July 06, 2023

Expert on U.S. v. Texas (Podcast)

This Week in Immigration, July 4, 2023 "Having trouble keeping up with key immigration litigation? This latest episode of TWII has you covered with another edition of The Gavel! Joined by podcast regular Theresa Cardinal Brown , Cornell Law Professor Steve Yale-Loeher breaks down the Supreme Court’s latest decision to uphold the Biden administration’s deportation priorities in U.S. v. Texas . Then,...

July 05, 2023

The Myth of Securing the Border

Everyone from Joe Biden to Tucker Carlson claims we need to "secure the border." I'm here to tell you why we can't. First, let's be clear about which border: no one is talking about the Canadian border, the Pacific seacoast border, the Gulf Coast border, or the Atlantic seacoast border. They mean our border with Mexico. There are three reasons why we can't "secure" the border...

July 05, 2023

Biden's Asylum Bar

Hon. Jeffrey S. Chase, July 5, 2023 "I’m sure many of you remember a childhood game called “Mother, May I?” An authority figure would say, “Jeff, take two giant steps forward!” But before doing so, the player would have to ask “Mother, may I?” Those two giant steps could only be taken if the response was “Yes, you may.” Otherwise, if the player took the steps...

July 03, 2023

CISOMB 2023 Report to Congress

CISOMB, June 30, 2023 "By statute, the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) submits an Annual Report to Congress by June 30 of each year. Our Annual Report must provide a summary of the most pervasive and serious problems encountered by individuals and employers applying for immigration benefits with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The Annual Report also...

July 03, 2023

“Imagine” the Improbable: John Lennon, the Supreme Court, and the Resurrection of Prosecutorial Discretion in Immigration Cases

Angelo A. Paparelli, June 30, 2023 "Many happy thoughts and feelings collided in my mind and heart as I read the June 23, 2023 decision of the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Texas . Pleasant Surprise. Few would have imagined that a coalition of conservative and liberal justices would agree that federal immigration authorities are endowed with largely unreviewable discretion to overlook comparatively minor immigration...

July 03, 2023

Defining "American"

14th Amendment birthright citizenship has been under attack for some time, and the current election cycle is no exception. Please read this 2006 essay by conservative jurist James C. Ho .

June 29, 2023

America is Losing on Business Immigration

Angelo A. Paparelli, June 28, 2023 "I came to this [position as U.S. Secretary of State] with two very basic propositions, and I’ve seen those propositions, I think, validated by the experience we’ve had over the last three years. One is that if the United States is not engaged, if we’re not leading, then one of two things [will happen]: either someone else is, and probably not in a way that advances...

June 29, 2023

CBP Agents Gun Down Unarmed American

Ryan Devereaux, The Intercept, June 26, 2023 "Mattia pulled his hand out of his pocket. One second later, the officers and agents let loose of volley of shots — initial reports indicated as many as 38 rounds were fired. Mattia wheeled around then crumpled to the ground. The officers and agents began screaming at him. “Put your hands up so we can help you,” shouted one. “He’s still...

June 28, 2023

Denial of Justice: The Biden Administration’s Dedicated Docket in the Boston Immigration Court

Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRCP),Harvard Law School Immigration Project, La Alianza, Women’s Law Association, Lambda, June 2023 Denial of Justice: The Biden Administration’s Dedicated Docket in the Boston Immigration Court "In May 2021, the Biden administration launched fast-tracked immigration proceedings—known as the Dedicated Docket—for families who have recently...

June 28, 2023

ABA Voices Concerns Over Biden Asylum Rule

ABA, June 26, 2023 "Dear Secretary Mayorkas: I write on behalf of the American Bar Association (ABA) to express our serious concerns regarding the implementation of the “Circumventing Lawful Pathways” rule (CLP rule) now governing the process for individuals and families seeking asylum at the southwest border. While we urge that the rule be rescinded altogether, as long as it remains in place, we recommend...

June 27, 2023

More than 100 Organizations Urge a Centralized Process for a Chance to Come Home

HRW, June 20, 2023 "Dear Secretary Mayorkas, We the undersigned organizations respectfully request that you facilitate the returns of unjustly deported people with pending requests to return to the U.S. and establish a centralized process to provide a meaningful chance to come home for people forced to leave behind their families and communities by unjust deportations. ..."

June 26, 2023

WBUR's On Point on Brain Drain

On Point, June 26, 2023 "Why so many U.S.-educated foreign students don't stay for work: U.S. universities educate thousands of foreign-born students. They graduate with skills the U.S. needs, and they want to stay here. The immigration system makes it hard for them to stay. Jon Marcus and Nicolas Rollason join Meghna Chakrabarti."

June 26, 2023

How Might U.S. v. Texas Affect DACA?

Cyrus D. Mehta, June 26, 2023 "In United States v. Texas , the Supreme Court in an 8-1 majority opinion rendered a blow to Texas and Louisiana in holding that they had no standing to challenge the Biden administration on federal immigration policy on enforcement priorities. Writing for the majority, Justice Kavanaugh said, “The States have brought an extraordinarily unusual lawsuit. They want a federal court...

June 26, 2023

Expert: Biden Defense of Trump Family Separation Cases "Ironic"

Rafael Carranza, Chris Quintana, Joey Garrison, USA Today, June 26, 2023 "As one of his first actions in office, President Joe Biden followed through on a campaign promise when he vowed to end the “moral and national shame” of his predecessor’s immigration policies and halt the prosecution of parents for often minor immigration violations that were used to justify the separations. Yet today, the...

June 26, 2023

New Lawsuit Targets Changes to Expedited Removal Rules

ACLU, June 23, 2023 "The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of the District of Columbia, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, and National Immigrant Justice Center today sued the Biden administration over its sweeping asylum ban on behalf of individual asylum seekers, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, and Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. The lawsuit focuses on changes...

June 25, 2023

Expert: Supreme Court Decision "Pretty Narrow"

Joel Rose, NPR, June 23, 2023 "The U.S. Supreme Court handed President Biden's administration a victory in a long-running fight about how to enforce the nation's immigration laws. The case concerned the Biden administration's attempt to set guidelines for whom immigration authorities can target for arrest and deportation. Texas and Louisiana sued to block the guidelines , arguing that they were preventing...

June 23, 2023

AI Makes Its Way to Immigration With New Tool to Aid Attorneys

Andrew Kreighbaum, Bloomberglaw, June 21, 2023 "The makers of a new software platform are turning to artificial intelligence to boost immigration attorneys’ research and drafting efforts. The American Immigration Lawyers Association is partnering with Visalaw.Ai, a platform built to aid attorneys with research and summarizing and drafting documents, to launch a product similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT that...

June 22, 2023

US to Ease Visas for Skilled Indian Workers

Trevor Hunnicutt and Ted Hesson, Reuters, June 21, 2023 "The Biden administration will make it easier for Indians to live and work in the United States, using this week's state visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help some skilled workers enter or remain in the country, according to three people familiar with the matter. The State Department could announce as soon as Thursday that a small number of Indians...

June 20, 2023

Glitches in the Digitization of Asylum: How CBP One Turns Migrants’ Smartphones into Mobile Borders

Austin Kocher, Ph.D., June 20, 2023 "As the emerging literature on migration studies has demonstrated, migrants who are seeking asylum around the world are increasingly finding that the process is mediated by a variety of new technologies. While the process of digitizing various aspects of migrant protection may promise improvements, new technologies also risk limiting access to asylum for migrants who are unable...

June 19, 2023

From the Bookshelf

Engage and Evade: How Latino Immigrant Families Manage Surveillance in Everyday Life , by Prof. Asad L. Asad "Some eleven million undocumented immigrants reside in the United States, carving out lives amid a growing web of surveillance that threatens their and their families’ societal presence. Engage and Evade examines how undocumented immigrants navigate complex dynamics of surveillance and punishment,...

June 19, 2023

Experts: Compelling Circumstances EAD a Bandage, Not a Solution

Cyrus Mehta, Kaitlyn Box, June 19, 2023 "In our previous blog , we suggested several ways that the Biden administration could follow to allow nonimmigrant workers who have been laid off to remain in the U.S. As major tech companies continue to lay off workers, nonimmigrant employees are often left with few pathways to continue working in the U.S. if they cannot quickly secure alternate employment. H-1B visa holders...

June 19, 2023

Expert: Most Migrants to NYC Won't Win Asylum

Matthew Chayes, Newsday, June 19, 2023 "Most asylum-seeking migrants who have been arriving in cities like New York — some of whom the mayor wants to relocate to Long Island and beyond — aren’t likely to be allowed to stay legally in the United States, according to recent trends in the federal immigration system. ... A denied asylum claim can be challenged at the Board of Immigration Appeals and...

June 16, 2023

Advocates Oppose "Conveyor-Belt" Deportation Orders

CAIR Coalition, June 12, 2023 "Immigration attorneys nationwide have witnessed a concerning increase in immigration judges issuing deportation decisions without individualized analysis. Instead, these barebones decisions often rely on boilerplate “form addenda,” which are standardized summaries of immigration law not specific to any noncitizen’s case. This week, in response to these concerning...

June 16, 2023

Senate Testimony: Ensuring the Safety and Well-being of Unaccompanied Children

WRITTEN TESTIMONY BY Lorie Davidson , Vice President for Children and Family Services, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service For a Hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary on “Ensuring the Safety and Well-being of UCs” Wednesday, June 14, 2023, at 10am "...While considerable progress to safeguard UC has been made through legislation, we must continually improve family reunification practices...

June 16, 2023

Why Legal Immigration Is Nearly Impossible

David J. Bier, June 13, 2023 "America traditionally had few immigration restrictions, but since the 1920s, the law has banned most aspiring immigrants. Today, fewer than 1 percent of people who want to move permanently to the United States can do so legally. Immigrants cannot simply get an exception to immigrate any more than restaurateurs in the 1920s could simply get an exception to sell alcohol. Instead, just...