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| Locations News Archives: March-2004 | |||
Washington, DC 888 Seventeenth St., NW Suite 700 Washington, DC 20006 Voice: (202) 463-4911 Fax: (202) 463-6177 Click here for directions Rockville, MD 20 Courthouse Square Suite 220 Rockville, Maryland 20850 Voice: (240) 456-0000 Fax: (240) 456-0002 Click here for directions
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Mar 26, 2004- ICE expands pilot project to detain deportable aliens Atlanta,
GA- A new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pilot program aimed at
reducing the number of illegal aliens on American streets will soon be
expanded into Atlanta and Denver, officials with U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today. Currently,
ICE’s Office of Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) is conducting the
“Hartford Pilot Program” in Hartford, Connecticut, to determine the
impact of detaining aliens who have been issued final orders of removal.
Typically these aliens are afforded several weeks to reappear for their
deportation by the immigration courts.
By immediately detaining these aliens, ICE hopes to ensure that those
who have been issued removal orders are removed swiftly and efficiently. Each
year, more than 40,000 non-detained aliens fail to leave the United States
as ordered after they have been granted voluntary departure or are ordered
removed by an immigration judge. These
alien “absconders”, allowed to remain at liberty during the immigration
hearing process, add to a growing backlog of more than 400,000 absconders
who must be apprehended by ICE and removed from the United States.
Approximately 80,000 of these alien absconders are criminals.
DHS
Assistant Secretary for ICE Michael J. Garcia commented on the pilots:
“The failure of these individuals to report for their removal dates has
caused a critical backlog in the enforcement of our immigration laws. This
pilot, as well as several others being explored by ICE, will help us to
ensure the integrity of U.S. immigration laws.” A
General Accounting Office review concluded in late 2001 revealed that only
15 percent of all aliens not detained immediately after an immigration judge
orders their removal actually depart the country as ordered or are
eventually located and removed by immigration authorities.
Conversely,
the Hartford Pilot Project results so far have shown that 94 percent of
aliens detained by ICE at the time of the immigration judge's order are
removed from the United States. The
remaining 6 percent generally cannot be removed due to diplomacy/foreign
relations issues. This
undertaking by ICE’s DRO is part of its strategic plan “Endgame,”
which targets more than 400,000 alien absconders currently in the United
States for removal. Other
projects under “Endgame” include ICE’s Electronic Monitoring Pilot,
currently underway in five U.S. cities, as well as the soon to be
implemented Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, which employ a number
of tools and programs to improve monitoring and supervision of aliens who
are released from detention while their immigration cases are pending.
Through these initiatives, ICE’s DRO is seeking to
prevent further growth in the number of alien absconders and, in conjunction
with increased fugitive operations, to eliminate the existing backlog of
alien absconders. Mar 25, 2004- Regulation to Change EAD Validity Period Clears DHS An
interim regulation, long sought by the American Immigration Lawyers
Association (“AILA”), that would allow the USCIS to issue Employment
Authorization Documents (EADs) for a period appropriate to the amount of
time needed to complete an adjustment of status application has cleared DHS
and has been at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) since 3/4/04.
OMB generally has 90 days to review a regulation and either reject or clear
it for publication in the Federal Register. USCIS has advised that the rule does not address validity periods for advance paroles. Nankin & Verma PLLC thanks AILA for this information. Mar
25, 2004- Dallas District Office of the USCIS to Launch Pilot Program for
Filing of I-485 Applications In
March 2004, the USCIS launched its InfoPass System. It is a web-based system
that facilitates the online scheduling of appointments with immigration
officers at select USCIS District Offices. Currently, the InfoPass System is
available to applicants within the Los Angeles District Office and the Miami
District Office. Mar 12, 2004- US Makes Additional Contribution of $58.9 Million to UNHCR This brings the U.S.'s support up to nearly $150 million for 2004 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) programs. Of these additional funds, $55 million will go to annual programs worldwide; the remaining $3.9 million is specifically for the legal and physical protection of refugees, especially for refugee women and children. Copyright © 2005 by Nankin & Verma PLLC. All rights reserved. Please click here for the full disclaimer. |
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