The Aguirre Law Firm

It is our pleasure to request your presence At: Santee Educational Complex Address: 1921 Maple Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90011 When: January 26th Time: 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM Attorney Silvia Aguirre will be giving free informational presentation on the Deferred Action for Youth Program at 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM and will also be conducting free consultations there after until 2:00 PM. We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity and we encourage you to tell your loved ones and friends who may benefit from visiting us that day. For More info: http://www.santeefalcons.org/apps/events/2013/1/26/1360169/?id=0

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today announced the posting of a final rule in the Federal Register which will be published soon. The process will be effective on March 4, 2013 and more information about the filing process will be made available in the coming weeks. We will inform you as they become available. In order to obtain a provisional unlawful presence waiver, the applicant must be an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, inadmissible only on account of unlawful presence, and demonstrate the denial of the waiver would result in extreme hardship to his or her U.S. citizen spouse or parent. USCIS will publish a new form, Form I-601A, Application for a Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver, for individuals to use when applying for a provisional unlawful presence waiver under the new process. Under the new provisional waiver process, immediate relatives must still depart the United States for the consular immigrant visa process; however, they can apply for a provisional waiver before they depart for their immigrant visa interview abroad. Individuals who file the Form I-601A must notify the Department of State’s National Visa Center that they are or will be seeking a provisional waiver from USCIS. The new process will reduce the amount of time U.S. citizen are separated from their qualifying immediate relatives. If you have any questions regarding if you qualify, and/or the new process, please call us and set up an appointment to meet personally to answer all your questions and concerns.  We are always happy to explain and discuss if this is the right process for you. http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=dc9af51016bfb310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=a2dd6d26d17df110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD    

“We have worked to build our power and now we intend to use it,” Ms. Murguía said. “The bottom line,” she said, “is that Latino voters went to the polls with the economy on their minds but with immigration reform in their hearts.” The leaders made it clear they expect quick action in 2013. They said the president and Congress should take up an immigration bill soon after Mr. Obama’s inauguration in January, with an eye toward completing passage of legislation by August. The leaders said they would continue a joint campaign they led this year to naturalize Latino immigrants and to register and mobilize Latino voters. They said they would send results from the report card to those voters, to galvanize them during the debate and to guide their choices in the midterm elections in 2014. “Make no mistake, we will be watching,” said Eliseo Medina, international secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union, which led one of the most extensive Latino voter drives. The report card will show “who stood with us and who stood against us” on immigration reform, Mr. Medina said.

The Los Angeles Police Department will no longer detain some undocumented suspects on behalf of federal immigration authorities, the L.A. Police Commission decided Tuesday. The commission made that change at the request of LAPD Chief Charlie Beck. He told commissioners that L.A. should lead the way in correcting flaws in the federal Secure Communities program. Under the new policy, the LAPD will not honor detention requests for people accused of low-level misdemeanors – those that carry a bail amount of less than $5,000. Local authorities may still detain anyone accused of a higher level crime or who has a criminal history on behalf of ICE. That disappointed some immigration activists who pointed out that the change doesn’t protect all criminally innocent people from deportation. http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2012/12/11/11501/lapd-scales-back-its-participation-federal-immigra/

Early next year, the administration will campaign for a comprehensive bill that could include a path to citizenship for 11 million people living illegally in the U.S. WASHINGTON — As soon as the confrontation over fiscal policy winds down, the Obama administration will begin an all-out drive for comprehensive immigration reform, including seeking a path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants, according to officials briefed on the plans. While key tactical decisions are still being made, President Obama wants a catch-all bill that would also bolster border security measures, ratchet up penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants, and make it easier to bring in foreign workers under special visas, among other elements. Senior White House advisors plan to launch a social media blitz in January, and expect to tap the same organizations and unions that helped get a record number of Latino voters to reelect the president. Cabinet secretaries are preparing to make the case for how changes in immigration laws could benefit businesses, education, healthcare and public safety. Congressional committees could hold hearings on immigration legislation as soon as late January or early February. “The president can’t guarantee us the outcome but he can guarantee us the fight,” said Eliseo Medina, secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union, which represents more than 2 million workers. “We expect a strong fight.” The focus comes amid new analysis of census data by the Pew Hispanic Center that shows illegal immigration is down and enforcement levels are at an all-time high. Democratic strategists believe there is only a narrow window at the beginning of the year to get an initiative launched in Congress, before lawmakers begin to turn their attention to the next election cycle and are less likely to take a risky vote on a controversial bill. “It’s going to be early,” said Clarissa Martinez de Castro, director of civic engagement and immigration for the National Council of La Raza. “We are seeing it being organized to be ready.” http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/07/nation/la-na-immigration-20121208?utm_source=AILA+Mailing&utm_campaign=75dac9684f-AILA8_12_11_12&utm_medium=email

California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris on Tuesday told local law enforcement agencies that they were not obligated to comply with a controversial federal program launched in 2008 with the goal of deporting illegal immigrants convicted of serious crimes. It was Harris’ first public assessment of Secure Communities, under which all arrestees’ fingerprints are sent to federal immigration officials, who then may ask police departments to hold suspected illegal immigrants so deportation proceedings can begin. While the intent may have been to improve public safety, Harris said that a review of data from March through June of this year showed that 28% of those targeted for deportation in California as a result were not criminals. Those numbers, she noted, changed little since Immigration and Customs Enforcement pledged a year earlier that the program would be reformed to better target the most serious criminals. “Secure Communities has not held up to what it aspired to be,” Harris said. The law enforcement bulletin she issued Tuesday stated that “immigration detainer requests are not mandatory, and each agency may make its own decision” about whether to honor them. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/12/local-police-can-decide-whether-to-hold-illegal-immigrants.html?fb_action_ids=4509880917919&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%224509880917919%22%3A318568491589806%7D&action_type_map=%7B%224509880917919%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%7D&action_ref_map=[]