Charles M. Goldsmith Immigration Law Blog on Lawyers.com

In the June 17, 2010 N.Y. Times, Gal Beckerman wrote an OP-ED about Yosef Mendelevich who, forty years ago this month,  attempted to smuggle a group of  fellow Jews out of the Soviet Union so they could  immigrate to Israel, “ a dream they had long been denied.” He and his co-leader were caught and sentenced to death and his cohorts were sentenced to long prison terms. The protests throughout the world were so overwhelming that the Soviet Union  began to ease its ironclad policy of denying exit visas to Jews who wanted to immigrate to Israel. Why did it take acts like these to make the world realize that something had to be done?

Although I in no way can relate Arizona’s recent enactment of anti-immigration legislation to the inhumane treatment of the Jewish minority in the Soviet Union, I do believe there has now been created a potential step forward that may not have been possible without this  step back. U.S. immigration policy is very sensitive, especially during these difficult economic times when many Americans are out of work. Furthermore, in border states like Arizona, there is real concern about the drug trade and criminal activities conducted near the border. Because the federal government  has been slow to resolve these problems, the State of Arizona decided to take action.

On the other hand, it is clear that responsibility over immigration is something that is not granted by the Constitution to the states. The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that the exclusive constitutional power to regulate immigration resides in Congress. Congress has in turn delegated its authority to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,  Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S .Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS) and other related agencies within our federal government. One of the reasons for leaving this important responsibility to the federal government and not delegating it to the states is to prevent different states or municipalities from having different laws or policies concerning an issue where uniformity is necessary.

When President Obama ran for office, he indicated immigration reform was a high priority (together with the economy and health care). Due to various political pressures, it seems neither he nor Congress wants to deal now with this issue head on. With the reaction to the new law in Arizona and with similar laws in other municipalities and states being proposed, the federal government may now be forced to confront it.  So here, too, a step backward may actually result in a very important step forward being taken. 

For more than 30 years, the law firm of Garganigo, Goldsmith & Weiss has been assisting people with immigration, green card or visa issues. For more information on how our immigration lawyers in NY can help, please call us at 212-643-6400, email us online, or visit our office at 14 Penn Plaza, Suite 1020, New York, NY 10122.