During a presentation last week at the University of New Mexico, local immigration attorneys Orsi Vlapi and Amber Weeks answered questions from international students and staff and discussed topics ranging from citizenship pathways and travel plans to legal rights during an immigration investigation.
The presentation was held Oct. 14 in the Student Union and was sponsored by UNM’s United Academics, the Graduate and Professional Student Association, and the UNM Office of Academic Affairs. GPSA President Travis Broadhurst and UA-UNM President Ernesto Longa delivered opening remarks, and Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Barbara Rodriguez attended the presentation.
Vrapi and Weeks are graduates of UNM School of Law and practice law at Vrapi Weeks Immigration Attorneys. Vlapi immigrated to the United States from Albania in 1999 as a student.
In his opening remarks, Professor Longa said the faculty union has launched the International Legal Defense Fund to cover the costs of protecting the due process rights of non-U.S. UA-UNM members facing emergency immigration proceedings.
Vlapi discussed President Donald Trump’s proclamation requiring a $100,000 payment for new H-1B visa applications filed after Sept. 21, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the H1-B program is a category of temporary nonimmigrant visas that allows employers who cannot acquire the skills needed in the U.S. workforce to hire foreign professionals for “professional occupations” that require at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent.
On October 16, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the country’s largest business lobby group representing more than 300,000 companies, filed a lawsuit claiming President Trump’s declaration exceeded his authority and would disrupt the complex visa system created by Congress, according to Reuters.
“No one would pay that kind of money,” Vlapi said. “This is an ‘eviction fee.’ It’s for people who don’t apply.”
Vlapi said people without permanent legal status should refrain from non-essential travel in the coming months because of how “up in the air” current policy regarding international workers is.
Weeks said F1 and J1 visa holders (international students and students on exchange programs) will also be subject to social media screening for “terrorism,” particularly related to pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel content, and will be required to make all social media accounts public for review.
As of fall 2024, UNM had 1,103 international students, according to the UNM Office of Global Education.
“We are asking people to be careful when it comes to travel, especially F1 and J1. Non-essential travel should be discouraged because we are reviewing social media in relation to travel,” Weeks said, with Vlapi describing the social media review as an “ideological review”.
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Weeks said if someone is arrested or detained at an airport or border, they generally do not have the right to an attorney at the airport.
Weeks said that if you are walking around and are approached by an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agent or someone who asks you questions, first tell them, “I don’t have time and I need to be somewhere like work or school,” and if the questions continue, the key words are, “Are you free to go home?”
“(The question is) something like, ‘Do you have the right to detain me or not?'” So, “Are you free to leave?” If they say yes, just keep doing your job. If they say no, say ‘I want to exercise my right to remain silent,”’ Weeks said.
Weeks said the safest place for an ICE officer to appear would be in a private area marked “for employees only,” since a warrant signed by a judge would be required.
“In general, ICE can enter anything that the public can enter without a warrant. So if you’re in a public library or something like that, ICE can enter. If you’re in the lobby of a business, ICE can enter,” Weeks said.
When advising people what to bring, Weeks said to have proof of legal status and the phone number of an immigration attorney.
For people without status, Weeks said, if they don’t have a way to prove they’ve been in the U.S. for two years, they can be quickly deported without due process. Ineligible persons with proof of having been in the country for two years are not subject to expedited removal and are entitled to immigration screening.
“Give (travel) some time until we know that some of these disruption grenades, what I would call (Trump’s policy changes), are a kind of fallout, so we’ll have a little more clarity,” Vlapi said. “It doesn’t mean things are going to get better, but at least we have clarity and we know what to plan for.”
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor at Daily Lobo. Contact her at multimedia@dailylobo.com or X @paloma_chapa88.
Paloma Chapa
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor at Daily Lobo. Contact her at multimedia@dailylobo.com or @paloma_chapa88 on Twitter.
