Although there are several myths about immigration law, there is one myth that just came to me like a light bulb went off in my head. This myth is very interesting to me because I have been practicing immigration law for 10 years and only now discovered this inconsistency about immigration law.
OUR CURRENT REALITY
Have you noticed that immigration officials, including USCIS and even Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE, these are the guys they arrest) have tried very hard to make their “services” available to the general public? For example, most people already know that uscis.gov has forms available online, and that they even have a 1-800# where there are supposedly trained officers to “help” people fill out their forms and answer questions. As for ICE, they have even recently changed their website based on the latest news.
But the key here is that as an experienced immigration attorney, I have noticed that the only so-called immigration reform we are seeing these days is through strict immigration enforcement. In other words, Immigration is arresting and deporting people at an alarming rate. In fact, TRAC, an agency that studies US federal statistics, has been consistently reporting that immigration enforcement and immigrant deportations are at an all-time high.
In this year of 2010 under the Obama administration, DHS is proud to announce that nearly 400,000 illegal aliens have been removed (ie deported) from the US This number is staggeringly large, especially compared to previous years.
OK, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Well, like I said, it occurred to me that USCIS and ICE are spending MILLIONS of dollars to make immigration forms easy to find for the general public. At the same time, the same government agencies are spending BILLIONS to deport and remove from the US the very people they claim to help.
So what does this mean for you? It means that when you decide your fate or that of your loved ones in the US, you have to be smarter than USCIS and ICE and consider the political environment we find ourselves in now. Money talks, as the saying goes. So why does the US government spend so much money “improving” access, and at the same time spend even more money deporting people?
The answer is simple and it is the great immigration myth of 2010. It is because the United States government knows that when a person from the general public files an application with USCIS or worse, shows up at the doors of USCIS attending an interview without the presence of a licensed and experienced attorney, then that person has effectively WAIVED all of their RIGHTS!
Yes, that is correct. That under our current immigration system, there is NO protection for illegals who protest because they now need a lawyer. Even criminal defendants can testify, “I want a lawyer,” and the officer is required to stop questioning. Well, this is NOT the case for immigrants. I know this from experience as I have heard from people who became my clients. I’m told that when they come forward on their own and are arrested or questioned by ICE or USCIS officers, the government officials’ response to the “I want a lawyer” statement is not a response at all. The officer will continue to question, interrogate, and even threaten the person himself or his family with severe consequences (deportation for all, child abduction by social services, etc.) even if the person requests a lawyer during that time.
So how do you avoid the great immigration myth? Hire a trained and experienced immigration attorney from start to finish, as USCIS and ICE ARE NOT ALLOWED to directly contact people who have a registered attorney. You need to be SMARTER than immigration, so you can secure your future and your family’s future here in the US.