NEW JERSEY, United States—For many Filipino immigrants, applying for a US permanent residency is tough as it is.
With a recent policy change under the administration of President Donald Trump, obtaining a green card or permanent residency just got tougher for those who may be deemed a public charge or public liability.
Immigration lawyer Michael Gurfinkel said applicants for permanent visas who fail to meet income standards or applicants who received public assistance could be rejected.
"Public charge means if a person receives certain public benefits during a 12 month period within the past three years, the Trump administration also expanded the list of benefits that a person applies for or received would make them a public charge," he said.
Among the items considered as public benefit in the Department of Homeland Security's revised definition of public charge are supplemental security income, temporary assistance to needy families, food stamps from the federal SNAP program, government-run health program Medicaid and subsidized housing.
"In the past, if a person had applied for and received those benefits they would not have been considered a public charge, now they may which would disqualify them from receiving a green card, possibly," Gurfinkel added.
For some Filipinos in New Jersey, they believed this policy change is at the center of Trump's efforts to reduce family-based legal immigration, especially for applicants coming from poor countries.
"It’s difficult enough to just come into the US and to give another aspect of difficulty to that policy eh 'di kawawa naman talaga for Filipinos who come to the US," said Lorena Mcrae of Migrante International, a global alliance of Filipino workers overseas.
Jersey City council president Rolando Lavarro said elderly Filipinos, especially war veterans applying for green card, are among those likely affected by the new policy.
"Now we’re saying, if you’re too poor, you’re not welcome here... A lot of immigrants have come here to this country, including Filipinos, through the process of family reunification," he said.
"We’ve never had a litmus test around the idea whether you’re able to pay your own way. It basically allows only the richest be able to come," he added.
If not in challenged in court, this policy change will take effect October 15.
Read more on Balitang America.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SAN FRANCISCO- A US judge on Monday temporarily blocked an order by President Donald Trump that barred asylum for immigrants who enter the country illegally from Mexico, the latest courtroom defeat for Trump on immigration policy.
US District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order against the asylum rules.
Tigar's order takes effect immediately, applies nationwide, and lasts until at least Dec. 19 when the judge scheduled a hearing to consider a more long-lasting injunction.
Representatives for the US Department of Justice could not immediately be reached for comment.
Trump cited an overwhelmed immigration system for his recent proclamation that officials will only process asylum claims for migrants who present themselves at an official entry point. Civil rights groups sued, arguing that Trump's Nov. 9 order violated administrative and immigration law.
In his ruling, Tigar said Congress clearly mandated that immigrants can apply for asylum regardless of how they entered the country. The judge called the latest rules an "extreme departure" from prior practice.
"Whatever the scope of the President's authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden," Tigar wrote.
Tigar was nominated to the court by President Barack Obama.
Previous Trump immigration policies, including measures targeting sanctuary cities, have also been blocked by the courts.
The asylum ruling came as thousands of Central Americans, including a large number of children, are traveling in caravans toward the US border to escape violence and poverty at home. Some have already arrived at Tijuana, a Mexican city on the border with California.
"IT IS TOO MUCH"
Rights groups have said immigrants are being forced to wait days or weeks at the border before they can present themselves for asylum, and the administration has been sued for deliberately slowing processing times at official ports.
At a hearing earlier on Monday, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Lee Gelernt said the order clearly conflicted with the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows any person present in the United States to seek asylum, regardless of how they entered the country.
Gelernt said the ACLU had recently learned Mexican authorities have begun barring unaccompanied minors from applying at US ports of entry.
Mexico's migration institute said in a statement to Reuters that there was "no basis" for the ACLU's claims, noting that there had been no such reports from the United Nations or human rights groups that are monitoring the situation at the border.
Uriel Gonzalez, the head of a YMCA shelter for young migrants in Tijuana, said he had not heard of any new measures directed at unaccompanied minors. He noted there were already long lines to get a turn with US authorities.
"This can take a while because the number of migrants has overwhelmed capacity. It is too much," he said.
The judge on Monday wrote that Trump's refugee rule would force people with legitimate asylum claims "to choose between violence at the border, violence at home, or giving up a pathway to refugee status."
Caravan participants began to arrive last week in Tijuana on the Mexican side of the US border, which has put a strain on shelters where many will wait to seek asylum. Their presence has also strained Tijuana's reputation as a welcoming city, with some residents screaming at the migrants, "Get out!"
Trump sent more than 5,000 soldiers to the 2,000-mile (3,100 km) frontier with Mexico to harden the border, although critics dismissed the move as a political stunt ahead of congressional elections on Nov. 6.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
