On The Edge News

BY SHANZEH AHMAD | YASIR ALHUMAIDAN

There are an estimated 11 million undocumented people in the United States right now, according to Aissa Olivarez, a staff attorney from the Community Immigration Law Center, but even someone who is a lawful permanent resident is still at risk for deportation.

“Only U.S. citizenship can actually protect you from that,” said Olivarez. “You have to become a lawful permanent resident first before naturalizing and becoming a U.S. citizen.”

Olivarez recently came to Edgewood in an effort to continue conversations surrounding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and undocumented students. She spoke to college administration, faculty, and staff on what different types of status mean for different groups of people.

According to Olivarez, types of status include:

• U.S. citizens (either born in the U.S. or naturalized)
• Lawful Permanent Residents (green card holders)
• Nonimmigrants (students, tourists, people in the U.S. who are not immigrating, in the U.S. to learn, visit, etc.)
• Non-status (people with DACA, TPS)
• Undocumented (not a type of status, but a label used for people who may have entered the U.S. without inspection or visa)

In Wisconsin, there are 55,000 people who are eligible to naturalize. In Dane County, there are 10,000 people eligible.

Olivarez said it was important to know the guidelines that come with each of these types of status.

For example, for lawful permanent residents, the green card usually expires after 10 years. She said that doesn’t mean that somebody’s status expires. “It just means that the card is no longer valid to show proof that you are a lawful permanent resident,” said Olivarez.

Olivarez said that DACA is protection from deportation, but it’s temporary. “So deferred action is not a green card or visa, it’s not a path to citizenship, and it’s discretionary,” said Olivarez.

She said that it doesn’t look like U.S. Senate will be introducing any meaningful legislation in regards to the Dream Act, which would allow for a path to residency. “I’m incredibly disappointed in our Senate for not taking into account how vulnerable the DACA students are at this point and the difficulties that they’ve had and are having in living in the United States,” said Olivarez.

The biggest struggle for DACA or undocumented students on college campuses, according to Olivarez, is that the future is unknown. “Congress originally introduced the Dream Act in 2000, and they have failed to take action to protect dreamers since that time,” said Olivarez. “These students have been through many ups and downs and have held out hope for a path to residency.”

DACA is different from temporary protected status. “These are countries that have gone through either a natural disaster, or civil war, or things that are difficult,” said Olivarez. “We basically protect those people from having to return to a more vulnerable society until things are more stabilized, and then TPS is rescinded and they are asked to return back to their country.”

There are many paths to becoming a resident in the U.S. Olivarez said. Among them:

• Family-based (certain close relatives of U.S. citizens)
• Employment-based (H-1B categories)
• Refugees and Asylees (those seeking refuge or asylum in the U.S. are able to become residents after one year)
• Diversity Lottery (people from underrepresented countries given the opportunity to sign up for a diversity lottery)
• People w/ U visas or T visas (victims of crimes can apply for a visa if they’ve helped in the prosecution)

Olivarez said that Dane County is great with signing off on helpfulness. “I can’t say the same for the rest of the state, so there’s a lot of barriers for people who might be eligible for a U visa or T visa and the county or local police department doesn’t want to sign off on helpfulness because they think they’re conferring an immigration benefit,” said Olivarez.

Family-based immigration may also take an extended amount of time, according to Olivarez. “I can tell you right now that brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens who are from Mexico are waiting 20 years for a visa to be available,” said Olivarez.

In Dane County, Olivarez said that the reason that there are efforts to get people to become citizens is so they can vote. Citizens can also travel more conveniently, bring family in faster, prevent deportation, hold public office, and pass citizenship off to their children through derivation.

Olivarez said that there have been attempts to strip the possibility for people who were born in the U.S. to undocumented parents to gain citizenship. “That’s controversial, but that’s something that’s always held true here in the United States, is that if you are born here, you are a U.S. citizen,” said Olivarez.

Olivarez talked about the requirements for naturalization, including:

• Being a green card holder
• Meeting certain requirements for time spent outside of the U.S.
• Being able to show continuous presence in the U.S. for a certain amount of time
• Not abandoning the green card
• Being able to read, write, and speak in basic English

“You will be asked to write a sentence, you’re asked to speak with the officer in the English language, and then you also have to answer 10 questions about U.S. civics, things that I couldn’t answer,” said Olivarez. “There’s a 100 questions that they have to study from, and they have to answer 10 of them.”

• Showing attachment to the U.S. (be willing to take an oath)
• Having good moral character

“That’s really broad,” said Olivarez. “Somebody has to show, for example, that they haven’t had a certain criminal conviction. Here in Wisconsin, our first (drunk driving conviction) is a forfeiture. We’re not criminally convicted, but if someone is racking up two or three, that might go against good moral character.”

Olivarez also said that the naturalization fee has gone up to $795. It used to be $680.

Olivarez said that the CILC works with Madison Path to Citizenship to provide volunteer attorneys to help people prepare their naturalization applications and even give English classes and civics classes.

The CILC was founded in 2009 by Jean Rene Watchou, who felt there needed to be a resource in the community for those who needed help with their legal status. “Immigration law is tricky,” said Olivarez. The CILC provides free consultations every second and fourth Friday of the month from 2 to 5 p.m. at Christ Presbyterian Church in Madison.

The CILC does outreach in other ways as well, including community events where different speakers come and educate the community on immigration issues. “It is time for us to educate ourselves regarding immigration so that we can engage with the larger community about the immigration system and support our neighbors during this difficult time,” said Olivarez.