Archive for November, 2009
Friday, November 20th, 2009
Stewart Rabinowitz of the Dallas-based law firm Rabinowitz and Rabinowitz praises Mayor Bloomberg’s plan Immigrants: The Lifeblood of New York City.
Mayor Bloomberg understands the critical role that immigrants play in our economy and communities. In 2006, he urged a comprehensive and pragmatic policy for immigration reform, which would point the undocumented to the path of U.S. Citizenship. As a leader in welcoming and integrating immigrants into the tapestry of American communities, Mayor Bloomberg has established a uniform policy and standards for translation or interpretation services for agencies that have direct contact with New Yorkers. Each agency provides language assistance in the six major languages spoken in New York. He also signed an Executive Order that prohibits city workers from inquiring about the legal status of immigrants unless they are suspected of criminal activity.
“From establishing Immigrant Heritage Week to teaming up with immigrant advocacy groups to ensure a true count of New York City residents in the 2010 Census, Mayor Bloomberg has proven himself a leader, when it comes to immigrant concerns and priorities,” asserts Stewart Rabinowitz, of the Dallas-based law firm Rabinowitz and Rabinowitz. One of the initiatives that Mayor Bloomberg is implementing is called Immigrants: The Lifeblood of New York City. Rabinowitz finds this praiseworthy. “This will maximize the contributions that immigrants provide to our economy while helping to facilitate their integration into our communities,” he explains.
Part of Mayor Bloomberg’s initiative is to ensure that every New York immigrant who has the desire to learn the English language will be given the opportunity to do so. Limited English skills prevent immigrants from being able to access the most trustworthy options to get out of poverty. With immigrant children in mind, Mayor Bloomberg also has plans that focus on helping them to achieve goals of employment for students still learning English, pursuing higher education and to identify strategies for eliminating the achievement gap. Concludes Rabinowitz, “Mayor Bloomberg recognizes how crucial it is to make sure that immigrant children have the necessary resources needed to succeed.” Immigrants: The Lifeblood of New York City is a way to impart a significant portion of Mayor Bloomberg’s vision for his third term as well as continuing his record of supporting New York’s diverse immigrant community.
To contact a Dallas immigration lawyer or Dallas immigration attorney visit Rabinowitzrabinowitz.com.
Tags: Dallas immigration, Dallas Immigration attorney, Dallas Immigration lawyer
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Sunday, November 15th, 2009
Immigration lawyer Stewart Rabinowitz of the law firm Rabinowitz and Rabinowitz offers some ideas for travelers in conjunction with Canadian Thanksgiving.
Canadian Thanksgiving was celebrated simultaneously with the Columbus Day weekend in the U.S., during the second weekend of October. U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a reminder on October 8, 2009, to travelers planning trips across the border into the United States to have their approved travel documents ready for inspection and to brace for heavy traffic during the celebration of the Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday, October 12. Stewart Rabinowitz, of the Dallas-based law firm Rabinowitz and Rabinowitz, provides additional detail concerning the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), which is now applicable to travelers on either side of the United States – Canada border. “The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, implemented on June 1, 2009, requires U.S. and Canadian citizens, age 16 and older, to present a valid acceptable and approved travel document that denotes both identity and citizenship when entering the U.S.by land or sea. Border travelers must have a passport, U.S. passport card, or an enhanced driver’s license. The latter, referred to as an EDL, is available in only four U.S. states – New York, Michigan, Vermont, and Washington, as well as four Canadian Provinces – Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia,” Rabinowitz explains. An alternative document is a Trusted Traveler Program card (NEXUS, SENTRI, & FAST). Canadian Border Patrol (CBP) also reminds U.S. lawful permanent residents that the I-551 form (green card) is acceptable for land and sea travel into the U.S.
Rabinowitz suggests that travelers familiarize themselves with the “Know Before You Go” information available from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (also available on the Canadian Border Patrol website) to avoid fines and penalties. Travelers should prepare for the inspection process prior to arriving at the inspection booth. “Individuals should have their crossing documents available for the inspection and they should be prepared to declare all items acquired abroad,” he explains.
Another issue can be a traveler’s cell phone. “People crossing the border should end cellular phone conversations before arriving at the inspection booth. These can be very distracting,” Rabinowitz concludes.
To contact a Dallas immigration lawyer or Dallas immigration attorney visit Rabinowitzrabinowitz.com.
Tags: Dallas immigration, Dallas Immigration attorney, Dallas Immigration lawyer
Posted in Press Releases | 1 Comment »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed amending its regulations by rescinding its safe-harbor procedures for employers who receive a no-match letter.
DHS recently announced that it has rescinded regulations which provided a safe harbor for employers who took specific steps in response to receiving a Social Security Administration (SSA) “employer correction request,” informally referred to as an employer “no-match” letter. The SSA issues a no-match letter when an employer’s W-2 information fails to match SSA records. Employers annually send the SSA millions of earnings reports (W-2 forms) in which the combination of an employee’s name and social security number (SSN) does not match SSA records.
As background, various persons sued DHS and the court hearing the suit granted an injunction against implementation of these provisions. The regulations provided an expanded definition of circumstances leading to “constructive knowledge” under which an employer could legally be charged with “knowing” that an employee was an “unauthorized alien.” An employer who would follow the “safe harbor” procedures set forth in the no-match regulations avoids only the risk of being found to have “constructive knowledge” that an employee is not authorized to work in the United States based on receipt of a no-match letter. This does not prevent DHS from finding that an employer had constructive knowledge in other ways, or that an employer had actual knowledge that an employee was an unauthorized alien. Note that there are many causes for a “no-match.” These may be clerical errors and name changes even for work authorized employees, apart from the submission of information for an alien who is not authorized to be employed in the United States. In the latter case, an employee may be using a false SSN or a SSN assigned to another person. The now rescinded rule provided that employers who took specified steps were sheltered from a charge of “constructive knowledge” of an employee’s non-work authorized status should that employee turn out to have been authorized to work, documents notwithstanding.
DHS has concluded that the electronic employment verification system (E-verify), in concert with other DHS programs, such as ICE’s IMAGE, will provide better tools for employers to reduce incidences of unauthorized employment and to more accurately detect and deter the use of fraudulent identity documents by employees.
