By Douglas V. GibbsAuthor, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host
Official Immigration Terms and Definitions Involving Aliens, per U.S. Government and the IRS:
A general summary of U.S. immigration terminology follows. Any references below to USCIS refer to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Alien: An individual who is not a U.S. citizen or U.S. national.
U.S. National: An individual who owes his sole allegiance to the United States, including all U.S. citizens, and including some individuals who are not U.S. citizens. For tax purposes the term “U.S. national” refers to individuals who were born in American Samoa or were born in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands who have chosen to be U.S. nationals instead of U.S. citizens.
U.S. Citizen: An individual born in the United States.
An individual whose parent is a U.S. citizen. (NOTE: There are two general ways to obtain citizenship through U.S. citizen parents, one at birth and one after birth but before the age of 18. For more information, refer to the USCIS Citizenship Through Parents.
A former alien who has been naturalized as a U.S. citizen
An individual born in Puerto Rico
An individual born in Guam
An individual born in the U.S. Virgin Islands
Compacts of Free Association: The following countries are independent republics, which were once part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific administered by the United States on behalf of the United Nations; Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Marshall Islands, Republic of Palau.
Each of the above nations signed a Compact of Free Association (CFA) with the United States. As stipulated by each CFA, citizens of the above-named republics may freely enter the United States without a visa, remain in the U.S. for an indefinite period, and be employed in the U.S. without restriction. A citizen of one of the above republics who enters the U.S. should be issued a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Form I-94 Arrival-Departure Record bearing one of the following stamps:
CFA/FSM for the Federated States of Micronesia
CFA/MIS for the Republic of Marshall Islands
CFA/PAL for the Republic of Palau
However, even without an I-94 as noted above, a citizen of one of the republics named above may still enter the U.S. without a visa, remain in the United States for an indefinite period, and be employed in the U.S. without restriction.
Immigrant: An alien who has been granted the right by the USCIS to reside permanently in the United States and to work without restrictions in the United States. Such an individual is also known known as a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR). All immigrants are eventually issued a “green card” (USCIS Form I-551), which is the evidence of the alien’s LPR status. LPR’s who are awaiting the issuance of their green cards may bear an I-551 stamp in their foreign passports.
Immigrant visas are available for aliens (and their spouses and children) who seek to immigrate based on their job skills. An alien who has the right combination of skills, education, and/or work experience, and is otherwise eligible, may be able to live permanently in the United States. Per USCIS, there are five employment-based immigrant visa preferences (categories): EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, EB-4 and EB-5. Refer to the USCIS Permanent Worker web site for more details.
Nonimmigrant: An alien who has been granted the right to reside temporarily in the United States. Each nonimmigrant is admitted into the U.S. in the nonimmigrant status which corresponds to the type of visa issued.
Aliens in some nonimmigrant statuses are permitted to be employed in the United States, and others are not. Some nonimmigrant statuses have strict time limits for the alien’s stay in the U.S., while others do not.
Each nonimmigrant status has rules and guidelines. A nonimmigrant who violates one of these rules or guidelines will fall “out of status.” A nonimmigrant who remains “out of status” for at least 180 days is deportable and if deported will be unable to re-enter the United States for 3 years. A nonimmigrant who remains “out of status” for at least 365 days is deportable and if deported will be unable to re-enter the United States for 10 years.
Each nonimmigrant status has rules and guidelines, which must be followed in order for the nonimmigrant to remain “in status.” A nonimmigrant who violates one of these rules or guidelines will fall “out of status.” An nonimmigrant who remains “out of status” for at least 180 days is deportable and will be unable to re-enter the United States for 3 years. A nonimmigrant who remains “out of status” for at least 365 days is deportable and will be unable to re-enter the United States for 10 years.
See Taxation of Aliens by Visa Type and Immigration Status for a summary of visa types.
Details on the types of nonimmigrant visas may be found on the refer to the Department of State’s Travel web page. A list of nonimmigrant visa types, along with the corresponding employment authorization provisions, may be viewed at the Social Security Administration’s Employment Authorization for Non-immigrants web site.
Undocumented Alien: An alien who entered the United States illegally without the proper authorization and documents, or who entered the United States legally and has since violated the terms of his or her visa or overstayed the time limit. An undocumented alien is deportable if apprehended.
Visa Waiver Program (VWP): The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) enables citizens of participating countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days without obtaining a United States visa. The VWP is administered by the Department of Homeland Security in consultation with the Department of State. For a list of participating countries and for further information on the VWP, please visit the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Visa Waiver Program.
House Speaker Paul Ryan says he’s not worried. The Republicans will at least be able to pass a stopgap government-wide funding bill, despite attacks from the liberal left.
On Wednesday, The White House budget office clarified the stance of the administration, sending Congress a letter expressing support for the overall bill and expressly wrote, “The Administration supports the bill’s multiyear funding extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).”
House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows has indicated that establishment GOP leaders have rejected demands by conservatives to add military funding to the four-week stopgap spending bill.
Then, there’s the demand for a “bipartisan” DACA solution.
“My friends on the other side of the aisle do not oppose a single thing in this bill,” said McConnell, R-Ky. “They know they can’t possibly explain to our warfighters and veterans, to our seniors, to our opioid treatment centers, to the millions of vulnerable children and their families who depend on S-CHIP for coverage, or to all the Americans who rely on the federal government for critical services like food inspections and Social Security checks.”
The truth is, in the event of a shutdown, food inspections and other vital services would continue, as would Social Security and other federal benefit programs.
The task of dealing with Sanctuary States and Cities is a little messier. For example, when the Oakland, California, City Council voted unanimously to end any cooperation with agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Mayor Libby Schaaf said she would go to jail if needed in her opposition to ICE raids.
Based on some of the language coming out of the White House, according to the Democrats, it is believed that ICE is planning to launch a series of Bay Area raids — with the goal of arresting as many as 1,500 illegal aliens — because California has become a Sanctuary State and several communities have adopted Sanctuary City policies.
The alleged sweep is believed to be retaliation against California’s statewide sanctuary law that Governor Jerry Brown signed last October. Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan slammed Brown for signing SB54, which he said undermined public safety.
Homan said at the time that the federal government would not allow California to be “a sanctuary state for illegal aliens,” and would have no choice but to “conduct at-large arrests in local neighborhoods and at worksites, which will inevitably result in additional collateral arrests, instead of focusing on arrests at jails and prisons where transfers are safer for ICE officers and the community.” These words were taken as a sign that a sweep was inevitable.
Homan told Fox News that “California better hold on tight.” He said that if local politicians “don’t want to protect their communities, then ICE will.”
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is accusing the Trump administration of planning to carry out these sweeps for political purposes, not for the security of the country. The supporters of Trump carrying out immigration law as it currently stands on the books beg to differ.
An ICE spokesman in San Francisco, James Schwab, said in an email that the agency “doesn’t comment on future or current operations.” This tells us that at the moment, all of the fears and accusations of the coming sweeps are likely at best hyperbole.
As for the need for such a move by the federal government, time and time again we are reminded that among the illegal alien population exists criminals and violent offenders of the law who, if proper border security and immigration provisions were being addressed, would likely not be in the country in the first place. A recent California suspect who stabbed a person in a diner has been deported previously seven times. Why was he still walking the streets?
