Thread: Crackdown in Virginia Strips a Legal Immigrant of Livelihood

Crackdown in Virginia Strips a Legal Immigrant of His Livelihood

By SABRINA TAVERNISE
Published: February 17, 2011

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — When Mohamed Mejri, a Tunisian immigrant with a limousine business here, first learned that the State Department of Motor Vehicles refused to issue him a new driver’s license, he thought it was a mistake.

After all, he had been a licensed driver in Virginia for years.

But last fall, the department stopped accepting his federally issued work permit, a document that was his main proof that he was in the country legally, because he does not have a green card.

Now, five months later, his business is collapsing, and bill collectors are calling.

Virginia changed its policy in September after an illegal immigrant from Bolivia was charged with hitting and killing a nun while driving drunk in Prince William County.

Her death hardened what was already a strong anti-immigrant mood in the state. Virginia’s governor, Bob McDonnell, announced that work permits would no longer be accepted as proof of legal residence because they could be held by people who, like the Bolivian immigrant, are in deportation proceedings. The governor said other documents would still be accepted.
The permit, called the employment authorization document, allows foreign nationals to work in the United States. It is broadly held, including by many asylum seekers, refugees and foreign students.

For Mr. Mejri, who is 54, the permit is all he has. He fled Tunisia in 1992, and after living in Canada, where he had been granted political asylum, he came to the United States in 2000. American immigration authorities rejected his application for asylum, over an unpaid fine in Canada. By the time it was paid and processed, several years had passed, and he received notice that it was too late to reapply. He then received an administrative order to leave the country, but a federal judge ruled in his favor that he not be deported. Now he is in limbo, in the country legally but without any path to citizenship.
Melanie Stokes, a spokeswoman for Virginia’s Department of Motor Vehicles, said she could not comment on Mr. Mejri’s status because state law prevented her from discussing individual cases.
The precise number of people affected by the change is unknown. Jorge Figueredo, the director of racial justice and immigrants' rights for the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, said he was personally handling 38 cases, and estimated that the total number of stranded immigrants could be in the hundreds.
The authorities said the numbers were much smaller. In a letter to a group of lawyers and immigrant advocacy organizations in January, the commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles, Richard D. Holcomb, said that in the 11 weeks after the policy was implemented, about 4,000 applicants entered an “elevated review process,â€

Virginia changed its policy in September after an illegal immigrant from Bolivia was charged with hitting and killing a nun while driving drunk in Prince William County.

The Tunisian should have been paying attn to the change in the law if he's such a "business man". After all, the rest of us would be expected to!

This guy already had asylum in Canada. Why did he come to the US? Asylum is suppose to be an emergency measure to help victims escape life threatening situations in their country. He already had refuge in Canada. So how would he even be eligible to file for asylum in US? This is crazy. He was in no danger in Canada.

[quote]“This should not be happening,â€

Originally Posted by redpony353

This guy already had asylum in Canada. Why did he come to the US? Asylum is suppose to be an emergency measure to help victims escape life threatening situations in their country. He already had refuge in Canada. So how would he even be eligible to file for asylum in US? This is crazy. He was in no danger in Canada.

Thats what I was thinking. He was legal in Canada but not ever legal in the US.

Judy of course is right again. Judges do not have the authority to grant immigration status to illegals. They only have some authority to withhold some legal consequences such as deportation. Hense he still isn't legal.

He also has choices where many Americans don't. He could move states and try again, he could apply for a normal job, or he could go back to Canada where he had legal status.

His going public now has put him in the spotlight and with luck get him deported if he is not officially legal. Any illegal who puts themselves int he press spotlight deserves to be investigated by ICE and yes if the Feds declare that person as being here illegally..then deport them ASAP