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The Trump administration's crackdown on immigration is often in the news these days, but most of the news coverage is focused on the border with Mexico. Getting less national media attention is a crackdown on asylum seekers here in Miami.
Miami's immigration court has been one of the toughest in the nation for asylum seekers. One local publication described the court as a "well-oiled deportation machine."
When people are injured in an accident caused by another party's negligence, the injured may recover compensation for their damages through a personal injury claim. In these cases, damages can include purely economic losses like medical expenses and lost wages, as well as harder to define non-economic losses such as pain and suffering.
But what if the accident is fatal? Who can file suit, and what damages can they recover?
Miami residents understand how important it is to drive safely. When drivers engage in dangerous behavior, they risk their lives and the lives of every person they meet on the road. Accidents caused by negligent drivers continue to occur in Florida, hurting hundreds of families each year.
A tragic accident recently occurred in Oakland Park. A speeding and out-of-control driver went over the railroad tracks on Commercial Boulevard, lost control of the car and went airborne. The driver crashed into another car going the opposite direction and grazed another car. The driver of the car that was crashed into was an Uber driver with a passenger in his car. The driver was taken to a local hospital, where he died. The Uber driver's passenger suffered serious injuries and was also taken to a local hospital. The Broward County Sheriff's Office stated that the two vehicles collided with such force that the engine of the speeding driver was separated from the vehicle.
While immigration has been a hot-button issue in the news for a while now, the focus so far has been on the way the White House is dealing with asylum-seekers and undocumented immigrants. However, the Trump administration's policies have caused turmoil in in many parts of the immigration system, including student visas.
According to the New York Times, a backlog of visa applications has left hundreds of international students unable to pursue the internships they had planned for this summer. Many of these are graduate students are in the United States on visas that are only valid as long as they are taking classes, and when they were accepted for summer internship programs they had to request work authorization. The unexpected delay in getting authorization has forced students to scramble. Some have had to give up prestigious internships and go home for the summer. Others have had to delay internships and register for summer classes instead.
Many people in Miami have a bicycle that they use regularly. Bikes are a great way to get around our community, whether for recreation or transportation. Most of the time a person is able to safely bike on our roads, but occasionally a serious accident occurs.
A bicyclist was recently killed in Southwest Miami Dade. The bicyclist was crossing US-1 near SW 260 Street when he was hit by a car. The driver drove away from the accident. Witnesses of the accident gave police the information they needed to track down the driver who was later arrested. He is facing several charges including DUI, leaving the scene of an accident and property damage.
Many residents of Miami and Florida are aware of Temporary Protected Status for some groups of immigrants. Some, in fact, are under this immigration status themselves. TPS immigrants are currently living in the U.S. wondering how much longer they will be able to stay in the U.S. legally.
Temporary Protected Status was initially given to immigrants from many countries including El Salvador, Haiti, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sudan, among others. The status is given to immigrants who are not able to return home because of war, an environmental disaster or other temporary conditions. The TPS status is a temporary status and does not lead to permanent resident status on its own. Those whose parents came to the U.S. under the TPS status are referred to as DREAMers, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. This group has been the target of many legislative and presidential actions over the past few years.
Many Miami area residents spend time going to warehouse clubs to purchase items for their family. Stores like Sam's Club and Costco are popular among Miami residents. When shoppers spend time in stores, they expect that the store management and employees keep the stores clean and free from hazards. Most of the time this is true, but occasionally a shopper suffers a serious slip and fall accident.
A man who was visiting the Fort Myers Costco store says that he slipped and fell on ice cream that had melted on the floor and is suing the store alleging negligence. The man who had finished his weekly shopping with his wife and was going to enjoy a slice of pizza when he fell on the ice cream. Costco's employees who are in charge of store safety along with a cashier who saw the incident said they were not aware of the melted ice cream. Costco believes they should not be held responsible as they do not believe the dangerous situation existed long enough for them to be aware of it. The defendant's motion for summary judgement was denied since the court did not believe the plaintiff needed to see the ice cream to prove that is what caused him to fall.
There are many companies in Miami and across the U.S. that rely on foreign workers. Many of these companies use highly skilled tech workers for their important business needs. Lately it has become more difficult for these workers to enter the U.S. and become foreign workers for these companies. And companies have had a harder time finding qualified workers for their growing needs.
Despite many companies in Miami needing skilled tech workers, they are having a harder time getting the workers they need. Recently it appears that foreign interest in tech jobs in the U.S. has declined with foreign workers beginning to have more interest in Canadian tech jobs. In May, 14 percent of Canadian tech jobs clicked on in the Indeed website were from foreign workers where just 9 percent of American tech jobs clicked on in Indeed were from foreign workers. Experts believe the decline of interest in American jobs among tech workers is due to the increasing difficulty of obtaining an H-1B visa.
It seems like every week there is another new immigration policy in the U.S. Although many Miami area residents are immigrants themselves, they understand how hard it can be for new arrivals to get their feet on the ground. The State Department recently announced a new policy that will apply toward those who are applying for a visa.
A new visa application has been issued by the U.S. State Department. As part of this application, additional information is requested, including social media identifiers for almost all applicants. The change will affect nearly all immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applications, including those who are coming to the U.S. for education or business reasons. The number affected could reach into the tens of millions. The application requests phone number histories for the past five years, email accounts and social media information. The State Department says they are requesting this information in order to improve their screening process for terrorists.
Although most of the time pedestrians are able to safely share the areas near roadways with vehicles, Florida is still the number one state for most pedestrian deaths. A tragic example occurred in an accident recently in Miami.
According to the reports, a driver was recently arrested for hitting and killing a pedestrian in Miami. The accident occurred at NW 173 Drive and 47th Avenue when a man was attempting to cross the street. A driver hit him and then drove away without stopping. A tip received by the Miami-Dade police led them to the suspect, who has now been charged in the death of the pedestrian.
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