Auntie Zeituni, whose nephew lives in that big white house at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, didn’t do herself any favors the other day, going on Channel 4 to say that Americans owed her big-time.

Living in the Southie projects on the taxpayer dime, Auntie Zeituni is expected to show a little more appreciation, given how we’re letting her live in what is beyond a shadow of doubt the greatest country in the whole wide world.

“They told me as long as I wasn’t gone more than 12 months, everything would be OK,’’ Bridie said.

Now, after rising through the ranks, first in Texas and then in Washington, he has been named regional field director for Florida, in charge of apprehensions and removals of illegal immigrants for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

That puts him in charge of 585 officers and special agents and more than 500 other contract employees in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He oversees seven detention facilities and 1,900 “detention beds.”

Moore, a 49-year-old father of five, arrives in an election year in which immigration is a hot-button issue marked by emotional debate. Florida is home to hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants, many of whom work in key state industries such as agriculture, construction and hospitality.

Moore says neither he nor his officers make policy; they simply carry it out. But they are increasingly busy doing so.

Although most people detained and deported by ICE are undocumented workers without serious criminal records, the agency’s emphasis is changing, Moore said. In an Aug. 20 memo, John Morton, national ICE director, affirmed that the agency is putting a priority on the capture of undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes.

“In fiscal year 2008-2009, we arrested and removed 136,000 convicted criminal aliens,” Moore said of ICE officers nationwide. “This year, we have one month left in the fiscal year and we’re at 170,000.”

More than 4,000 of those were captured in Florida.

The term “convicted criminal alien” is key for Moore. He emphasizes that ICE officers under his command do not conduct “sweeps,” casting nets and picking up anyone in a specific locale solely because they are in the country illegally.

Violent gangs a priority

ICE places a priority on pursuing illegal immigrants guilty of violent crimes: homicide, kidnapping, rape and other sex offenses, and serious drug crimes. Those “Level I” criminals can include members of violent gangs.

Next the agency moves to “Level II” offenses, including burglary, low-level drug offenses or people guilty of repeated misdemeanors. Some of those criminals may have been deported previously.

“The largest impact ICE can have on national security and public safety is to ensure that those convicted criminal aliens do not return back to the streets of our communities,” Moore said.

To find those individuals, he said, ICE officers use “intelligence-driven analysis and the development of leads about where they might be residing, where they might be working,” not sweeps. “In a world with limited resources, we want to be smart, effective and we want to be responsible in how we apply those resources to make our streets safe.”

Moore said ICE has improved its deportation numbers by including local and state police authorities in immigration enforcement, which has become controversial.

The 287(g) program includes training for local officers who work in jails and authorizes them to investigate the immigration status of people incarcerated, identify those in the country illegally and detain them for possible removal by ICE.

That program, which is active in Collier and Duval counties, has come under attack by immigrant rights activists, who say it fosters racial profiling by local law enforcement.

A report issued this year by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, also criticized 287(g). The program is supposed to target serious criminals, the report said, but fewer than 10 percent of those detained through 287(g) fell into that category.

ICE spokeswoman Nicole Navas said that even before the report was issued, the agency had changed the 287(g) program to respond to criticism. New guidelines emphasize the need to target offenders who are “a threat to public safety” and tighten ICE oversight of local law enforcement, she said.

Moore also praised the Secure Communities program, which operates in all 67 Florida counties and allows local officials to tap into Department of Homeland Security and FBI fingerprint databases to identify possible criminal aliens. Because many illegal immigrants use assumed names, local law enforcement agencies often have no way of knowing their real identities or the possible criminal records of people held in their jails.

“It’s been tremendous in terms of ease and the increased number of convicted criminal aliens that we are able to identify,” Moore said.

But that program also has come under attack for leading to the detention of many illegal immigrants not guilty of serious crimes and clogging the immigration courts.

Rights advocates object

Immigrant rights activists say some counties, including St. Lucie, Miami-Dade and Hillsborough, use Secure Communities technology to detain immigrants convicted of no crimes or low-level offenses, including misdemeanors.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, based in Washington, said the program “serves as a smokescreen for racial profiling.”

“ICE’s own records show that the vast majority of people deported due to (Secure Communities) are not criminals or were picked up for lower-level offenses,” the organization said.

ICE disputes those claims.

“Racial profiling is simply not something that will be tolerated, and any indication of racial profiling will be treated with the utmost scrutiny and fully investigated,” Navas said. “If any proof of racial profiling is uncovered, that specific officer or department could have their agreement rescinded.”

The 287(g) training includes “course work on multicultural communication and the avoidance of racial profiling,” Navas said.

Criminal deportees rising

In the Florida region, most of the people who were deported or who left voluntarily after being detained through Secure Communities – 1,881 of 3,520 – had been convicted of Level I or Level II crimes, according to agency records.

ICE officials also say the percentage of people deported from the Florida sector who are convicted criminals has risen sharply in recent years, from about 22 percent in 2008 to 36 percent in 2010.

The crackdown on serious criminals, Moore said, doesn’t mean that others in the country illegally who are encountered by ICE officers will be ignored.

“We didn’t say we were going to ignore any particular population,” he said. “We want to make sure that the immigration system has integrity, that we don’t turn our heads away from people gaming the system, who came in here fraudulently. We want to send a strong message that we are not going to allow that. …

“Nobody gets a free pass.

Holding this visa enables you to make an application for American citizenship after five years, so if you are able to make the immigration investment required then it is well worth doing so. You could be a full American citizen with a U.S. passport within 6 years of making your immigration investment.

It is important to understand that it is an investment and not a payment. You are not buying the visa, but investing in the regional center to enable its development and are being awarded the visa as appreciation for helping the USA to develop and create jobs in areas that need it.

Here are some factors that you should be aware of before deciding to apply for your green card visa using this route.

The Immigration Investment Needed

The investment you have to make is officially known as the EB-5 investment, and involves you investing a minimum of $500,000 in an approved regional center as described above. At the moment there are around 100 of these centers in the USA, and each is run as a private company in which your investment can increase or drop in value. After you have made the investment you will normally be provided with the visa within 6-12 months. You can apply for U.S. citizenship five years later.

The reason for the investment is to develop and regenerate the region in which you are investing. Part of this development is the generation of jobs, and your investment must generate at least 10 jobs in the region. These jobs must also last for at least two years, and while most investments are secure in this respect, you are investing in what is basically a private business and so there are risks involved. That is one reason why it is essential that you seek expert advice before parting with your money.

Many of those that offer this advice will be associated with the regional center concerned, so keep in mind the amount of money involved. Only 100 applicants for any one regional center involves $50 million, and that is a great deal of money. That is also 50 million incentives to persuade you to invest in their center! 100 applicants also involves the creation of 1000 jobs for at least two years and if that doesn’t happen then you will have problems.

The Need for Good Advice

You need good advice that is independent of the regional center in which you are investing. First you should check out the job-creation method of any regional center project in which you are considering making your investment. That is the major qualifying condition other than the investment itself. Don’t worry about the return on your investment or interest paid – it is job creation that will decide whether or not you are permitted to live permanently in the USA, and if that is your primary objective then that should also be your primary concern.

Each regional center will be competing strongly for your money, not only because of the actual money involved, but also because some centers may have cash commitments already made in anticipation of your investment and now need the funds to meet these commitments. If you have little understanding of the system, then you are liable to be given advice that is less aimed at helping you than making sure you invest in their regional center regardless of the jobs your money might create.

Investment Targets and Jobs

Although job creation is absolutely essential to you, there are other factors to consider. A major one of these is how long it might take for the full immigration investment required in the region to be met.

Your investment can rise or fall just as any other, and you are not guaranteed to get the full amount back. The record of the center in which you might invest is an important factor, as also is any say you have in managing your investment. You will likely find that, like most investments, you will have no say in how your investment is used or managed.

You should also ask about the implications should the 10 jobs from your immigration investment not materialize. What if 100 people invest and only 999 jobs are created, for example? What if 1000 jobs are created and only 999 last 2 years? These are aspects of your investment you should be aware of before parting with your money.

Some centers will have excellent records, with respect to both job creation and return of your investment, while others will not and yet more will be newly appointed regional centers and hence something of a dark horse. What do you do? Who do you ask for advice that has no vested interest in the center?

Independent Advice is Critical

This is where you must find a good independent Green Card Visa advisor and take their advice. Listen to that advice carefully, and if no negatives are discussed be very wary of the investment you are considering making. Every investment has some negative aspects to it of which genuine impartial advisors will make you aware. Make sure that you get answers to all of your questions because while this might seem a good way to get a quick permanent residency visa, if you make the wrong investment decision it could hold you back many years.

Your immigration investment for a Green Card Visa should be made only when you are certain that the advice you have received appears genuine and you are certain that the center and the company managing it can keep their part of the agreement. Normally this will be the case but there are cases where it is not, and you must make sure that you are not disadvantaged in that respect by selecting the wrong advisor.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Immigration-Investment-For-a-Green-Card&id=4547631