She gonna tell us are we live? >> Are we are >> okay? Good evening everyone. Are we ready? Okay. Good evening everyone and thank you for joining us this evening for this informational live workshop. I'm Vice
Mayor Cassandra Timothy and on behalf of the city of North Miami, I'd like to welcome you to tonight's town hall. First, I would like to thank our distinguished panelists for being here this evening and for sharing their time and expertise with our community. We know that many families have questions
and concerns about temporary protective status, TPS, and what recent developments may mean for them. At the same time, we recognize that planning for your family's future is just as important, which is why we've also invited estate planning professionals to
be a part of tonight's discussion. Our goal is simple. To provide reliable information, connect residents with trusted legal resources, and create an opportunity for you to ask questions directly to experienced professionals. While tonight's discussion is intended
to provide general information and should not be considered legal advice, we hope it gives you a better understanding of the resources available and the steps that you should take moving forward. We encourage everyone to ask questions, take notes, and make the
most of this opportunity. An informed community is an empowered community. And I would like to thank our panelists for joining us this evening. We have [snorts] Mr. Friendly D. Julian, PA and a distinguished um immigration attorney here in South Florida. And we also have
the president of HLA, Emanuel Emanuela Telour. and we have Sandy Bosan who'll be joining us later this evening along with state representative Die Joseph. At this time I would like to invite state representative Die Joseph who's joining us virtually to give us her take and
also share the different resources that is coming from the state and what residents can do now whether you're someone who has TPS or you're someone just looking for ways to help a neighbor or a friend. So state rep, I thank you for joining us right now. I thank you
for taking the time to be a part of this discussion and we look forward to hear what you have to say. State Representative Die Joseph. You can speak. Representative Hello everyone. I hope you can hear me. Okay, I'm just going to do this mic check. Okay, good. Awesome. All right.
So, I am State Representative Donnie Joseph and you know, first of all, I want to just um thank everybody. I want to thank Councilwoman Cassandra Simote for um arranging this today. Uh we know that tensions are running high, but I want to encourage everybody to remain
calm. Um we know this was coming. Uh we have been making preparations for this. The first thing I'm going to say is to consult with an attorney. Um you're going to hear from several here today. There are lots of resources for attorneys. I'm sure they're going to share some of those. Um, but if you ever
need specific resources, not just for attorneys, let's say you need um health care resources, you're concerned about what to do um with your medication, you're concerned about um what other organizations exist, you're going to
hear a little bit later from Sandy Gua about some planning that you need to do for your family. But if you ever forget any of those resources, um I want you to know that my office is here to help. Um, you can reach us at 305-5645060. We are located at 735 Northeast 125th
Street, which is literally across the street from City Hall. We share the office with the North Miami CRA. There are a plethora of um resources that are available. But what I really want to talk about today is what we can do. So, in addition to the preparations that you
should be making for yourself legally, make a plan for your family. Make sure you know basic things like who's going to call who if you get taken. Well, do you have a plan for your medication? Do you have a plan for any property that you own, your business? All of those
things are things that you're they're probably going to be covering in this. And if not, I have organizations that are specifically available to help deal with some of those. Um, some of them might include FLIC, the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Advocacy Coalition, which works across South Florida. Um,
and of course we have Sunla, um, that many of us know, which is located right here in North Miami. Um, we have from well, um, F, which is which was from Miami, which is now family action network movement, and a whole host of
others, right? So, I'm not going to get into all of them. My office has a list. Depending on what your needs are, we will connect you. But what I want you to know that you can do right now is to call your US senators to support S. So Senate Bill S4814,
that is a bill um that is pending now before Congress. It was introduced by Senator Marky and Senator Rochester. Uh they filed this to redesate t um designate TPS. This goes along with the
version that was passed in the the House already um by Congresswoman um Ayana Presley. And what it will do is it would help extend TPS for nations. So basically the US Supreme Court decision said that the courts have no business
opining on um this particular matter on TPS for the statute. The lawyers will get into the actual verbiage when they talk a little bit more. But what that means is the ball can be in Congress's support if they choose to act. So it's either the executive branch or the congressional um branch who can handle
this. To call your US senator, if you don't know which one it is, um the phone number you can use to call is 2022 3121. Once again, that's 202243121. And I'm going to be posting on social media momentarily um some resources by
Flick which will give you a link that you can click on to go ahead and send a letter to your senator. Uh I'll just say it briefly here. It's flick. FYI/TPS the number four Haiti now SM. So if you
forget it, don't worry about it. I'm going to be posting it on my Facebook which is just um facebook.comdia joseph d o t i e joseph um and you'll be able to do that there. But I want you to know that the fight is not over. We're continuing to fight for you both individually with cases. Um, but also
broader, if you know people um, who are concerned about what's happening with TPS, I want you to know there are things that we can do about it. And this is an easy advocacy step that we can take to try to pressure uh, enough senators, particularly both of our senators here in Florida, but all senators across the
United States, so that we can have a veto proof um, majority to pass that and we will have the protection that we need for a longer period of time. Thank you very much. Thank you, State Representative D. Joseph, for joining us for this
important conversation and reminding folks that they everyone has a role and everyone can do something and speak up and en encourage a neighbor, but make sure that you give us that information as well. So, tonight we also have Emmanuela Telford. If you can please
introduce yourself um and tell us you of course your field of expertise as the agent leg. >> Yes. [clears throat] Yes. A social security disability. Um the president of the Haitian Lawyers Association. I'm an immigration attorney as well as we practice um disability law. Um it is my pleasure. Thank you,
Vice Mayor, for giving us this opportunity, this platform to um reach your constituency um to be able to share this vital information, this critical information. Um things are very very difficult right now for many households and I just want everyone to know that
HLA the Haitian Lords Association is here. Uh we offer services that can be able to help you and so you are going to going to be hearing from two distinguished um attorneys who are going to be speaking on on some of the more
specifics of um what would be ideal for you potentially. Um, please again like uh our state representative said, take notes and ask questions and we will provide you with a contact information where you can be able to reach out to the Haitian Laws Association um to
request a free consultation. Yes, a free consultation. Um, we have attorneys who are willing to uh extend that time to be able to provide those services. introduce introduce
me. >> Thank you, Madame President. Thank you, Madame Vice Mayor, for putting together this important uh panel. Uh thank you state representative Dodi for your enlightening presentation. My name is friendly Julier. I am an attorney here
based in Miami. I practice immigration and personal injury. Uh we knew this moment was coming. We were hoping for the best. But this is the moment where we need to rise up as a community to meet the moment. And this is why we're
grateful that the city of North Miami, the Haitian Lawyers Association, and our elected officials are working together with the community uh to come up with collective solutions. And for some of you, it will be individualized
solutions, but we also need collective solutions to face this moment. And we know you have a lot of questions. We're here. We're going we're going to try to provide as many answers as possible to your concerns and your questions.
>> And thank you um attorney Julian and attorney um Tel for. So we're going to get right into this. Um oh Sandy, we also have Sandy who's also joining us as well on teams um who is an estate planning um attorney. If Sandy, if you
can introduce yourself and of course if you want to give a bit a tidbit as well, please. Sandy, if you can unmute yourself, it shows that you're on mute. Okay. Can everybody [clears throat] can hear me, right? >> Yes.
>> Yes, we can hear you, Sandy. >> Okay. Good evening, everyone. Thank you so much. Um, thank you so much, Madam President. Thank you for um, City of North Miami for hosting this. Um, my name is Sandy Wawa. I am an estate planning attorney here out of South
Florida. And uh one of my major tidbits for all of you is to really think and plan. Um even if you weren't able to prepare any documents or get certain things in order, you can take out a notepad, write down important
information. Um, if you have children, there are some very basic things that you can really get in order in the event that someone else is going to have to care for your children, such as information on school and teachers, uh, medical information, doctor information. For yourself personally, it would be
very helpful if you have certain information with someone that you trust. Um, things like access to accounts is very critical. A lot of times people don't have access to funds and you know the person that was able to provide those funds is not available because something has happened. And so really
right now it's critical for you to work on planning and trying to make sure that you understand all of the documents that you would need to have in place in order for someone to be able to make decisions on your behalf. Um so that's the biggest tidbit I can give right now.
>> And thank you so much Sandy. And I know we're going to we have a whole segment for you coming up. Um but we're going to jump right into this. We know what occurred yesterday. Um a few days ago we were celebrating um the Haiti national soccer team finally scoring two points and there was so much Haitian pride.
There was so much joy in our community and the follow the following day there's mourning in our community and there's a lot that came out from this Supreme Court justice. So if attorney Julian if you can kind of go into and explain what the current situation is and what residents should know today as it
relates to the US Supreme Court ruling. >> All right. So what happened is uh on April April 19 uh 29th um the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on TPS for
Haiti and uh Syria after the government uh went to the Supreme Court for a rid of surgery. basically the government uh the administration and madame president uh Pet and myself we were in the room we
wanted to be there it was an important moment for our community so um the government initially went to the Supreme Court to through the emergency docket uh the legal teams representing Haiti and
Syria uh asked the court not to grant relief uh through the emergency docket but to allow to afford them the opportunity to have oral argument. So we had oral arguments on April 29th. Now after April
29th we were supposed to wait for the Supreme Courts to issue the decision. In the meantime, what happened is uh that through discovery with the Venezuela case, the legal teams working for Haiti
um found information that was critical. So what they did, they went back to the Supreme Court and asked the court instead of issuing uh a ruling. the ruling that they issued yesterday. They asked them instead to
dismiss the rid of suiary that they had granted to the government because during all argument the government say stated that it had satisfied the requirements of the law as to the cons consulting with DHS
consulting with other agencies uh through the documents obtained through discovery with the Venezuela case. uh the attorneys found that this was not the case. Um initially uh the
functionaries had decided that Haiti TPS should have been uh renowned. Now there's a gentleman by the name of um Joseph Edllo. He went back to the functionaries and told them no you're going to change
that. uh they had asked the under Christ they had asked the functionaries to look for example instances of Haitians living in the United States who are involved in terrorist activities. The functionaries stated that they we
couldn't find any hit. Mr. Edllo said no we're going to have to change that because otherwise we cannot end TPS for Haiti. So you had all of this and also within DHS they also found email
exchanges from high ranking official who said that we are using national security interest as the reason to NTPs and usually to NTPs the reason is that the situation on the ground has improved
and between among those official they said this is a first you know we've never done that before so armed with all this information the legal teams went to the Supreme Court and they said you know what we asking you to dismiss the RIT
you know and return the case to the lower court the Supreme Court totally ignored all this information relevant information and they issued a decision where they stated that one um the decision to end TPS is
unreable by the courts on the basis of the v violation of the administrative procedure act. Uh the administrative procedure act basically is this law that allows you know usually congress has the
legislating is the province of congress but through the administrative procedures act congress delegates its ability to to legislate to the um executive branch and this is how they can be the one uh making decision granting or revoking TPS. So the court
stated that irrelevant of what happened um you the courts cannot review that. And the the Supreme Court also stated that um claims lodged under violation of the TPS
statutes are also unreable. And they stated that the only claim that is reviewable is the equal protection clause violation. So they remmended the case to the lower court to uh make a
ruling a ruling that is consistent with the court's interpretation of the facts and the courts basically made all the arguments as to foreclose the lower court to make any decision that could be satisfactory to to TPS beneficiaries.
Now, one thing that this this uh decision makes is that it's elevates the threshold for what is racist and what is not racist. And this goes beyond TPS
because when Justice Alito in the this in the ruling stated that Trump stating without mentioning exactly what what the the president said that Haitians are poisoning the blood of the nation is not
racist. So basically this is going to come back to uh hurt everybody because the threshold to um of what is racist or not has been uh increased significantly by this decision. So this is where we
are uh we are expecting uh communication from the government now uh will they be granted u I don't know 30 60 days to TPS recipients to make decisions we don't know. We don't know exactly what's going to happen. This is
why uh we asking everybody to uh tune in to listen to credible uh voices in the community uh in the coming days. >> Thank you for that explanation and giving us the bigger picture of what took place cuz a lot of times we see the
headline but we don't know the work that went behind it and thank you guys for being a part of that oral argument. So, as it relates for TPS today, if someone has a license or work authorization, what happens to their documents? Do you want
>> The last decision was that those documents were to expire on July 1st? We don't know. The answer to this, we don't know what's going to happen beyond July 1st. So, as it relates to their documents,
there will be no, you know, renewing until we know what comes out from the government. >> Until the government makes a decision. Yes. >> And I think um that what's so critical is that um this situation is fluid. So let's, you know, make sure that everyone's um clear particularly for
immigration, not for estate planning um or for some of the other concrete areas of practice. But for immigration right now, um the the situation is fluid um because the Supreme Court has made their decision as it relates to um uh what
they believe they were able to do under the law. Okay. Now, it's up to uh the legislature. We would hope that um this the the the Senate would take a look at um these measures that would be beneficial to TPS recipients. Um and we hope that uh conversations with um the
executive um branch would yield fruitful. But besides those two things that are still um in flux that means that they're moving, they're moving continuously, things may change. Okay? And so I want you to be very aware of that and I'll continue to continue to
plug, you know, keep your eyes on um what's happening. Uh contact a reputable attorney for consultation. Um continue to connect with um various um um like the office of the the vice mayor for
updated information because um these things will change. Tomorrow we may have a new uh well maybe not tomorrow but Monday or Tuesday we may have new news about some of the questions that are real pertinent for those in our community which is the EAD the um the work permits um driver's license things
that people need to be able to function. >> Thank you. And so what legal options does someone with TPS have right now? Um what pathways could they take? Um, you guys are immigration attorneys and I'm sure the consultations are going to be
like, you know, this document expires. What's next for them? >> I think several. Um, some people have no options. We have to be clear, right? We have people with outstanding removal orders.
>> Yeah. uh aside from an application for a stay of removal which likely will not be granted by this administration, they do not have options and if they are picked up on the streets, they cannot
they are not entitled to seeing a judge. So those people have very few options. Uh the second thing is those who have been around for less than two years, they are subjected to expedited removal. So they are in a more um vulnerable
situation as well. >> Yes. Now those who've been here for more than 2 years, they are entitled entitled to due process of law before the immigration court. So you're going to see a lot of notice to notices to appear
uh be issued to those people so that they can go and see a judge and the judge will ask them uh about any relief they want to pursue. Now you have people who've been here for 10 15 years, but
because they've always had TPS, they if they when before they came to the United States, they had a valid asylum claim, they can still lodge an asylum application or sometimes the the the
basis, the grounds for asylum occurs while they're in the United States. I can give you a quick example. I had a guy who came here in 2005. He did not have a valid claim for asylum. But somewhere sometimes in 2015,
a brother of his became involved in politics in Haiti. And as a result, the entire family was persecuted. So this guy, even if he's been in the United States since 2005, he can still, if he wants to, apply for asylum based on
changed circumstances. You also have those who have um a spouse, uh a child or a parent who's a permanent resident of a US citizen. And those people they can if they've been here for 10 years or more
they can avail themselves of cancellation of removal. Um you also have deferred action as a possible way. For instance, you have people here with small kids. So they can always try to apply for deferred action. I've seen
some cases at my office recently of people who um can still qualify for Dhaka def um you know deferred action for childhood arrival because up until recently uh the administration was not
accepting new Dhaka applications but as of recently they accepting them although they are not adjudicating them yet. So all of this I think it it's important that they they consult with a um competent immigration attorney and competent immigration may be a private
attorney. It may also be attorneys associated with uh organizations like flick sa uh farm all those organization so that they can catholic charities so they can have uh uh consultation.
I do. Um, and you know, [laughter] but I will say this technique technical. Okay. TPS. Okay. State Representative D. Joseph Joseph D. And then Okay.
Excuse. Okay. What would be the best word? Qualifying relives. >> Qualified relatives. Okay. And then um cancellation removal. Deferred action. >> Deferred action.
Excuse me. Okay. >> And thank you. Thank you. Um, and I know HLA is a Haitian Lawyers Association, but we also know that there's it's only it's not only Haitians in this fight, right? There's Syrians, there's
Venezuelans, there's um you mentioned 13 TPS designations that are now gone. Um and now, you know, they're fearful for other countries. So, this information is not just for the Haitian community, although we're here at HLA and their Haitian attorneys, but we know that this
information is for all residents to share with their loved ones, share with their neighbors so that they can prepare their families and prepare their loved ones. You guys mentioned a lot of the applications. I know a few weeks back that they were pausing all um Haitian applications. Um has that pause since
then been uplifted because I did get calls cuz they're like well we can't even apply now because all the Haitian application national well the Haitian nationals application have been paused like people were literally removed from you know being able to um take their oath of office um from getting their
citizenship on the day that it was canceled. So if you guys can talk to about that and what would occur Okay. Uh yes, definitely. Uh a couple I would say uh two three weeks ago a judge
issued a ruling um stating standing for the proposition that the government has no right to uh pause adjudication on application for given countries. and ordered the administration to resume adjudicating those cases and have had
quite a few uh interviews, green card interviews lately. And the officers uh are telling me now that now they are ready to make decisions. But there's still a a certain confusion I must say because at least two officers told me
that they're not sure whether they can only do the I130 uh or both of them but some officers told me yes they can do it but they there was also some doubt as to whether the uh interviewing officers are going
to be the adjudicating officers. So there's this level of uncertainty within USCIS, but what we know is that the administration knows that there was a warning uh mandating that they resume um
adjudicating those cases. Uh, one thing I want to tell people is that um, the administration issued um, an internal memo to hit uh, adjudicators at USCIS telling them to uh, ask people questions
about why did you pursue adjustment of status instead of consular processing. uh the administration um espouses the view that consular processing should be the norm. So they want to discourage adjustment of status.
And so what we do I try to do for each one of my clients uh on my cover letter I take a cover letter to the to the interview and in the cover letter I explain why this person uh the only choice for them was uh adjustment of
status. But in the case of Haiti, it's so much easier than anybody else because the consulate uh consular services have been unavailable for at least 4 years. So this is the first argument we tell them, hey consular services have not
been available for 4 years. So it was never an option for Haitian clients. So we say they were trying to hurt us by not making those available to us, but it turns out pretty well it's helping.
>> Fine. No, and that's good to know. Um, you know, right now there's a lot of fear in certain communities, especially here in South Florida, about what may happen. You know, we saw what happened in Minneapolis. We're seeing what's happening around the world and we're praying and hoping for the best here in
South Florida. But what rights does someone have if they're approached by an immigration official? What documents should they keep with themselves? And are there any common mistakes that you feel that someone should avoid to hurt their cases? Um, if we can just talk about that for a little bit.
>> Absolutely. And before I answer that, answer that question, I do want to say that the Haitian Lords Association and its consultations are open to everybody, not just for Haitians and Haitian nationals, for everyone. Um um I think it's just important to be able to speak in cre for those who may not be able to
be familiar with the um English language so that they um can best understand what our services are. So please understand that um that number is for everyone. you need assistance, reach out to us and we'll do our best to be able to assist assist you. Um yes, so um you know
living in this country provides you with certain um constitutional rights. Okay. Um you have a right to remain silent. Uh so that means if someone were to approach you, you have a right uh to um ask for a lawyer. You don't have to
articulate everything that that person is ask, excuse me, articulate an answer to everything that that person is asking you. Okay? You can be able to say, um, I I I I choose to remain silent. Um, if that person uh brandishes a um uh an ID,
a police uh ID on onto them on, excuse me, like um a shield, a metal, a police badge. A police badge. Exactly. you can be able to say, I would like to speak with my lawyer and I would like to remain silent. So, you have that right. If you are in that's if you're on the on if
you're on the ground um outside, if you are at home, you have a right to keep your door closed. You don't have to open your door because someone is knocking on the door and saying that um they are with this or this um agency or that you have a right to keep your door closed. Um there are some conversations though
you must know related to um if there is a search warrant. Okay? Okay. And there are two types of search warrant. A judicial uh search warrant and I believe ICE has their own uh search warrant. And so you have >> administrative warrant. Yes. >> An administrative warrant. Right. And so you have to be able to understand a
distinction. And um I know our our friends at Flick, they actually have um those uh pamphlets and HLA will be updating its website to reflect what difference what the difference looks like because the administrative warrant does not provide um cart blush. mean
they can't just come into your house like that or forced to come into your house. But with a jud judicial warrant, it's a little bit more of a higher standard that they have to meet for the judge to be able to issue that. Okay. And so at which point in time that may be the a uh possibility for them to
enter into your house. Um again do one thing I it's really important vice mayor I want you to I would love to you know help you I would like to articulate to you and to your constituency is that um there's this desire to want to if they
give you a document okay fine you you sign it you feel that pressure because of either the badge or either the the uniform you feel like if you oblige then it's going to be okay for you you don't have to sign it okay there are some individuals who sign
their rights away unbeknownst to them. You don't speak the language. You don't read the language. It's okay for you to say, "I need to speak with my attorney. I need time to find an attorney so I know exactly what I'm signing and I'm not signing away my rights." Um, I'll
pass along to my colleague here to go into some other um, uh, fundamentals as well. >> Thank you, Madam President. What I would like to say is that Florida is, if I'm not mistaken, the state where ICE has picked up the most people so far. But
you don't see them on the streets. And how do they do it? They do it through uh immigrants negligence. So what we've been seeing, a lot of people are calling the police because of
domestic violence. Okay. So, if you are in a relationship, and it goes both ways. I've seen a lot of women um get arrested um because of domestic violence. Now, if you're in a relationship, you don't hit
the other person, right? And also, and it's it's it's challenging when you're advising people, but I've seen cases also where people call for ridiculous reasons. You know, I've seen a guy, he had a he still has a
green card, but he spent a couple months in ICE detention because the wife stated that, "Oh, I thought it was going to hit me." You know, so we have those cases. We also see a lot of people be picked up because they're driving without a
license, valid license. So, if you have a driver license, Florida driver license check. Um, And so you mentioned that like taking the streets, can I walk up to someone and ask them for their ID if they're if
they're just walking in the neighborhood? Because yes, we're Haitian. Yes, we're Hispanic, but we all look the same. Like, we're all African-American. So, this is going to open up profiling in the communities because now if ICE decides to say, "Hey, we're just going to come through this city and let's just check your ID." What
can the person do? Can they keep their ID? If they don't, are they now, you know, subjecting themselves to be arrested or um and we've seen I know we have rights, but we also seen these ICE agents um straight up violate people right and kill, you know, US citizens.
So, we have to be mindful of how we approach um this situation. So, what are their rights if they're just um someone who's just walking in the street? You know, I'm fearful that you're going to see a lot of, you know, people stay home now, right? People are not going to go to schools or go to churches because
they're fearful. Um but what are their rights just in case they do want to step out and go to church? >> So, so I think the question is a very good question. Uh, can I or um an a police official um stop someone? Uh can
they do it? They would have to have probable cause to do it, right? That's a legal standard. They would have to have probable cause to do it. Um but we're in a different time. And so I I I I you know, can they do it? Yes, they can do it. Should they do it legally? know they shouldn't do it without, you know, the
proper the proper um constitutional frameworks that they they they know they should be doing. And so, um we've seen it um the violations, they're blatant, um these days. And so, you know, frankly, I think that's a question that
is I would love to hear your opinion on it. I I you know whether someone is stopped by an official and and this individual is just walking down the street let's say downtown North Miami about to go to you know a restaurant and a police officer just out of the blue with no reason stops them and asks them
for for them to show their uh their ID. Um >> I'm I'm with you on that uh that they need probable cause. However, if you see the profile of the newly mented ICE
agents, low education wannabe cops, you know, and you give them all the power in the world, they're going to violate the law. And I am extremely cautious in advising people
what to do. You know why? >> Because you don't want people to be confrontational >> and we know what happens. You see what I mean? So what I tell people is that really really try your best to avoid any encounter y
>> with these people. You know, you we see what they can do. We see what they can do. Preserve your life at all cost. >> Absolutely. And I think um to to your point um attorney Julian, sometimes um the fight can happen in the courtroom.
>> Yes. >> Right. And so you want to live live to see the day where you can argue your case before a court. Not every judge um um bends to the will of um the administration. There are some federal
judges who believe in the rule of law and have um a very different thing of opinion as it relates to um how it should be followed. And so, uh, the goal is to live another day, to not be a victim, um, and to be smart about the
decision that you make. >> Yes. >> Thank you. And we're going to go to Sandy next. I know she's still on virtually to talk about some of the estate planning segments and what should family do. Um, because we know many families spend so much time thinking
about immigration that they forget to plan for the life's unexpected moments. And that's why we also wanted to have an estate and planning attorney here tonight. I've heard cases of a citiz a TPS holder um who owns a home and have
US-born children. What happens to their home? What happens to their assets, their bank accounts, and what steps they should take? So, if Sandy, if you could give us some some notes and bolts. I know you gave us a little bit of tidbits earlier about what is estate planning and why is it so important for everyone
and not just people. What's significant access and what's the difference between a will and a trust and the power of attorney. Um so if Sandy if she's still on if we can um have her on to discuss some of those matters for us. Sandy, you're on mute. You can unmute.
Yes, indeed. So, when it comes to dealing with things like real estate and financial accounts and investment accounts, retirement funds, or or any other things that people have, um, one of the important things is to know that you probably want to have someone that
you trust that you can name as your agent in a power of attorney document. Um, that is important because it allows someone to actually act on your behalf with a official document that they can take to a bank, that they can take to a
mortgage company as well. If you have real estate, if you own property here in Florida, there are certain types of deeds that you can create if you want to allow someone to receive ownership of your property upon your passing. So, if
you pass away, you have a deed that you can create to handle that. Um, but you also can identify in your power of attorney who you want to be able to make decisions about your real estate so that someone can continue making mortgage payments and pay your property taxes and
also that someone can handle your affairs while you are currently, you know, not here or while you're going through certain proceedings. When it comes to dealing with anything that is in your name only, it is critical that you make sure that you have someone
authorized. Whether it be listing someone as an authorized user on accounts, let's say you have credit cards and things of that sort. When it comes to your banking, it is critical that you make sure that you have a beneficiary on your account. If
something were to happen to you, that that person can receive those funds. And then you may also want to consider whether or not you might need to have an account where someone is listed as the authorized person that is handling your financial affairs. So going to your bank and sitting down with a bank
representative to talk about what it is that you need and having certain things in place. If you have things like life insurance, investments, or other types of accounts, again, you have to have somebody that is authorized. And the best way to be able to deal with those
types of accounts is to make sure that you have in your power of attorney document the proper language. So it's important when you sit down with an attorney to make certain decisions about who you want to be authorized. You have to explain to them what type of assets
you own and make sure that they are clear that there's certain language that may need to be in your power of attorney document. Also, if you needed somebody to be able to make health care decisions for you, you would have to have a living will and a health care designation. It's
another type of power of attorney, but it's very specific to your health care needs. And so, you want to be able to make a decision about who are the people that you trust in your life currently that you can list as not only your only your power of attorney for your financials, but also as a power of
attorney for your healthcare as well. God forbid something happens to you, you pass away, you want to have a will in place, a last will and testament. This is a document that only operates when you pass away. And it allows you to make
a decision about who is going to handle your final arrangements as well as who is going to receive anything that you own. And if you own certain things that require a title change, like real estate or financial accounts, it's important that you do some other things to have
those extra documents done that will allow you to transfer your real estate, that will allow you to transfer your financial accounts and your financial investments to the persons that you trust and the persons that are part of your family. Um, so it's critical right
now that if you are having any issues with property or investments or accounts that you sit down and identify all of those accounts, give yourself a secure place to leave your important information like your login and your passwords because if something were to
happen to you and someone needs to have access, you need to make sure that someone you trust already has that information and is able to get access to those pieces. Thank you so much, Sandy, for um giving us that information. And we know that estate planning is so key. Um and not
just, you know, in this situation, but just in all situations. But Sandy, if you if you can also touch on what happens if someone is deported, what happens if they um didn't know they were going to get deported and now their house is there or their car is there or if they have small children? What
happens to that family then so people can really understand the gravity of why is state planning so critical and so key especially in this climate um with what's happening right now. So that just came to mind as you were speaking. So, if you can just maybe
elaborate on that, if they're deported to their country of origin, um what happens to their assets then? So, that that's even more critical. It's kind of like one of those things where the preparation has to be done in advance in order to make sure that there
is somebody that has the authority to address any real estate, address any accounts. Um because if god forbid you are deported, you now have no access to the things that you used to. Now, thankfully with online banking and things of that sort, often times you can
still handle certain transactions um and manage some of your affairs from, you know, other places. Uh but again, you still would need someone who is able to have access, right? So, a power of attorney is a critical document for
someone who has concerns about deportation and wants to make sure that they are still able to manage and deal with. Now, if you get deported and you don't have those things in place, then it's very important that you work with
an attorney back home and get them to get in contact with an attorney here in the States so that they can work out any arrangements that need to be had. Thank God for the online world right now. There's a lot of transactions that can be done online, including online
notoriization and things of that sort. So, you could still work on certain documents and work with your attorney in Haiti, if that's your home country, and work with an attorney here in the States to make sure that any documents, paperwork, anything that needs to be
completed or arranged for can still be done even without you being here on US soil. >> Thank you, Sandy, for giving us that that information. Um because we know that oftentimes, you know, there's bank accounts, there's houses, there's cars,
there's assets that we're not thinking about um that may be affected um if someone were, you know, god forbid, had to go through something um as touching as this. Um we're going to we're getting ready to wrap it up. Um, but I definitely want to give each attorney um
the opportunity to give a closing statement or share one thing that you wish a family would knew or something that you feel like they should know before we leave here tonight and close off tonight's segment. Um, so I think a lot of times um we as a
community and I would say even as uh human beings, we tend to be reactional as opposed to proactive. And I'm included. I'll be the first person in that group just so it doesn't seem as if I'm throwing on anyone, but reactional as opposed to proactive. And so what
ends up happening is that we're, you know, we should have had the opportunity to speak with a um an estate planning attorney and to have our affairs in order, but we never did. We never thought about it because it's like if I do, then that means I'm getting ready to
die. No, that's not the case at all. Death is an option. death occurs, but then incapacity also occurs where you lack the capacity to handle your affairs. That's where guardianship comes in. Okay. Um and so there are so many
ways and so many reasons why um having those affairs in order is important. It just so happens that we're in the world of immigration [music] being at our heel and so we need to be able to um get those things in order now. And so I
would um encourage everyone uh to sit down with a family member, someone they trust, and have those conversations. Again, the Haitian Lawyers Association is here um when you contact us at 954,
excuse me, 561, excuse me, 561-861-6894. And then it's going to be on the screen again. 561-861-6894. You can text consultation requested. Consultation needed. Okay? We will respond and we will then help to
triage and help you to get the uh to to the attorney that you need to assist you. Okay? Um so that's number one. And number two, um understand that um these conversations are difficult. We understand that they're difficult to
have. And so we encourage you um to speak with someone. Um, I'm not sure, Vice Mayor, if you all have programs for um, uh, maybe for counseling or for, you know, something to that effect for the individuals who may not have the
immigration issue, but who are related or who are connected with someone who has immigration issues. That's called vicarious trauma. When someone else is ha going through something so traumatic, although it's not happening to you, but because you're connected to that person,
it's affecting you and you also need help as well to communicate to have those conversations because mental health is part of the conversation and you need to take care of yourself. You need to take care of yourself as well. You're taking care of your legal affairs, but you also need to take care
of your personal physical self, your mental self as well. and I will pass along to my colleague. for construction. Uh, TPS enforcement. >> [laughter] >> And thank you for that, for in giving
our residents and our community information that they may need to better prepare their families, to better prepare themselves, um, and share this live with someone else who, um, may need the assistance or may not know what to do. And there are free legal resources
out there. So for those who cannot afford an attorney, I know that there's organizations out there providing free probonal services like Catholic Legal Services, um Americans for Immigrant Justice. They're also providing um free
legal services for those who do not have the means. But if you are someone who do have the means, please, please, please, now is the time to ensure that you have um legal counsel on hand or on standby or know who to call in case something were to arrive. Um I just wanted to
leave you all with those information too because I know that for those who cannot afford the resources that there's resources there and would ensure that we put them in the chat. But I know Americans for Immigrant Justice and Catholic Legal Services, and I don't know if there's any else that provide free legal services, but I know that there's um a lot of people doing the
great work. So, I thank you all for joining us tonight. I thank you all for tuning in. I thank you for the team on the back end and the technical stuff. Junior Legacy, thank you for for answering the call so last minute, but we understood that this situation is important because there are people who
are vulnerable or those that may say, "Hey, I can help you apply for asylum." but they're not an attorney and we wanted to make sure that we're we were giving people the facts from the experts. I'm no expert in the field, but they they are and they can give you that information. So, I thank you for
answering the call with very short notice. Um, but we wanted to make sure that this information was circulating um throughout the weekend so folks can have the information. Thank you everyone and good night.