November 29, 2022

Speeding Up the Asylum Process Leads to Mixed Results: TRAC

TRAC, Nov. 29, 2022 "Latest case-by-case court records through October 2022 reveal that FY 2022 marked the largest number of individuals granted asylum in any year in the Immigration Court’s history. Grant rates averaged 46%, up from 36% in FY 2021. Not only were more asylum applications granted by Immigration Judges than ever before, but many asylum cases moved through the system faster due to a variety of Biden...

November 29, 2022

Dean Kevin R. Johnson Awarded Inaugural Olivas Award

AALS, Nov. 28, 2022 " Kevin R. Johnson , Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o Studies at University of California, Davis School of Law, is the inaugural recipient of the Michael A. Olivas Award for Outstanding Leadership in Diversity and Mentoring in the Legal Academy, a joint recognition by five sections of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). “I am incredibly honored...

November 28, 2022

Border/Lines, Nov. 28, 2022

Felipe De La Hoz and Gaby Del Valle, Nov. 28, 2022 - "This is the 146th edition of BORDER/LINES, a weekly newsletter by Felipe De La Hoz and Gaby Del Valle designed to get you up to speed on the big developments in immigration policy. In  The Big Picture , we discuss a ruling directing the government to end the Title 42 program and its potential aftermath. In  Under the Radar , we look at the possibility...

November 26, 2022

Tech Layoffs Will Hurt Nonimmigrant Workers the Most, Especially Indian Born, but the Biden Administration Can Provide Relief

Cyrus Mehta, Kaitlyn Box, Nov. 23, 2022 "In recent weeks, news of layoffs at the likes of Twitter, Meta, and Amazon have contributed to broader fears that the United States is entering a recession. In last week’s  blog , we provided suggestions for how terminated workers can maintain their nonimmigrant status and potentially even pursue permanent residency. The layoffs at Twitter have also shown that it was mainly...

November 23, 2022

Arizona Gov. Ducey's Container Border Wall: Litigation UPDATE (Nov. 23, 2022)

Keep an eye on Ducey v. Moore  (2:22-cv-01814) in Arizona federal district court.  For background and context, watch this and this .  According to expert attorney Dinah Bear , Gov. Ducey's attorneys are making some rather extraordinary claims. Nov. 23, 2022 UPDATE : Feds hit back hard with this Motion to Dismiss .

November 22, 2022

DOJ Settles With Firearm Manufacturer to Resolve Immigration-Related Discrimination Claims

DOJ, Nov. 21, 2022 "The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with Aero Precision LLC, a Washington state firearm manufacturer. The settlement resolves the department’s determination that Aero Precision had a policy of unlawfully screening out certain non-U.S. citizen job candidates, including asylees and refugees, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA...

November 22, 2022

Unpacking the Legacy of Judge Dana Leigh Marks

Kathleen Guthrie Woods, San Francisco Attorney Magazine, Fall 2022 " By the time she retired from  San Francisco’s Immigration Court  on December 31, 2021, Judge Dana Leigh Marks* had built an inspiring reputation as a leader, mentor, and advocate. She is known for her fierce advocacy for the court. She is known for her compassion and fairmindedness. She is known for her intelligence and wit, having coined oft...

November 21, 2022

Biden Is Still Separating Immigrant Kids From Their Families

John Washington, Anna-Catherine Brigida, The Texas Observer, Nov. 21, 2022 "The persecution for her work as a lawyer in Colombia had gotten so bad that Victoria and her husband, Anton, decided they needed to start lying to their son. They couldn’t stay in Colombia any longer, but they also recognized the dangers of fleeing—especially with their son, Felipe, who was 10 at the time. So they told Felipe the family...

November 18, 2022

Montana Immigration Attorney Launches App

Megan Michelotti, Helena Independent Record, Nov. 11, 2022 "Shahid Haque has dedicated his career to bettering the lives of people coming into the United States. His most recent endeavor, the app Open Borders, acts as a TurboTax-style immigration guide. After conducting thousands of immigration consultations, Haque said, he developed a system for evaluating cases and identifying the important factors that affect...

November 17, 2022

You've Never Seen ICE Force-Feed a Prisoner...Until Now

Travis Mannon, José Olivares, The Intercept, Nov. 15, 2022 "In an exclusive video, a hunger striker is force-fed in ICE detention — lifting the veil of secrecy on a practice condemned by medical ethicists."

November 17, 2022

Quality vs Quantity: How Does Sitting on the Dedicated Docket Impact the Judging Process?

TRAC, Nov. 16, 2022 "The outcome for asylum seekers has long been influenced by the identity of the immigration judge assigned to hear their case. This has been well documented, including by the annual judge-by-judge reports that TRAC has compiled over the years. The  latest addition to this series, updated through FY 2022,  documents continuing wide differences. In Arlington, Virginia, judge denial rates ranged...

November 16, 2022

Immigrants in the Military: Margaret D. Stock's Veterans Day Speech

MacArthur Foundation Fellow (and Bender's Immigration Bulletin Editorial Board Member) Margaret D. Stock gave this speech in Anchorage on Nov. 10, 2022.

November 16, 2022

Report: Women in Georgia ICE Jail Underwent "Unnecessary Gynecological Procedures"

Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News, Nov. 15, 2022 "A congressional investigation into medical abuse allegations that garnered  national attention  in 2020 found that some immigrant women held by U.S. immigration officials at a Georgia detention center likely underwent "unnecessary" invasive gynecological procedures, according to a report released Tuesday. The 18-month bipartisan investigation by the Senate's...

November 14, 2022

Andrew Free's Important New Substack: #DetentionKills

You know that folks are moving from Twitter to Substack, right?  Here's a new Substack that will be important for everyone following immigration law and policy: https://detentionkills.substack.com/  © 2022 Andrew Free "Folks move. Detention kills. Liberation heals. FOIA is love. Political home: Al Otro Lado"

November 14, 2022

Tackling Climate Change Displacement at COP27

Camila Bustos, Jeffrey Chase, Just Security, November 14, 2022 "As severe weather patterns intensify, climate change will continue to displace communities across the globe. The World Bank  estimates  that there could be more than 143 million people internally displaced by slow-onset disasters in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia by 2050. Populations with the least capacity to respond and adapt...

November 11, 2022

THE CLEARLY UNEVEN VETTING OF U.S. VISA APPLICANTS FROM IRAN

Roujin Mozaffarimehr and Ally Bolour, Nov 11, 2022 "More than 40 days have passed since the protests began in Iran in response to the murder of  Mahsa Amini .  Mahsa Amini was killed  on September 16, 2022 by Iran’s morality police for  allegedly not wearing her hijab properly .   The passing of forty days  is  significant in Iranian culture and in Islam : the “chehelom,” or 40 th  day, marks the date of remembrance...

November 10, 2022

A Backlog of Bodies at the US-Mexico Border

Alexandra Villarreal, The Guardian, Nov. 6, 2022 "Along the US-Mexico border, overwhelmed mortuaries in Eagle Pass, Texas, have been forced to stockpile a “backlog of bodies” in a city-owned refrigerated truck. The local government bought but never used the makeshift morgue amid the Covid-19 pandemic, when such desperate sights were not unheard of in various parts of the US, including Texas. Yet in recent weeks...

November 09, 2022

Punishing Trauma: Incident Reporting and Immigrant Children in Government Custody (Report and Webinar)

National Immigrant Justice Center and the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights "During their time in government custody, many children who have arrived at the U.S. border without a parent or guardian can incur “Significant Incident Reports.” These forms are used by the Office of Refugee Resettlement to document a wide array of incidents ranging from disclosures of past abuse or neglect to minor rule infractions...

November 09, 2022

EOIR National Stakeholder Meeting, Nov. 17, 2022

EOIR "The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) invites interested parties to attend a national stakeholder meeting regarding the Professional Conduct for Practitioners–– Rules and Procedures, and Representation and Appearances final rule , which is effective Nov. 14, 2022. During the stakeholder meeting, agency officials will discuss key points of the rule and answer stakeholder questions. The final rule...

November 09, 2022

Are You the Next Asst. Chief Immigration Judge?

EOIR Job Opening "ASSISTANT CHIEF IMMIGRATION JUDGE Job Description: As Assistant Chief Immigration Judge, the incumbent serves as a principal assistant to the Chief Immigration Judge and/or Principle Deputy Chief Immigration Judge and Regional Deputy Chief Immigration Judges in managing and coordinating Immigration Judge activities throughout the United States and in supervising the administrative operations...

November 08, 2022

Elon, Twitter, H-1Bs and Layoffs

Here are three articles you'll want to read on this topic.  Oh, and Fun Fact: "Musk, who recently acquired Twitter, came to America as an international student and later obtained an H-1B visa so he could work in the United States." - Twitter And Other Tech Layoffs Raise H-1B Visa Employment Issues - Hundreds of Twitter employees on H-1B visas fear being deported if Elon Musk fires them - Guide to Terminated...

November 07, 2022

"All I Want Is To Be Free"

Situation Report and Recommendations to Protect the Human Rights of Stateless People in U.S. Immigration Detention and Supervision Univ. of Chicago Law School Global Human Rights Clinic, United Stateless, November 2022 "Statelessness — the condition of lacking citizenship or nationality in any country of the world — affects more than 10 million people globally. In the United States, conservative estimates put...

November 07, 2022

Immigration Reform Webinar, Dec. 6, 2022

eCornell - IMMIGRATION REFORM: Might Past Be Prologue? Tuesday, December 06, 2022, 1pm EST It’s been over 30 years since Congress enacted the most recent set of comprehensive immigration reforms: the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and the Immigration Act of 1990. These bipartisan yet hotly contested bills passed only after a debate spanning five presidential administrations, eight congressional sessions...

November 03, 2022

Event Recap: Illegal Entry and Reentry Laws: Their Racism, Their Impact and the Movement to End Them

CILP - "Thank you for your interest in the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP)’s event:  Illegal Entry and Reentry Laws: Their Racism, Their Impact, and the Movement to End Them .  In this groundbreaking discussion, Gabriela first spoke with Alejandro, a San Diego father of three who is currently serving a sentence for illegal reentry in federal prison and the family who he’s separated from. Gabriela was...

November 02, 2022

DOJ OIG Releases Report on EOIR’s Electronic Case Management System Awards

DOJ OIG, Nov. 1, 2022 "Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz announced today the release of a report on the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s (EOIR) electronic case management system (ECMS) awards. In September 2020, EOIR worked with the Justice Management Division’s Procurement Services Staff (JMD PSS) to competitively award a $35-million, 5-year Blanket Purchase Agreement ...