Executive Branch
Immigration Lawyers Clarify What DHS’s Announcement on Prosecutorial Discretion IS and IS NOT
There has been much confusion in the wake of DHS’s recent announcement about how immigration agencies will use prosecutorial discretion in determining low and high priority immigration cases. What is considered a low priority case? Who is eligible for employment authorization? How should those with pending removal cases proceed? In an effort to protect immigrants who might be taken advantage of by immigration consultants (or notarios) and to clarify the information currently available, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) recently issued a consumer advisory outlining what DHS’s announcement is and is not. Read More
DHS Detains Unauthorized Immigrants as They Attempt to Leave the U.S.
It is tempting to imagine that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has adopted a kinder and more just approach to its immigration enforcement mission. After all, the department announced in recent days that it will henceforth focus its enforcement efforts on “high priority” immigration cases; that is, those cases involving serious criminals and individuals who are a threat to public safety or national security. While this is a welcome, long overdue announcement, we must keep in mind that there are still DHS enforcement policies in place that are in dire need of repair. Read More
DHS Detains Unauthorized Immigrants as They Attempt to Leave the U.S.
It is tempting to imagine that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has adopted a kinder and more just approach to its immigration enforcement mission. After all, the department announced in recent days that it will henceforth focus its enforcement efforts on “high priority” immigration cases; that is, those cases involving serious criminals and individuals who are a threat to public safety or national security. While this is a welcome, long overdue announcement, we must keep in mind that there are still DHS enforcement policies in place that are in dire need of repair. Read More
Latino Leaders Defend DHS’s Announcement to Focus on High Priority Immigration Cases
Clarissa Martinez, Director of Immigration and National Campaigns at NCLR. As the dust continues to settle around the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) announcement last week that it will review some 300,000 pending deportation cases on a case-by-case basis as well as issue agency-wide guidance on using discretion to focus resources on high priority cases, some groups were quick to dismiss the announcement as political pandering. Predictably, restrictionist groups reacted like they always do whenever the administration does something to improve the immigration system—by screaming “amnesty” and accusing the administration of making end runs around congress. Today, however, leaders from the Latino community defended the administration’s actions as “a huge step forward” and even invited critics to come to the table with their own rational immigration policies. Read More
How Will DHS’s Prosecutorial Discretion Guidelines Impact Gay and Lesbian Bi-National Couples?
Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that they would take concrete steps to implement existing guidance on prosecutorial discretion in an attempt to provide relief for low priority immigration cases. DHS also announced that a new committee will review 300,000 immigration cases currently in removal proceedings to determine which cases are low priority and can be administratively closed. Some of the factors used in determining low priority cases are family relationships and community ties—factors the Administration said yesterday may apply to gay and lesbian families. Read More
DHS Announces Expansion of Prosecutorial Discretion Guidelines
Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced an agency-wide expansion of prosecutorial discretion guidelines that will hopefully allow immigration officials to focus their enforcement efforts on targeting dangerous criminals. DHS also announced the creation of a joint committee with the Department of Justice (DOJ) that will review nearly 300,000 immigration cases currently in removal proceedings to determine whether cases are low priority enough to be closed. The factors for determining low priority cases were outlined last June in a memo issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton. While many immigration groups applaud today’s announcement, many are still concerned about DHS's ability to successfully implement these guidelines. Read More
New Report Shows DHS Way Off Target, Going After Harmless Individuals
BY GREG CHEN, DIRECTOR OF ADVOCACY, AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ASSOCIATION For the last two years, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been spinning a good yarn—that it’s keeping Americans more safe by pursuing those who are truly dangerous. Today, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton was quoted in the New York Times saying ICE has a “focus on deporting immigrants convicted of serious crimes.” To his credit he issued a series of memos dating back to summer 2010 explaining that immigration officers and prosecutors should prioritize finite enforcement resources on pursuing serious offenders only. But why then does the reality on the ground seem so far from the rhetoric? Read More
Religious Community Latest to Join Battle Against Alabama’s Extreme Anti-Immigrant Law
Bishop William H. Willimon, United Methodist Church of North Alabama. With only weeks until Alabama’s extreme anti-immigrant law, HB 56, is slated to take effect (September 1), the coalition of groups challenging the law continues to grow. Shortly after Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed HB 56 in June, several civil rights groups—including the ACLU—filed a class action lawsuit against Alabama’s law. Earlier this month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit as well—much like it did against Arizona’s SB1070—in hopes of a receiving a preliminary injunction against key provisions of the law. This week, faith leaders in the state—who also filed suit against the law—added their voice to the chorus of civil rights, law enforcement, businesses, education, and international communities who vocally oppose the law. Read More
50 States Work on Immigration Legislation While Congress Refuses to Act
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) recently released an analysis of the number of immigration-related proposals introduced at the state level between January and June of 2011. NCSL found that more immigration-related bills (1,592) were introduced in the first half of 2011 than in the same time period in 2010 (1,374). While the bills weren’t all bad—representing both a mixed bag of punitive and progressive proposals—they tell a bigger story of 50 states grappling with a broken immigration system while Congress sits back and watches. Read More
Immigration Restrictionists Take SB 1070 to Supreme Court
More than a year after SB 1070 was initially enjoined in federal court, the immigration restrictionists behind Arizona’s misguided immigration law have brought their case to the Supreme Court. Proponents of SB 1070 are likely to hail the state’s petition, filed yesterday, as not only the first step toward reversing the injunction against the law’s most punitive provisions, but toward cementing states’ role as the primary enforcers of federal immigration law. While we won’t know whether the Justices will even hear the case until at least October, the petition already foretells an uphill climb for Paul Clement, the attorney representing Arizona and former Solicitor General under President Bush, to persuade the Court to overturn long established principles. Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
