Thread: Judge orders feds to issue green cards to thousands of immig

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Posted on Fri, Aug. 26, 2005



Judge orders feds to issue green cards to thousands of immigrants

DAVID KRAVETS
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge is ordering the government to expedite delivery of green cards or other documents to thousands of immigrants who have been granted legal residency in the United States.

The suit represents at least 12,500 immigrants nationwide who have been waiting, sometimes years, for their legal documents that prove they are in the country legally. U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ordered immigration officials Thursday to come up with a plan within 60 days on how they are going to expedite providing documents, even temporary ones, to the immigrants who have been declared U.S. residents by federal immigration judges.

"The ruling recognizes that thousands of lawful permanent residents nationwide have been wrongfully denied their proof of status," said Javier Maldonado, executive director of the Texas Lawyers' Committee. "The Department of Homeland Security can no longer deprive thousands of lawful permanent residents of the essential documentation that enables them to work legally, obtain identification documents, and visit their families abroad."

Sharon Rummery, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services in San Francisco, said the agency was reviewing the decision and was not prepared to comment.

The government argued that the delay in issuing at least temporary documents, which allow the immigrants Social Security cards, driver's licenses and the ability to work, was in part due to backlogged security background checks on immigrants following the 2001 terror attacks.

In her ruling, Patel noted that, before the terror attacks, the government issued temporary residency documents to immigrants weeks after an immigration judge approved of their residency. She said immigration officials have not identified one of the applicants "as a national security threat, much less one who has been detained or deported as a result of security concerns."

The judge added that the government conceded that the security checks employed "would not have caught a single September 11 hijacker."

The case was brought by immigrants who said they were denied employment, promotions or other government services because they could not prove they were U.S. residents.

The case is Santillan v. Gonzales, 04-2686.

www.mercurynews.com

Posted on Fri, Aug. 26, 2005



Judge rejects federal policy
LEGAL IMMIGRANTS GAIN KEY RIGHTS
By Jessie Mangaliman
Mercury News

Thousands of legal immigrants in the Bay Area and elsewhere in the United States who have won court cases to secure green cards are entitled to temporary government-issued documents that will allow them to work and travel, a San Francisco federal court judge ruled Thursday.

Immigration advocates say that as many as 12,500 immigrants are in limbo because the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services refuse to issue temporary documents while these immigrants are waiting for their green cards.

U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ordered the government to submit a plan for complying within 60 days. In her ruling Thursday, Patel said the government and its agencies ``are in breach of their duty to provide timely documentation of status.''

Sharon Rummery, a spokeswoman for the USCIS in San Francisco said the agency is ``reviewing the opinion and considering its response.''

Big backlog

``There are thousands and thousands of people in this class who can't work and can't travel,'' said San Francisco attorney John C. Dwyer, ``because the DHS refuses to give them documents that they're legally entitled to.''

Dwyer (a partner with the law firm of Cooley Godward in San Francisco), the Texas Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund filed the class action lawsuit against the DHS and USCIS in July last year.

The immigrants in the class-action lawsuit are those who went to court to challenge their deportation and won. Although immigration courts have ruled that they are entitled to legal permanent resident status, they lack documentation -- a stamp on their passports that indicates their green cards are pending. Green cards can sometimes take years to secure, in part because of case backlogs and bureaucratic delays.

This ``proof of lawful status'' will allow immigrants to obtain Social Security cards, get driver's licenses, to work and travel abroad to visit families they haven't seen for many years, said Javier N. Maldonado, executive director of the Texas Lawyers' Committee.

National security

``On a legal level, this ruling recognizes that legal residents have legal rights that the government can't simply disregard by waving the national security flag,'' Maldonado said. ``The real problem is bureaucratic ineptitude and inefficiency that results in people's rights being disregarded.''

The DHS argued in court that the delay in issuing temporary documents resulted from lengthy security background checks on immigrants. Before Sept. 11, 2001, immigrants with court-ordered legal status obtained temporary documents within weeks from local immigration offices.

One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, only identified as Flora R., of Merced, was awarded a green card in 2003 after the courts determined that she and her mother were victims of domestic violence. But without the stamp on her passport proving she is a legal permanent resident, Flora lost a job promotion at a retail store.

``The important thing to remember is all these immigrants have gone through the process, and they're entitled to these documents,'' Dwyer said. ``These delays are extremely long, and they're really suffering.''