International Migrants Day and Protecting the Rights and Assets of Deportees

From Appleseed:

Protecting the Rights & Assets of Deportees
 
Just in time for tomorrow’s celebration of International Migrants’ Day, two signature Appleseed projects relating to immigrant rights have reached important milestones.
 
Yesterday Appleseed released “Protecting Assets and Child Custody in the Face of Deportation:  A Guide for Practitioners Assisting Immigrant Families,” a manual that guides volunteer lawyers and non-lawyer practitioners through important financial and family rights threatened by the deportation process, including final paychecks, bank accounts, car and home ownership, government benefits, and child custody. Available here, the manual provides easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions to help immigrants protect their financial assets and family relationships.
 
The U.S. deported more than 358,000 immigrants in 2008, the sixth consecutive year of record-high deportations. Whether or not someone has a right to stay in the U.S. – or an ability to enforce that right – he or she is entitled to a final paycheck and is not by law stripped of all financial rights or child custody. But in fact, persons being deported not only often lose their U.S. community and family security, but also the resources they have built up and to which they are entitled.
 
Produced at the request of community advocates with the help of pro bono counsel from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, DLA Piper, and others, and funded in part by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, “Protecting Assets” will help volunteers and nonprofit advocates – including non-lawyers – minimize the deprivations of rights and assets that deportation poses.
 
Meanwhile, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act, which last week won the approval of the U.S. House of Representatives, includes rules negotiated by Appleseed with representatives of the remittance industry and fostered by Reps. Barney Frank and Luis Gutierrez that require providers to disclose vital service information prior to a transaction. Service fees, exchange rates, pick-up location, and the date and time when funds will be available after transfer are among the pre-transaction disclosures to be provided by remittance companies according to the legislation.
 
These disclosures are to be issued in writing and as printed receipts; they also will be available in the non-English languages most commonly used by remittance customers. The CFPA or subordinate agency will create and distribute disclosure templates for use by providers nationwide; the act also requires remittance providers to establish toll-free phone numbers and websites to disclose service information.
 
That these successes align with the celebration of International Migrants Day, which marks the United Nations’ adoption of International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families on Decmber 18, 1990, helps underscore their importance.

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