The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, ICE, has launched a telephone hotline for detainees held by state or local police.

Detainees can call the toll free hotline at (855) 448-6903 if they believe they are U.S. citizens or have wrongly been accused of a crime. The number will be in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week by ICE staff with several interpreters. After prisoners call in, ICE personnel will forward their information to proper ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations offices for action.

The ICE has come under fire for allowing local police agencies to arrest suspected illegal immigrants. Under the 287(g) program, police can be deputized to turn suspects over to immigration authorities when local police are not normally allowed to enforce federal laws.

If you are an immigrant and are having problems with your legal status, contact the Austin immigration lawyers of the Law Office of William Jang, PLLC today at 512-323-2333 for more information on what we can do for you.

Three immigration detention centers in Illinois and Kentucky have come under fire recently after advocates at the National Immigrant Justice Center and the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights say detainees have been denied basic human rights.

Their report states that the prisoners at the detention centers have been denied or received poor medical care, have been denied legal counsel, rarely eat a hot meal, and are not provided with simple amenities such as blankets. The advocacy groups have visited the three centers over twenty times since 2009.

Some detainees have reported that doctors told them they had to pay for medical care, they are kept in excessively cold rooms, and could not see a doctor for potential cancer-related symptoms; one HIV-positive inmate was unable to see a doctor for six weeks.

If you need help with the legal immigration process, contact the experienced Austin immigration lawyers at the Law Office of William Jang, PLLC today at 512-323-2333.

Last week the House voted on a bill that would end per-country caps on worker-based immigration visas. The bill passed 389-15.

This new law would overwrite the current law that limits a country’s employment-based visas to 7% of all visas given out. That means skilled workers from China or India who come to the United States for college could more easily obtain citizenship. Green cards and permanent resident visas would be handled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The caps on family-based visas will also be changed from 7% to 15% per country.

Many immigration advocates say the new law does little to help immigrants, but is a step in the right direction.

If you need help applying for a green card or want to explore your possibilities for becoming a U.S. citizen, contact the Austin immigration lawyers of the Law Office of William Jang, PLLC today at 512-323-2333 for more information.

Alabama’s immigration law, H.B. 56, heralded as the toughest immigration law in the nation, has been challenged in federal court by the Justice Department.

This week, two officials from the Justice Department will visit Alabama to gather more information about the impact and legality of the law. The assistant attorney general of the Department’s Civil Rights Division says he is concerned after hearing that thousands of children have dropped out of school following the law’s passing. He also believes H.B. 56 has led to racial profiling and employers using the law not to pay workers.

Another official states that the federal government has primacy in regulating immigration, and that state’s individual immigration laws make the problem worse.

If you have questions or concerns regarding immigration services, contact an Austin immigration services lawyer at the Law Office of William Jang, P.L.L.C. at 512-323-2333 to schedule a consultation so that you can discuss your situation in greater depth.