Immigration Reform Hearing in San Francisco

The San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission is holding a hearing today on the need for state and national immigration reform. Here is the draft agenda:

Special Hearing on Immigration Reform—Local, State, and National
San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission
City Hall, Room 416
4 pm to 8 pm
February 11, 2013

State and Local Testimony Group
•    Trust Act—Secure Communities
o        Angela Chan, Asian Law Caucus
o        Laura Polstein CARECEN
o        Niloufar Khonsari, Pangea Legal Services and Iranian Bar Association
o        Affected persons TBA
•    Sanctuary Ordinance/City ID
o        Maria Dominguez, Oakland City ID coalition representative
•    Domestic Workers
o        Marci Seville, Professor of Law, Golden Gate Univ., Director, Women’s Employment Rights Clinic
o        Mary, a domestic worker
•    Drivers Licenses for undocumented immigrants/Car Impoundments
o        Mark Silverman, Immigrant Legal Resource Center

National Issues 1—Visas
•    Family Visa backlogs
o        Lillian Galedo, Filipino Advocates for Justice
o        Mann Lee, Naturalization Program, Self-Help for the Elderly
o        Affected Clients: 1. Chan, Hin Ka;  2. Zhao, Yong ; 3. Chen Lie Jun
•    Same Sex Marriages
o        Zach Nightingale, Esq.
o        Affected Clients
            Suzanne Schwarzer
            Phyllis Christopher
            Erik Schnabel
•    High Tech/STEM Visas
o        Petra Tang, Esq.
o        Affected client
•    Diversity visas
o        James Byrne, Esq., Irish Immigration Pastoral Centre, San Francisco Irish American Bar Association

National Issues 2—Legalization for Undocumented Immigrants
•    A broad path to citizenship program
o        Clarisa Sanchez, Catholic Charities
o        Francisco Ugarte, Dolores Street Community Services
o        Denia—DREAMer student whose parents face deportation
•    DREAM Act
o        Kathy Gin, Educators for Fair Consideration
o        Angel Ku, DREAMer
•    Guestworkers
o        Cynthia Rice, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
•    Trade Agreements
o        David Bacon, Photo Journalist and Workers Rights Advocate
•    Three and ten-year bars  
o        Yaniris (pseudonym)—USC whose father is barred from returning for 10 years, after residing in the U.S. for 25 years with no criminal problems
o        Mario (Catholic Charities client) has a pending I-130 filed by his USC spouse, and he will file a provisional waiver based on hardship to his spouse and 4 USC children. He is fearful of losing his job due to his employer recently discovering he is undocumented.
o        Beatriz(Catholic Charities client) is a student at a UC who plans to go to medical school, was recently granted DACA, and is the only one in her family without status. Her father filed an I-130 when he was an LPR, which was later upgraded and granted before she turned 21. She now hopes to revive the petition in order to file a provisional waiver based on hardship to her USC mother who has epilepsy. She may have to work on Monday, so her presence is tentative.
•    Cancellation of removal requirements
        Francisco Ugarte, Dolores Street Community Services

National Issues 3—Enforcement
•    Secure Communities
o        Amria N. Ahmed, Esq., Arab Resource and Organizing Center
o        CARECEN Client: The client was referred to ICE after being arrested as the abuser in a DV incident.  She is still in removal proceedings. 
o        CARECEN Clients: Two women were placed in removal proceedings because of these policies.   One client (Gladys—with Maria co-worker translator) received an ICE hold in 2008 when she was stopped by the SFPD for driving infraction, she failed to stop at a stop sign.  After she was pulled over, the police officer realized she was driving without a licensed and requested she show ID.  She didn’t have her passport on her and the officer decided to arrest her for not having proper ID.  She is a long term SF resident and has 2 USC children.  Eventually, were able to get her the U Visa and terminate proceedings. 
•    Second Chance for Immigrants with Convictions
o        Su Yon Yi, Immigrant Legal Resource Center
o        Anoop Prasad, Asian Law Caucus
•    Detention
o        Affected clients
•    Employer Sanctions
o        (David Bacon, earlier speaker, will also speak on this)
•    Asylum
o        Nunu Kidane, Director of the Priority Africa Network (PAN)
o        Adoubou Traore, African Advocacy Network, Project Director (and paralegal Charles Jackson).

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