Recent reports indicate that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) has plans again to launch a “surge” of arrests targeting recently arrived Central American woman and children over the next 30 days.

There is NO indication of any increased enforcement efforts in New York State or City at this time.

However, here is a list of tips and rights that you should know in case you feel that in the future you could be arrested and detained by ICE:

• The group of immigrants that may be at risk should there be a raid are only:
  • If you have been seen as a threat to the national security in the past
  • If you are either undocumented or a lawful permanent resident but have been convicted of certain criminal offenses whether they are old convictions or more recent ones such as, driving under the influence, drug crimes, domestic violence, unlawful gun possession, and child endangerment.
  • If you entered the United States after January 1, 2014 and have either:
    • Were ordered deported or removed in immigration court after January 1, 2014;
    • Agreed voluntarily to return to your home country
    • Arrived after January 1, 2014 and have overstayed your visa status
    • You did not go to court for a hearing and were ordered deported (HOWEVER if you have a case pertaining to this right now and are going to court you should not be at risk)

• Should you feel that you are at risk here are some hotlines to call:
  • In New York, if you have questions or concerns about potential ICE raids, call the The New York State Office of New Americans “New Americans” Hotline: 1-800-566-7636
  • Report When a Raid is happening. If you or someone you know experiences a raid, you can call the United We Dream hotline immediately and report it: 1-844-363-1423. To receive text alerts, text: WATCH ICE to 877877.

• ICE cannot do raids to arrest immigrants at schools, places of worship, hospitals, weddings or funerals.

• If you feel you might be arrested, should there be a raid, you should tell your family now where all your employment and other documents are pertaining to your identity and theirs. In the case that you are arrested they will be able to take your documents to an attorney who can fight your case or state your options.

• If you feel you might be arrested in a raid in the future you should see an attorney now to find out information about your options.

• What to do should ICE come to your home or approaches you in public:
  • ICE agents might wear plain clothes or say they are police or say they are investigating a crime.
  • If ICE comes to your home they should have a warrant signed by a judge. If they do not have a warrant signed by a judge you DO NOT have to open your door. Ensure that they slip the warrant under your door and that the warrant has your name on it before opening the door.
  • Ask an ICE agent to see their ID
  • Inform them if there are children or elderly people in your home.
  • If any ICE agent does not have an ID or signed warrant with a judge’s signature and your name on it, politely tell them “I do not consent to you being in my home. Please leave.” If they search your rooms say “I do not consent to your search”.
  • You DO NOT need to answer any questions that an ICE agent might ask. Under the 5^th amendment you have the right to remain silent.
  • Should you answer any questions that an ICE agent asks you, DO NOT lie about your answers. The best thing to do in this situation is to remain silent and politely decline to answering their questions.
  • Anyone who is arrested must be told these four things before being questioned by the police:
    • You have the right to remain silent
    • Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law
    • You have the right to an attorney
    • If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. So stay silent until you have an attorney present.
  • DO NOT sign any papers that ICE gives you without first speaking with your attorney.
  • You DO NOT need to share information on where you were born or your immigration status.
  • You DO NOT need to give them your passport or other documents.

For more Know Your Rights information in English and Spanish.

Those who submitted an entry under the Diversity Visa 2017 green card lottery (DV-2017) can check the status of their application online starting on May 3, 2016, at noon. The entry registration period for the 2017 Diversity Visa program (DV-2017) was between October 1, 2015 and November 3, 2015.

All DV-2017 applicants must check their status online, and will not receive a notification letter or e-mail from the U.S. government. DV Entry Status Check will only be provided through the Department of State secure online site. Until September 30, 2017, entrants are able to check the status of their entry through the E-DV website at http://dvlottery.state.gov/ESC. Entrants need to use their own confirmation page information from the time of their entry to check the status to find out if their Diversity Visa Lottery entry was or was not selected. Entrants will need to enter their last name, year of birth and confirmation number from the receipt.

Please keep your confirmation number until at least June 30, 2017, even if you are not selected on May 3, 2016. The Department of State may select more DV-2016 entries on October 1, 2016 or after.

All lottery applicants who were assisted at our office would have received a copy of their application confirmation page with their confirmation number. Please contact our office if you need the information again.

It is expected that the next application period for the DV Lottery will be between October and December this year. Official dates, rules and eligible countries should be announced by late September. For more information, go to the official US State Department website at www.dvlottery.state.gov. You may also contact our office in the early fall for more information and assistance to complete another application. Be aware that the application for the DV lottery is free and you do not need to pay anyone to enter.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for fiscal year (FY) 2017. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the U.S. advanced degree exemption.

USCIS will use a computer-generated process, also known as the lottery, to randomly select the petitions needed to meet the caps of 65,000 visas for the general category and 20,000 for the advanced degree exemption.

USCIS will first randomly select petitions for the advanced degree exemption. All unselected advanced degree petitions will become part of the random selection process for the 65,000 general cap. The agency will reject and return filing fees for all unselected cap-subject petitions that are not duplicate filings.

Before running the lottery, USCIS will complete initial intake for all filings received during the filing period, which ended April 7. Due to the high number of petitions, USCIS is not yet able to announce the date it will conduct the random selection process.

USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap, and who still retain their cap number, will also not be counted toward the congressionally mandated FY 2017 H-1B cap. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed to:

• Extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the United States;
• Change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
• Allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and
• Allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.

U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in occupations that require highly specialized knowledge in fields such as science, engineering and computer programming.

We encourage H-1B applicants to subscribe to the H-1B Cap Season email updates located on the H-1B Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Cap Season Web page.

For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Facebook (/uscis), Twitter (@uscis), YouTube (/uscis) and the USCIS blog The Beacon.