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A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit over the administration of the Voluntary Return authority by U.S. Border Control in Southern California.
Under Voluntary Return, non-citizens who are unlawfully residing in the United States may voluntarily agree to leave the country by signing an agreement waiving their right to appear before a judge. The immigration class action lawsuit, which was filed in June 2013 by 11 individuals and three nonprofit organizations, alleges that Voluntary Return, as administered in Southern California, violates the rights of the non-citizens under the U.S. Constitution and the statutes and regulations that apply to Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to the class action lawsuit, the defendants failed to disclose the consequences of accepting the conditions of Voluntary Return and failed to provide non-citizens with access to legal representation while they decided whether or not to agree to Voluntary Return.
The plaintiffs filed the class action lawsuit seeking a declaration that their returns to Mexico were unlawful and an order that they be returned to the United States in the legal position they were in before returning to Mexico.
The defendants deny any wrongdoing but agreed to a class action settlement, which received preliminary approval on Aug. 28, 2014.
Who’s Eligible
If between June 1, 2009 and Aug. 28, 2014 you agreed to return to Mexico while being detained by U.S. Border Control or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Southern California, you may be a Class Member (subject to certain restrictions).
According to the class action settlement website, Class Members include:
All Individuals who returned to Mexico pursuant to a Qualifying Voluntary Return, and who are described in both paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section:
- Based on the facts as they existed at the time of his or her Qualifying Voluntary Return, the Individual:
- Last entered the United States with inspection prior to his or her Qualifying Voluntary Return and satisfied the non-discretionary criteria for submitting an approvable application to adjust status under 8 U.S.C. § 1255(a), based on a bona fide immediate relative relationship defined in 8 U.S.C. § 1151(b)(2)(A)(i);
- Was the beneficiary of a properly filed Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative based on a bona fide family relationship, which was pending or approved at the time of the Qualifying Voluntary Return;
- Satisfied the non-discretionary criteria to apply for cancellation of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b; or
- His or her Qualifying Voluntary Return occurred on or after June 15, 2012, and at that time he or she satisfied the bulleted criteria for consideration for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) listed on page one of the June 15, 2012 memorandum from former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano; and
- At the time of application for class membership, the Individual:
- Is physically present within Mexico; and
- Is inadmissible under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(9)(B), due to his or her Qualifying Voluntary Return, except that this requirement does not apply to an Individual seeking recognition as a Class Member under Paragraph (a)(i) above.
The term “Qualifying Voluntary Return” means any Voluntary Return that occurred within the Relevant Area during the period starting June 1, 2009, and ending on August 28, 2014. The term “Voluntary Return” means the process by which an Individual in the custody of ICE or Border Patrol admits being unlawfully present in the United States, and returns to his or her country of citizenship or nationality under 8 U.S.C. § 1229c(a), in lieu of formal removal proceedings. This term does not include voluntary departure granted by an immigration judge during or at the conclusion of formal removal proceedings. The term “Relevant Area” means the geographic area covered by Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector and ICE’s San Diego and Los Angeles Field Offices.
Eligibility details can be found on the Notice of Settlement (linked below) or on the settlement website. If you are unsure whether you are included, you can get free assistance by writing to:
Bardis Vakili
ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties
Box 87131
San Diego, CA 92138-7131
avd@ACLUSanDiego.org
Potential Award
Class Members who complete an application process will be eligible to return to the United States (subject to certain restrictions).
Class Notice
Aviso Demanda Colectiva
Claim Form Deadline
It is anticipated that the application period will run from June 9, 2015 through Dec. 6, 2015.
Case Name
Lopez-Venegas v. Johnson, Case No. 13-cv-03972, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
Final Hearing
2/9/2015
Settlement Website
www.SalidaVoluntariaAcuerdo.com
Claims Administrator
Lopez-Venegas Settlement Administrator
c/o Dahl Administration
P.O. Box 3614
Minneapolis, MN 55403-0614
Class Counsel
ACLU OF SAN DIEGO & IMPERIAL COUNTIES
ACLU OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
ACLU IMMIGRANTS’ RIGHTS PROJECT
COOLEY LLP
Defense Counsel
Jeffrey S. Robins
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, OFFICE OF IMMIGRATION LITIGATION
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17 thoughts onVoluntary Return Deportation Class Action Settlement
This is awful! TRUMP 2016, please! He will deport! Please read: The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers (2013)
Executive Summary
This report estimates the annual costs of illegal immigration at the federal, state and local level to be about $113 billion; nearly $29 billion at the federal level and $84 billion at the state and local level. The study also estimates tax collections from illegal alien workers, both those in the above-ground economy and those in the underground economy. Those receipts do not come close to the level of expenditures and, in any case, are misleading as an offset because over time unemployed and underemployed U.S. workers would replace illegal alien workers.
Key Findings
Illegal immigration costs U.S. taxpayers about $113 billion a year at the federal, state and local level. The bulk of the costs — some $84 billion — are absorbed by state and local governments.
The annual outlay that illegal aliens cost U.S. taxpayers is an average amount per native-headed household of $1,117. The fiscal impact per household varies considerably because the greatest share of the burden falls on state and local taxpayers whose burden depends on the size of the illegal alien population in that locality
Education for the children of illegal aliens constitutes the single largest cost to taxpayers, at an annual price tag of nearly $52 billion. Nearly all of those costs are absorbed by state and local governments.
At the federal level, about one-third of outlays are matched by tax collections from illegal aliens. At the state and local level, an average of less than 5 percent of the public costs associated with illegal immigration is recouped through taxes collected from illegal aliens.
Most illegal aliens do not pay income taxes. Among those who do, much of the revenues collected are refunded to the illegal aliens when they file tax returns. Many are also claiming tax credits resulting in payments from the U.S. Treasury.
With many state budgets in deficit, policymakers have an obligation to look for ways to reduce the fiscal burden of illegal migration. California, facing a budget deficit of $14.4 billion in 2010-2011, is hit with an estimated $21.8 billion in annual expenditures on illegal aliens. New York’s $6.8 billion deficit is smaller than its $9.5 billion in yearly illegal alien costs.
The report examines the likely consequences if an amnesty for the illegal alien population were adopted similar to the one adopted in 1986. The report notes that while tax collections from the illegal alien population would likely increase only marginally, the new legal status would make them eligible for receiving Social Security retirement benefits that would further jeopardize the future of the already shaky system. An amnesty would also result in this large population of illegal aliens becoming eligible for numerous social assistance programs available for low-income populations for which they are not now eligible. The overall result would, therefore, be an accentuation of the already enormous fiscal burden.
Methodology
All studies assessing the impact of illegal aliens begin with estimates of the size of that population. We use a population of 13 million broken down by state.
In our cost estimates we also include the minor children of illegal aliens born in the United States. That adds another 3.4 million children to the 1.3 million children who are illegal aliens themselves. We include these U.S. citizen children of illegal aliens because the fiscal outlays for them are a direct result of the illegal migration that led to their U.S. birth. We do so as well in the assumption that if the parents leave voluntarily or involuntarily they will take these children with them. The birth of these children and their subsequent medical care represent a large share of the estimated Medicaid and Child Health Insurance Program expenditures associated with illegal aliens.
We use data collected by the federal and state governments on school expenses, Limited English Proficiency enrollment, school meal programs, university enrollment, and other public assistance programs administered at the federal and state level. Estimates of incarceration expenses are based on data collected in the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program in which state and local detention facilities seek federal compensation for the cost of detention of criminal and deportable aliens. Estimates for other administration of justice expenditures are based on data collected from the states by the U.S. Department of Justice. General government expenditures are estimated for other non-enumerated functions of government at both the federal and local level. An example would be the cost of fire departments or the cost of the legislature.
Medical costs that amount to 10 percent of overall state and local outlays on illegal aliens derive from our estimate of the childbirths to illegal alien mothers covered by Medicaid, the subsequent medical insurance and treatment of those children and an estimate of uncompensated cost of emergency medical treatment received by illegal aliens. The latter expenditure estimate is based on state and local government studies of uncompensated medical care.
The tax collections from illegal aliens assume eight million illegal alien workers, one-half of whom are in the underground economy. Those in the above-ground economy are assumed to have an average family income of $31,200 (60 hr. workweek @ $10/hr.) with two children.
Conclusion
The report notes that today’s debate over what to do about illegal aliens places the country at a crossroads. One choice is pursuing a strategy that discourages future illegal migration and increasingly diminishes the current illegal alien population through denial of job opportunities and deportations. The other choice would repeat the unfortunate decision made in 1986 to adopt an amnesty that invited continued illegal migration.
How TRUE, I like your thinking…now if we could only elect reps who feel & VOTE the same way!!!
how true!!!
I may not live inCali, but i think this is totally wrong. People who come to the U.S. illegally should go back where they came from. The U.S. government has a hard time supporting their own citizens, and they’re ok with this? No wonder the U.S. is in dept. Come on now people.
JJ and Wanda- Do us all a favor and stay in your bankrupt state-Okay ???
Stuff like this makes you wonder why we cant wash out the cesspool. (D C and a Few other places)
as a liberal white american couple residing in san francisco, california, we are PRO multiculturalism and PRO immigration. viva la raza! estados unidos por los gentes!
JJ&Wanda, please clarify, are you pro-immigration or are you pro-illegal-law-breaking-sneaking-in-whether-you-have-a-felonious-criminal-record-or-not-immigration? The two are not the same.
Habla Ingles u obtener el Inferno fuera de los Estados Unides!!!!
Translation in English…. Speak ENGLISH or get THE HELL OUT of the UNITED STATES!!!
Good! If they are eligible for DACA they should not have been subjected to deportation in the first place!
This is some messed up shit right here.
That’s the kinda sh@t that makes me wanna punch myself in the b@ll$. America… F%*k yeah!
What a joke. Thank you ACLU and Corrupt Obama administration !! Thanks for being the most corrupt administration in American History !!! Way to just step on the constitution!!! All so you can just get votes in the future !!!