November 24, 2020

FY 2021 Begins with Largest Immigration Court Backlog on Record: TRAC

TRAC, Nov. 24, 2020 "Fiscal Year 2021 began with the largest number of Immigration Court cases in its active backlog to date: in October, 1,273,885 immigration cases were pending before the courts. Most of the pending cases—918,673 or 72 percent—involved nationals from Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and El Salvador. Over four out of every ten immigrants waiting to have their cases heard were from Guatemala and Honduras...

November 19, 2020

Big-Picture, Clean-Slate Immigration Reforms for the Biden-Harris Administration

Angelo A. Paparelli and Stephen Yale-Loehr Nov. 19, 2020 "As a new administration takes office on January 20, and the tantalizing prospect of enlightened immigration reforms looms on the horizon, an intriguing question has surfaced on Twitter: “Is there a progressive version of Stephen Miller? Someone who has (1) put in the time to understand how the immigration system works in great detail, (2) relentlessly...

November 19, 2020

TRO Blocks Trump's Asylum Rule: Pangea v. DHS

NIPNLG, Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, Immigrant Defense Project, Sidley Austin LLP, Nov. 19, 2020 "On Thursday, a federal judge in the Northern District of California  issued a nationwide injunction  against the Trump Administration’s new rule that would have dramatically restricted asylum eligibility for asylum seekers convicted of low-level offenses and even people who are not convicted of...

November 19, 2020

Migratory Notes 190 (Nov. 19, 2020)

Migratory Notes 190, Nov. 19, 2020 - Betting on sick pork workers; running the clock; immigration fashion...and so much more!

November 19, 2020

Polly A. Webber: Muzzling America’s Immigration Judges is a Travesty

Polly A. Webber, Nov. 19, 2020 - Muzzling America’s Immigration Judges is a Travesty "It can’t be much of a surprise that I should have deep insight and strong feelings about the current state of our Immigration Courts, after more than forty years working in immigration law, twenty-one of them as an Immigration Judge appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno in 1995. Having retired in 2016, the issues I noted have...

November 19, 2020

Inside the Lives of Immigrant Teens Working Dangerous Night Shifts in Suburban Factories

Melissa Sanchez, ProPublica, Nov. 19, 2020 "During the day, immigrant teenagers attend high school. At night, they work in factories to pay debts to smugglers and send money to family. The authorities aren’t surprised by child labor. They’re also not doing much about it."

November 19, 2020

Lawsuit Challenges "Blank Space" Rejections by USCIS

NWIRP, NILA, Nov. 19, 2020 "Today, immigration advocates filed a national class action lawsuit against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) challenging a new agency policy, which has resulted in the rejection of thousands of applications filed by vulnerable immigrants. The lawsuit alleges that the agency rolled out the new rule by specifically targeting humanitarian benefits provided by Congress, including...

November 17, 2020

CBP Broke the Law, Then Lied About It

NWIRP, Nov. 17, 2020 EMAILS SHOW CBP DETAINED HUNDREDS OF IRANIANS FOR HOURS PURSUANT TO UNLAWFUL DIRECTIVE Media Contacts: Matt Adams, NWIRP Legal Director – (206) 957-8611, matt@nwirp.org Imraan Siddiqi, CAIR-WA Executive Director – imraansiddiqi@cair.com Brianna Auffray, CAIR-WA Legal and Policy Manager – (206) 367-4081, bauffray@cair.com "Today, following a court order from the U.S. District Court...

November 17, 2020

Expert: Biden Will "Walk a Tightrope" on Immigration

Patrick J. McDonnell, Kate Linthicum,  Cecilia Sánchez, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 15, 2020 "Biden will “walk a tightrope on dealing with immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border,” Stephen Yale-Loehr, professor of immigration law at Cornell Law School , said by email. “If people believe the U.S. government is becoming more liberal on immigration, we may see a new wave of people … try to enter the U.S.,” he said. “But...

November 13, 2020

Immigration Resources from Lexis: Free Trial!

"Immigration is complex, nuanced and constantly changing—which is why there’s an entire Immigration Practice Center inside the Lexis ®  service. It’s a single go-to source for immigration-specific legal matters. Find what you need . Access a massive collection of immigration-focused materials, including United States Code and Code of Federal Regulations. Build strong legal strategies.  Leverage authoritative...

November 12, 2020

From the Heights of Kasinga...Paul W. Schmidt Reflects

Hon. Paul W. Schmidt, Nov. 12, 2020 "FROM THE HEIGHTS OF KASINGA TO THE DEPTHS OF AMERICA’S DEADLY STAR CHAMBERS: Will The Biden Administration Tap The New Due Process Army To Fix EOIR & Save Our Nation? I.  INTRODUCTION — ABROGATION OF ASYLUM LAWS IN THE FACE OF EXECUTIVE LAWLESSNESS & RACIAL BIAS IS A NATIONAL DISGRACE In  Matter of   Kasinga , I applied the generous well-founded fear standard for...

November 12, 2020

Migratory Notes 189 (Nov. 12, 2020)

Migratory Notes 189, Nov. 12, 2020 - Biden’s immigration moves; GOP multiethnic coalition, smuggling boom...and so much more!

November 12, 2020

Experts: New Administration Should Eliminate Chaos in Immigration System

Gunisha Kaur, M.D., and Stephen W. Yale-Loehr, Nov. 12, 2020 "The  400-plus changes  to U.S. immigration law over the past three and a half years have caused substantial confusion among attorneys, medical evaluators, and immigrants. The fact that many of these changes have been challenged in court has only exacerbated misunderstandings. This may be the very point of poorly drafted and convoluted executive orders...

November 11, 2020

Company Settles I-9 Beef with DOJ for Over $627K

Justice Department, Nov. 10, 2020 "The Justice Department announced today that it signed a settlement agreement with Fleetlogix Inc. (Fleetlogix) resolving claims that the company discriminated against work-authorized non-U.S. citizens by requiring them to provide specific and unnecessary work authorization documentation because of their citizenship or immigration status. Fleetlogix, based in San Diego, California...

November 11, 2020

Expert: It May Take Four Years to Dismantle Trump's "Invisible Wall"

Cornell law professor and LexisNexis author Stephen Yale-Loehr is quoted in the Chronicle of Higher Education and the Associated Press: "Trump has put in place more than 400 executive actions or rules related to immigration, according to Stephen Yale-Loehr, a law professor at Cornell University. He “effectively built an invisible wall.” " - Karin Fischer, Nov. 10, 2020 "Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor...

November 11, 2020

ICE Deports Migrant Women Who Alleged Abuse by Georgia Doctor

Nomaan Merchant, Associated Press, Nov. 11, 2020 "The Trump administration is trying to deport several women who allege they were mistreated by a Georgia gynecologist at an immigration detention center, according to their lawyers. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has already deported six former patients who complained about Dr. Mahendra Amin, who has been accused of operating on migrant women without their...

November 11, 2020

On This Veterans Day...

FWD.US, Oct. 28, 2020 Immigrants Serving in the Military Have Earned Their Citizenship - Their Path to Naturalization Should Be Clear President-elect Biden and Congress can restore a fair path to citizenship for immigrants who serve "This Veteran’s Day, only one week after the 2020 presidential election, we recognize the incredible contributions of immigrants to America’s military since our nation's founding...

November 10, 2020

Improving the U.S. Immigration System in the First Year of the Biden Administration

T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Donald Kerwin, Nov. 10, 2020 "The last four years have brought significant changes in federal policies—and the national discourse—on immigration. Presidential proclamations have denied entry to millions of non-citizens. Regulations and administrative practices have blocked and slowed the admission of legal immigrants. Processing delays, case backlogs and fee increases have made access to...

November 10, 2020

At the Starting Gate: The Incoming Biden Administration’s Immigration Plans

Doris Meissner and Michelle Mittelstadt, MPI, Nov. 2020 "President-elect Joe Biden pledged during the campaign to reverse some of the most restrictive immigration actions undertaken during Donald Trump’s four years in office, including family separation and a travel ban on nationals from majority-Muslim countries. He also vowed to temporarily halt deportations, reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals...

November 09, 2020

Useful MPI Resources

From the Migration Policy Institute, Nov. 9, 2020 Useful MPI resources: A report cataloguing the  more than 400 executive actions on immigration  undertaken by the Trump administration, organized by topic and listing dates of actions. A recent article in MPI’s online journal detailing the  policy proposals advanced by the Biden campaign  (and the Trump one as well); see Table 1 in particular. An article...

November 06, 2020

Why the FLRA Decision Decertifying NAIJ Matters: Jeffrey S. Chase

Jeffrey S. Chase, Nov. 6, 2020 "Our attention is understandably focused elsewhere right now.  However, it must be mentioned that on the eve of Election Day, a panel decision of the Federal Labor Relations Authority decertified the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ) as a union.  While this might seem to be a minor issue at the moment, it is not.   At stake is the integrity of the nation’s Immigration...

November 05, 2020

Migratory Notes 188 (Nov. 5, 2020)

Migratory Notes 188, Nov. 5, 2020 - What Latino vote? Samosa Caucus and Hindu politics, young Michigan Muslims...and so much more!

November 05, 2020

DHS OIG: CBP Has Taken Steps to Limit Processing of Undocumented Aliens at Ports of Entry

DHS OIG, Oct. 27, 2020 "In May 2018, DHS and CBP leaders anticipated an increase in undocumented aliens seeking entry at the southern border. In response, the leaders urged undocumented aliens seeking protection under U.S. asylum laws (“asylum seekers”) to enter the United States legally at ports of entry rather than illegally between ports. At the same time, the leaders asked CBP for “the number of [undocumented...

November 05, 2020

My Cousin Runs ICE. He’s Killing the Same American Dream Granted to His Own Parents.

Philippa PB Hughes, Nov. 3, 2020 "My cousin  claimed  in an email to ICE attorneys that he had followed the “lawful path to citizenship” while also touting this “document to freedom,” a document based on a lie. This misrepresentation of his family history underscores the hypocrisy of his claim and the shortcomings of a deeply flawed immigration system."

November 05, 2020

NAIJ Responds to Decertification

Ashley Tabaddor, NAIJ, Nov. 3, 2020 "Dear Colleagues, Today the Federal Labor Relations Authority reversed two decades of precedent and issued a baseless decision effectively decertifying the National Association of Immigration Judges as the union of immigration judges. See the decision here . We are outraged, though not surprised, by the lack of legal analysis. As dissenting member Ernest DuBester notes, the...