Friday, March 25, 2011

Immigration Lawyer Meyerovich comments on Extradition between Mexico-US


Killer's Extradition May Take Time

U.S. Must Deal With Mexican Authorities In Order To Get Zachs Back To Connecticut

February 20, 2011|By AMANDA FALCONE, The Hartford Courant

After more than 20 years on the run, convicted murderer Adam M. Zachs was captured in Mexico on Feb. 1. But when — or whether — he'll return to the U.S. to start serving his 60-year sentence is anyone's guess.
Officials say the extradition process isn't easy.
"It's a lengthy process," said John Fahey, a senior assistant state's attorney, who is handling the international extradition process for Zachs.
Zachs, 47, was arrested in Leon, Mexico, a city of about 1.1 million people in the state of Guanajuato.
Zachs disappeared in 1989 while appealing his prison sentence for fatally shooting Peter Carone at Prospect Café in West Hartford in 1987. Police said the two men had been watching an NCAA basketball tournament game. A minor argument started, and the two went outside and scuffled, according to testimony at Zachs' trial.
Police say they were led to Zachs through his connections in the U.S. They say Zachs, who went by the name Ruben Fridman, had a wife and children in Mexico. He was arrested on a provisional arrest warrant just outside a computer repair business police say he operated in Leon and is being held in Mexico City.

Little else is being said about Zachs' life over the past two decades because officials are still investigating, they say.

U.S. officials have 60 days, or until March 31, to prepare, translate and give to authorities in Mexico the paperwork for Zachs' extradition, Fahey said. The U.S. must prove its case for extradition on paper, he said.
Fahey said the schedule for the rest of the process is up to Mexico. At this time, Zachs has not waived extradition, meaning that he has not agreed to come back to the U.S. on his own, Fahey said. Zachs has an attorney who will represent him in a Mexican court, said Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Andrew Tingley. Zachs will not appear in court himself, Tingley said.
It is unknown whether any court dates relating to Zachs' extradition case have been scheduled. The attorney general's office in Mexico, which handles such cases, confirmed that Zachs had been arrested, but would not provide additional information. The extradition process can take months, or sometimes even longer, the office said.
Fahey said Zachs' case is uncommon because most people flee before they are tried or convicted, not after they are sentenced.
If extradited, Fahey said, Zachs would likely go straight to prison in Connecticut. Too much time has passed since Zachs' attempt to appeal his conviction, Fahey said, and Zachs has now lost the right to appeal.
The extradition process between the U.S. and Mexico is complicated, and the extradition treaty between the two countries is not always enforced, said Alex Meyerovich, an attorney for M.C. Law Group LLP in Bridgeport.
"In reality, it comes down to politics," he said, explaining that all the parties involved follow the law, but with their own agendas. "It's a game for grownups."
Meyerovich said extradition is decided case by case. Mexico could choose to deal with Zachs itself and impose its own punishment on the U.S. charges, he said. Doing so might prevent the U.S. from also punishing Zachs if he were to go back home because it could be considered double jeopardy, he added.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Tax Refund for Immigrants

Now That You Have Your Social Security Number, Don’t Miss Out On Your Tax Refund With EITC!

Dated: Sep 05, 2009

If you recently changed your immigration status from illegal to a legal and you have been paying income taxes in the past you might be entitled to a TAX REFUND!
EITC is Earned Income Tax Credit. It is a refundable federal income tax credit for low- to moderate-income working individuals and families. With EITC, you can pay fewer taxes and sometimes even get a refund from the government. Working individuals and families like you will be able to spend less money paying for taxes and will be able to keep more of the money that you earn.

What is even more exciting is that you can get refunds for past years when you did not even apply for the EITC. For example, if you have been working and paying taxes in the United States for 3 years, but only got your Social Security Number (SSN) this year, you can now apply for the EITC. Not only can you get a tax credit or refund for this year, but you can also get the credit or refund that you would have gotten for the past 3 years.

In order to be eligible for the EITC, you need to meet certain qualifications. You have to have a valid SSN. You have to have been a U.S. citizen or a resident alien the whole year (or if you live abroad, but are married to a U.S. citizen or resident alien, you have to file a joint return). You must have earned income from employment or from self-employment. Your filing status cannot be “married, filing separately”. You cannot be a qualifying child of another person. If you do not have a qualifying child and do not qualify as a dependent of another person, you have to be older than 25, but younger than 65 at the end of the year, and you have to live in the U.S. for more than half the year. Other restrictions may apply.

If you do meet all the qualifications for the EITC, you have to file a claim to get your tax credit or refund for previous years. You have to file the claim within 3 years from when the tax return was originally filed or within 2 years from the time the tax was paid, whichever is later.

Alex Meyerovich - M.C. Law Group, LLP is an immigration lawyer in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Elina Stelman co-authored this press release.

To learn more, visit www.uslegalvisa.com

The information presented is a general information only and should not be construed to be a formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship. Contact an experienced licensed attorney to discuss circumstances of your case.

###

About M.C. Law Group: Full service immigration law firm handling cases in all areas of immigration law. Our attorneys also provide representation in the areas of family, criminal & business/tax law with particular attention to the consequences on our clients' immigration status. For more information please visit us at www.uslegalvisa.com

Danbury, ICE to pay in civil rights case


Published: Thursday, March 10, 2011

The town of Danbury and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have agreed to pay eight day laborers $650,000 in a civil rights case that charged they were arrested as the result of racial profiling.

The eight immigrants, according to depositions, were part of a group of 11 men who were picked up in 2006 by a Danbury police officer disguised as a contractor who picked them up with promises of work and then transferred them to the custody of ICE.

The immigrants, who ICE charges were here illegally, have been ordered deported, but those separate court rulings are now before the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. In both the civil rights suit and the deportation cases, the eight have been represented by lawyers in training at the Yale Law School and more recently, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a Washington, D.C., firm, both on a pro bono basis.

Jenny Zhao, a student working on the case, said the settlement is the largest of its kind awarded to day laborers in a civil rights action.

The civil suit charged that both ICE and Danbury had no probable cause for the arrests; that the men were targeted for their race in violation of their due process and unreasonable search protections, and Danbury had no jurisdiction to enforce federal immigration law.

Chuck Jackson, spokesman for ICE’s Boston office, said the settlement represents a new approach to these cases. “Under this administration, ICE has focused on sensible, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes efforts first on those serious criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities,” Jackson said.

In their own depositions, Danbury police officers testified the men were picked up for an alleged traffic violation, such as “illegal use of the highway by a pedestrian” as they approached stopped vehicles seeking work, but they were never charged with any such infraction, police booking records show. The only charge was “illegal entry,” which is a federal issue.

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, in his deposition, agreed an alleged traffic violation can’t be used as a pretext to inquire about someone’s legal status.

Boughton said in his deposition that the suit had cost Danbury about $500,000 with the town responsible for a $100,000 deductible. On Wednesday, he said the town’s insurer recommended settlement because taking it to trial would cost another $1.2 million.

Boughton is known nationally for his tough stance against illegal immigration.

The payment is split between Danbury, with the city paying $400,000 and ICE picking up $250,000, Boughton said. The pro bono attorneys costs since 2007 was $85,000 and will be subtracted from the amount going to the eight men.