Two Traveling Muslims Discover What America Really Is

Bassam Tariq and Aman Ali

America is a country of people who are sometimes portrayed as unaccepting and rude, but Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq discovered something completely different.

The two decided to go on a quest across America to visit 30 mosques and blog their travels. They started up in New York, headed all the way west to California, and ended their journey in Michigan. With the way the media has portrayed Americans in the past, one might expect them to encounter friction or difficulties on their trip across our nation. However, Ali and Tariq were pleasantly surprised to find the opposite.

The Muslim travelers blogged about their pleasant experiences in places like Georgia, Florida, and Nevada, and they hashed on a very spiritual experience visiting the spot where America’s first mosque stood in North Dakota. Now, a cement block styled mosque sits on the land where the original structure once was, and it is surrounded by some graves of people who were among the nation’s first Muslims. One of the travelers described his prayer experience as so exciting and touching that he felt as if he were falling.

They recapped other experiences such as being welcomed with open arms in a confederate souvenir shop, and visiting a mosque that took a community 12 years to build with their bare hands. In one post, they recalled their car breaking down in a small town in Montana, and they were forced to ask a fisherman for a ride into town.

When he approached the fisherman after their car broke down, Tariq says, he didn't know how he'd be received. He asked if he could hitch a ride to town and the fisherman "happily does it." When the man asked Tariq what he was doing in Montana, he told him about their 30 mosques journey. "And he doesn't flinch and doesn't get worried," Tariq said. "For me, it was like, 'Wow! That America still exists.' "

Drash.  In fact, the most trouble they saw was from a mosque in Mobile, Alabama. The personnel asked them to leave after discovering that they were working in conjunction with CNN to publicize their blog and travels.

All in all, it’s nice to see some positive publicity about our great nation.

References:  Information in this article was obtained courtesy of CNN and CNN.com. Wayne Drash, 2 Muslims travel 13,000 miles across America, find an embracing nation, CNN, Sept. 10, 2010 (“Drash”).

Hazleton Sets the Stage for an Influx of Local Immigration Laws

Hazleton, Pennsylvania.  What do we know of it? It’s a place that has seen a recent population influx of 7,000 people—mostly Latino—over the last decade, which is about a third of its original population.  Most of the people who came to Hazleton are here illegally, but, as one could expect, some are not.

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta

Now this population surge has been the source of blame for the increase in crime in the Luzerne County area.  And, who better to point the finger at than the illegal aliens?  Hazleton Mayor Barletta pushed through  ordinances that punish landlords and businesses for renting to or hiring illegal immigrants.  The laws were recently struck down by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in a decision that stated:

Regulatory 'cherry picking' is not concurrent enforcement, and it is not constitutionally permitted. ... It is, of course, not our job to sit in judgment of whether state and local frustration about federal immigration policy is warranted.  We are, however, required to intervene when states and localities directly undermine the federal objectives embodied in statutes enacted by Congress. … Whether Hazleton inadvertently stumbled into this exclusively federal domain, or decided to defiantly barge in, it is clear that it has attempted to usurp authority that the Constitution has placed beyond the vicissitudes of local governments.

Letters.  Vic Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Pennsylvania, expressed his view that the local immigration ordinances, "distracted local governments from solving the real problems that they were facing."  King.  But, in a recent press release, Mayor Barletta made it clear that his city's fight is "not over yet."  Video: "Mayor: Illegal Immigration Fight 'Not Over Yet' " - The Associated Press.

Similar legislations are being sought by states and municipalities across America.  It seems as though this barrage of local immigration laws is only just beginning.

References:  Information in this article was obtained courtesy of The Philidelphia Inquirer, TheDailyReview.com, and the Associated Press. Larry King, Federal appeals court strikes down Hazleton's immigration ordinances, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept. 10, 2010 (“King”), and Letters, Immigration is the province of the federal gov., TheDailyReview.com, Sept. 12, 2010. (“Letters”).

A Day to Remember: 09.11.2001

I always remind myself to take a deep breath on this day; close my eyes; say a prayer, and; revisit my thoughts and memories of that sorrowful day.  We should all come together, and we should think about how far we've all come as individuals and as a people.  And, we must remember how quickly it can all be taken away.

Many of us had family and/or friends who were lost in the tragedy.  Maybe those we knew helped with the clean-up.  Or, perhaps they went away afterward to fight on foreign soil.  All of us, of course, will be affected by it for the rest of our lives, and some more than others.

Here at R. Basso Law, we will be dedicating today to everyone involved in 09/11, and we will be wearing red, white, and blue in support of our proud country.  Let us all be inspired by America and its people, today!

Website in Development!

Sorry for the lack of posting as of late.  I'd like to inform you, my readers, that I am now hosting a webpage at:

www.rbassolaw.com

It is currently under construction, and since I am busy developing the webpage myself, I have been unable to provide any recent summaries.  I will keep my eyes peeled for a catchy article or case and be sure to post here soon.  Be advised that once rbassolaw.com is more complete, this blog may be permanently moved to that domain.  But again, I will keep you all posted.  Thanks for your support!

Obama Administration Focuses Employers Hiring Illegals, Rather than the Illegals

A brief discussion of:

Nicole Busch, Company Audits Up, Illegal Worker Arrests Way Down Since 2008, FoxNews.com, Aug. 23, 2010.

Recently, we have been hearing about the Obama administration's commitment to immigration reform.  Whether it is expanding on former legislation or providing new strategies, at least the effort is there to remedy America's immigration issues.

This FoxNews article, reports that, "under President Obama, the numbers of arrests and deportations of illegals taken into custody at work sites plummeted by more than 80 percent from the last year of the Bush administration."  Id.  Despite the apparent decrease in work site enforcement under Obama, John Morton, the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE"), assures the public that no administration in the nation's history has removed more illegal aliens than the Obama administration last year.

According to Fox, the Obama administration is seeking to isolate the employers for enforcement.  The hope is that prosecuting the people in charge of hiring the illegals will help to curtail other employers from doing the same; or at least influence them to take more care in determining a prospective employee's immigration status.  Julie Meyers, former ICE director under Bush, says she agrees that auditing and targeting employers is the right track, but that it falls short.  According to Meyers, the administration should have continued to charge the illegals, too, instead of turning a blind eye and letting work site enforcement drop 80%. 

Marshall Fitz, director of immigration policy at the Center for American Progress, gave FoxNews his impressions by defending the Obama administration's strategy: "rather than high-profile raids that target workers and let employers off the hook this administration has decided to focus on criminal and bad actor employers."  Id.  He continued that, "[n]o one is talking about giving a free pass for fraud, or ID theft is to be taken lightly [sic], but we know the vast majority of the workforce did not commit any crime."  Id.  Perhaps Mr. Fitz is unaware that applying for work without meeting proper immigration requirements is a crime.

Information in this article was obtained courtesy of FoxNews.com.

Concern Over Secure Communities?

A brief discussion of:

Editorial, Immigration Bait and Switch, The New York Times, Aug. 17, 2010.

In yesterday's NY Times editorial, a chilling statement about the recently discussed Secure Communities program was delivered to Americans.

Again, this program was designed to be a sort of filter in American correctional facilities to obtain and cross-reference inmate fingerprints with immigration databases.  The resulting reference then "red flags" illegal immigrants so that the government can pursue the proper immigration procedures.  Most often, the flagged illegal aliens are faced with removal proceedings.  The Obama administration and Department of Homeland Security representatives have claimed that they are specifically targeting the "worst of the worst."

Although Secure Communities seems sound on its face, many critics are voicing their opinions that it is simply not living up to its intended design.  The Times reports here that just roughly 20% of the illegal immigrants deported as a result of Secure Communities have been level 1 offenders—like drug dealers and rapists.  This means the other approximately 80% have been level 2 and 3 offenders, many of which were being processed for lesser crimes like traffic violations and juvenile mischief. 

The Times reports that a national average of 26% of deportees pursued as a result of Secure Communities had no criminal record at all.  According to this editorial, the program now seems more like "an effort to yoke local police into a broad campaign of civil immigration enforcement, maximizing the detention and deportation of the people whom Mr. Obama says he wants to give a chance to pay their debt to society and earn their right to become Americans."  Id.

Information in this article was obtained courtesy of The New York Times.

Obama Attempts to Focus on Deportation of Violent Criminals

A brief discussion of:

Barbara Barrett, More illegal immigrants deported, The Charlotte Observer, Aug. 15, 2010.

Fingerprints Misused to Deport Immigrants?, CBSNEWS Politics, Aug. 10, 2010.

Each day violent criminals pass through America's jail systems, and many eventually end up back on American streets at some point or another.  Thankfully, this does not have to be the case in every situation.

Immigration and Nationality Act § 237(a)(2) provides that the commission of certain crimes may subject an alien to immediate deportation proceedings.  Some of the particular types of offenses are crimes of moral turpitude, aggravated felonies, high speed flight, and multiple criminal convictions.  In an effort to get violent criminals out of America, the Obama administration and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency ("ICE") have recently attempted to hone in on top tier level 1 offenders—a level 1 criminal immigrant is considered the most serious type of offender.  One of their strategies is called Secure Communities.  The protocol of this program is to fingerprint criminals passing through American correctional facilities and cross-reference federal immigration databases in an effort to determine status.  Department of Homeland Security spokesman Richard Rocha claims to be seeing success in finding and deporting violent criminals, but there are many critics of the program.

CBS News reports that most immigration advocates say that despite the government's proposed focus on the "worst of the worst" criminal immigrants, the Obama administration and its agencies have still been spending too much time on lower-level criminals or non-criminals.  Rocha responded to questioning by reminding the general public that most offenders are level 2 and 3 and not level 1, and that Secure Communities is "a beneficial partnership tool for ICE and state and local law enforcement agencies helping to identify, prioritize and remove convicted criminal aliens not only from the communities, but also from the country."

Information in this article was obtained courtesy of The Charlotte Observer, CBSNEWS, and the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Deportation—A Canadian Issue, too

A brief discussion of:

Gary Dimmock, Born in Ottawa, man faces deportation to India, The Ottawa Citizen, Aug. 15, 2010.

The man in question, Deepan Budlakoti, was born in 1989 in Ottawa, ON, Canada, to immigrant parents.  Budlakoti's parents came to Canada in 1985, but did not receive their Canadian citizenship until the late 90s.  In Canada, the Citizenship Act provides that a child born in Canada will not always be entitled to jus soli.  An exception to Canada's indoctrination of jus soli is that children born of non-citizen parents residing in Canada for work or diplomacy will not obtain Canadian citizenship despite being born there.  Unfortunately for Budlakoti, this is his precise situation.

The article is quite void of further details describing the reasons behind the deportation.  It seems implied that Budlakoti himself is unaware of the underlying issue that brought about the deportation, but one can only assume it is a conflict with Canada's Citizenship Act.

Budlakoti is described as an individual who grew up as a rebellious child, a runaway, and someone who became involved in a life of crime at a very young age.  He had been trying to come clean by founding a construction business, but landed himself in jail because of a transaction for the sale of firearms.  He has never been to India, the target deportation country, and does not speak the language.

Despite his inadequate ability to follow the law, his situation is compelling and one that I will try to remain up to date on; further details should be released after the August 31st hearing.  It is always interesting to explore comparative law issues, especially when immigration law in the U.S. has been such a hot topic.

Thankfully for individuals born within the borders of the United States, a situation similar to Budlakoti's would not arise.  If you're born here, you're a citizen!

Factual information in this article was obtained courtesy of The Ottawa Citizen.

Under Construction!

This Blog is currently under construction.  Please check back again soon for updates and news in the field of Immigration and Nationality Law as well as Criminal Law.