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By immigration lawyer Natalia Segermeister, who is barred and practices in the state of New York, with The Visa Firm.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency tasked with enforcing the immigration laws of the United States and headquartered in Washington, D.C., has begun separating families who arrived in the United States without prior approval and those that have overstayed their visas or failed to maintain their status.

A lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) alleges that breaking up families without a hearing — specifically, separating parents from their minor children — is a violation of the due process rights of the parents.

Some families arrive in the United States as asylum seekers — individuals leaving war-torn or otherwise dangerous home countries in search of safety.

To qualify for admittance into the United States under a request for asylum, the individual must prove that they have been persecuted in the past in their home country or has a well-founded fear that they will be persecuted in the future because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

“The intent behind the asylum regulations is obvious: to provide individuals that fear for their lives the opportunity to come to the United States for safety,” said Natalia Segermeister, an immigration law attorney with The Visa Firm in Washington, D.C.  “However, it is a very high bar to clear. The burden of proof is on the individual requesting asylum, and most of these refugees have very little to their names at all, let alone evidence of past persecution or reasons to expect persecution in the future.” As a result, many claims for asylum are denied for this reason.

The ACLU’s plaintiff is a mother from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She and her seven-year-old daughter came to the United States to escape the violence that has engulfed that African nation for years. Upon arrival in the U.S., they promptly surrendered to immigration agents and requested asylum.

Not long after their arrival, ICE sent the mother to a detention center in San Diego, CA. They sent her seven-year-old daughter to a youth shelter in Chicago.

“This family, so concerned about losing one another to violence in their home country, left in search of safety together,” said Segermeister. “They arrived in the United States, hopeful for protection. Instead, the mother and daughter were ripped apart. Now, the mother must decide whether to risk being apart from her daughter for waiting for a decision that may not be favorable, or whether to be reunited with her daughter immediately and risk returning the DRC. They have to make sure that their case is processed properly and that the evidence needed for the claim is present.”

Claims for asylum must be properly and supported with documentation to be successful. Having legal guidance experienced in the process can be the difference between approval and denial.

By employment law attorney Tom Spiggle, who is barred and practices in the state of Virginia, with The Spiggle Law Firm.

The U.S. Secret Service Retention Act of 2018 was signed earlier this month by the President, allowing Secret Service agents to receive overtime pay.

The new law will immediately affect over 1,000 Secret Service agents who have already reached the federal limit and therefore, have not received their pay for extra time worked. The federal overtime limit will now be raised to $189,000 for overtime worked in 2018, allowing the agents to be compensated for their work. It was also raised to $187,000, an increase from $164,200, for unpaid overtime worked in 2017.

The bill was sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY), who chairs the House Subcommittee on Transportation and Protective Security and has oversight over the Secret Service, as well as U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), a ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government.

Being paid fairly and fully for all overtime will also reduce worker turnover, according to Katko. Workers will be happier, and less apt to leave their jobs if they are more secure.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which establishes standards in overtime pay, employers must pay their workers for any hours worked over forty hours in one week. The FLSA applies to the federal government and therefore, the Secret Service.

Secret Service agents have been working much more overtime than ever before since the 2016 election, since they must protect the President and the First Lady, as well as all of the President’s children and their spouses and children.

“Protecting more people on a daily basis translates to more hours worked, much more than in past Presidents’ tenures,” said Tom Spiggle, Principal at The Spiggle Law Firm, an employment law firm in Washington, D.C. “Although these agents protect the President and his extended family with their lives, many have not been fully paid because they have reached the federal cap that was put on overtime pay. This bill is a great step forward in equalizing the pay discrepancy over the past two years, so they will now be paid fairly for their work.”