BreakthroughUSA
A US Immigration Law Firm
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- Detroit Immigration Official Indicted
In Detroit a USCIS immigration official was indicted for accepting bribes from illegal immigrants to help keep them from deportation.
Roy Bailey (suspended acting field director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is said to have accepted bribes from a Detroit immigration attorney and from two restaurant owners who allegedly conspired with Bailey to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from restaurant workers, sex offenders, tax evaders and a murderer who had killed a student from Wayne State University.
Bailey allegedly accepted free meals, casino chips, cash, jewelry, free landscaping and labor from a construction worker that did repairs on Bailey’s home in order to avoid deportation. In addition to allegedly helping them avoid deportation it is said that he has arranged fraudulent release of immigrants that were already in the deportation process.
Bailey’s lawyer claims that his client is innocent of all charges, but if 54 year old Ron Bailey is convicted he could face up to 68 years in prison.
Wed, 03 Oct 2007 19:47:00 +0000 - Immigrant Dishwasher Loses Life Savings to USCIS
A Guatemalan immigrant who spent the last 11 years working in the US has had his money confiscated by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services after he was stopped in customs trying to return to Guatemala.
Pedro Zapeta, who entered the US illegally, worked as a dishwasher in Stuart, Florida. He earned $5.50 an hour, managing to save $59,000 over the last 11 years.
Two years ago Zapeta decided to return to Guatemala carrying a duffel bag filled with the money he had earned. While going through security at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, US customs officials noticed the bag and asked Zapeta how much money he was carrying. When he told the officials he was carrying $59,000 the officers seized his money, as any person entering or leaving the US must declare to customs if they are carrying more than $10,000.
Zapeta was then turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which began deportation proceedings against him.
Zapeta says, "They are treating me like a criminal when all I am is a working man."
The fight to have Zapeta’s money returned continues, with well wishers donating nearly $10,000 to assist him.
To read more about this story, click here.
Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:46:30 +0000 - USCIS Issues New Redesigned Naturalization Test
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the new 100 questions and answers that will comprise the civics component of the new naturalization test. The questions are based on fundamental concepts of American democracy.
This new test will be administered to citizenship applicants beginning October 2008. Current applicants will have the choice of taking the new test or the old one up until October of 2009 when the new test becomes mandatory.
Taking the test will cost immigrants $675.00, along with the lengthy and costly application process. If the test is failed twice, the entire application process must be undertaken again, including the $675.00 fee payment.
The test consists of 100 questions - applicants are only required to get a 60% to pass (that’s a ‘D’ to pass and they can take it twice.)
Here are 10 Questions from the test. Would you pass?
1. How many U.S. Senators are there?
2. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?
3. Who is one of your state’s U.S. Senators?
4. What does the judicial branch do?
5. There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.
6. What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens?
7. What are two rights only for United States citizens?
8. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
9. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
10. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.Answers
1. 100
2. 6
3. Answers will vary. Do you know yours???
[For District of Columbia residents and residents of U.S. territories, the answer is that D.C. (or the territory where the applicant lives) has no U.S. Senators.]
4. reviews laws ▪ explains laws ▪ resolves disputes (disagreements) ▪ decides if a law goes against the Constitution
5. Citizens eighteen (18) and older (can vote). ▪ You don’t have to pay (a poll tax) to vote. ▪ Any citizen can vote. (Women and men can vote.) ▪ A male citizen of any race (can vote).
6. serve on a jury ▪ vote
7. apply for a federal job ▪ vote ▪ run for office ▪ carry a U.S. passport
8. (Thomas) Jefferson
9. July 4, 1776
10. (James) Madison ▪ (Alexander) Hamilton ▪ (John) Jay ▪ Publius
See the entire test – click here.
Fri, 28 Sep 2007 15:35:19 +0000 - 2009 Diversity Visa Lottery Registration Begins October 3
The US State Department is urging potential applicants 2009 Diversity Visa Lottery to register as early as possible due to the danger of system slowdown as a result of excessive demand.
The 2009 Diversity Visa Lottery will begin on October 03 2007 and end on December 02 2007. People who wish to enter must visit the official government site at (www.dvlottery.state.gov/) to read the lottery rules and submit an application. Paper entries are not valid and will not be accepted.
Winners who meet the official criteria are selected in a computerized random drawing. Those whose names are selected will then be able to apply for one of 50,000 immigrant visas available each year. One rule of the lottery is the visas are only available to applicants from eligible countries (countries that have low immigration rates to the US).
Applicants are reminded that registration for the lottery is free.
Please visit www.dvlottery.state.gov/ to apply.
Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:19:47 +0000 - FAQ: Green Cards and Overseas Residency
Q: Can I live outside the US and keep my green card? Can I renew if my green card status is taken away?
A: Green cards are for people who can genuinely prove that they are permanently residing in the US. A green card is a Permanent Resident Alien registration card. So if you live outside the of the US, abandonment of said green card will be assumed.
If you’ve entered the US not using your green card then again, abandonment will be determined absolutely. Abandonment is automatically presumed after one year’s absence from the US. You can rebut the presumption if you can prove that you did not in fact abandon residency in the US. Evidence would include, but is not limited to, your filing of tax returns each year during your absence, retaining some life, property or assets in the US and so forth. If none of these elements are present or presentable to immigration then your green card will not be renewed due to abandonment and you will have to qualify all over again. US Immigration are not sympathetic to aliens who have allowed the green cards to match since they regard qualifying for a green card in the first place as an immense honor where people risk life and limb every day to acquire this coveted status.
If you feel you may have a viable claim to get your green car renewed my office would certainly be happy to make the application on your behalf.
Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:33:44 +0000 - US Diversity Visa Program to Shut Down?
According to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, an official government program meant to diversify US immigration may be a loophole for potential terrorists to gain entry into the US.
The ‘Diversity Visa’ (also known as the ‘Green Card Lottery’) allows a number of immigrants from specific countries to gain entry to the US every year and receive an immediate Green Card.
In the past seven years the program has allowed almost 10,000 immigrants from countries the US government has accused of sponsoring terrorism (including Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria).
Despite the fact that no immigrants who have entered the US through the Diversity Visa have ever been linked to terrorism, the 51-page report recommends that the program should be overhauled due to the high level of risk, plus ongoing fraud.
However, the State Department strongly opposes the report as the 55,000 lottery winners are thoroughly screened before entering the US and being granted their Green Cards.
To read more about this story, click here.
Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:04:58 +0000 - Argentine Officer Sentenced for Visa Fraud
A former military officer in the Argentine army has been given a six-month prison sentence in the US for visa fraud.
Despite having been held on torture charges in the 1980’s, 59-year-old Ernesto Barreiro stated on his 2003 US visa application that he had never been detained for a crime in Argentina.
Barreiro will be deported back to Argentina where he will likely face war crimes charges after serving his sentence in the US. If convicted, Barreiro faces a life sentence in Argentina for his role during Argentina’s "dirty war" in the 1970s and 1980s as chief of interrogation at a secret torture facility.
US Attorney Chuck Rosenberg says, "By virtue of his fraud, Barreiro lived an anonymous life in Virginia horse country. His alleged victims remain scattered, left to wonder whether the defendant would ever be held accountable for the war crimes charged."
To read more about this story, click here.
Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:59:34 +0000 - Hollywood Director to Make Immigration Documentary
Hollywood filmmaker Ron Maxwell is set to make a new documentary about immigration in the United States.
The "Gods and Generals" director’s new project is scheduled for release in December, and will focus on how, according to Maxwell, US immigration is controlled by the corporate, political and intellectual elite who are exploiting the US border situation so they can gain at the expense of the country’s institutions.
Maxwell says, “Immigration is totally out of control and our infrastructure is totally overwhelmed.”
To read more about this story, click here.
Fri, 21 Sep 2007 21:07:56 +0000 - Legal Immigrants Protest Green Card Delay
Over 1000 legal immigrants staged a protest on Tuesday (18SEP07) at the Capitol to raise awareness on the long waiting times immigrants must currently endure to receive their Green Cards.
The immigrants (who were dressed in t-shirts with American flags on them and carrying placards) included doctors, medical technicians and computer engineers from India and China.
Traveling from as afar as Washington State and California, the immigrants called on Congress to provide more permanent visas for highly educated immigrants as well as more resources for an immigration system that is so overburdened, the wait for a Green Card can be a decade.
According to immigration policy advocates, the rally was a highly unusual event - legal immigrants are traditionally very cautious as their future rests entirely in the hands of the federal government.
Chinese computer scientist Paul Wang says, “When I heard about this rally I immediately made the decision to come. I like the freedom and the safety in this country. I want to send a request signal to Congress to bring more efficiency to the process for us to get a green card.”
American Families United consultant Paul Donnelly says, “It is a significant thing to have foreign-born people, who are notoriously hard to organize, organizing themselves."
To read more about this story, click here.
Thu, 20 Sep 2007 21:15:45 +0000 - Immigrants Boycott Western Union
158 immigrant groups in the US are staging a boycott against Western Union, accusing the company of charging their customers extortionate fees and exchange rates.
The boycott began last week in California and will go nationwide slated for nationwide on Monday - the immigrant groups are demanding that Western Union invest money back into the communities that make up the bulk of their customer base.
According to market analysts, immigrant workers in the United States send home approximately $70 billion in earnings, of which wire transfer companies take $14 billion in fees.
Executive director at the Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action (TIGRA) Francis Calpotura says, "We choose to stand up for our right to live in dignity and fight for our families."
A representative of the Oaxaquena Federation says, "Western Union makes billions from Mexicans and they give us pennies. It’s time for Western Union to reinvest meaningfully in our communities."
To read more about this story, click here.
Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:49:31 +0000
