Interior Enforcement
Reports of Additional Round-Ups of Refugees Met with Strong Condemnation
Reuters reported late on Thursday that the Obama Administration will launch a new round of immigration raids targeting Central American women and children following their last round-ups in January. The Reuters report says that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is “planning a month-long series of raids in May and… Read More
Criminal Alien Program (CAP) FOIA Documents
American Immigration Council and AILA’s Connecticut chapter initially sought records related to CAP through a FOIA request to ICE in December 2011. When ICE refused to release records responsive to the request, Plaintiffs filed suit under FOIA for declaratory and injunctive relief to compel the disclosure and release of agency records improperly withheld by DHS and its component ICE Read More
F- P- v. Holder – Ninth Circuit
Long used in criminal trials, motions to suppress can lead to the exclusion of evidence obtained by the government in violation of the Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, or related provisions of federal law. While the immediate purpose of filing a motion to suppress is to prevent the government from meeting its burden of proof, challenges to unlawfully obtained evidence can also deter future violations by law enforcement officers and thereby protect the rights of other noncitizens. The Supreme Court held in INS v. Lopez-Mendoza, 468 U.S. 1032 (1984), that motions to suppress evidence under the Fourth Amendment in immigration proceedings should be granted only for “egregious” violations or if violations became “widespread.” Despite this stringent standard, noncitizens have prevailed in many cases on motions to suppress. Read More
Over 150 Groups Demand Obama Administration Stop Immigration Raids
Last month the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that since the end of January they have been conducting “Operation Border Guardian,” which has been focusing on the removal of individuals who came to the United States as unaccompanied children after January, 1, 2014, but are now 18 or… Read More
U.S. Sentencing Commission Proposes Further Criminalizing Migrants
At a time when there is a great deal of national attention being placed on criminal-justice reform, it is troubling that the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) is now proposing, new amendments to Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which could lead to increased sentences for those convicted of “Unlawfully Entering or Remaining… Read More
How a Border Wall Would Hurt the U.S. Economy
When Donald Trump speaks of the Great Wall he would build between the United States and Mexico, he fails to account for a few inconvenient facts. For instance, there are millions of men, women, and children who live in communities that fall on both sides of the international boundary. Read More
Sanctuary Cities vs. Community Policing: A Resurging Debate
From Washington, D.C. to San Francisco to Raleigh, the debate over whether local law enforcement officers should be involved in enforcing federal immigration law is back at the fore. Read More
Senate to Vote on “Sanctuary Cities” Legislation
The Senate will vote Tuesday on whether to begin debate on Senator David Vitter’s (R-LA) “Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act” (S. 2146). The bill is an enforcement-only approach to immigration and fails to address our outdated immigration laws and the need to enact comprehensive reforms. S. 2146 attempts… Read More
ICE Issuing Fewer Detainers, but Compliance With Enforcement Priorities in Question
New data obtained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) shows that while the government’s use of detainers is decreasing, the number of detainers issued for individuals without criminal convictions remains high. TRAC’s report, released last Friday, looks at Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) use of detainers in… Read More
Second Circuit Narrowly Interprets Aggravated Felony Bar Under INA § 212(h)
Washington, D.C.—Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a precedent decision that will allow a greater number of lawful permanent residents (LPRs) to avoid deportation if they can demonstrate to an immigration judge that their removal will result in… Read More
America's story is an immigrant story.
