CLASSIFICATIONS OF RECENT OFFICE CONSULTATIONS.

By Alexander H. Lubarsky, LL.M, Esq.

The following consists of two classifications of recent office consultations:

1. I receive a frantic telephone call from a person, usually a Mexican male in his thirties or forties and a recipient of "permiso" by the amnesty ("por el campo") program, who screams: they are not renewing my green card. This call usually comes from a person who had been renewing his "permiso" year after year until this year, suddenly – no more.
   
   
2. I receive a nervous worker. Usually a Central American who had been working at the same job or in the same industry for many years. All of a sudden, his boss informs him that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has requested a copy of his Social Security Number or Mica for "verification." The client may have been working with a Social belonging to someone else or a false green card.

Both clients are afraid that they will lose their jobs. What do they do?

CLIENT # 1: THE TEMPORARY PERMISSION "POR EL CAMPO."

Client number one is often a Mexican who has resided problem free in the USA for a long time. He received a "temporary residency card" in 1986 through 1988 "por el campo." In 1986 the Reagan administration granted an amnesty, which mostly benefited Mexican and some Central American field workers. This program, known as the Seasonal Agricultural Worker (SAW) program basically provided for legal status to field workers who could show a minimum of 90 days of field labor performed between May 1, 1985 and May 1, 1986 or for those workers who worked 90 days for three consecutive years prior to 1986. ]

Those that received this temporary permission through these programs later watched as their permission was revoked. The Immigration and Naturalization Service convicted a number of unscrupulous citizens who claimed that they were field laborer employers and vouched in writing for hundreds of applicants for the amnesty program. The problem was that these citizens were frauds. They never operated or managed any field operations. They simply sold their signatures for profit, declaring that their "client" was really their "employee" in the fields. These signature prostitutes signed off on so many of these fraudulent statements, that the Immigration and Naturalization Service caught on. In most cases, the Immigration and Naturalization Service was able to convict these individuals and all applications that bore their signatures were later, retroactively denied.

Many of the victims of these crooks had their applications denied in the early nineties and, through lawyers, appealed such denials. Most are only now receiving the denial letters of their appeals. Most of these appeals lacked the proof to overcome the previous instance of fraud/unreliability cast by the confessed scam artist who signed off on those amnesty applications. This appeal denial is final unless it can somehow be appealed to the Federal Courts.

If you find yourself in this situation, be careful NOT to go to the Immigration and Naturalization Service office to inquire about your appeal denial. The Officers may confiscate your temporary permit at best, and detain you for removal/deportation proceedings at worst.

Yet another group stemming from this same program are those known as CSS members. This is a group of people who applied for the amnesty program "late" because they had left the country prior to the deadline to apply in the first round. These late amnesty applicants were initially denied temporary status, but the Catholic Social Services sued the Immigration and Naturalization Service and Attorney General Janet Reno, arguing that it was unjust for these people to be excluded from the amnesty program due to brief absences from the United States.

If you fit into one of the above described categories of persons with problems stemming from the old "field worker amnesty," you should visit your immigration attorney as soon as possible. It is possible that you may have not exhausted all of your appeal remedies. Also, there are subcategories of CSS applicants and you should try to determine which group you fall into, as the ramifications of a denial differ for each group..

Although the Immigration and Naturalization Service is not actively trying to deport CSS class members (although it can do this to many class members if it desires), it is still denying and confiscating their work permits in many instances. IT IS IMPORTANT TO ASK YOUR ATTORNEY TO MAKE CONTACT WITH THE Immigration and Naturalization Service IN LIEU OF YOUR VISITING THEM YOURSELF AND INVITING CONFISCATION OF YOUR DOCUMENTATION OR POSSIBLY INVITING THE PROCESS OF EXPEDITED REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.

Also, even if there is nothing left that can prevent a CSS or SAW program denial, THERE MAYBE OTHER OPTIONS NOW AVAILABLE TO YOU (such as family visas, employment based visas, the NACARA program and other defensive removal remedies such as cancellation – all which can result in the issuance of a "green card."

CLIENT # 2 : THE IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE IS CONTACTING MY EMPLOYER AND VERIFYING MY DOCUMENTS.

Not surprisingly, as false Social Security numbers and "Green Cards" continue to flood all crevices of the workplace, the Immigration and Naturalization Service is responding by asking employers to verify the validity of these documents. Employers simply need to gather the information concerning Social Security numbers and green cards and transmit them to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Your employer is NOT expected to verify or deny the authenticity of these documents, all they must do is give the Immigration and Naturalization Service all of the information to reverify the validity of these documents. Your employer can be subject to very, very big fines if it does not gather this information for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

What does the Immigration and Naturalization Service do with the information? They match it up. They confirm that the name and photo and print match the Social Security number or "Green Card" or "work permit." Usually, the Immigration and Naturalization Service asks an employer to verify documents when a large number of its workers’ Social Security Numbers do not correspond with the employees W-2 forms submitted for tax purposes. It should be noted, that the Immigration and Naturalization Service can also fine the employee who submits a false work permission document.

If your employer has been contacted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to verify your work permission documents, you can expect that they will ask you to provide them with a copy of your latest document. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO NOT SUBMIT A FALSE DOCUMENT OR A DOCUMENT NOT RIGHTFULLY BELONGING TO YOU. This will only hurt you and your employer. The correct course of action is to advise your employer that you are seeking some professional assistance with this request. You should next promptly visit your immigration attorney. Your attorney should be able to research your documentation and request your file form the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Sometimes, your attorney can deal with your employer on your behalf and negotiate a lawful working status for you.

Furthermore, in many cases when a client is in fact using an invalid work permit, I can find an avenue for that client to apply through special programs for a legitimate work permit. Of course, everyone is better off once the "real" permission is obtained.

Remember that knowledge is power and you owe it to yourself to take the extra step to understand your legal status and to do the right thing.

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The information contained on this site is intended to educate members of the public generally and is not intended to provide solutions to individual problems. Readers are cautioned not to attempt to solve individual problems on the basis of information contained herein and are strongly advised to seek competent legal counsel before relying on information contained learned on this site. Copyright © 2001 Community Legal Centers of California. All rights reserved.