Department of Homeland Security
Why Immigrants Should Have Access to Legal Counsel
U. S. immigration laws are incredibly complex, yet they provide only minimal due process protections for even the most vulnerable noncitizens. In criminal courts, defendants who cannot afford an attorney are provided one for free, but in immigration court, noncitizens do not receive the same protections. As a result, many immigrants facing deportation are forced to proceed on their own. Even noncitizens with serious mental disorders who cannot understand what is happening in court may be deported without ever speaking to an attorney. Although current laws and regulations provide some protections for people in immigration court who lack “mental competency,” they are insufficient and unclear. An immigration system that takes seriously the promise of due process and fair hearings must do better. Read More
Momentum on Immigration Reform Continues to Build
News stories continue to highlight the growing likelihood that immigration reform will play a prominent role in Congress this spring. According to an article in Sunday’s New York Times, both the White House and Congress are deeply engaged in immigration reform legislation, with a bipartisan group of Senators working methodically through tough issues like enforcement and legalization. While the details remain under wraps, there is growing optimism that immigration may become the issue on which both parties can truly find common ground. Read More
Removals Remain the Starkest Measure of Immigration Enforcement
For more than a decade, the general thrust of U.S. immigration policy has been aimed at expanding the grounds of removal and the tools for facilitating deportations from the country. Not surprisingly, this has come at an enormous cost. Although the figure has been disputed by restrictionists, a report from the Migration Policy Institute recently found that the federal government spent $18 billion last year on immigration enforcement. Dollars are not the only way to measure immigration enforcement, however, as the number of removals has itself skyrocketed in recent years. Read More
Why Immigration Reform and Gun Control Aren’t in Competition
Ever since the horrible tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, political odds makers have been betting that gun safety will top the President’s list of priorities this year, despite previous statements prioritizing immigration reform. That’s an unfortunate characterization, pitting two important issues against one another and adding to the mistaken idea that immigration reform is such a momentous undertaking that nothing else can happen at the same time. Read More
The U.S. Has Been Implementing an “Enforcement-First” Immigration Policy for More Than a Decade
Anti-immigrant activists often say that we must first enforce current U.S. immigration laws before even considering any reforms that might grant legal status to unauthorized immigrants already living in the country. However, as the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) documents in a comprehensive new report (and a more condensed Report in Brief), that is what we have been doing for more than a decade. Ever since 9/11, the expansion and intensification of immigration enforcement has been the one approach to immigration policy that the majority of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have whole-heartedly endorsed. This suggests that the “let’s wait a while” approach advocated by anti-immigrant groups is completely unjustified, and has been for a long time. Read More
Reasons for Cautious Optimism on Immigration Reform
There is considerable debate at the moment over the prospects for immigration reform this year. On the one hand, an electorally chastened Republican Party seems to be reevaluating its long-standing support for deportation-only immigration policies. On the other hand, it looks as though the White House and Congress are embarking upon lengthy debates over gun control and tax-and-spending policies; debates which might leave little room for a rational discussion of U.S. immigration laws. Nevertheless, reports from the White House indicate that President Obama is ready to forge ahead on immigration reform. It remains to be seen, however, what form that will take. Will the President opt for a truly comprehensive solution, or will he adopt a more piecemeal type of reform that targets only some subsets of the immigrant population? Let us hope that the comprehensive approach prevails. The fates of millions of people have been hanging in the balance for far too long. Read More
DHS Publishes New Provisional Waiver to Help Some Families Stay Together
Some families facing long separations from their loved ones because of U.S. immigration laws will have an easier time of it in 2013. Thanks to a new regulation from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), immediate relatives of U.S. citizens will be able to complete part of the processing of their immigration cases without leaving the country. The “Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver of Inadmissibility for Certain Immediate Relatives” rule, often referred to as the new family unity rule, will be published tomorrow (January 3, 2013) and become effective on March 4. Read More
Federal Judges Remind Government to Consider Prosecutorial Discretion
Prosecutorial discretion is the authority of a law enforcement agency or officer to decide whether and to what degree to enforce the law in particular cases. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative continues to be a successful example of prosecutorial discretion in the immigration context. However the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) often ignores other non-DACA-related cases where prosecutorial discretion would be equally appropriate. Read More
Boston Globe Series Exposes Pitfalls of Immigration Detention
Last week, the Boston Globe ran an important series of articles on a topic that receives far too little attention: the vast network of civil detention centers that last year held more than 400,000 immigrants in the United States. The product of a year-long investigation, the series shines a spotlight on a system in which detainees often have no right to a bail hearing, are not given attorneys if they cannot afford one, and are transferred between facilities at the whim of federal immigration officials. Although one article misleadingly faults immigration officials for releasing certain detainees, the series as a whole is worth reading. Read More
Border Patrol Tightens Up Its Policy on Providing Interpretation Services
By Lisa Graybill, Visiting Lecturer in Law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. In a welcome if overdue move last Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued new guidance to Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) personnel, directing them not to respond to requests for translation assistance from other law enforcement organizations. The new guidance, which has not been publicly released, requires CBP personnel, including U.S. Border Patrol agents, to instead refer requests for translation from federal, state, and local law enforcement organizations to private local and national translation services. However, the guidance does not affect CBP’s authority to respond to requests from law enforcement agencies for other types of assistance. Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
