Chile Forum

Recently the Immigration Service in the US announced some benefits for Chileans in the US who cannot return to Chile after the earthquake, regardless of their legal status in this country. I have been assisting some people I know here in the US trying to gather information regarding these benefits, because as they are listed they are very vague and apparently do not really translate into any real relief for Chileans here.
One of the Facebook groups that has popped up has thousands of members that would like to request the Chilean Government to petition the US Government for TPS (Temporary Protected Status). There have been rumors flying around these forums that Bachelet's government failed to ask for it and that the window may have passed. I called USCIS today and a supervisor told me that Chile has not requested assistance and that no additional benefits exist for Chileans.

Spencer Global came up on one of the discussion threads and I was wondering if Charles (or anyone else for that matter) knows anything regarding this issue....

Not sure what you are asking.

First, we don't practice law in the U.S. Happy to refer anyone that needs it to attorneys we work with in the States.

There is really no reason anyone would not be able to return to Chile if they wanted to or needed to. I could see perhaps the week after the quake someone being a bit over extended on their tourist visa because of flight delays, but giving some sort of Haiti style economic refugee status would not make any sense. People are displaced in Chile, but within Chile. It is a big country, with plenty of places to go that are not effected.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
USCIS Reminds Chilean Nationals of Immigration Benefits Available

WASHINGTON—In light of the recent natural catastrophes in Chile, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reminds Chileans of U.S. immigration benefits available to eligible Chilean nationals upon request.

USCIS understands that a natural catastrophe can affect an individual’s ability to establish or maintain lawful immigration status. Temporary relief measures available to nationals of Chile may include:

* The grant of an application for change or extension of nonimmigrant status on behalf of a Chilean national who is currently in the United States, even in cases where the request is submitted after the individual’s authorized period of admission has expired;
* Re-parole of individuals granted parole by USCIS;
* Extension of certain grants of advance parole, expedited processing of advance parole requests;
* Expedited adjudication and approval, where possible, of requests for off-campus employment authorization due to severe economic hardship for F-1 students;
* Expedited processing of immigrant petitions for immediate relative(s) of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (LPRs);
* Expedited issuance of employment authorization where appropriate; and
* Assistance to LPRs stranded overseas without documents in coordination with the Department of State.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I see

Shouting detracts from your argument.

BTW, are you actually here in Chile like many of US, including admin, who lived through it and are literally down on the ground helping the people that are homeless or at least face to face with the reality vs. outside of Chile media fed versions of the event.

Ignorance does abound, I say those fishing guides that got deported get a reprieve and the auto residency for Peruvians and Bolivians by the Bachelet admin get reversed. The sooner the better.

Hit and run. Another night trolling on the Chile Forum river.

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:Hit and run. Another night trolling on the Chile Forum river.

SERIOUSLY....

m_abby wrote:OKAY. FIRST OF ALL CHILEANS ARE NOT TRYING TO USE THIS AS AN EXCUSE. THE TPS IS TEMPORARY NOT FOREVER. IT IS JUST A WAY TO SEND MONEY TO OUR RELATIVES TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE GOING TO BE OK.

It sounds to me that somehow it hit a nerve, therefore you must be an illegal alien. A Temporary Protected Status is not Western Union and it may be very possible that illegal chileans in the US are using this tragedy as an opportunity to leave the US as they please, laughing at the authorities and disregarding completly the US laws.I think you are barking at the wrong tree...putting it in chileans terms, "meando fuera del tiesto".There's no need to shout at the top of your lungs.If you don't like the message, don't kill the messenger.Mauricio is just stating the facts. AND THAT'S THE WAY IT IS!

Get your facts straight?

I am sorry, I just spent the last two weeks working 20 hour days getting the facts straight in the disaster zone. I am riding about a dozen 5.0+ aftershocks this morning while I type this from Temuco.

Where are you? Have you thought of lifting a single finger to help Chile?

Hope you are enjoying watching CNN from that comfortable armchair in the States.

If you don't like the way the U.S. law is treating you, exercise a bit of intelligence and move to a country that will allow you to legally be employed. Please don't come back to Chile whatever you do. The country has sufficient people already that can not help themselves.

This is just a bunch of self-centered asses exploiting a tragedy they have nothing to do with, to get something they have no right to in the first place. I think the U.S. government owes a lot of people a lot of things, just this is one of those instance where the U.S. government honestly does not owe you a thing.

sorry, had to vent.

We shouldn't jump to conclusions, abby that was rude, shouldn't attack someone like that..more love..

that outburst by Mr. Admin was offensive and uncalled for, I thought for a moment I was reading a post by one of those racist wackos from the Minuteman and I was shocked to learn he's a fellow chilean . The fact of the matter is that thousands of chileans have had to leave the country for whatever reasons....many in what some researches call "an economic exile" . We should never judge, the reality is that many chilean families living in the U.S. are devastated about the earthquake and are unable to travel to see their relatives, can you imagine their frustration?.....sometimes it's useful to put ouselves in someone else's shoes..... it's a matter of decency. Mr. Admin, I highly recommend you inform yourself about the issue reading Nina Berstein's columns in the New York Times or by taking a look at reports issued by think tanks like the Center for Immigration Studies, Harvard, etc. It will help you not to look like one of those single IQ, white trash, xenophobic talking heads

That outburst by Mr. Admin was offensive and uncalled for, I thought for a moment I was reading a post by one of those racist wackos from the Minuteman and I was shocked to learn he's a fellow chilean . The fact of the matter is that thousands of chileans have had to leave the country for whatever reasons....many in what some researches call "an economic exile" . We should never judge, the reality is that many chilean families living in the U.S. are devastated about the earthquake and are unable to travel to see their relatives, can you imagine their frustration?.....sometimes it's useful to put ouselves in someone else's shoes..... it's a matter of decency. Mr. Admin, I highly recommend you inform yourself about the issue reading Nina Berstein's columns in the New York Times or by taking a look at reports issued by think tanks like the Center for Immigration Studies, Harvard, etc. It will help you not to look like one of those single IQ, white trash, xenophobic talking heads

Hi, Peter. What's happening? We need to talk about your TPS reports.

Yeah. The coversheet. I know, I know. Uh, Bill talked to me about it.

Yeah. Did you get that memo?

Yeah. I got the memo. And I understand the policy. And the problem is just that I forgot the one time. And I've already taken care of it so it's not even really a problem anymore.

Ah! Yeah. It's just we're putting new coversheets on all the TPS reports before they go out now. So if you could go ahead and try to remember to do that from now on, that'd be great. All right!