Your Immigration Status in 2017
Notes from the NYU Anthropology Department
Announcing the NYU Immigrant Defense Initiative (12/2016)
The NYU Immigrant Defense Initiative, is a project to provide free, confidential advice and legal representation to NYU students and staff throughout the university who are at risk of deportation. Coordinated through the Law School’s Immigrant Rights Clinic, in partnership with Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (“WilmerHale”), the NYU Immigrant Defense Initiative is available to NYU students and staff members who have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), who are otherwise undocumented (with or without pending immigration applications or cases), or who have immigration status but are at risk of deportation based on possible immigration violations, contact with the criminal legal system, or other concerns.
NYU students or staff at risk of deportation and in need of free legal screenings should contact the Initiative at (212) 998-6640 (voicemail) or immigrant.defense@law.nyu.edu to schedule an appointment. Learn more at www.law.nyu.edu/immigrantrightsclinic/IDI.
No one knows what the incoming U.S. President will do on immigration after January 20, 2017, though he will likely make some changes to executive actions. Our goal is to help you be prepared in case these changes are made, and, as faculty who care about your well-being, to support you in any way we can during this uncertain time.
WHAT TO DO TO PREPARE
If you are undocumented or have DACA or temporary protected status, please know that there are many things you can do before January.
1) Most importantly, go see an immigration lawyer. You can email Alina Das at NYU Law’s Immigration Clinic (DasA@mercury.law.nyu.edu) or call her at 212-998-6467. Contacting an attorney will not place you at risk. An attorney will advise you about your immigration options and help you understand how to be prepared if changes do happen.
2) Start planning in case things do change, and more people are detained and put in immigration court for deportation proceedings.
● Keep a list of phone numbers for trusted people who can help in an emergency.
● Keep all your important documents (passports, birth certificates, title to your car, etc) in a safe place in your home. Make sure at least one trusted person knows where those documents are.
● If you have children, choose someone to look after them if anything happens. Give that person a power of attorney that would start only if you are detained by immigration. A lawyer can help you with this.
3) Know your rights if ICE comes to your door, your work, or elsewhere. This website has excellent information:https://www.ilrc.org/red-cards. Remember that in New York City, the police do not enforce immigration law and that, as stated by NYU President Hamilton, NYU public safety officers do not convey immigration status to other governmental organization.
OTHER IMPORTANT NOTES
If you are a U.S. citizen, you cannot be deported, even if your family members are not US citizens.
If you have a green card (Legal Permanent Residence), your immigration status will not be changed. People with green cards can only be deported if, for example, they have certain criminal convictions, and only after an Immigration Judge hears their case.
If you are waiting for the government to decide an application or petition that you already submitted, nothing has changed. The law that lets you apply for things like a U-visa, or for a spouse to get permanent residence, still exists. The U.S. President cannot change this law without the Congress acting as well.
This document was written by Professor Elizabeth Keyes at the University of Baltimore School of Law, and adapted by the NYU Anthropology Department based on an adaptation by the NYU Sociology Department.