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Undocumented Immigrants and Business Ownership
While some immigrants come to the United States to escape dangerous conditions in their countries, a great number of immigrants also come to the United States to seek economic opportunities through better jobs and sometimes owning their own businesses. Undocumented immigrants who want to start their own businesses may find the process straightforward, although it does not ultimately change their immigration status.
An undocumented immigrant starting a business is not something that is technically sanctioned by the law, and in some ways successfully opening the business as an immigrant is a matter of using certain loopholes in the law. Immigrants who want to open a business in the United States are required to obtain an EB-5 visa, which allows the immigrant to apply for a green card in exchange for investing anywhere from half a million to a million or more dollars in a business in the United States. Not many people can afford this type of visa, and therefore undocumented immigrants opt to go through other avenues.
The first and most obvious challenge to starting a business as an undocumented immigrant is the lack of a social security number. However, most undocumented immigrants overcome this by applying for an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN). In order to apply for a ITIN, a person has to submit some identifying documentation, such as birth certificate or a foreign passport.
ITINs are issued regardless of a person’s immigration status for purposes of filing taxes. This number cannot give a person work authorization in the United States in the same manner as a social security number. Once a person has an ITIN, he can apply for an employer identification number and set up a business.
With these numbers, an undocumented immigrant can apply for city and state licenses to ensure that the business is in compliance with local laws. However, even business owners who have otherwise followed the law on opening the business and paid all required taxes can be deported as easily as non-business owners who are in the country illegally.
An undocumented immigrant who chooses to open a business takes a chance that he or she can be deported at any time. For example, if the business is robbed, or an employee is attacked and the police are called in, the business owner takes the chance that his or her immigration status will come up, resulting in deportation. Business owners must also make sure that they pay all required taxes on the business income in order to avoid legal issues related to the nonpayment of taxes.
Financial challenges may also affect an undocumented immigrant’s ability to open a business. Because of his or her status, the person may not be able to qualify for a business loan or government grant, and has to rely on savings alone. This may mean that it could take a long time to raise the money it would take to launch a business, and therefore, it means deferring the dream of business ownership.
Let Us Help You with Your Immigration Problem
If you are in the country illegally, own a business, and are facing deportation, you need to consult with an experienced immigration attorney. Business ownership does not have to act against you in a deportation proceeding. Contact our multi-lingual staff to speak to experienced immigration attorney Nathan Wei from Strassburg, Gilmore & Wei, LLP, in Pasadena, California for a consultation.
Making a Plan for Your Children in Case You are Deported
When you are an undocumented immigrant living in the United States, you may live in constant fear of deportation and wonder what will happen to your family if you are separated. This fear can be increased if you have minor children and you are the only parent they have to take care of them. While you cannot predict when you will be deported, you can come up with a plan to give you more control over what happens to your children if you are deported.
In California, the parents of a minor child can grant another person the power of attorney over that child by completing a Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit. This person can be named as the child’s caregiver and be allowed to make legal decisions on behalf of the child. After filing paperwork with a court, the caregiver can enroll the child in school as well as make medical decisions for the child.
This arrangement is not adoption, and the parent does not give up parental rights to the child. If you have someone you trust who is legally in the country and who would be willing to care for your children if you were deported, you should talk to them and decide how they would care for your child.
If you sign a power of attorney or a Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit granting rights to make decisions for your child to another person, you can cancel it at any time. You also do not have to make the power of attorney immediate, you can have your lawyer write the documents in such a way that it becomes effective if you are deported or if something else happens to you, and you are unable to take care of your children.
You can choose to arrange for your children to join you in your home country once you are deported, but if you want them to remain in the United States, and your children are U.S. citizens or otherwise legally in the country, you may have to make more permanent arrangements for their custody. You can discuss your options with an attorney in order to make the best choice for your family.
Keep in mind that a power of attorney can give the person you grant it to a wide range of authority. You can give the person the right to sell your house, business, and take care of your other financial matters to wrap up your affairs in the United States if you do not anticipate returning after some time. You can also give a different person the power of attorney over your financial matters than the one who will care for your children. You may want to make sure they can work together so that your children have everything they will need in terms of food, clothing, shelter, and other basic needs in your absence.
Contact Us for Legal Assistance
For more information on how you can put together a plan to take care of your children in case you are deported, contact our multi-lingual staff to speak to an experienced immigration attorney from Strassburg, Gilmore & Wei, LLP, in Pasadena, California.
Leaving the United States Voluntarily as an Undocumented Immigrant
With the increased pressure to deport immigrants, some immigrants have begun to consider a voluntary return to their countries of origin in order to leave the United States on their own terms. This voluntary departure is sometimes called self-deportation or attrition through enforcement. While self-deportation is presented as a choice, it is not always so, and is often more like a forced choice.
Government policies can target immigrants and try to encourage self-deportation by limiting access to social services or benefits, work options, and educational opportunities. Essentially, by taking away these benefits and opportunities, the government seeks to make life difficult for immigrants until they choose to leave the United States on their own. Proponents of self-deportation support the process because it is cheaper than government deportation and because deportations by the government are unpopular with many voters.
An immigrant who has been arrested for being in the country illegally and put through removal proceedings may sometimes be given an opportunity to leave the country voluntary, making his or her own travel arrangements and getting an opportunity to finalize matters in the United States before leaving. An immigrant who has been given an opportunity for voluntary departure is given a certain date by which to leave the country, and if he or she has not left by that date, a deportation order (an order of removal) is entered against him or her. If an immigrant accepts the voluntary departure option, the 10-year ban on later returning to the United States legally may not apply.
Unfortunately, voluntary departure or self-deportation is not an easy choice for many immigrants no matter how tough the climate in the United States becomes. For some, there is no home to return to, having spent decades in the United States, which is the only true home they know. Additionally, returning to the United States after self-deportation is not as easy as applying for a new visa.
Strangely enough, when some immigrants attempt to leave the United States voluntarily through a border checkpoint, they may be arrested, prosecuted for being in the country illegally and formally deported. Having a formal record of deportation is worse for the immigrant because once the person goes through a formal deportation process it becomes increasingly harder for the person to return to the country. If a deported person later returns to the country illegally, and is again arrested, he or she can face criminal charges for the reentry after deportation. Prosecution for reentry after deportation can lead to a fine and prison time, as well as a permanent ban on returning to the United States.
Contact an Experienced Immigration Attorney
Voluntarily choosing to leave the United States, whether you are undocumented or of legal status, can have legal repercussions in terms of your ability to return to the United States at a later date. You may have legal options to adjust your status while in the United States, before you decide to leave, so contact an experienced immigration attorney for a consultation. Contact our multi-lingual staff to speak to experienced immigration attorney Nathan Wei from Strassburg, Gilmore & Wei, LLP, in Pasadena, California.
A Green Card Does Not Always Prevent Deportation
Getting a permanent residency card can signal a new beginning for many immigrants seeking to settle in the United States. It sometimes takes years to get through the application process and can be expensive, depending on the circumstances of the applicant. Unfortunately, while legal or lawful permanent residency guarantees more for immigrants in the country, it is not a guarantee against deportation. In some instances, even legal permanent residents can be deported.
A person who is granted lawful permanent residency is allowed to live and work in the United States permanently. A person can become a lawful permanent resident through an application by an eligible family member, a job, as an asylum seeker or refugee, and through a few other special categories. Some applicants receive conditional permanent residency, for example if applying through marriage. After some time, the conditional status can be removed. Once permanent residency has been granted, a lawful permanent resident can go on to complete the naturalization process and become a citizen.
For an immigrant on conditional permanent residency status, committing crimes such as fraud can lead to removal proceedings and deportation. For example, if your conditional status is based on marriage, and the government learns that your marriage was a sham entered into for the sole purpose of getting you a green card, the government can terminate your conditional status and begin removal proceedings. During removal proceedings, you have a chance to seek a review of your case in order to prove that you are not guilty of fraud.
A lawful permanent resident can also lose permanent residency by being absent from the United States for a long period of time. If a person is gone for about six months or more without re-entry into the United States, he or she may not be allowed back into the country. To avoid this result, a lawful permanent resident can apply for a special re-entry permit before leaving the United States, or make sure that he or she is not absent from the country for an extended period of time.
Removal proceedings for lawful permanent residents can be initiated if the lawful permanent resident is convicted of what is described as a crime of violence. A person who is convicted of murder is permanently barred from naturalization. The definition of what constitutes a crime of violence is hard to pin down because in some instances it could mean that someone who commits a robbery and is convicted may be deported, and yet someone with an unregistered gun may not. This sort of ambiguity is being challenged in front of the United States Supreme Court, and a decision is awaited that will hopefully set out more clear guidelines as to which crimes may make a lawful permanent resident eligible for deportation.
Lawful permanent residents can also voluntarily choose to relinquish their status by filing United States citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Form I-407.
Contact an Experienced Immigration Attorney
Receiving a green card is a significant step towards gaining citizenship. If you are a lawful permanent resident facing removal proceedings you can fight your removal at the hearing. For more information, contact our multi-lingual staff to speak to an experienced immigration attorney from Strassburg, Gilmore & Wei, LLP.
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