October 06, 2021

Immigration as a System

Doris Meissner, Ruth Ellen Wasem, MPI, Oct. 2021 "In response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Congress created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from a patchwork of agencies charged to varying degrees with counterterrorism and broader responsibilities relating to the protection of the homeland. The functions of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and the U.S. Customs Service became one of the...

October 06, 2021

Expert Panel to Discuss Biden's Conflicting Immigration Messages

Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility OCTOBER 6, 2021 - 4:00 - 5:30PM EST During the presidential campaign, Joe Biden set out an ambitious immigration agenda, pledging to end many of the Trump Administration’s brutal policies. He would stop building the wall, restore refugee admissions, rebuild the asylum system, cancel rules that harmed low-income migrants, reduce detention of immigrants and...

October 06, 2021

The Need for Full-Fledged Asylum Hearings: Jeffrey S. Chase

Jeffrey S. Chase, Oct. 6, 2021 "It has been said that Immigration Judges hear death penalty cases under traffic court conditions.1  The death penalty cases are of course asylum claims, which, if wrongly denied, can result in the applicant being returned to their death. The Biden Administration recently published proposed regulations seeking to revise the system for hearing the asylum claims of those arriving...

October 05, 2021

The Woman Who Beat the Border Wall

Gus Bova, Texas Observer, Oct. 5, 2021 "About 14 years ago, shortly after [registered nurse Pamela] Rivas inherited the land, the Bush administration moved to seize about an acre of her property for border wall construction. Many Texas landowners— often intimidated or misled —allowed government agents to survey their property and accepted lowball offers for their land. Rivas’ father, who passed away in 2008, essentially...

October 05, 2021

Groups Ask Border Patrol to Stand Down

NIPNLG letter, Oct. 5, 2021 "We write on behalf of No More Deaths (“NMD”) in response to Border Patrol’s pattern of surveillance, harassment, and raids against NMD aid stations and volunteers. Border Patrol’s actions threaten NMD’s mission, the safety of those it serves, and the safety of its volunteers. This conduct runs afoul of the recommendations of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, raises serious...

October 05, 2021

Groups Sue Feds Demanding MPP Transparency

Business Wire, Oct. 4, 2021 "The  Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project (GHIRP ),  YMCA of Greater Houston, International Services (YMCA) , and  Justice Action Center (JAC) , represented by Bracewell LLP, filed on Friday, October 1st, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit demanding the federal government provide transparency in its processing of unaccompanied children at the southern border....

October 05, 2021

Under Biden, Refugee Admissions Hit Record Low

Julie Watson, Associated Press, Oct. 5, 2021 "Refugee admissions to the United States fell to a record low during the 2021 budget year, despite President Joe Biden’s pledge to reverse the sharp cuts made by the Trump administration, according to figures obtained by The Associated Press.  A total of 11,445 refugees were allowed into the United States during the budget year that ended on Thursday, according to a...

October 04, 2021

Koh Leaves State Dept., Says CDC Title 42 Border Blockade Illegal, Inhumane

Alex Thompson, Alexander Ward, Politico, Oct. 4, 2021 "A senior State Department official is leaving his role in the Biden administration.  And on his way out, he has sent a scathing internal memo criticizing the president’s use of a Trump-era policy to expel migrants from the southern border.  In a detailed legal memo dated October 2 and  obtained by POLITICO , Harold Koh, a senior adviser and the sole political...

October 04, 2021

“Even if You Win, You Stay Locked Up”: How ICE Uses Appeals to Keep Immigrants in Detention

Isabela Dias, Mother Jones, Oct. 1, 2021 " Sara Mendez-Morales had lost  almost all hope. It was a cold stretch in early February, and she had spent nearly six months in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Butler County Jail, a notorious detention center about 35 miles north of Cincinnati. ... After she described her ordeal to Judge Imbacuan, he granted her protection from deportation...

October 01, 2021

The Proposed DACA Regulation: What You Need to Know

Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia and Stephen Yale-Loehr, September 28, 2021 "What is the proposed DACA regulation? On September 28, 2021, the DHS’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a proposed rule that would codify the DACA 2012 policy. The language of the proposed regulation is similar to DACA 2012 and proposes the following requirements... [more] ..."

September 30, 2021

Croatia Added to Visa Waiver Program

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 187 / Thursday, September 30, 2021 "Eligible citizens, nationals, and passport holders from designated Visa Waiver Program countries may apply for admission to the United States at U.S. ports of entry as nonimmigrant noncitizens for a period of ninety days or less for business or pleasure without first obtaining a nonimmigrant visa, provided that they are otherwise eligible for admission...

September 29, 2021

TX Gov. Abbott's "Operation Lone Star" Crumbles in Face of Habeas Suits

Texas Tribune reporter Jolie McCulough (@jsmccullou) is hitting it out of the park covering this story, here and here . Topline from Monday: "Hundreds of migrants arrested under Texas Gov.  Greg Abbott ’s  “catch and jail” border security push  have been sitting in prison for weeks with no charges filed against them, and dozens were imprisoned for more than a month without being appointed lawyers.  Most of the...

September 29, 2021

Greyhound Must Stop Allowing Warrantless Immigration Sweeps, Pay $2.2M

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Sept. 27, 2021 "Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced today that Greyhound Lines Inc. will pay $2.2 million to resolve his lawsuit over the bus line’s practice of allowing U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) agents on its buses to conduct warrantless and suspicionless immigration sweeps when it didn’t have to. Greyhound failed to warn customers of the sweeps...

September 28, 2021

Will TX Gov. Abbott's "Operation Lone Star" Survive Habeas Challenges?

On Sept. 27, 2021 advocates posted this media release and this fact sheet .

September 28, 2021

Vanishing Green Cards Dash Hopes, Spark Litigation

Deepa Fernandes, Tal Kopan, San Francisco Chronicle, Sept. 28, 2021 "Because of COVID and other Trump administration restrictions in fiscal year 2020, an extra 120,000 green cards were added to the annual allotment for all immigrants applying based on employment this year, almost doubling the number available and offering a rare opportunity to cut into the backlog filled mostly with Indian nationals. ... Days before...

September 28, 2021

Expert: Proposed DACA Rule Could "Bulletproof" Program Against Litigation Challenges

Miriam Jordan, Eileen Sullivan, New York Times, Sept. 28, 2021 "The Biden administration [published] a proposed rule on Tuesday in hopes of preserving Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a program that has protected hundreds of thousands of undocumented young adults from deportation and allowed them to legally work in the United States.  The proposal is especially important given a recent decision...

September 26, 2021

Expert: New DACA Rule Could Be Published "Any Day"

Jorge Cancino, Univision, Sept. 26, 2021 ""A new proposed rule is about to be published to help about 700,000 dreamers," says Stephen Yale-Loehr, professor of immigration law at Cornell University School of Law .  "The Office of Management and Budget has completed its review of a proposed rule to preserve deportation protections for approximately 700,000 people brought to the United States as children...

September 26, 2021

Expert: U.S. Immigration Laws Don't Match Current Reality

Erin Blakemore, National Geographic, Sept. 23, 2021 "U.S. immigration laws have not evolved to match the reality of mass migrations and modern displacement, says Stephen Yale-Loehr , a professor of immigration law practice at Cornell Law School. “The United States has to realize that more people are on the move in the world than ever before. We’re never going to be able to shut off our borders.&rdq...

September 24, 2021

CBP Falsified Records in Death of Boy

Robert Moore, El Paso Matters, Sept. 17, 2021 "A new report details “deeply troubling failures” by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the 2019 death of a Guatemalan boy in the agency’s custody, including the creation of false records suggesting he was monitored during the night, the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security said Friday. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who leads...

September 23, 2021

ICE Records Received Through FOIA Confirm Need for Increased Oversight of Agency’s Arbitrary and Unfair Parole Decisions for Asylum Seekers

Human Rights First, Sept. 23, 2021 "Records received by Human Rights First from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)  request  show that the agency systematically and arbitrarily failed to release detained asylum seekers on parole and set other outrageous conditions for release. The Biden administration should act swiftly to create independent oversight of ICE parole...

September 23, 2021

GAO: EOIR Flubs Stakeholder Engagement, COVID Response

GAO, Aug. 31, 2021 "What GAO Found The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) took steps to modify immigration court operations and guidance to respond to COVID-19. For instance, EOIR implemented health and safety measures at immigration courts, such as requiring social distancing. From mid-March 2020 until mid-June 2020, EOIR also temporarily suspended hearings for individuals...

September 22, 2021

$500K Boost for UNLV Immigration Clinic

UNLV, Sept. 21, 2021 "The UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law announced today that the Clark County Commission approved a $500,000 allocation, which will be distributed over two years, to the  UNLV Immigration Clinic . This additional funding will support the clinic’s work providing legal defense to people facing deportation, especially unaccompanied children and those in detention. The allocation matches a similar...

September 22, 2021

GAO: USCIS Should Address Growing Caseload

GAO, August 2021; released Sept. 17, 2021 "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services processes millions of applications and petitions from noncitizens who want to temporarily stay or live in the country, obtain work authorization, or become U.S. citizens.  We looked at USCIS's efforts to reduce its pending caseload, which has increased by 85% in recent years. Policy changes, longer forms, staffing issues, and...

September 22, 2021

Florida’s Racist Anti-Immigrant Bill Overturned in Federal Court

Coalition email, Sept. 22, 2021: "A federal court ruled that key sections of Florida’s anti-sanctuary law violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, delivering a decision that strikes a major blow to the state’s anti-immigrant policy makers and a decisive victory for communities who fought to defeat the law beginning in 2019. In response to the Judge’s 110-page decision, the coalition released...

September 21, 2021

Feds Pay $125K to American Citizen Illegally Imprisoned by ICE

NWIRP, Sept. 21, 2021 "U.S. Government Agrees to $125,000 Settlement for U.S. Citizen’s 7-Day Detention at the Northwest Detention Center FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, September 21, 2021 Media contact: Matt Adams, NWIRP (206) 501-6249; matt@nwirp.org SEATTLE, WA –  Today, Carlos Rios, a citizen of the United States since 2000, agreed to end his lawsuit against the U.S. government after reaching a settlement with...