CNN
By Leigh Ann Caldwell
April 22, 2014
Washington (CNN) -- Justin Bieber is allowed to stay in the United States -- for now.
The
White House won't comment on a petition signed by more than 270,000
asking for the pop star to be deported for his repeated starring role in
famous-people-behaving-badly.
You
might not care about the Canadian and his "beliebers," but the
20-year-old's misbehavior and run-ins with the law raise some serious
questions about immigration law
enforcement. Like, is Bieber getting some serious special treatment?
President
Barack Obama has deported more people than any other president, causing
him to be known as the "deporter-in-chief" in some sectors of the
immigration community.
But isn't Bieber here legally? He sure is. But it's not only illegal immigrants who are receiving deportation orders.
The
Immigration Policy Center estimated that 10% of the people deported
between 1997 and 2007 were legally living in the United States.
While
the Obama administration deported nearly 1.6 million people in the last
four years, it's unclear how many were in the country legally.
The
administration doesn't reveal those statistics. An immigration tracking
division of Syracuse University, TRAC, is currently suing the
Department of Homeland Security
for failing to release a wide range of data on deportations and
detentions.
But
immigration advocates believe the number has gone up since Obama came
into office, not only due to an increase in deportations, but also
because of anecdotal evidence.
They
are seeing an increase in home raids of legal residents and there are
stories like that of Navy veteran Howard Dean Bailey, who was deported
in 2010 over a years-old
drug offense.
Yes, legal residents are getting kicked out because of a previous crime.
According
to a 1996 immigration law, it doesn't matter how long ago people
committed their crime and the types of crimes eligible for deportation
are vast and expanding.
For instance, shoplifting and marijuana possession often qualify.
Justin Bieber has a lot of potential charges under his belt.
In
January he was charged with driving under the influence in Miami. He
also has a pending assault charge and separate vandalism charges for
egging his neighbor's house.
As
with all deportations, the president has the "inherent power to choose
which cases to act on," said Richard A. Boswell, immigration law
professor at the University
of California's Hastings College of the Law. It's called "prosecutorial
discretion."
Obama said he can't stop deportations of immigrants, but maybe he can.
But
fortunately for Bieber -- and possibly the President who would upset
millions of teen fans -- is that his DUI is not a deportable offense.
His vandalism charge probably
isn't either. His assault charge might be, experts say.
Matthew
Kolodziej, legislative fellow at the Immigration Policy Center, said
Bieber could potentially be charged with a crime of moral turpitude,
which he described as
"an abstract concept whose definition has expanded over the years."
In sum, it's a judgment of a person's character and intent for purposes of immigration.
"A good immigration lawyer won't let that happen and I'm sure (Bieber) will be very well represented," Kolodziej said.
Bieber
also has another advantage. He never got a green card. Bieber is in the
country on a visa for people with "extraordinary" abilities.
His visa has to be renewed at some point, however, and moral turpitude could be taken into consideration.
But, like Kolodziej said, his well-paid legal team probably won't let that happen.
Bieber's
attorneys are reportedly working out a plea deal for some of Bieber's
crimes. If his legal team is any good, they would advise him that even a
plea doesn't protect
him from future immigration consequences.
But
for many legal immigrants, they don't have the resources to hire top
immigration and criminal attorneys to help navigate the system.
You get what you pay for.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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