Sabines, the Mexico Consul General in Orlando, met with Javier and suggested he apply for a U visa, which are for victims of certain crimes who assist law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity. While Nava would like to eventually pursue American citizenship if given the chance, what he wants most right now is to see his mother and child, which he hasn’t been able to do for many years since he came to the United States. During the hospital visit with the Mexican consul, Nava discussed how his family could apply for humanitarian visas to visit him from Mexico. 

A third undocumented man, a thirty-one-year-old Mexican, died earlier this week from his injuries, one of three Mexicans killed in the attack. For undocumented immigrants who die in the US, repatriating and burying the body can be especially expensive. For this Mexican man who died, it will cost approximately $6,000 to repatriate and bury the body in the coastal state of Veracruz. While the Mexican Consulate insists it will pay the estimated $3,000 to repatriate the body to Veracruz, friends and family of the victim still aren’t sure how they’ll afford the rest. Carmen, a friend of the victim, says that even with the consulate’s help it “won’t cover the funeral costs.”

“It’s very expensive to send their bodies back, people aren’t prepared for that,” Yesica Ramirez, an organizer with The Farmworker Association of Florida, tells Fusion. Since a trip to the United States is not possible for many families, repatriation of the body is often the only way that families can see their loved ones one time and attend the funeral. “For many families, no matter how much money they raise they still may not be able to get permission to come to the US,” Ramirez says. “For the family to be watching this back in their countries and not be able to help their sons is painful; this all hurts the family back home too.”

Immigrant rights activists have launched the website SomosOrlando.info to help immigrants find resources in their own language. The Hispanic Federation says many Spanish-speaking volunteer attorneys and mental health professionals have come forward to offer their services, which will be essential as undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Florida state health programs beyond emergency care. A crowd-funded effort by Equality Florida, an LGBT advocacy organization, is also raising funds to help all victims, regardless of legal status. “Victimization knows no status,” Jeff Dion, deputy executive director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, tells Fusion. “All of these [victims] and their families will be treated equally…Every situation is different and if we need to make adjustments for certain people...we will.”

Daniele Pinto: The DLG-Proust-Actors Studio Questionnaire

Daniele Pinto speaks three languages: Portuguese, Spanish, and English—all of which come in handy during her work as a paralegal for the firm. She is also an excellent cook and baker, a fact to which we can all attest as we’ve been lucky enough to sample her home-baked goods. (Seriously, Daniele, bring some more tres leches cake for the office to share! Please?)

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Marketplace: “Immigration a concern amid looming Brexit vote”

On June 23, the United Kingdom will hold a referendum—referred to as the “Brexit” vote—to decide whether Britain should leave or remain in the European Union (EU). The referendum comes after Prime Minister David Cameron bowed to pressure from his own Conservative MPs before his general election last year and said: "It is time for the British people to have their say. It is time to settle this European question in British politics."

Immigration is an important issue in the referendum, as the EU guarantees the free movement of people between the twenty-eight member countries. Many Brits are worried about the record influx of immigrants who have come to the UK. Last year, there was a net inflow into the UK of more than 330,000 immigrants with half of them from elsewhere in the EU. Elisa Padilla from Spain, who has lived in London for three years, is concerned about the EU referendum. “It is a bit scary,” she tells Marketplace, “because underneath it all, I feel there is some sort of rejection of immigrants. English people don’t want more people from abroad coming here.”

While some claim that immigrants are affecting public services like healthcare, education, and housing, Italian immigrant Daniela de Rosa, who runs an Anglo-Italian website, is surprised by the referendum. “I wouldn’t have believed when I moved to London eleven years ago that one day someone would question our staying in Britain—as Europeans,” de Rosa tells Marketplace.

Deporting the 2 million EU migrant workers already in the UK wouldn’t make economic sense since they pay more in taxes than they take from the government and many dispute their supposed drain on resources. Michal Zdunczyk, a printing equipment engineer from Poland, disputes the charge that EU migrants are putting Brits out of work. “We basically fill the gap where the British people will not accept those jobs for that kind of money,” Zdunczyk tells Marketplace.

Gisela Stuart, a Labour MP and Vote Leave chair, says that British people are feeling the strains of “uncontrolled migration” and should vote leave in order to take back control from the EU. “As an immigrant myself, I am conscious of benefits immigration brings to this country," she says in the Guardian. "I have been very clear that I would like to see the introduction of an Australian Points based system—something that would also serve to end the discrimination inherent in the current system. But the fact of the matter is that the democratically elected UK parliament is prevented from doing any such thing because of the EU’s obsession with open borders.”

Prime Minister David Cameron claims it would be “madness” to try to reduce the number of migrants to the UK by voting to leave the EU and Hilary Benn, the UK shadow foreign secretary, says that a vote to leave the EU will not put a stop to the high levels of immigration, as foreign workers are needed in the country. “Immigration into Britain will continue whether we stay or go, as the Leave Campaign have now admitted,” he says. “And anyone who thinks that voting leave will bring the numbers down significantly will in time be bitterly disappointed.”

While many view the Leave Campaign as anti-immigrant, support for Brexit comes from many unusual sources including many chefs and curry house owners, predominantly from Bangladesh, who want to leave the EU since they claim current immigration laws and EU-mandated salary requirements make it extremely difficult for them to hire the skilled workers for their restaurants. Four or five of Britain's 12,000 curry houses are closing their doors every week, says Oli Khan, vice president of the Bangladeshi Caterers Association. "It's not that we think Europeans shouldn't have a chance in Britain, it's just that we feel the country should choose who it needs, what kind of skills they need, so that industries like ours are not short handed," Khan tells CNN. Meanwhile, the rest of the EU waits nervously for the outcome.