Immigration Law
House Republicans Show Uncertainty About Where the Party Stands On Immigration
For six hours on Tuesday, the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee tried to come to terms with a new landscape on immigration reform and where House Republicans will fit into the picture. Despite attempts by committee leadership to paint an earned path to citizenship as an extreme option and questions about whether citizenship was even necessary, there were signs of common ground, signaling opportunities for breaking the logjam on immigration in the House. Read More
Federal Judge Leaves Anti-DACA Lawsuit Hanging By a Thread
Lost amidst coverage of recent immigration reform proposals was a ruling issued last Friday in Kris Kobach’s legal crusade against the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The lawsuit, filed last summer in a federal court in Dallas, alleges the program violates an obscure provision of the immigration laws that supposedly prohibits immigrants who entered the country unlawfully from receiving deferred action. Although the ruling in question allowed the case to move forward, the presiding judge rejected the vast majority of Kobach’s arguments and left the suit hanging by a thin legal thread. Read More
Senators Unveil Framework for Effective Immigration Reform
Eight Senators today released a “Bipartisan Framework for Comprehensive Immigration Reform” which proposes an overhaul of our legal immigration system while expanding border security measures and hardening current employment verification procedures. Most notably, the proposal would give unauthorized immigrants already in the country a chance to earn U.S. citizenship. Although the framework is only a very rough outline of what comprehensive immigration reform legislation might look like, the principles it espouses constitute an excellent starting point for the legislative negotiations that will now being in earnest. The Senators involved in the negotiations—Democrats Chuck Schumer (NY), Dick Durbin (IL), Bob Menendez (NJ), and Michael Bennet (CO); and Republicans John McCain (AZ), Marco Rubio (FL), Lindsey Graham (SC), and Jeff Flake (AZ)—outlined four “legislative pillars” for immigration reform: Read More
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
Out of Legal Options, Alabama Files Petition at Supreme Court
Nearly five months ago, a federal appeals court in Atlanta issued a set of opinions that invalidated numerous provisions of Alabama HB 56, the most pernicious state immigration law in the country. After Alabama asked the full court to reconsider its rulings, the active judges unanimously rejected its request. Out of other legal options, the state filed a petition with the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking to revive some (though not all) of the invalidated provisions. While the odds remain small that the Justices will take up the case, granting the petition could set up another legal showdown similar to the case over Arizona SB 1070. 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
Immigration Expert Exposes Legal Flaws in Anti-DACA Lawsuit
Shortly after the administration began accepting applications under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Kris Kobach—the author of Arizona SB 1070 and other notorious state immigration laws—filed a lawsuit on behalf of ten disgruntled immigration agents seeking to halt the program in its tracks. The lawsuit has largely been viewed as a politically motivated stunt, with little chance of success in court. Now, a new law review article by University of Virginia law professor David Martin, one of the nation’s premier experts on immigration law, systematically debunks Kobach’s legal arguments. Read More
Countdown of the Top Five Immigration Stories of 2012
In the beginning of 2012, the landscape of the immigration world looked much different. Pro-immigrant groups were coming off of a rough few years that saw the failure of the DREAM Act, a spike in deportations under President Obama, and the passage of several state-level restrictionist bills like Arizona’s infamous SB 1070 and Alabama’s HB 56. However, immediately after the 2012 Presidential election, the discussion around immigration reform was reignited and led with legalization for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the country. What changed? Here’s our take on five of the biggest reasons 2012 has been a catalyst for change: Read More
Lawsuit Uncovers USCIS’ Double Standards in H-1B Program
For the past several years, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) H-1B visa review and processing procedures have caused confusion and concern among U.S. businesses that turn to highly-skilled temporary foreign workers in specialty occupations to operate successfully. In newly-uncovered documents, it appears that instead of supporting small businesses that attempt to hire highly-skilled foreign workers, in many cases, USCIS discourages their success by subjecting them to a near presumption of fraud. Read More
Guidance on ICE Detainers Sends Ripples Through California
Every year, local law enforcement agencies receive thousands of requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to keep individuals in custody—even after they are entitled to release—while federal officers determine whether to initiate removal proceedings. Last Tuesday, California Attorney General Kamala Harris issued simple but groundbreaking guidance to all law enforcement agencies in the state, clarifying that they have no legal obligation to honor so-called immigration “detainers.” Although Harris’ guidance was consistent with existing policies in numerous California counties, it has prompted other state law enforcement officials to publicly reconsider their willingness to cooperate with ICE. Read More
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No one should face the immigration system alone
