Undocumented Hispanic Immigrants May Pursue Personal Injury Claims

Most individuals coming to the United States hope to make a better life for themselves and their families.

2012-01-11

DALLAS, TX, January 11, 2012 (Press-News.org) Most individuals coming to the United States hope to make a better life for themselves and their families. Because immigration procedures can be complex, some choose to take the risk of coming here without the proper visa. Undocumented workers in Texas learn to fear the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) service from the moment they arrive.

When they are injured in either a car accident or fall at work, many Hispanics are hesitant to pursue a claim against their employer. Because of misinformation in the community, even contacting a workplace injury attorney can cause some to be afraid. What many Hispanics may not know is that ICE does not pursue individuals seeking compensation for a personal injury claim. They are focused primarily on criminal offenders.

ICE Program Targets Immigrants in Criminal Cases Only
Three years ago, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the ICE agencies developed a new protocol for enforcing immigration laws. Secure Communities was created to target federal resources on deporting the most dangerous criminals.

The program was first implemented in Texas. Secure Communities utilizes the fingerprints that are taken from an arrested individual and forwarded to the FBI. The FBI in turn forwards the fingerprints to ICE to cross reference against the immigrant database. It is supposed to help ICE focus those resources on the most dangerous criminals. For many immigrants, the reality has been something else.

ICE Program Draws Criticism for Hurting Communities and Families
In the three years since the program's, over 7,450 illegal immigrants have been deported through Dallas - Ft. Worth area jails. Of those deported, only 1,634 were convicted of "aggravated felonies."

The program has drawn a significant amount of criticism for failing to meet up to its objectives of targeting only the most dangerous illegal immigrants and for focusing heavily on Latinos. The largest issue created by the program is the deportation of immigrants who have legal U.S. citizen family members still in the states.

Obama Directs ICE to Focus on the Worst of the Worst
The outcry from civil rights advocates has been extensive. Last month the Obama Administration announced that they will work to rehabilitate the program by focusing their deportation efforts on high-level offenders only. Prosecutors will now be able to suspend deportation proceedings against low-level offenders.

Program Does Not Apply to Personal Injury Lawsuits
For Hispanics in the Dallas community who are afraid to contact a car accident attorney in order to pursue a personal injury action for injuries suffered from an auto wreck, they can relax. The Secure Communities Program applies to immigrants who are charged with criminal offenses only. This leaves Hispanics free to pursue claims against the individuals or companies that hurt them.

Source: www.thehoustonchronicle.com, "ICE Program Counts Sheriff as a Defender" 23 October 2011, Susan Carroll. Originally http://www.textrial.com/blog/.

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Undocumented Hispanic Immigrants May Pursue Personal Injury Claims

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