Utah Immigration Lawyer Accused of Making Threats Amid Weeks of Erratic Behavior

“A no bail arrest warrant has been issued for a prominent immigration attorney in Utah whose increasingly erratic behavior, according to police and prosecutors, culminated with him making terroristic threats against his wife in addition to making several bizarre statements,” reports Pat Reavy in KSL’s Utah News.

“Aaron Tarin, 40, of Herriman, was arrested three times over two weeks in late May through June. On Thursday he was charged in 3rd District Court with making a terroristic threat, a second-degree felony, and stalking, a third-degree felony.”

“According to charging documents, Tarin’s ex-wife reported to police that Tarin was engaging in ‘concerning behavior’ from May 18 to May 29, including sending her ‘multiple angry emails and videos … that talked about a ‘leprechaun chase’ and that ‘everybody needs to be ready for it.'”

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ACLU Sues ICE Over Its Deliberately-Broken Immigrant ‘Risk Assessment’ Software

“A couple of years ago, a Reuters investigation uncovered another revamp of immigration policies under President Trump. ICE has a Risk Classification Assessment Tool that decides whether or not arrested immigrants can be released on bail or their own recognizance. The algorithm had apparently undergone a radical transformation under the new administration, drastically decreasing the number of detainees who could be granted release. The software now recommends detention in almost every case, no matter what mitigating factors are fed to the assessment tool,” reports Techdirt in Above the Law’s Technology.

“ICE is now being sued for running software that declares nearly 100% of detained immigrants too risky to be released pending hearings. The ACLU’s lawsuit  opens with some disturbing stats that show how ICE has rigged the system to keep as many people detained as possible.”

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Supreme Court Leans Toward Trump Plan to End DACA Program for Nearly 700K Undocumented Immigrants

Refugees - immigrationThe Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared likely to side with the Trump administration in its effort to end a program that lets nearly 700,000 young, undocumented immigrants live and work in the USA without fear of deportation, according to a USA Today report.

Several conservative justices noted the Department of Homeland Security laid out several reasons for its decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.

The court’s four liberal justices argued that the decision to end DACA should rise or fall on the administration’s tenuous claim that it was illegal.

“Chief Justice John Roberts looked to be the key vote, as he was in June when he voted with the court’s four liberal justices to strike down the Trump administration’s effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census,” USA Today‘s Richard Wolf writes.

Read the USA Today article.

 

 




Documents: Mississippi Plant Owners ‘Willfully’ Used Ineligible Workers

The Associated Press is reporting that sworn statements supporting search warrants allege that six of seven Mississippi chicken processing plants raided last week were “willfully and unlawfully” employing people who lacked authorization to work in the United States.

Some of the workers were wearing electronic monitoring bracelets at work for previous immigration violations, according to unsealed court documents.

“The statements unsealed Thursday allege that managers at two processing plants owned by the same Chinese man actively participated in fraud,” writes the AP’s Jeff Amy. “They also show that supervisors at other plants at least turned a blind eye to evidence strongly suggesting job applicants were using fraudulent documents and bogus Social Security numbers.”

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Loudmouth Xenophobic Lawyer Ripped By Colleagues a Day After Meltdown

The New York lawyer caught yelling racist comments at Spanish-speaking restaurant workers in a viral video was treated like a pariah by fellow attorneys at a Queens court Thursday, lawyers there told The New York Post.

And Aaron Schlossberg will have to find a new place to work because his landlord kicked him out of his office space after the video went public.

Schlossberg was in court Thursday representing Queens medical center Aimes Enterprises Inc. — a day after footage emerged of the lawyer threatening to have workers at a Manhattan eatery “kicked out of my country.”

The NY Post article quotes two lawyers who were in court that day: ““I was taken aback that he would have the balls to come to court in front of all of his colleagues after his crazy outburst.” And: “Why would he do that? His reputation will be shot. What a dope!”

Read the NY Post article.

 

 




Lawyer Says Texas Law Banning ‘Sanctuary Cities’ Has Serious Constitutional Problems

A new Texas “sanctuary cities” ban set to take effect Sept. 1 orders cities and counties not to stop law officers from asking about the immigration status of anyone they detain. It also would punish police chiefs, sheriffs and constables who fail to abide by the law or fail to comply with federal immigration detainer requests, according to a post on the website of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing.

On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas warned visitors that their constitutional rights could be violated when they’re in the state. A federal lawsuit has already been filed in San Antonio. On the other side, Attorney General Ken Paxton has also filed suit, asking a federal judge pre-emptively to uphold the constitutionality of the law.

Dallas attorney David Coale of Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst, a trial and appellate lawyer, says the new law is vulnerable.

“States and cities can’t be made to enforce federal law because of the 10th Amendment and federal preemption of immigration law. Period. Farmers Branch and Irving, Texas, went through similar issues several years ago with their local laws about immigration. A state law that tries to make cities enforce federal law is just as problematic.

“Procedurally, I expect the plaintiffs in the San Antonio case to seek some kind of temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction to enjoin the law. On both sides, you have to separate the policy from the law. Both sides have points about the importance of immigration enforcement, on the one hand, and local control over local law enforcement, on the other. The legal question, though, is about the structure of our government, which is defined by the Constitution.”




Sanctuary Cities See Legal Holes in Trump’s Immigration Orders

Reuters is pointing out that President Donald Trump’s executive order directing federal agencies to take away funding from self-proclaimed sanctuary cities had one big exemption for one of his favorite constituencies: the police, who would be protected from cuts.

In the article, reporters Mica Rosenberg, Dan Levine and Andy Sullivan explain that it’s possible that very exemption makes it much more likely that a judge could strike down that section of the order as unconstitutional.

The article says: “The Trump administration cannot cut funds for sanctuary cities’ healthcare and education while preserving money for police, since those jobs relate more closely to immigration enforcement, said Richard Doyle, city attorney in San Jose, California. He said it was not clear whether existing federal funding or only future grants would be targeted.”

Read the Reuters article.

 

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H-1B Visa – 2016 Filing Season

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration ServicesStarting April 1, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin accepting H-1B visa petition filings – subject to the annual cap – for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, 2016, reports Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on its website.

The H-1B visa program allows U.S. employers to employ foreign workers temporarily in specialty occupations.

“To maximize client chances that their applications will be picked in this year’s anticipated lottery, we strongly recommend that H-1B visa petitions that are subject to the cap be filed as close to April 1, 2016, as possible,” the firm advises.

The article lists exceptions to the H-1B cap and alternatives to the H-1B.

Read the article.