August 14, 2020

Potato Slaves

Patricia Clarembaux and Almudena Toral, Univision, Aug. 6, 2020 "Workers at a potato processing plant in Texas face abuse by their employers but choose to stay silent out of fear of losing their H-2A visas. Most are unaware they’re even victims of forced labor, or that the fees they’re required to pay to their supervisors for a visa are illegal. They don’t trust the authorities either, and fear retaliation for...

August 14, 2020

Immigrant Detention and COVID-19: How a Pandemic Exploited and Spread through the US Immigrant Detention System

Donald Kerwin, Center for Migration Studies of New York, Aug. 2020 "This report reviews US detention developments from March 1 to August 1, 2020, a period when COVID-19 established itself and spread through the sprawling US detention system and beyond it. The report – which CMS updated regularly during this period – documents ICE’s fatally flawed response to this crisis, paying particular attention to the role...

August 14, 2020

Migratory Notes 176 (Aug. 13, 2020)

Migratory Notes 176, Aug. 13, 2020 - Potato slaves, Kamala, GW Bush paints 43 immigrants...and much, much more!

August 12, 2020

Remove the Sword of Damocles from DACA

Michael A. Olivas and Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Aug. 12, 2020 "Chief Justice John Roberts held in his recent majority opinion in  Dep’t of Homeland Security v. Regents of the Univ. of California  that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under President Trump did not employ “reasoned decisionmaking” when it rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which had accorded a hold on...

August 10, 2020

Comment on Anti-Asylum Proposed Rule: David Isaacson

David Isaacson, Aug. 8, 2020 "On the heels of the prior proposed rule restricting asylum and withholding of removal that I commented on and  blogged about , the Department of Homeland Security and Executive Office for Immigration Review have put out  yet another proposed rule  to drastically restrict asylum and withholding of removal. This one would allow the expedited removal of asylum claimants who have come...

August 10, 2020

Round Table of Former IJs: Proposed "Security Risk" Rule an "Improper Attempt to Legislate through Rule Making"

Round Table of Former Immigration Judges, Aug. 7, 2020 "Comments in Opposition to Proposed Rulemaking: 85 FR 41201, Security Bars and Processing (DHS and EOIR) The Round Table of Former Immigration Judges is composed of 46 former Immigration Judges and Appellate Immigration Judges of the Board of Immigration Appeals.  We were appointed and served under both Republican and Democratic administrations.  We have...

August 10, 2020

Migratory Notes 175 (Aug. 6, 2020)

Migratory Notes 175 (Aug. 6, 2020) - Missing minors, leaderless ICE, asylum fees...and much, much more!

August 07, 2020

Expert: Latest Trump Immigration Order Seems Innocuous, But...

Shilpa Phadnis, TNN, Aug. 5, 2020 "IT industry body Nasscom said U.S. President Donald Trump's new executive order preventing federal agencies from contracting work to H-1B visa holders is based on misperceptions and misinformation. The executive order -- Aligning federal contracting and hiring practices with the interests of American workers – was signed on Monday. It requires federal agencies to review the...

August 07, 2020

ICE Deliberately Limited COVID-19 Testing at Bakersfield Immigration Jail

Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 6, 2020 "Last month, as the coronavirus spread through federal immigration detention centers around the country, officials at the Mesa Verde facility in Bakersfield rejected a suggestion to test all detainees there because it would be difficult to quarantine those who tested positive, the officials said. ... On Thursday, a federal judge in San Francisco issued a searing...

August 05, 2020

NJ Lawsuit Targets Immigration Court Hearings During COVID-19

Rox Laird, Courthouse News Service, July 31, 2020 "New Jersey immigration lawyers say in a  lawsuit  filed Friday against the U.S. Justice Department that required in-person immigration hearings unnecessarily puts their lives at risk during the coronavirus pandemic and seek an injunction barring in-court proceedings. The Newark Immigration Court was closed to in-court proceedings in March following the Covid...

August 04, 2020

"Shadow Operation" Deports Kids

Lomi Kriel, ProPublica, Texas Tribune, Aug. 4, 2020 "Thousands of migrant children — including babies — have been expelled by the Trump administration since March. Some have been held in hotels without access to lawyers or family. Advocates say many are now “virtually impossible” to find."

August 03, 2020

Military-Style Raid in AZ: Border Patrol Detains 30+ People Receiving Care at Humanitarian Aid Station

No More Deaths, Aug. 1, 2020 "Arivaca, AZ: Around sunset on July 31st, US Border Patrol raided No More Deaths’ humanitarian aid station, Byrd Camp, detaining over thirty people who were receiving medical care, food, water, and shelter from the 100+ degree heat. In a massive show of force, Border Patrol, along with BORTAC, descended on the camp with an armored vehicle, three ATVS, two helicopters, and an estimated...

August 01, 2020

USCIS Caves on Public Charge...For Now

USCIS, July 31, 2020 "On July 29, 2020,  the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) in State of New York, et al. v. DHS, et al. and Make the Road NY et al. v. Cuccinelli, et al. enjoined the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from enforcing, applying, implementing, or treating as effective the Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds Final Rule for any period during which there is a...

July 31, 2020

Dismantling and Reconstructing the U.S. Immigration System: A Catalog of Changes under the Trump Presidency

Sarah Pierce and Jessica Bolter, MPI, July 2020 "Through bold, sweeping changes as well as less-noted technical adjustments, the Trump administration has dramatically reshaped the U.S. immigration system since entering office in January 2017. Now well into its fourth year, the administration has undertaken more than 400 executive actions on immigration, spanning everything from border and interior enforcement,...

July 30, 2020

Migratory Notes 174 (July 30, 2020)

Migratory Notes 174 (July 30, 2020) - ‘Chilling message;’ au pairs’ choice; TikTok papis...and much, much more!

July 30, 2020

The State of Black Immigrants

BAJI, NYU Law Immigrant Rights Clinic, Jan. 2020 "Just as African-Americans suffer disproportionately high arrest, prosecution and incarceration rates, so too are Black immigrants. This occurs despite no evidence that they engage in more criminalized activities in comparison to any other racial group. Black immigrants are also disproportionately impacted by the compounding impact of the immigration enforcement...

July 30, 2020

NILC on Public Charge Injunctions

NILC, July 29, 2020 "Today, a Manhattan federal court issued two nationwide injunctions temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s “public charge” rules. An  injunction issued against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security  (DHS) prevents DHS from enforcing, applying, implementing, or treating as effective the “public charge” rule for any period during which there is a declared national health emergency...

July 29, 2020

Impending USCIS Furloughs Will Contribute to a Historic Drop in U.S. Immigration Levels: MPI

Muzaffar Chishti, Sarah Pierce, and Kira Olsen-Medina, MPI, July 28, 2020 "In one of the largest ever furloughs by a single government agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) leadership has announced its intent to temporarily lay off 70 percent of the agency’s staff beginning August 30, citing budget issues. The move would dramatically slow the adjudication of a long list of immigration processes...

July 28, 2020

Trump: USCIS Will NOT Accept New DACA Applcations

Steve Holland, Reuters, July 28, 2020 "The administration plans to continue its existing policy of not accepting new DACA applicants, a policy in place since 2017, the official told Reuters."

July 28, 2020

"USCIS Has the Money"

"USCIS has the money, is asking for more money, and is raising it fees all at once, yet it refuses to do its job and keep its employees working and the immigration system operable." Statement of Sharvari Dalal-Dheini Director, Government Relations, American Immigration Lawyers Association Submitted to the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship “Oversight of U.S. Citizenship...

July 28, 2020

Recruiting for the Future: A Realistic Road to a Points-Tested Visa Program in the United States

Stephen Yale-Loehr and Mackenzie Eason, July 2020 "For over 40 years, lawmakers and academics have been debating whether the United States should adopt a merit or skills-based approach to labor immigration and a points-based program for selecting foreign workers. Despite having bipartisan support, efforts to adopt such a program thus far have been unsuccessful. This idea is now back at the center of public debate...

July 27, 2020

Webinar Today! Recruiting for the Future: A Realistic Road to a Points-Tested Visa Program in the U.S.

Cornell Law School, Immigration Law and Policy Program, July 27, 2020 RECRUITING FOR THE FUTURE: A REALISTIC ROAD TO A POINTS-TESTED VISA PROGRAM IN THE U.S. Time: July 27, 2020, 1 p.m. EST Registration: https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sbd-RKcCSOCzgLzCF0WjAA "Professor Stephen Yale-Loehr of Cornell Law School and his coauthor Mackenzie Eason will unveil “Recruiting for the Future: A Realistic...

July 27, 2020

Income Inequality, Immigration Status and COVID-19 Threaten Historic Colorado Town

Nathaniel Minor, Colorado Public Radio, July 23, 2020 "Leadville, along with the rest of Colorado’s tourist-reliant mountain communities, was hit hard by the closure of ski resorts and restrictions on travel within the state, which kept recreationists away. Because of long-standing economic inequities rooted in immigration status, that pain has been especially acute in the nearby mobile home parks, home to many...

July 27, 2020

Migratory Notes 173 (July 23, 2020)

Migratory Notes 173 (July 23, 2020) - Canada wants US border closed, DHS vs protesters, Climate refugees modeled...and so much more!

July 27, 2020

States Sue Trump Over Census Memo

New York Attorney General Letitia James, July 24, 2020 "New York Attorney General Letitia James today led a large coalition of states, cities, and counties in filing a  lawsuit against President Donald Trump for attempting to, once again, illegally leave millions out of the apportionment base that establishes the number of members in the House of Representatives that each state receives . The lawsuit seeks to stop...