Hasta La Gadget!

WASHINGTON ― The chief justice of the United States has broken the law.

John Roberts made the unexpected confession Wednesday as he and his Supreme Court colleagues considered a case that tests some of the circumstances the federal government may use to strip naturalized Americans of citizenship rights.

“Some time ago, outside the statute of limitations, I drove 60 miles an hour in a 55-mile-an-hour zone,” said Roberts, drawing laughter from those in the courtroom. But the chief didn’t crack a smile.

“I was not arrested,” he added. 

The justices were considering a criminal statute that penalizes anyone who “procures” U.S. citizenship in a way that is “contrary to law.” The government pressed the argument that any lie on an official form, no matter how small, is a violation that could trigger the loss of citizenship.

But Roberts and some of the other justices seemed troubled by the implications for a vast swath of Americans. Roberts pointed out that some questions on naturalization forms are written broadly, to catch any little misrepresentation or omission that an overzealous prosecutor may later deem “material false statements” that could mean you should no longer be an American.

One question on the naturalization form, for example, asks citizenship applicants to disclose any and all crimes, offenses or attempts to break the law for which they haven’t been arrested — ever.

Zeroing in on the word “offense,” which a legal dictionary says includes even “minor” violations of the law, Roberts suggested that the government could potentially go after those who fail to disclose minor slip-ups years earlier. 

“Now, you say that if I answer that question ‘no’ 20 years after I was naturalized as a citizen, you can knock on my door and say, ‘Guess what, you’re not an American citizen after all,’” Roberts said. “Is that right?”

When Robert Parker, the Trump administration lawyer who argued for the government, answered that authorities expect applicants for naturalization to disclose even trivial violations, Roberts wasn’t having it.

“Oh, come on,” Roberts retorted. “You’re saying that on this form, you expect everyone to list every time in which they drove over the speed limit, except when they were arrested?”

Justice Stephen Breyer, one of the court’s more liberal members, seemed just as bothered.

“It’s, to me, rather surprising that the government of the United States thinks that Congress is interpreting this statute and wanted it interpreted in a way that would throw into doubt the citizenship of vast percentages of all naturalized citizens,” Breyer said.

You’re arguing for the government of the United States — talking about what citizenship is and ought to mean.
Justice Anthony Kennedy

Justice Elena Kagan added a lighthearted twist to Parker’s argument.

“I am a little bit horrified to know that every time I lie about my weight, it has those kinds of consequences,” she said.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has written landmark opinions about how the law bestows dignity on all people, said the administration’s argument “is demeaning the priceless value of citizenship.”

“That’s not what our cases say. That’s not what citizenship means,” Kennedy said.

“You’re arguing for the government of the United States — talking about what citizenship is and ought to mean,” Kennedy told Parker later.

In the end, it was Roberts, the court’s leader, who saw the severity of the government’s position for what it is: as an opening for prosecutorial overreach.

“If you take the position that … not answering about the speeding ticket or the nickname is enough to subject that person to denaturalization,” Roberts said, “the government will have the opportunity to denaturalize anyone they want, because everybody is going to have a situation where they didn’t put in something like that ― or at least most people. And then the government can decide, ‘We are going to denaturalize you for other reasons than what might appear on your naturalization form, or we’re not.’

“And that to me … is troublesome to give that extraordinary power, which, essentially, is unlimited power, at least in most cases, to the government,” Roberts added.

The Supreme Court may well decide that only egregious, “material” lies count for the purposes of stripping someone’s citizenship — a requirement that could stand as a roadblock for tougher immigration measures in the Trump era.

The case, Maslenjak v. United States, is the last case the Supreme Court heard before the end of the current term. Between now and the end of June, the justices are expected to issue decisions on cases they’ve already considered.

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Growing up as a member of the Jackson family wasn’t easy for Taryll Jackson, who often saw both the blessings and difficulties that come with having a famous last name. Before his uncle Michael Jackson died in 2009, Taryll says the two actually had a phone conversation that made Taryll even more wary of the pressures of being a Jackson.

Taryll, son of Tito, opens up about his experience and his relationship with Michael on this weekend’s upcoming “Iyanla: Fix My Life.” Referring to Michael’s own public hardships, Iyanla confirms with Taryll how much he struggles with being a part of the famous family.

“What he went through was hard,” Iyanla says of Michael. “And there was a part of you that didn’t want to that. Would that be accurate?” 

Taryll nods and then reveals how a phone conversation with his uncle fostered that perspective.

“He just reminded me to stop and look around and appreciate what’s going on around, because ‘up here’ is crazy. And sometimes it’s better ‘down there,’” Taryll recalls Michael saying. “That, I think, changed things a little bit for me.”

Taryll shares more about his relationship with his uncle Michael on Saturday, April 29, at 9/8c.

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WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump promised to create an office that would help victims of crimes committed by immigrants. The Department of Homeland Security followed through quickly and opened the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement office Wednesday.

But so far the main thing that’s new about the office — which will use an existing call center and staff to provide services that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has offered for years — is the message that accompanies it: Immigrants, especially undocumented ones, are violent criminals.

“Our mission is clear,” DHS Secretary John Kelly said Wednesday, “and that is to acknowledge the exceptional damage caused by criminal illegal aliens and to support the victims of these preventable crimes.”

The VOICE office isn’t intended to demonize undocumented immigrants or falsely imply they commit more crime, DHS spokesman David Lapan said. But Trump, who opened his campaign for president by saying Mexico was sending rapists across the border, has frequently branded immigrants as dangerous. And so far there’s not much evidence that the new VOICE office actually does anything new.

ICE has created a phone number for victims, witnesses and their families to call for information on the detention and deportation status of immigrants accused of committing crimes against them. But those phone calls will go to a call center that for years has offered information on immigration detainees’ location and status. The call center workers will answer the new hotline, offer general information about the immigration system and take down details of callers’ cases so the VOICE office can get back to them. Victims will be able to register to receive custody status updates, which they could get before, but they will now be automated. Anyone with identifying information about a detained immigrant can also use ICE’s detainee locator system, which dates to 2010.

ICE officials acknowledged that they’re essentially rebranding and revamping services but argued that doing so will ensure victims of crimes committed by immigrants are aware those services are available. Existing ICE personnel ― a few leaders in the national office and a community relations officer in each ICE field office ― will make up the new office’s staff. Community relations officers assigned to the office will still perform their current jobs, working with local governments and stakeholders to address immigration-related concerns, and will work with the Victims Assistance Program in the ICE Homeland Security Investigations unit.

Our mission is clear, and that is to acknowledge the exceptional damage caused by criminal illegal aliens and to support the victims of these preventable crimes.
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly

ICE and DHS officials offered few details on how the agency will prevent abuse of the VOICE system, such as individuals claiming to be victims to check out their neighbors, but promised to deal with each case individually. ICE will check with its privacy officers to determine what it can and cannot reveal, the same way it does when it receives questions from reporters, one agency official said. It’s not clear how that policy will interact with a Trump executive order in January instructing agencies to limit privacy protections for non-citizens and legal permanent residents wherever possible.

The VOICE office is likely to change over time, officials said, and will eventually produce quarterly reports on crimes committed by undocumented immigrants. DHS gave no timetable for what those would entail or when they would begin.

ICE officials also gave no statistics on the level of crime by immigrants, undocumented or with legal status. Numerous studies have found that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born citizens.

Latino and immigrant groups say that Trump’s rhetoric demonizes their communities and puts them in danger. To counteract the message, a group of House Democrats launched an effort of their own, the Saved by American Immigrants National Taskforce, or SAINT, that will collect stories of immigrants who “have positively contributed to U.S. society through heroic or lifesaving acts.”

“Propaganda is dangerous, and that is why we should all be troubled by the new Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) office,” Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), one of those lawmakers, said in a statement Wednesday. “Immigrants are not a group to be feared.”

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