(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Little known law signed by Trump could help some immigrants [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-11-13

Donald Trump has never been famous for reading and understanding long documents. The business failure turned Russian intelligence asset is much more famous for demonizing Mexican immigrants, most of whom come to this country to work hard and contribute to the economy. A few of them even join our Armed Forces and make the ultimate sacrifice for this country, earning the Medal of Honor with their lives.

It is perhaps fitting that Trump’s aversion to reading in one case could help mitigate the damage caused by his hate-filled rhetoric against immigrants.

As you probably know or surmise, the annual National Defense Authorization bill is a very long document, what with requisitions for missiles, tweaks to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, adjustments to the basic pay chart, etc.

For many years, Department of Defense officials and immigrant advocates had been trying to get a provision in the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would give permanent residency to relatives of servicemembers who are here “illegally.”

Let’s not mince words here: our immigration system is a mess of illogical, unfair, complicated and arbitrary edicts, built on vilifying immigrants who do many vital jobs no natural born citizen, or even most naturalized citizens, want to do or can even do.

It just so happened that aspiring hitlerisch dictator Trump, when he technically held the title of president, enjoying many of the privileges of the office and carrying out a few of the concomitant responsibilities, signed the so-called “parole-in-place” into law in 2019. Obviously, Trump never read the bill, and apparently neither did his advisors.

It’s good policy to remove any distractions a brave serviceman might have in carrying out his potentially dangerous duties. Let him focus on the mission without worrying that his family could be torn apart due to some ridiculous mistake. Consider for example the story of Staff Sergeant Alex Jimenez, from the website of Our Grateful Nation:

Alex Jimenez was born in New York City to a large and close-knit immigrant family from the Dominican Republic. ... Many of his family members worked at the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. After the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, Alex enlisted in the U.S. Army to fulfill his dream of serving his country. In 2007, Staff Sergeant Jimenez deployed with the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On May 12, 2007, his small unit was attacked and overrun by insurgents. Six soldiers were killed and Staff Sergeant Alex Jimenez and Pfc. Byron Founty were taken prisoner; the body of a seventh soldier was later found floating in the Euphrates River. In 2008, the remains of Staff Sergeant Jimenez and Pfc. Founty were recovered. During the period that Staff Sergeant Jimenez was missing, his undocumented wife Yaderlin Hiraldo was put into removal proceedings. Prior to his deployment, [Staff] Sgt Jimenez had submitted a petition for her to obtain a “green card.” However, due to her entry without inspection, she did not qualify. This heartbreaking situation gained national attention and eventually the Department of Homeland Security put a “hold” on her case and granted her “discretionary parole.” As a result, Yaderlin was soon eligible to adjust her status to permanent resident. In recognition of Staff Sgt Jimenez’s ultimate sacrifice to his country, USCIS issued a memorandum in November 2013 announcing a new policy known as Parole in Place that allowed immediate relatives of current or former members of the U.S. military who entered the U.S. without documents to be granted temporary legalized status possibly leading to permanent residency. To support these individuals, USCIS provides discretionary options such as parole in place or deferred action on a case-by-case basis. Notwithstanding the earlier policy pronouncements, USCIS has continued to process and approve requests for “Mil-PIP” and deferred action without interruption. Through its actions, the government has thus cemented parole in place as a humanitarian or significant public benefit mandating favorable immigration solutions for undocumented immediate relatives of military members (past or present) and their families.

The history of “MIL-PIP” goes back even further to 1965, but without the force of law, its application was spotty and random. And that brings us to 2019, when then-Oval Office occupant Trump obliviously signed “MIL-PIP” into law.

But the law is no good if no one who can benefit from it knows about it. Therefore, Our Grateful Nation, a nonprofit organization, is trying to raise awareness.

Any active duty servicemember or reservist at least 21-years-old, or honorably discharged veteran can sponsor a spouse or relative who is in this country “illegally” for an employment “authorization,” a Social Security Number and potential eventual permanent residency documents.

Provided of course the sponsored immigrant has not committed any legitimate crimes, like human trafficking, rape, attempted incitement to murder the vice president, falsifying a weather map, etc. Shouldn’t be a problem in most cases.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/13/2205451/-Little-known-law-signed-by-Trump-could-help-some-immigrants?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/