Miami Immigration & Naturalization Law Blog

Many immigrants living in Florida and elsewhere throughout the United States came to this country to seek medical attention for themselves, their children or other immediate family members. In the past, such people could apply for deferred action status based on medical need. That will no longer be possible for many people due to recent U.S. immigration law changes.

The new policies state that only military families may file applications for deferment based on medical need. Many immigrant advocates are upset, saying the U.S. government should review each family's situation case by case. Instead, the new policies reportedly issue a blanket denial of all nonmilitary applications regarding needed medical treatment in the United States.

Florida residents were glued to the news this past week as meteorologists and others reported on the continued progression of Hurricane Dorian. It soon became evident that most of the coast would escape its wrath, which brought a great sigh of relief to many homeowners. Things like storms and other issues can cause significant damage to a home and also cost a homeowner a great deal of money. In some situations, people are unable to recover financially and wind up facing foreclosure. 

Losing a home to foreclosure is often devastating. Not only does a homeowner have to find someplace else to live, he or she might be worried about how the foreclosure might impact credit scores. One data agency recently reported that, as of May 2019, nearly 4% of mortgages in the United States were delinquent. 

Many Florida immigrants become ingrained in their communities. Some are business owners who are well-known and liked by their neighbors and customers. A man in another state sells tacos from a truck. His customers and friends were recently surprised and saddened to learn that a traffic stop has led to the man's transfer to a U.S. immigration law detention center. Local officials, as well, have lamented that law enforcement policies may have negatively affected this man's life.

Police in the area say they often arrest people for the same traffic violations numerous times. They hope that in doing so, the time those arrested spend behind bars will perhaps prompt a behavior change for the better. The man in question was supposedly driving on a suspended license.  He was taken into custody by local police and placed in a county jail.

Immigrant families and couples in Florida are just like anyone else -- they have problems sometimes. In some situations, such problems lead to domestic violence issues that are brought to the court's attention. When U.S. immigration law officials or police are involved, it is critical that they translate or repeat a witness's testimony correctly.

A woman on the West Coast is currently worried that her fiance is going to be deported. The couple was reportedly involved in a domestic dispute recently, which resulted in police being dispatched to the woman's home. However, she now claims that what the police officer wrote in his report is different for what she told him, and she fears that the written police report is placing her fiance's ability to stay in the United States at risk.