President Trump signed Executive Order 13768, allowing individuals to be more easily deported. The Executive Order may turn out to be a tough, new tactic in family law cases.
On January 25, 2017, President Trump signed Executive Order 13768 entitled: “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States”. This Executive Order allows individuals to be deported for a variety of reasons, and also restricts sanctuary.
I have written about divorce planning before, especially as it concerns taxes and other issues. The new Executive Order may impact many divorce and family law cases in South Florida, because this area has attracted many immigrants, and parents may be deported during proceedings.
New Deportation Procedures
A federal immigration enforcement program being implemented by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — has become the subject of nationwide commentary.
In some jurisdictions, any time an individual is arrested and booked into a local jail, his or her fingerprints are electronically run through ICE’s immigration database. This allows ICE to identify non-citizens, and potentially initiate deportation proceedings against them.
Increasing Deportations
Executive Order 13768 provides that ICE will not exempt classes or categories of removal aliens from potential enforcement. All of those presently in violation of our immigration laws may be subject to arrest, detention, and, if found removable by final order, removed from the United States.
That includes people convicted of fraud in any official matter before a governmental agency, and people who “have abused any program related to receipt of public benefits.”
Impact on Family Law
By expanding the risks of deportation, the Executive Order creates potential new weapons for people planning to get divorced, or open any kind of family law proceeding – from child support to divorce.
For example, merely threatening to have an alien spouse or partner deported may be a way of preventing a battered spouse from seeking protection against domestic violence.
Additionally, a parent who has a child with an alien, or is married to an alien, could use the threat of deportation if the alien parent tries to file a complaint in court to establish or collect support.
South Florida Cases
This is a big problem in South Florida, a place that welcomes immigrants. As CNN reports, the Miami-Dade County Mayor has instructed the County to comply with all immigration detainer requests received form the Department of Homeland Security.
The Executive Order increases the chances a parent can be deported. This new law provides ammunition for citizens litigating against aliens in family law cases.
The CNN article is here.