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Beverly Hills, California, United States
Eli Kantor is a labor, employment and immigration law attorney. He has been practicing labor, employment and immigration law for more than 36 years. He has been featured in articles about labor, employment and immigration law in the L.A. Times, Business Week.com and Daily Variety. He is a regular columnist for the Daily Journal. Telephone (310)274-8216; eli@elikantorlaw.com. For more information, visit beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com and and beverlyhillsemploymentlaw.com

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Friday, October 30, 2015

Eliot Spitzer Sharply Criticizes Hillary Clinton on 2007 Immigration Stance

New York Times
By Maggie Haberman
October 29, 2015
Eliot Spitzer, the former governor of New York whose plan for driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants was the source of a stumble in a debate for Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2007, is aggressively criticizing her for that moment, calling it a “metaphor” for her soft support on the issue of immigration.

Mr. Spitzer, who was the governor when Mrs. Clinton last ran for president eight years ago, swung hard at Mrs. Clinton in an interview this week with David Axelrod, the Democratic strategist and former adviser to President Obama, who hosts a podcast for the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics.

The former governor, who resigned in 2009 after it was revealed he was a client in a prostitution ring, recalled sitting in his living room watching the Democratic debate in October 2007, when Mrs. Clinton and Senator Barack Obama were asked about Mr. Spitzer’s proposal to let undocumented immigrants get driver’s licenses.

Mr. Spitzer recalled that Mr. Obama, who was advised by Mr. Axelrod at the time, was asked about it and “gave a one-word answer — yes. When it came time for Senator Clinton’s answer, she literally gave three different answers in 30 seconds. To which Chris Dodd then responded, ‘Wait a minute, Senator Clinton, you just said three different things, what do you think?’ And she waffled and waffled and waffled.”

The moment, from a debate in Philadelphia, was widely seen within Mrs. Clinton’s campaign at the time as the beginning of the end for her, a stumble for an otherwise agile debater at a moment when voters were just starting to tune into the race. Mrs. Clinton has, in her presidential bid for 2016, positioned herself to the left of even Mr. Obama on using executive actions to halt some deportations of illegal immigrants, as Hispanic voters have become a major component of the Democratic coalition.

Mr. Spitzer acknowledged that he is supporting one of Mrs. Clinton’s opponents, Martin O’Malley, and dates the candidate’s deputy campaign manager, Lis Smith. But he insisted that the moment was revealing overall about Mrs. Clinton.

“It was a politically tough issue,” Mr. Spitzer said. “It didn’t poll well, but there was no ambiguity about what was right. And if you look at where we are now as a nation on this very issue It’s the law of the land, I think, in California, a slew of states, and it’s not controversial because people know it’s right and it works. But at the time it was controversial. And because it was controversial she hemmed and she hawed.”

He added: “This goes to the core of where are you on immigrants rights? And the president – not then the president, Senator Obama, now the president – gave an unambiguous answer: yes. The Clinton folks, as no doubt you remember, thought the issue was the problem. I thought the issue was a metaphor for her vacillation.”

Christina Reynolds, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Clinton, did not address Mr. Spitzer’s criticisms about flip-flopping. But she said in an email on Thursday, “The immigration landscape of 2015 is far different from the immigration landscape of 2007, so of course the policy responses are different.”

In a response focused entirely on immigration policy, Ms. Reynolds added: “In 2007, we didn’t have an executive action that would focus our resources on deporting felons, not families, allowing millions of undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States. In the last eight years, states have increasingly been moving in this direction with positive results. Hillary supports those state efforts. As she said in 2007, she believes the long-term solution is comprehensive immigration reform, but given Republican obstruction, we can no longer wait for that.”

When Mr. Axelrod asked if the Clinton campaign had asked Mr. Spitzer to scrap the plan, he replied, “Yeah, we heard from folks who said they want this issue gone.”

Mrs. Clinton has strengths, said Mr. Spitzer, who conceded that she is the likely nominee. But Mr. Spitzer, who once held his own presidential aspirations and who was known to be furious with Mrs. Clinton at the time for the damage her debate answer caused to his plan for driver’s licenses, suggested that doesn’t mean she would be a good president.

She is “intensely smart. Clever. Glib. A joy to be with,” Mr. Spitzer told Mr. Axelrod. “None of that has to do with whether or not she’s the best Democratic candidate for president.”

He suggested that Mr. O’Malley, the former Maryland governor, will have an opportunity to make his case to voters. Mr. O’Malley has made criticism of Mrs. Clinton over hedging on driver’s licenses in the 2007-8 presidential campaign a key part of his message.

“O’Malley has been there on the tough issues and gotten it done and I think he’ll make that case,” Mr. Spitzer said.

When Mr. Axelrod raised the fact that Mr. Spitzer dates Ms. Smith, he replied, “Yes, everybody knows that. Yes. Correct. I am biased and overtly so. And proudly so. I never thought that being biased was a negative thing as long as you had a foundation for it, if it’s based on fact.”


For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com

Anthony Bourdain Hits Back at Donald Trump, Defends Immigrants

Eater.Com
By Chris Fuhrmeister
October 29, 2015

Every restaurant in America would shut down.'

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's strong stance on illegal immigration has already drawn serious backlash from the restaurant industry, and celebrity chefs José Andrés and Geoffrey Zakarian have pulled restaurants from Trump's new Washington, D.C., hotel. Now ex-cook and current world-traveling TV host Anthony Bourdain is getting into the mix. Bourdain made an appearance on SiriusXM's StandUP With Pete Dominick and defended America's undocumented workers.

I grew up in the restaurant business — 30 years in the restaurant business. I came out of, like a lot of other white kids, I rolled out of a prestigious culinary institute and went to work in real restaurants. I walked into restaurants and always, the person who had been there the longest, who took the time to show me how it was done, was always Mexican or Central American. The backbone of the industry - meaning most of the people in my experience cooking, preparing your food. Twenty of those years in this business I was an employer, I was a manager employer. Never, in any of those years, not once, did anyone walk into my restaurant — any American-born kid — walk into my restaurant and say I'd like a job as a night porter or a dishwasher. Even a prep cook — few and far between. Just not willing to start at the bottom like that.

Bourdain went on to say that if Trump were to win the presidency and deport 11 million illegal immigrants, "every restaurant in America would shut down," and restaurant owners share his sentiment because "they'd be up the creek. ... It is really, really getting hard to find people to do the jobs."


It's not the first time Bourdain has commented on Trump. He previously said The Donald "offends me" and the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City is "the enemy of the human spirit." Bourdain hasn't given his coveted endorsement for the 2016 election, but he threw his support behind Barack Obama in 2012 and 2008.

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com

Anthony Bourdain Defends Immigrants, Shreds Trump and Lazy Culinary SchoolKids

Washington Post
By Justin Moyer
October 30, 2015

When the bad boy of the restaurant world holds forth on the bad boy of the Republican Party, one might expect the rhetoric to be served hot and spicy. And on Wednesday, celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain brought extra pepper.

In an interview with Pete Dominick on Sirius XM, Bourdain discussed the problems presented by GOP presidential contender Donald Trump and some other conservatives’ view of immigrants. Dominick kicked off the discussion by pointing out that restaurateurs, who often depend on undocumented people for labor, may come to appreciate their struggles.

“You could be the most right-wing conservative,” Dominick said. “You really start to understand the value of these folks, and understand what our economy and what our country would be like without them, and what your business would be like without them.” His question for Bourdain: “What is your point of view of these undocumented immigrants?”

“Like a lot of other white kids, I rolled out of a prestigious culinary institute and went to work in real restaurants,” Bourdain said. “… I walked into restaurants and the person always who’d been there the longest, who took the time to show me how it was done, was always Mexican or Central American.”

Bourdain called immigrants “the backbone of the industry, meaning most of the people, in my experience, cooking.” He pointed out that, in the 20 years he was hiring, he fielded few applications from U.S. citizens for low-level positions.

“Never in any of those years,” Bourdain said, “not once, did anyone walk into my restaurant — any American-born kid walk into my restaurant — and say, ‘I’d like a job as a night porter or as a dishwasher.'” He said many were “not willing to start at the bottom like that.”

Trump was in his crosshairs.

“If Mr. Trump deports 11 million people or whatever he’s talking about right now, every restaurant in America would shut down,” Bourdain said.

Bourdain was willing to have a discussion about policies going forward — to a point.

“Serious minds can honestly disagree over what we want to do in the future as far as how tightly we want to control our borders and how many people we want to let in,” he said, calling the idea of a border wall “ridiculous.” “… But for the people who’ve been living here, and who are so much part of our lives, and who have done nothing but do their best to achieve the American dream … there should be an easy path to legality.”

Dominick asked if other restaurateurs agreed.

“Yeah, because they’d be up the creek,” Bourdain said.

Bourdain, a frequent face on “Top Chef,” then took aim at the culinary-school-to-reality-show pipeline.

“There’s a struggle right now to get cooks in New York and Washington, D.C., and other major cities,” he said. “Because all the kids coming out of culinary school, they don’t want to do the prep job. They show up out of school with their little knife roll up and the white coffee filter on their head and say, ‘When do I get to be on Top Chef? When do I get my own show? What do mean I have to clean squid for a year?'”

Dominick then put Bourdain on the defensive by asking him whether kitchen workers should have health-care insurance.


“Um,” Bourdain said. “Look, it’s tough. It’s a very difficult business for small operators. … If you’re working full time at a restaurant, you should be able to afford to live in America.”

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com

Here's what Trump was trying to say about immigration

CNBC
By Anita Balikrishnan
October 29, 2015

Donald Trump praised Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's thoughts on immigration at the GOP debate — despite bashing them on a campaign website.

His comments Wednesday night highlighted a major issue facing the technology sector: Should American tech companies scour the globe to import the most qualified technicians or pay top dollar for American engineers?

Those are the questions surrounding the H1-B visa program, a practice of granting U.S. immigration and residency rights to foreign workers qualified in so-called "specialty occupations."

Zuckerberg has said he supports increasing the number of these visas, while Trump's website declared the program encourages Silicon Valley companies to pass over black, Hispanic and female workers.

"We graduate two times more Americans with STEM degrees each year than find STEM jobs, yet as much as two-thirds of entry-level hiring for IT jobs is accomplished through the H-1B program," Trump's campaign website reads. "More than half of H-1B visas are issued for the program's lowest allowable wage level, and more than eighty percent for its bottom two. Raising the prevailing wage paid to H-1Bs will force companies to give these coveted entry-level jobs to the existing domestic pool of unemployed native and immigrant workers in the U.S., instead of flying in cheaper workers from overseas."


Trump: Only in favor of legal immigration

U.S. employers can grant a total of 65,000 H-1B visas annually to workers like scientists, engineers or computer programmers, with some exceptions for those employed at nonprofits, government or higher education, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security website. Applicants must have an advanced degree in their field, and the extensive applications cost employers and immigrants several hundred dollars.

There are dueling narratives in the research on the costs and benefits of the H-1B program.

Some research shows that H-1B holders actually earn more than their domestic counterparts — but about 25 percent are granted for occupations that typically require only an associate's degree, according to think tank Brookings Institution. More recent research, though, suggests the program is used to cut labor costs, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Zuckerberg has called for the cap to increase, founding an advocacy group bolstered by other technology heavy hitters like LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Alphabet's Eric Schmidt, and Yahoo's Marissa Mayer.


Vote: Who won the Republican presidential debate?

"Why do we offer so few H-1B visas for talented specialists that the supply runs out within days of becoming available each year, even though we know each of these jobs will create two or three more American jobs in return?" Zuckerberg wrote in The Washington Post in 2013. "Why don't we let entrepreneurs move here when they have what it takes to start companies that will create even more jobs?"

At the debate, Trump backpeddled on his campaign website's rhetoric, saying he supports Zuckerberg's efforts.

"We're losing some of the most talented people. They go to Harvard; they go to Yale; they go to Princeton. They come from another country and they are immediately sent out. I am all in favor of keeping these talented people here so they can go to work in Silicon Valley."

Fellow Republican candidate Marco Rubio doesn't highlight his immigration plan on his campaign website, but bills himself as a tech-savvy candidate in favor of trends like the sharing economy and a tax-free Internet. That, combined with proposed visa legislation, led Trump's campaign to call Rubio "Mark Zuckerberg's personal Senator."


"In 2015, we have a very different economy," Rubio said in the debate. "Our legal immigration system from now on has to be merit based. It has to be based on what skills you have, what you can contribute economically, and most important of all, on whether or not you're coming here to become an American; not just live in America, but be an American."

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com

Mark Zuckerberg's Immigration Group Calls Mass Deportation 'Absurd’

NBC News
By Matthew Deluca
October 29, 2015

An immigration reform group co-founded by Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg called the mass deportation of illegal immigrants "absurd," after Zuckerberg was mentioned during Wednesday evening's Republican presidential debate.

Republican Donald Trump had initially denied that he called fellow candidate Sen. Marco Rubio "Mark Zuckerberg's personal senator" — an assertion that remained live on Trump's campaign website as of Thursday afternoon. The website further says that Rubio "has a bill to triple H-1Bs that would decimate women and minorities."

FWD.us, the advocacy group backed by Zuckerberg, responded in a statement that didn't mention H-1Bs or Trump by name but did take on the Republican candidate's immigration proposals, which include mass deportation.

"Common sense immigration reform is the only issue with broad bipartisan support that would reduce the deficit by $820 billion," FWD.us president Todd Schulte said in a statement released after the debate. "It is astounding that some in a party that espouses smaller government wants one big enough to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants and millions of their U.S. citizen family members."

"Mass deportation is absurd on its face and these policies are indefensible on human, economic, and political grounds," Schulte said.


Immigration in general and H-1B visas in particular can be contentious issues in the tech world. Microsoft, Google and Facebook were among the top 10 entities lobbying on immigration issues in 2015, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. Tech companies are often among those who advocate for changes in the process to grant H-1B visas, which are intended to attract foreign workers in "specialty" occupations. But the top recipients of the visas, which include Deloitte Consulting, Cognizant Technology Solution and Tata Consultancy Services, aren't those same companies familiar to many Americans.

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Trump's SNL Host Slot Is No Joke for Latino Community

The Occidental Weekly
By Demi Duenas
October 28, 2015

Right now, all eyes are on presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has captured everyone’s attention with his xenophobic and sexist views and has been slotted to host Saturday Night Live (SNL) Nov. 7. For the past few months, Donald Trump has dominated headlines for making blatantly racist comments against Latino and Black individuals (among other groups) and sexist comments regarding women. He labeled Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists. In addition to the statements’ reprehensible content, Trump fails to consider that immigrants come from many other parts of the world aside from Mexico.

“They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists,” Trump said during the announcement of his presidential bid. He later claimed this statement was completely accurate and that he does not have a “racist bone” in his body.

Despite his highly offensive and inflammatory comments, Trump remains a topic of hot discussion and relevance. Whether through a magazine cover, interview or guest appearance, the media seems bent on keeping Trump in everyone’s face. The continued attention he receives by the media in some way validates his bigoted views.

The announcement of Trump’s appearance on SNL rightfully produced outrage from several Latino and immigrant advocacy organizations. Allowing Trump to host the show is wrong and offensive. His immigration policy calls for the tearing apart and destruction of countless Latino and immigrant families. The political candidate’s future appearance on the show reveals that NBC, the company that broadcasts the program, does not care about its Latino viewers.

SNL is no stranger to controversy — the most award-nominated show in Emmy history has never strayed from tackling challenging subject matter, such as sexuality, domestic violence and racism. While the majority of the show’s approaches have been light-hearted, some have been tactless. Feb. 25 saw the airing of a highly controversial skit featuring actress Dakota Johnson leaving home to join ISIS. Many viewers did not find the performance funny in the slightest, considering that the sketch was making light of an international crisis. While this is just one example of SNL crossing the line, it is safe to say that, despite negative viewer responses, the show and its writers have yet to learn from their past mistakes and to establish what is appropriate material to present to viewers.

It is not hard to predict that Trump’s future SNL gig will have massive viewership. While SNL was once a very popular show, known for its pop culture references, its viewership has dwindled over the years. In hopes of raising ratings, the show and network has enabled the controversial and highly-publicized Trump and his racist views.

Regarding the political climate, SNL has a strong impact on its viewers during presidential elections. According to voters, the political sketches have influenced their choices. An example of the “SNL Effect”: during the 2008 presidential campaign, two-thirds of voters in a poll stated they had seen a politically-charged sketch, and 10 percent stated it had a made a difference in their decision. Whether viewers notice or not, the “funny” sketches mean much more. SNL is a publicity machine and produces mass distortion. Although the media’s power is limited, it can construct a reality that heavily influences voters.

An online petition has been created by America’s Voice and MoveOn.org to drop Trump as host of SNL. The petition has received nearly 140,000 signatures. Despite the outrage and controversy amid the announcement of Trump’s appearance on SNL, he has remained relatively calm, stating that he will win the majority of the Latino vote in both the primary campaign and the general election. Trump has even stated he has a fantastic relationship with Hispanics and loves their “spirit.” Trump can say all he wants, but the fact is there is no coming back from his past comments. An apology would be a first step, but even then there will have to be an undoing of the destructive “white power” rallying that Trump has started.

Donald Trump has proved from his past actions and comments that he is not only a bad option for SNL host, but for this country. Racism should not be embodied by a potential candidate. If America is truly to become great again, the first step in this point in time is to “dump Trump.”

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com

Turns Out Donald Trump Hasn’t Read His Own Immigration Policy Paper

Buzzfeed News
By Adrian Carrasquillo
October 28, 2015

Donald Trump insisted at Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate that he had never criticized Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Sen. Marco Rubio for their immigration policies, but a policy paper on his own website says their immigration proposals “would decimate women and minorities.”

Trump got into it with debate moderator Becky Quick when Quick asked Trump about his statement that Zuckerberg is Rubio’s personal senator because of their support for H1B immigration visas for tech companies.

“You have been very critical of Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook who has wanted to increase the number of these H1Bs,” she said.

“I was not at all critical of him. I was not at all,” Trump responded.

Quick, confused by his answer, asked him where she had read it then.

“I never said that, I never said that,” Trump continued.

It turns out that the articles Quick had read were citing Trump’s immigration policy paper … on DonaldTrump.com.

In the bipartisan 2013 Senate immigration bill that Rubio supported but has largely distanced himself from since, the Florida senator supported increasing the annual H-1B visa cap from 65,000 to up to 195,000 depending on market conditions and demand.

In a 2013 Washington Post op-ed, Zuckerberg asked why the country kicks out the more than 40% of math and science graduate students who are not U.S. citizens after educating them.

“Why do we offer so few H-1B visas for talented specialists that the supply runs out within days of becoming available each year, even though we know each of these jobs will create two or three more American jobs in return?” he wrote.

Quick revisited the question later on in the debate, informing Trump that the comment was from his website.


“As far as Mark is concerned, as far as the visas are concerned, if we need people, it’s fine,” Trump said. “They have to come into this country legally. We have a country of borders. We have a country of laws. We have to obey the laws. It’s fine if they come in, but they have to come in legally.”

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com

Trump Takes Heat from Hispanic Conservatives

The Hill
By Jesse Byrnes
October 28, 2015

Donald Trump is taking heat from Hispanic conservative activists ahead of his appearance at the third Republican presidential debate Wednesday.

The celebrity real estate tycoon has been atop polls for the GOP nomination for three months, despite a summer laden with controversy over his remarks on immigrants.

Some Hispanic groups who are supportive of Republicans are now openly blasting the businessman, and putting other candidates on notice to stay away from his rhetoric.

"We believe that if Donald Trump is the GOP nominee, none of us will support him, none of us will help him engage the Hispanic community," Alfonso Aguilar, director of American Principles Project’s Latino Partnership, told The Hill ahead of the debate.

"We are ostracizing him," he added.

Aguilar and leaders from several other Hispanic conservative groups met privately Tuesday afternoon in Boulder, the site of the debate, to discuss Trump's positions on immigration.

“Heed our warning: Don’t expect us to come to your side during the general election. If you are not with us now, we will not be with you then," former Treasury Secretary Rosario Marin, an official in the George W. Bush administration, said during a press conference Tuesday.
  
Ending birthright citizenship and discussing a mass deportation of the around 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. were key issues where Trump has failed, Aguilar said.

The groups stopped short of naming other candidates with similar positions to Trump, such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who has largely embraced Trump during the 2016 campaign.

"We are concerned. We're more than concerned — we're angry with the rhetoric and tone some candidates are using," Aguilar said, alluding to other GOP candidates besides Trump.

The groups acknowledge that party officials may not like them going after a front-runner.

"They're afraid, and that's fine," Aguilar said.

Other groups present Tuesday included the Hispanic Leadership Fund and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, among others.

Organizers acknowledged the importance of raising the issue in Colorado, a state with a growing Hispanic population the GOP hopes to put into play again in 2016.

Barack Obama won Colorado twice, in 2008 against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and in 2012 against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

The coalition will hold its next meeting Dec. 14, on the eve of the final GOP debate of the year in Las Vegas, where they may call out other candidates for their positions on immigration.


"We are going to continue monitoring what they are saying," Aguilar said of the candidates

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com

Stalled Legal Process Threatens Obama's Executive Actions On Immigration

NPR
By Richard Gonzales
October 28, 2015

Nearly a year ago, the Obama administration expanded protections to certain immigrants and their parents living here illegally. States, led by Texas, sued and won an initial victory to block implementation. The case is now stalled in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and some advocates suspect the court's delay is deliberate.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

It's been almost a year since President Obama proposed easing the threat of deportation for millions of immigrants and their families. And for most of that time, the move has been held up in a federal appeals court. The drawn-out legal process may mean that the president's executive actions won't be enacted before the end of his term. NPR's Richard Gonzales has more.

RICHARD GONZALES, BYLINE: The federal courthouse in New Orleans is home to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (Chanting in Spanish).

GONZALES: Last week outside the courthouse, about a dozen or so protesters celebrated the end of a nine-day water-only fast. It's part of a campaign to draw attention to the legal battle over the fate of the president's immigration plan.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (Singing in Spanish).

GONZALES: One of the fasters is a 21-year-old college student, Jannet Ramirez. She was only a toddler when her parents arrived here from Mexico. Ramirez says she grew up in Arkansas with a constant fear that her undocumented parents could be deported on any given day.

JANNET RAMIREZ: Absolutely. There have been times where my mother has been pulled over by police, and thankfully, she only got a ticket. But if my parents are ever to get arrested, the city where I live in does have a policy of calling ICE. And if ICE wants to, they can take them off to a detention center and deport them.

GONZALES: Ramirez is protected from deportation under a 2012 Obama program that covered about a quarter of a million immigrants brought here as children. Her parents would have benefited from President Obama's attempt to expand that program to as many as four million immigrants. That expansion would've included work permits and protection from deportation. But the state of Texas, along with 25 other states, filed a lawsuit.

In February, Federal Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, Texas, slapped an injunction on the program. That's how it landed before a three-judge panel in July at the 5th Circuit. The court usually takes 60 days to issue its rulings. It's now three months, and there's still no decision. David Leopold is a past president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He says the appellate court, known to be conservative, is dragging its feet.

DAVID LEOPOLD: Justice delayed is justice denied, and that's what this delay represents to me.

GONZALES: Even if the Supreme Court gets the case soon, a decision wouldn't come until June 2016 at the earliest, says Josh Blackman, who teaches constitutional law at the South Texas College of Law. He also filed a brief opposing the president's executive actions.

JOSH BLACKMAN: I can't see the judges being in a hurry to get into this mess three months before the general election.

GONZALES: Immigration activists say a court delay would continue to galvanize supporters of immigration reform in an election year. Attorney David Leopold says a lot is riding on getting any ruling out of the 5th Circuit.

LEOPOLD: Unless the case gets from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to the United States Supreme Court in enough time for it to be heard this term, we're not going to get a final ruling from the Supreme Court on the president's executive actions possibly until June of 2017, and that's months after he leaves office.


GONZALES: That means the next president - Democrat or Republican - would decide whether or not to continue the court fight over Obama's immigration actions. Richard Gonzales, NPR News. 

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com

Hundreds rally at Farrand Field in support of immigration reform

CU Independent (Colorado)
By Sarah Farley
October 28, 2015

Ernie Torres and Richard Marin stand on Farrand Field in full military uniforms as they represent the Hispanic Veterans from the American GI Forum Mile High Chapter. It’s Wednesday, hours before the GOP debate, and the “My Country, My Vote” rally is revving up. Farrand anticipates hosting thousands of people coming to support the Colorado Latino community. More people are steadily trickling onto the grass, while a mariachi band plays on the stage.

The rally is meant to address the negative rhetoric coming from Republican candidates on undocumented immigrants, especially those from Mexico. It’s also geared towards encouraging Latinos to vote, so that the community’s voice has a chance of being represented.

Torres and Marin are here because former Denver Mayor Federico Pena, who is supposed to speak later, asked them to present colors at the rally. Both of them express disgust with Trump’s sweeping statements about Mexican immigrants.

“This country is made from immigrants from all over the world. Trump’s comments about Mexicans are very unfair,” Torres said.

Marin understands peoples’ frustration with the current immigration situation and feels that “People fail to see the big picture.” He agrees that there needs to be laws and regulations passed for a comprehensive immigration reform that makes sense with the reality of the situation.

Wayne Laws, an activist supporting Coloradans for Immigrant Rights, said there is “so much talk about deportation, but when we do that, it separates families, which is a human rights violation.”

6:30 p.m.

Marco Dorado, a CU graduate who gained residency through the Dream Act, speaks both English and Spanish. He imparts his family’s struggle to attain the American dream, and talks of the obstacles he faced once reaching adolescence and the realization that he was “illegal.”

Dorado is one of about 400 attendees, less than half of the 900 who RSVP’d. Despite this small turn out, the crowd carries the energy and vivacity that represents the resilience of the Latino community. In between speakers, the rap duo 2MX2 performs, spouting lyrics of cultural perseverance and strength.

Most of the speakers deliver a message of determination in projecting the Latino voice and being heard by politicians. They say that without the Latino vote, the GOP cannot win the presidential race. Vanessa Guzman, a member of the Colorado Evangelical Immigration Table, promotes the idea that it’s a God-given right to live anywhere on Earth, because it belongs to everyone.


The vast majority of speakers advocate for bringing undocumented individuals out of the shadows and giving them the opportunities they risked their lives for by coming to America. Many people deplore the comments that Trump has made about Mexican immigrants and openly express their opposition to his views. The speakers are pumping fire into the crowd and calling them to action and political participation.

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com

Good luck, Speaker Ryan. You’re going to need it.

New York Times (Editorial)
October 28, 2015

HOUSE REPUBLICANS nominated Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) to serve as the next speaker Wednesday afternoon, setting up a Thursday floor vote that should make his ascent official. We wish him luck. Mr. Ryan promised last week that his speakership would bring “real reform.” Every American should hope he succeeds in establishing a governing majority that acts on issues Congress has let fester for years — and that the rules changes he demands will enable him to act with less fear of Freedom Caucus conservatives than outgoing Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

Yet he faces several grave challenges, some self-imposed. Top among them is that Mr. Ryan promised hard-right members of Congress that he would respect the informal “Hastert Rule,” which requires that a majority of the majority party in the House favor a bill for it to get a floor vote. Adherence to the rule unwisely blocks important policies that would win a majority of House members if they came to an up-or-down vote, restricting the House’s ability to work on behalf of a majority of Americans. In fact, the budget deal Mr. Boehner just struck with the White House violated the Hastert Rule, passing the House Wednesday with only 79 Republicans voting “yes.” Yet the deal will keep the government’s debt payments current and its lights on. It would have been better for Mr. Ryan to have refused to have his hands tied.

Congress, moreover, seems to be in the process of punting the most important issues until after the next president is sworn in. Mr. Ryan promised to keep comprehensive immigration reform off the table as long as President Obama was in the White House. Mr. Boehner’s budget deal will keep the government funded for two more years, so there will be less opportunity to tackle the country’s long-term budget imbalances until early 2017.

That leaves Mr. Ryan — and the country — with a clipped agenda over the next two years. He may waste more of the people’s time attempting to repeal Obamacare. But he might also push to reform corporate taxes and federal anti-poverty programs. He has already devoted considerable energy to these matters, which could produce useful results. If done carefully, for example, corporate tax reform could boost U.S. competitiveness and provide some cash for the government to invest in infrastructure. Yet a House in which the hard right still holds considerable sway could easily sit more or less idle instead.

Mr. Ryan, meanwhile, can’t assume that a Republican will be in the White House in 2017 to make it easier for him to tackle immigration and the budget. Even if there is a GOP president, measures such as raising the debt limit will remain unpopular necessities — and very difficult to pull off without Democratic votes.


Mr. Ryan attempted to seek the speaker’s gavel on his own terms, informing the GOP caucus that he would not take the job unless the right wing put down one of its weapons, a procedure to remove the speaker by majority vote. Yet that alone will not solve the House’s dysfunction. At some point during his speakership, it is likely that Mr. Ryan will have to choose between failing the country or violating one of the pledges he made to conservatives. When that happens, we hope and trust that he will make the right choice.

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com

To Help Small Businesses, Help Immigrants

New York Times (Taking Notes)
By Teresa Tritch
October 28, 2015

Politicians, especially those on the right, often talk about their devotion to “small business” when arguing against higher wages for workers and higher taxes for the rich.

They do so even though government research has shown that most small businesses do not have employees and very few small business owners make enough to be affected by high-end tax increases.

A new study by the Pew Research Center presents an even fuller picture. The study, which used survey data only recently made available by the Census Bureau, looked at self-employed individuals, defined as those who work for profits or fees in their own businesses, including sole proprietors, partners or incorporated business owners.

The study found that 14.6 million people, about 10 percent of the American workforce, say they are self-employed. Of them, 76 percent do not have any employees.

The remaining 24 percent, or 3.4 million people, employ 29.4 million workers, or 20 percent of the United States workforce. More than half of those nearly 30 million jobs are accounted for by a relatively small group of relatively large employers averaging 42 employees each. In addition, most of those employers operate their businesses as corporations.

So Republicans who invoke small business to justify low wages for workers and low taxes on the rich are not really talking to or about the majority of self-employed people who run one-person shops or those who hire others to help them in Main Street stores or other generally service-sector enterprises that come to mind when most people think about small businesses. That majority would probably stand to benefit if consumers had more money to spend from, say, a higher minimum wage and would be largely untouched by higher taxes on the rich.

The Pew Research Center does not take policy positions and so has not commented on what the needs and problems of genuinely small businesses may be or how best to address them. But if politicians were interested in learning, the Pew study could point them in the direction they need to go. It found, for example, that within each racial and ethnic group studied (white, Hispanic, black, Asian), immigrants are more likely to be self-employed than American-born workers. And self-employed immigrants are almost as likely to have employees as American-born business owners.

It stands to reason that respect for small businesses would include respect for immigrants; that help for small businesses would include help for immigrants’ special challenges; and that encouraging small businesses would mean encouraging immigration.

If only policy were based on research and rhetoric on reality.

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com


Wednesday, October 28, 2015

GOP Hispanics Warn Party's Candidates: Ditch Trump Rhetoric

NBCNews
By Alexandra Jaffe
October 27, 2015

A coalition of Latino conservative activists warned the Republican presidential field on Tuesday to ditch Donald Trump's rhetoric on immigration, or they risk losing the election.

"Heed our warning: don't expect us to come to your side during the general election," said Rosario Marín, who served as Treasurer under former President George W. Bush. "If you are not with us now, we won't be with you then. If you insult us now, we will be deaf to you then. If you take us for granted now, we will not recognize you then."

Marín was flanked by nearly two dozen other activists, small business owners and elected officials who met earlier that day in Boulder as part of an event organized by the American Principles Project's Latino Partnership to discuss the upcoming election. The group said they weren't endorsing any candidate, but were unified in their opposition to one: Trump.

Although other in the group named Trump, Marín refused to say his name and instead decried the "nonstop vitriolic insults" from "a wannabe politician."

"Foolishly, some candidates think they don't need the Hispanic vote in the primary, so they pander to the voters with extreme views instead of just showing us who they are," Marín added.

She and others warned that Trump could not win the White House, and any candidate that embraced his rhetoric or policies would inevitably lose as well. Tony Suarez, National Hispanic Christioan Leadership Conference executive vice president, said Trump's candidacy "needs to be canceled like his last reality TV program."

"Mr. Trump has become a promoter of hate, division and insult and if Mr. Trump were to be the Republican nominee - I don't think he has a chance at winning the general election," Suarez said.

The group described themselves as "stalwarts in the Latino community," noting they've all been active on past presidential campaigns rallying and turning out Latino voters.

They threatened to withhold their support from candidates who are not more receptive to the Latino community and who do not reject Trump's rhetoric, but emphasized that they're not unified in support of a particular policy platform.

Alfonso Aguilar, director of the American Principles Project said, however, the group does believe candidates who oppose birthright citizenship, and those who focus just on border security without offering other "constructive solutions" to the immigration problem are in the wrong.

"If Republicans cannot be constructive on the issues, Latino voters will not listen to our candidates when they address other issues," he said.

There was some disagreement in the group on whether to also criticize Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, by name. Ultimately, the group.

Cristobal Alex, president of the left leaning Latino Victory Project, said he was "happy" the GOP Hispanics "were finally doing the bare minimum and making it clear they won't support Donald Trump for president."

But he said other candidates had also used inflammatory language and support policies similar to Trump's.

"Putting your field on notice is great, but if conservatives really want to be taken seriously by the Latino community they have to go beyond doing the bare minimum to condemn inflammatory rhetoric and start holding candidates accountable even when it's not politically expedient," Alex said in a news release.

Coincidentally, the GOP Hispanics held their meeting the same day Sioux City, Iowa students, activists and residents held a silent protest in opposition to Trump holding a rally on the high school campus in their school district. The protesters wanted the district to enforce its zero-tolerance anti-bullying policy to keep Trump from holding the rally there.


The coalition of GOP Hispanics plans to meet again in Nevada before the next GOP debate to discuss whether the field has heeded its warning, and at that time, Aguilar warned, the group could "name more names" of candidates who are anathema to their views.

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com