October 12, 2023

Editor's Corner: Where Ruy Went Wrong on Immigration

Daniel M. Kowalski , Oct. 14, 2023 Substacker Ruy Teixeira, a.k.a. The Liberal Patriot, posted The Democrats' Immigration Problem on Oct. 12, 2023. I think Ruy went wrong in three ways. First, Ruy asserts that "it is simply a fact that many more people want to come here than can possibly be accommodated." No, it's not a fact, but rather a chauvinist supposition based on unexamined American exceptionalism...

October 10, 2023

Rapper 21 Savage Earns Green Card

Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, Oct. 7, 2023 " 21 Savage ’s four-year immigration saga has come to a happy conclusion as the rapper revealed he is now a “lawful permanent resident” of the U.S. and, with his status no longer in question, he is allowed to visit to his birth nation of England. ... “She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph followed all applicable Immigration laws since his initial detention...

October 10, 2023

Court Nixes MAVNI Denaturalization Bid by OIL

USA v. Wang "This is a denaturalization proceeding in which Plaintiff United States of America seeks to revoke Defendant Chengyu Wang's citizenship in a four-count complaint alleging that Wang's naturalization was illegally procured and that his United States citizenship was procured through concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation. ... The Court held a three-day bench trial, after which...

October 09, 2023

Experts: State-Federal Cooperation Needed to Manage Migrant Flow

Prof. Jacob Hamburger, Prof. Stephen Yale-Loehr, Oct. 8, 2023 "As major cities across the country struggle to welcome thousands of migrants who are in desperate need of housing and social services, mayors and governors are calling on the Biden administration to address the migrant crisis.  New York’s mayor Eric Adams  accused  the White House of providing “no support on this national crisis,”...

October 06, 2023

Expert: Statements by Politicians "Will Not Dampen the Flow" of Migrants

Joe Anuta, Politico, Oct. 5, 2023 "Joe Biden’s loudest Democratic critic on immigration is taking his message south of the border. After repeatedly blasting President Joe Biden over his handling of the migrant crisis that’s overwhelming American cities, New York Mayor Eric Adams set off on a four-day blitz late Wednesday through a trio of Latin American nations. The Democrat’s message: The no...

October 06, 2023

Immigration Reform: A Path Forward

Stephen Yale-Loehr, Randel Keith Johnson, Theresa Cardinal Brown, and Charles Kamasaki, Oct. 5, 2023 "On February 24, 2023, Cornell Law School’s Immigration Law and Policy Program sponsored a conference entitled “Immigration Reform: Lessons Learned and a Path Forward.” Representatives of business, labor, think tanks, and advocacy groups spoke on three panels. Over 220 people attended, either in...

October 05, 2023

Judge orders Seattle business scamming immigrants to pay back victims, plus interest

Washington State Attorney General, Sept. 28, 2023 "A King County Superior Court judge today ordered a Seattle business preying on new immigrants to pay restitution, interest and civil penalties as a result of Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s lawsuit. The office estimates this could total up to nearly $230,000. Ana Caroline Pinto do Nascimento, who owned ACN & Associates, LLC, made deceptive promises...

October 04, 2023

Thousands of Migrants Held as Material Witnesses

Sarah Cutler, Steve Eder and Robert Gebeloff, New York Times, Oct. 3, 2023 "Several months ago, as a federal judge worked through a docket of smuggling cases in the bustling border city of Laredo, Texas, three people were escorted into the courtroom. Because they were undocumented immigrants, the judge explained, they would be sent to jail. But they were not being charged with a crime. Instead, they would be compelled...

October 04, 2023

Shaping Immigration Policy Through Work Permits

Cyrus D. Mehta, Kaitlyn Box, Oct. 3, 2023 "In the face of Congressional inaction to fashion an immigration solution for the United States, the Administration does have broad authority to grant an employment authorization document (EAD) to noncitizens. It also has the ability to extend the validity of an EAD. On September 27, 2023, USCIS announced that it will increase the maximum employment authorization document...

October 04, 2023

Experts: Hard-Hit Industries Could Benefit from Immigrants With Work Permits

Sarah Lynch, Inc., Oct. 3, 2023 "City officials are seeking federal help as the migrant influx intensifies--and business leaders are joining the call. In August, over 120 business executives from JPMorgan Chase, Macy's, Paramount Global, and more signed an open letter to President Biden and Congress urging more federal support and expedited work permits for asylum seekers. ... But migrants who file asylum applications...

October 04, 2023

DHS to Build Border Barriers in Texas: Advance Copy

This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 10/05/2023 "The Secretary of Homeland Security has determined, pursuant to law, that it is necessary to waive certain laws, regulations, and other legal requirements in order to ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads in the vicinity of the international land border in Starr County, Texas. ... I must use my authority under section...

October 03, 2023

Underage and Unprotected: Migrant Teens Exploited in Seafood Processing Plants

Nadine Sebai, Nina Sparling, Bruce Gil, The Public's Radio, Sept. 18, 2023 "The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating possible violations of child labor, overtime pay, and anti-retaliation laws at two processors and one Rhode Island-based staffing agency." SPECIAL SERIES - UNDERAGE AND UNPROTECTED - MIGRANT TEENS WORKING IN PROCESSING PLANTS "A two-year investigation by The Public’s...

October 03, 2023

Expert: Confidentiality Agreements in U.S. Migration Program "Unprecedented, Unusual"

Jules Ownby, EL PAÍS USA, Oct. 2, 2023 "Secret offices, weeks of waiting, calls from private numbers and confidentiality agreements. These are some of the features of the new U.S. immigration program known as Movibilidad Segura, or Safe Mobility, which pursues “the expansion of legal routes to the United States or other countries for refugees and migrants in South and Central America,” according...

September 30, 2023

DHS, DOS Plan to Resettle 50,000 Refugees from Latin America, Caribbean

Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News, Sept. 27, 2023 "The U.S. will aim to resettle up to 50,000 refugees from Latin America and the Caribbean in the next 12 months as part of a Biden administration plan to welcome as many as 125,000 people fleeing violence across the globe in fiscal year 2024, according to internal government memos obtained by CBS News. While the Biden administration plans to keep the annual 125,000...

September 30, 2023

Immigrants Fuel the Disaster-Restoration Industry...and Pay a Price

Janelle Retka, Samantha McCabe, Jiahui Huang and María Inés Zamudio, The Center for Public Integrity, Sept. 28, 2023 "As climate change accelerates natural catastrophes, the disaster-restoration industry has capitalized on low-wage immigrant labor. These workers — who clear debris and build anew after hurricanes, floods and wildfires — perform the most arduous tasks. And this comes at...

September 30, 2023

Expert: What's Going on with the Migrant "Surge?" - Podcast

[ Editor's Note: I put "surge" in quotes because migration into the USA has ebbed and flowed for 200 years. As one famous person said, be not afraid.] Cornell Keynotes, Sept. 22, 2023 "Global crises are driving a surge in migration to the United States. Stephen W. Yale-Loehr, professor in the Cornell Law School, joins host Chris Wofford to discuss the nuances of our nation’s approach to immigration...

September 30, 2023

DHS Previews Federal Register Notice Extending and Separately Redesignating Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status

DHS, Sept. 29, 2023 " Redesignation Allows Additional Eligible Venezuelan Nationals Who Arrived in the U.S. on or Before July 31, 2023 to Apply for TPS and Employment Authorization Documents. Venezuelan Nationals Who Enter After July 31, 2023 are not Eligible for TPS. Those Who Do Not Enter the U.S. via Lawful Pathways Will be Subject to Enforcement Consequences. Today, the Department of Homeland Security is...

September 28, 2023

Chinese Immigrant Workers Sue over Forced Labor at Illegal Marijuana Operation on Navajo Land

Susan Montoya Bryan, Rio Yamat, Associated Press, Sept. 27, 2023 "Chinese immigrant workers allege they were lured to northern New Mexico under false pretenses and forced to work 14 hours a day trimming marijuana on the Navajo Nation where cultivating the plant is illegal, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in state court . Job advertisements for the operation in Shiprock promised $200 per day, housing and...

September 27, 2023

CBP Policed 2020 George Floyd Protests

Emily Creighton, Tsion Gurmu, AIC, Sept. 21, 2023 "[A] new report publishes some of the documents uncovered in that investigation and reveals the widespread involvement and abusive enforcement tactics used by CBP during the 2020 protests. The following are some of the report’s findings : CBP was present in cities and towns throughout the country. The agency appeared in locations as disparate as Whitefish...

September 22, 2023

Expert: Work Permits Key for Venezuelan Migrants in NY

Jon Campbell, Gothamist, Sept. 22, 2023 "Federal, state and city officials say they’re committed to identifying Venezuelan migrants in New York City who are now eligible for Temporary Protected Status — or TPS, a federal designation that allows them to legally work and remain in the U.S., albeit temporarily — and help them fill out the proper applications. ... The hope is that Venezuelan migrants...

September 21, 2023

The Positive Economic Contributions of Immigrants in the U.S. and the American Immigrant Workforce

AIC, Sept. 20, 2023 "Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, our Policy Director, testified before Congress to explain the positive economic contributions of immigrants in the U.S. and the ongoing challenge that the U.S. faces addressing the underfunded and outdated humanitarian protection system. The testimony explains: The positive economic impact of all immigrants, including refugees, undocumented immigrants, TPS beneficiaries...

September 21, 2023

Expert: Biden Should Expand Parole

Hillary Chura, CSM, Sept. 20, 2023 "What the president could do is issue an executive action that extends parole to more nationalities, says Stephen Yale-Loehr , an immigration law professor at Cornell University. Parole allows certain noncitizens to stay in the U.S. temporarily and apply for work authorization. President Biden expanded a parole process for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans earlier...

September 21, 2023

An Expert Explains DACA

The Hon. Dana Leigh Marks recaps the status of DACA.

September 20, 2023

Informing Voters About Immigration Policy Fosters Pro-immigration Views

Alexander Kustov, Michelangelo Landgrave, Sept. 6, 2023 "The US public significantly lacks knowledge about immigration. While various attempts to correct misperceptions have generally failed to change people's minds about the issue, it is possible that this failure has been the result of not providing relevant information. We argue that informing the public about the difficulty of the legal immigration admission...

September 20, 2023

Surprise Visits to Immigration Jails Reveal Problems

Rae Ann Varona, Law360, Sept. 20, 2023 "The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's internal watchdog revealed problems it found from surprise inspections at migrant holding facilities, citing prolonged detention times and overcrowding in Texas facilities, and long volunteer work hours in a Virginia facility."