Executive Action
House Approves DHS Funding With Anti-Immigration Executive Action Amendments
The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the $39.7 billion funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, including five amendments that attacked parts of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The 236-191 vote for the spending measure passed… Read More
States’ Lawsuit Against Executive Action More Politics Than Substance
On Thursday, a Texas federal judge will hear 25 states’ arguments to block President Obama’s recent immigration executive actions. But the suit has more value as political theater than as a legitimate constitutional challenge. There’s no merit to the case. The president, cast by states as the villain, acted… Read More
Attorneys General from 12 States, D.C. File Brief in Support of Executive Action on Immigration
Texas is leading a lawsuit challenging President Obama’s executive action on immigration and has asked for a preliminary injunction that will be considered in a hearing on Thursday, January 15 in a federal district court in Brownsville, Texas. Texas is arguing that the president’s actions will harm states economically and… Read More
Government Report Blasts Border Patrol Drones as Ineffective, Wasteful
Over the past decade, as the government has pursued an “enforcement first” strategy, U.S. Border Patrol enforcement has exploded with devastating consequences. Border Patrol has used excessive force without accountability while costing taxpayers $8 billion annually, with little clear impact on migration. Amongst this spending, as… Read More
Top Five Immigration Stories of 2014
This year, the narrative on immigration swung from hope that the House of Representatives would follow the Senate’s lead and act on comprehensive immigration reform legislation to hopelessness when Republican leaders refused to act. Then attention turned to anticipation of the President’s announcement of temporary executive actions to… Read More
Do the President’s New Immigration Policies Really Mark the End of Secure Communities?
The misnamed Secure Communities program has been plagued with problems since its inception—most fundamentally, its failure to make communities more “secure.” Critics of the program have cited to its adverse impact on community policing, asserted that it encourages racial profiling, and highlighted the mounting evidence that many individuals encountered… Read More
How New Guidance Improves a Waiver Program to Limit Family Separations
When President Obama announced his executive actions on immigration in November, much of the focus was on the new temporary immigration protections, namely the deferred action programs (called DACA and DAPA). Of all of the announced reforms, DACA and DAPA certainly will affect the greatest number of people, with… Read More
Cities in States Suing Over Executive Action Are Welcoming Immigrants
Half of the states have joined a lawsuit challenging President Obama’s executive action on immigration, the latest being Tennessee. Yet leadership of cities across the nation support the administration’s actions—even those within states whose governors and attorneys general are suing to stop it. What explains the disconnect?… Read More
Sheriff Arpaio’s Lawsuit Against Executive Action Faces Uphill Climb
On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia heard oral arguments in the first of two cases being brought against parts of President Obama’s recently announced executive action on immigration. Notorious Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is seeking to stop the implementation of the DACA… Read More
Legal Challenges to Immigration Executive Action: Long on Politics, Short on Law
Within hours of President Obama’s November announcement of his executive actions on immigration, collectively referred to as the Immigration Accountability Executive Action, lawsuits challenging these new policies began. The lawsuits appear to be politicized attempts to use the courts to challenge President Obama’s authority to defer deportations, even… Read More
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No one should face the immigration system alone