HEADLINES:
TOP UPDATES
Trump’s Immigration Legislative Proposal
Keep in mind that this is just one of many, many proposals on the negotiating table.
- White House Framework on Immigration Reform & Border Security
- AILA Quicktake #232: White House Immigration Proposal
- WaPo: Lawmakers call on Trump to drop bid for legal immigration cuts
- CNN: Bipartisan House group unveils new DACA proposal
Policies Included in Trump proposal:
- DACA: 10-12 year path to citizenship
- Eliminate Lottery
- Policies that prioritize family members to spouses and minor children only
- $25 billion trust fund for the border wall
- Also implies changes to parole, bond, the credible fear standard, TVPRA, Flores, the Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act, visa overstays, and possibly safe third country.
Immigration tops the list of issues for Trump’s first State of the Union
CNN: President Donald Trump will pitch his controversial immigration plan during his first State of the Union address on Tuesday night, a senior administration official tells CNN, hoping to use the unfiltered, high-profile speech to convince skeptical members of both parties that the proposal the White House rolled out Thursday is a compromise worthy of their support.
DACA Recipients will Remain Eligible for State Medicaid in NYC
Gov’s Office: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy will remain eligible for state-funded Medicaid, regardless of any federal changes to or termination of the program. Information for Medicaid-eligible DACA Recipients Available Here.
DOJ sent letters to 23 jurisdictions, demanding the production of documents that could show whether each jurisdiction is restricting information sharing. The letters also state that recipient jurisdictions that fail to respond will be subject to a DOJ subpoena. AILA Doc. No. 18012435
Shifting Gears, Trump Administration Launches High-Profile Worksite Enforcement Operations
MPI: In January 2018, the Trump administration carried out its largest immigration action yet against a U.S. employer, with hundreds of federal immigration agents descending upon 98 stores in the 7-Eleven chain in 17 states and the District of Columbia… While few immigrants were arrested, the highly visible action—targeting a chain of convenience stores known for their presence in working-class and immigrant communities—sends a clear message that the workplace is not free from immigration enforcement. And it may also signal a major shift in worksite enforcement policy from the previous administration.
ICE Targets Immigrant Rights Activists for Deportation
Intercept: The events in New York are taking place against a national backdrop of escalating actions against prominent immigrant rights figures.
Hispanics forgo health services to avoid officials’ attention, advocates say
WaPo: The trend stabilized a bit as the year went on, but it remains clear that the increasingly polarized immigration debate is having a chilling effect on Hispanic participation in health-care programs, particularly during the enrollment season that ended in December.
TRAC Report: Hot Spots with Highest Growth in Immigration Court Backlog
TRAC: Three New York metropolitan counties – Queens, Kings (Brooklyn), and Suffolk (eastern Long Island) – placed third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, in the sheer number of residents with pending Immigration Court cases. The growth rate of their pending cases between May 31, 2017 and December 31, 2017 ranged between 6 and 8 percent.
DOJ Limits Use of Agency Guidance Documents in Affirmative Civil Enforcement Cases
DOJ issued a memo stating that for affirmative civil enforcement cases, it may not use its enforcement authority to convert agency guidance documents into binding rules. Noncompliance with guidance documents may not be used as a basis for proving violations of applicable law in these cases. AILA Doc. No. 18012637.
LITIGATION/CASELAW
Supreme Court agrees to speed up Trump’s DACA appeal
USA Today: By setting up a fast track for both sides to submit court papers, the high court likely will consider the Justice Department’s request at its Feb. 16 conference. If it decides to take the case, it could hear arguments in the spring.
Lawsuit Against DHS on Haitian TPS
NAACP: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s decision to rescind the Temporary Protective Status (TPS) designation for Haitian immigrants discriminates against immigrants of color, in violation of the Fifth Amendment, according to a new lawsuit filed today on behalf of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
BIA Upholds Bond Based on Materially Changed Circumstances
Unpublished BIA decision upholds grant of bond based on materially changed circumstances where respondent attended rehabilitation meetings after DUI conviction and wife provided assurances that she would drive respondent. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of M-R-R-A-, 4/25/17) AILA Doc. No. 18012632
CA7 Finds Lack of Jurisdiction to Review USCIS Action in Religious Worker Case
The court affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the appellees’ complaint regarding USCIS’s denial of a Form I-485 and revocation of its initial approval of a Form I-360 for a religious worker due to lack of jurisdiction. (Bultasa Buddhist Temple of Chicago v. Nielsen, 12/22/17) AILA Doc. No. 18012300
CA7 Holds BIA Did Not Err in Granting Motion to Remand on Frivolous Asylum Application Issue
The court found that the BIA did not procedurally err in granting DHS’s motion to remand to the IJ for reconsideration of whether the petitioner, an Iranian national who did not disclose her Norwegian citizenship, had filed a frivolous asylum application. (Shojaeddini v. Sessions, 1/11/18) AILA Doc. No. 18012333
CA7 Denies Motion for Stay of Removal for Bisexual Citizen of Jamaica
The court denied the petitioner’s motion for a stay of removal pending the court’s consideration of his petition for review because the BIA’s decision on a motion to reopen “is discretionary and unreviewable.” (Fuller v. Sessions, 1/8/18) AILA Doc. No. 18012361
The court denied the petition for review, holding that substantial evidence supported the finding that the petitioner failed to establish either a sufficient nexus between his faith and his mistreatment or a likelihood of torture if removed. (Garcia-Moctezuma v. Sessions, 1/11/18) AILA Doc. No. 18012332
CA8 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Ethiopian Petitioner
The court upheld the BIA’s denial of asylum to an Ethiopian petitioner who spoke out against a government massacre, finding that the facts did not compel a finding of past persecution based on political opinion or a well-founded fear of future persecution. (Baltti v. Sessions, 12/19/17) AILA Doc. No. 18012336
The court denied the petition for review, finding that the petitioner’s Minnesota misdemeanor domestic assault conviction was a crime of domestic violence under INA §237(a)(2)(E)(i) that rendered him ineligible for cancellation of removal. (Onduso v. Sessions, 12/20/17) AILA Doc. No. 18012434
The court held that the petitioner’s due process claim based on denial of the right to counsel during his initial interaction with DHS during administrative removal proceedings failed because he made no showing of prejudice. (Gomez-Velazco v. Sessions, 1/10/18) AILA Doc. No. 18012431
CA9 Terminates Removal Proceedings Against Petitioner Convicted of Drug Conspiracy in Nevada
The court granted the petition for review and terminated the removal proceedings against the petitioner, holding that Nevada Revised Statutes §199.480 and §454.351 are not categorical matches to the generic federal statutes. (Villavicencio v. Sessions, 1/5/18) AILA Doc. No. 18012400
CA9 Holds That Adam Walsh Act Applies to Petitions Filed Before Its Effective Date
The court held that the Adam Walsh Act applies to I-130 petitions that were filed, but not yet adjudicated, before its effective date. (Gebhardt v. Nielsen, 1/9/18) AILA Doc. No. 18012436
The court affirmed the preliminary injunction issued on 11/18/16 by the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona that ordered CBP to take certain steps to improve conditions in its holding facilities within the Tucson Sector. (Doe v. Kelly, 12/22/17) AILA Doc. No. 18012437
ACTIONS
- State of the Union: Post-speech social media campaign with the hashtag #IAmNotALoophole to push out stories of asylum seekers and unaccompanied children.
- Trump v. Hawaii Amicus Briefs (the Muslim Ban): Trump v. Hawaii will be heard during the Supreme Court’s April 2018 sitting. It is expected that merits brief will be due sometime between March 20 and April 2. (Note: The ACLU/IRAP case concerning EO-3 is still pending in the court of appeals.) Plaintiff’s counsel, Hogan Lovells, has asked that people working on briefs stay in touch. Simpson Thacher is looking at filing another amicus brief on behalf of organizations that promote immigrant and refugee rights and provide legal services to this community and is soliciting interest.
- Castro-Tum Amicus Briefs (Administrative Closure): A ton of organizations are working on this issue. Please see attached list of proposed briefs and contacts. The deadline for filing has been extended to Feb. 20.
- AILA Call for Examples: Experiences with Waivers for Individuals Impacted by Travel Ban
· Call for Examples: Asylum Applicants denied cash assistance: NYLAG’s Abby Biberman: Can you please let me know if you have clients who are asylum applicants with work authorization who were denied Cash Assistance after the 17 TA/DC-047 https://otda.ny.gov/policy/gis/2017/17DC047.pdf policy was issued on Nov 21, 2017? If yes, did they receive the old CNS notice that doesn’t include this group?
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PWS
01-29-18