A pair of recent stories in the San Francisco Chronicle detail immigration violations by a conservative icon and advisor to President Bush and two Republican party officials. The first article details recent court filings that appear to reveal that Grover Norquist, a conservative icon and advisor to President Bush, employed an Australian citizen as a lobbyist for five years even though that individual didn't even have a valid visa that would have allowed him to be in the U.S. - let alone authorization to work for Mr. Norquist or any other U.S. employer. If these circumstances are true, it is difficult to conclude that this was the result of an innocent mistake and not a willful violation of immigration law. Click here to view the article in the S.F. Chronicle.
The second article describes the alleged circumstances of a Canadian who was legally hired by the California State Republican Party as a political consultant, but was later fired because he had violated his H-1B visa status by moonlighting with the San Diego Republican Party. In that case, it appears that the parties may have thought that they were complying with the law. Moreover, they likely could have avoided the violation had they filed a second H-1B petition on his behalf due to the fact that U.S. immigration law permits an individual to work for two separate H-1B sponsors at the same time. Click here to view the article in the S.F. Chronicle.
These high-profile stories are not only effective in revealing the broad reach of immigration law into all corners of our society - these two cases also provide a window into the scenarios that are faced by ordinary employers and employees in the U.S. on a regular basis. Actually, while immigration opponents seem to rail against all illegal immigrants equally, immigration violations come in all flavors and varieties. Some violations of immigration law are the result of flagrant, willful, fraudulent, and/or criminal actions on the part of employees, employers and/or others. This category of violations involve the most offensive violators and are widely publicized, and they can be addressed by simply enforcing existing immigration law.
Other violations come about as a result of confusing laws, poor human resource management, ineffective legal counsel, and/or mistakes by the government. This second category of violations often goes unpublicized and the negative consequences frequently outweigh the nature of the violation. These cases involve individuals who want to comply with immigration law but eventually - due to confusing immigration laws, cumbersome procedures, and the scarce number of options available for legal employment in the U.S. - are forced to leave their jobs and the U.S. labor pool. In some cases, they may decide that because they are already in violation of the law that they don't have much to lose by staying in the US and working illegally.
If our government was truly concerned with illegal immigration in the U.S., then it would not only increase enforcement of our immigration laws, but would also reform the immigration system to make it easier for those who want to comply with the law to do so. Instead, the government seems intent on making it more difficult for employers and employees to comply with the law by reducing the number of employment visas available and by making the procedures even more onerous. As a result, the government is actually increasing the number of immigration violators in the U.S., while simultaneously reducing the number of qualified workers available to law-abiding U.S. employers.
According to the S.F. Chronicle articles, the illegal alien who was hired without any right to work was apparently later hired as COO of the California State Republican Party and obtained a green card through a marriage to a U.S. citizen. In contrast, the political consultant who appears to have unnecessarily and accidentally violated the terms of his H-1B has been fired, lost his visa, and his two former US employers must now find a qualified replacement. You are doing a heck of a job solving our immigration crisis, Bushie!
Peter K. Hoffmann, Esq., is the principal of Hoffmann Immigration Law Group, a law firm in Boston, MA, which specializes in family and employment based applications for visas and permanent residency.
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