Department of Justice
House Committee Funds Administration’s Super-Sized Immigration Enforcement
In the first week of his presidency, through executive orders, the president laid out harsh proposals for immigration enforcement and border security. However, much of what the president proposes to do requires generous amounts of taxpayer dollars allocated by Congress. In May, the president submitted a proposed budget which provides… Read More
Private Land Is Being Seized in Texas to Build the Border Wall
The House of Representatives unveiled their Fiscal Year 2018 budget for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week, which allocates $1.6 billion to begin construction of a border wall along the entire Southern border with Mexico. However, being provided the funds is not enough to complete the project. To… Read More
Why Are the Immigration Courts So Backlogged? Government Findings May Surprise You
Anyone familiar with the immigration system knows that the immigration courts have an enormous backlog which has persisted—and grown—for more than a decade. As of April 2017, the immigration court backlog topped 585,930 cases, more than double the pending cases in fiscal year (FY) 2006 (212,000). The immigration… Read More
President’s Tweets Dim His Prospects for Supreme Court Review of The Travel Ban Case
President Trump reignited discussion around his controversial travel ban through a series of early morning tweets on Monday, in a move legal experts say could ultimately cripple his administration’s chances of restoring the ban through the Supreme Court. In these tweets, the president blew a giant hole in his legal case… Read More
How Many People Overstay Their Visas? Not Even the Government Knows
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials unveiled their newest “overstay” estimates—the number of people from other countries who remain in the United States after their visas expire—at a recent congressional hearing. However, agency officials themselves acknowledge serious flaws in their estimates, stemming from a lack of reliable exit data,… Read More
Justice Department Changes Tune on Sanctuary Cities, Acknowledging Administration’s Bark Is Worse Than Its Bite
While campaigning for office, then-candidate Trump threatened to punish so-called sanctuary cities by defunding them. Soon after his inauguration, he released an executive order on interior enforcement. The order partially focused on getting local officers to become force multipliers by assisting federal immigration agents in the identification, detention,… Read More
Federal Court Blocks DOJ’s Attempt to Restrict Access to Legal Assistance
On Wednesday, a federal court in Seattle issued a nationwide temporary restraining order allowing nonprofits to continue to provide limited legal assistance to immigrants without being forced to formally represent them in immigration court. The order was issued in a lawsuit brought by the Northwest Immigrants… Read More
What Does the Future Hold for Haitians with TPS? The Trump Administration May Terminate It
Since a massive earthquake ravaged much of Haiti, nationals of the country have been allowed to live and work in the United States under a benefit called Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Their status, however, may soon be terminated by the Trump administration. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must decide… Read More
Immigration Arrests Increase While Weapon and Drug Arrests Decline, Federal Data Shows
Attorney General Jeff Sessions decried drug dealers and armed cartels at the U.S.-Mexico border on Tuesday, but rather than announcing a crackdown on those elements, he instead declared war on undocumented immigrants and those who defend them. Sessions announced that he was instructing U.S. attorneys to prioritize criminal immigration… Read More
“Sanctuary” Policies Protect Communities, Not Criminals
State by state “sanctuary” policies have received significant attention lately. Hundreds of communities across the nation have passed some version of a sanctuary policy and in doing so have made decisions about how they want to use their local resources. Yet the new administration, as well as others,… Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
