In Flores-Villar v. United States, a case recently argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, Ruben Flores-Villar claimed laws pertaining to U.S. citizenship promoted unconstitutional gender-based discrimination.  Flores-Villar claimed an equal protection violation and argued the federal immigration law applied to determine his U.S. citizenship treats the child of an unwed U.S. citizen father differently then the child of an unwed U.S. citizen mother; thus, resulting in unconstitutional gender-based discrimination.  Ultimately, Flores-Villar wants derivative U.S. citizenship based upon his father’s U.S. citizenship.

Flores-Villar was born in Mexico to unmarried parents.  Flores-Villar’s father is a U.S. citizen and his mother is Mexican citizen.  The law in effect when Flores-Villar was born, states unwed fathers had to meet certain U.S. residency requirements while unwed mothers did not. In order for an unwed U.S. citizen father to transmit citizenship to a child born outside the U.S. the father must have been physically present in the United States for a total of ten years, at least five years of which were after his fourteenth birthday but prior to the child’s birth.  In Flores-Villar’s situation this requirement presents and impossiblity because Flores-Villar’s father was sixteen when Flores-Villar was born and at that time only unwed fathers nineteen years of age could transmit U.S. citizenship.    Without U.S. citizenship Flores-Villar was deported for committing a drug-related offense and later charged with unlawful presence in the U.S. when he tried to return.

Eight of the nine Supreme Court Justices participated in the case, Justice Kagan recused herself.  At this time no decision has been made please return for updates.

On Monday November 15, 2010 the California Supreme Court unanimously held undocumented immigrants can qualify to pay cheaper in-state tuition rates at California public universities. The decision applies to 112 community colleges, 33 universities and two independent postgraduate schools in California’s public postsecondary education system.

A California state law, which took effect in January 2002, states those “without lawful immigration status” — if they qualify on other grounds — can get in-state tuition rates if they have “filed an application to legalize his or her immigration status.”  The plaintiffs in the present case pointed to a federal law that stated undocumented immigrants cannot qualify “for any postsecondary education benefit” (i.e., lower tuition rates) if other U.S. citizens did not get the same benefit.  The lower court of appeals held undocumented immigrants, even if they lived and studied in California, should be treated as “nonresidents” when it came to how much they pay to attend California public universities.

In its decision, the California Supreme Court overturned the lower court’s decision and found that federal law did not trump state law in this case.  The California Supreme Court pointed out U.S. citizens from outside California, could receive in-state tuition as long as they attended high school in California for three or more years and either graduated from a high school or got their GED in California. The court further stated undocumented immigrants would be treated like U.S. citizens from outside California, in that only those undocumented immigrants who met the criteria would qualify for in-state tuition rates.

It is anticipated the decision will be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. The California Supreme Court’s decision can be found in PDF at: Martinez v. U.C. Regents.

Aftab Ali, aka Aftab Ali Khan, 28, the Pakistani citizen convicted of carrying out the attempted Times Square bombing has been charged with immigration fraud.  Ali entered the U.S. in August 2009 to marry his then-fiancé and began working at a gas station without employment authorization. It is alleged that approximately three months later, after marrying a different woman, Ali defrauded the government by filing documents to adjust his immigration status in which he knowingly omitted his unauthorized employment.

If convicted, Ali faces up to 10 years imprisonment, to be followed by three-year term of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on the charge of immigration document fraud and up to five years imprisonment to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on the charge of making false statements.

The Farr Group would like to thank all the men and woman who selflessly serve and served in the armed forces for their patriotism and willingness sacrifice for the common good.

Today’s post is in the spirit of Veteran’s Day:

USCIS recently announced that in fiscal year 2010 it granted citizenship to 11,146 members of the U.S. armed forces at ceremonies in the United States and 22 countries abroad.  USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas stated “Many of our service members have risked their lives across the globe before becoming citizens here at home. Their brave acts, and those of more than 65,000 service members who have become citizens since 2001, demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to America [and] We are enriched by their decision to serve our nation and to join us as United States citizens.”

For more information regarding citizenship and immigration benefits for United States service members and their families please visit: http://www.uscis.gov/military; or call the USCIS toll-free help line, 1-877-CIS-4MIL, 1-877-247-4645.

Over the course of 72 hours members of the Clearwater Area Human Trafficking Task Force rescued four juveniles and arrested 35 adults.  The Tampa Bay sting was part of a countrywide initiative, the FBI’s Innocence Lost National Initiative, that included enforcement actions in 40 cities and led to the recovery of 69 children who were being victimized through prostitution.  The Clearwater Area Human Trafficking Task Force investigates and arrests those who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers, and foreign-national predators whose crimes make them deportable.

Since the spring of 2003 the FBI’s Innocence Lost Task Forces and Working Groups have recovered over 1,200 children from the streets.

The public is encouraged to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review will close the Orlando Immigration Court on November 12, 2010 to prepare for relocation.   The Orlando Immigration Court is anticipated to reopen for hearings at its new location on November 18, 2010.  The new site for the Orlando Immigration Court will be located at:

3535 Lawton Road, Suite 200        Orlando, Florida  32803

The phone number will remain the same (407) 648-6565.

The current expiration of March 17, 2011, for the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of eligible nationals of Somalia has been extended to September 17, 2012. The 18-month extension was deemed necessary because conditions that prompted the 2001 TPS re-designation of Somalia continue, and the return of individuals with TPS to Somalia would pose a serious threat to their personal safety.

There are approximately 300 nationals of Somalia, and persons whom have no nationality but last habitually resided in Somalia, that may be eligible for re-registration. Somali nationals who first entered the United States after Sept. 4, 2001 do not qualify for TPS.

For more information please visit:  www.uscis.gov

USCIS is increasing application and petition fees and any new applications or petitions filed or postmarked on or after Tuesday, November 23, 2010 without the new fees will be rejected.

Most fees are increasing such as the I-130 Petition for Alien Relative, which was $355, the new fee will be $420.  The I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status was $930 and under the new fee schedule it will cost $985.  The fee for Biometrics is also increasing from $80 to $85.

The fee for the N-400 Naturalization is not increasing.  Also the I-129F Petition for Alien Fiance is being decreased from $455 to $325.

For more fee information please visit USCIS’s website at www.uscis.gov

The Pew Hispanic Center is a nonpartisan research organization that does not take positions on policy issues.  The “Pew” recently conducted a study in English and Spanish, from August 17 through September 19, which surveyed 1,375 Latino adults conducted by land line and cellular telephones.

Below are some highlights:

-86% of Latinos support providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants if they pass background checks, pay a fine and have jobs, this level of support surpasses the 68% of the general public who favor such a path to citizenship

-61% surveyed say discrimination is a “major problem,” this is an increase from the 54 percent who categorized it that way in 2007

-36% cite to immigration status as to the most important factor leading to discrimination (in 2007 46% pointed to language skills)

-45% responded that foreign-born and native-born Latinos are working together to achieve common political goals, and 46% say they are not

-Roughly 70% of foreign-born Latinos say discrimination against Hispanics is a major problem preventing Latinos from succeeding in America, whereas 49% of the native-born agree

– 36% stated they are more satisfied this year with the direction of the United States which is an increase over the 25 % who said the same thing in 2008

For more statistics and information please visit CNN’s Pew Report: Latinos divided over illegal immigrants, other issues

President Obama in an interview with the syndicated radio program “Piolin por la Manana” urged Latino voters to go out on November 2 and vote.  The President stated, it “makes no sense” for those impatient for immigration reform to stop participating in “the system.”  The President likened the struggle for Immigration Reform to the Civil Rights Movement and stated Latinos should take “a cue from African Americans’ struggle for civil rights.”  The President went on stating it took decades for African Americans to achieve full citizenship and it was not accomplished by remaining silent and idle.

For more on the interview with Piolin por la Manana visit: www.piolin.univision.com