☠️🤮🏴‍☠️TRUMP REGIME’S MINDLESS CRUELTY, XENOPHOBIA, MALICIOUS INCOMPETENCE, SHAFTED 60,000 MIGRANTS!

Dan Kowalski reports on LexisNexis Immigration Community:

https://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/immigration/b/insidenews/posts/district-court-approves-settlement-in-lawsuit-challenging-immigration-agency-s-unlawful-rejection-of-over-sixty-thousand-humanitarian-applications

District Court Approves Settlement in Lawsuit Challenging Immigration Agency’s Unlawful Rejection of Over Sixty Thousand Humanitarian Applications

NILA, NWIRP, July 20, 2021

“Today, a federal district court judge in Oakland, California, approved a final settlement in the case of Vangala v. USCIS, providing relief to over sixty thousand applicants for humanitarian immigration benefits. The lawsuit, filed on November 19, 2020, against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), challenged an agency policy adopted under the Trump administration specifically targeting humanitarian benefits for survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking and asylum seekers. Under the policy, USCIS rejected applications that left any question in the application unanswered, even where the question was not applicable—for example where the applicant failed to include a response for middle name because they have no middle name. Additionally, USCIS rejected applications where the applicant wrote “none” or “not applicable” instead of “N/A.”

The lawsuit was filed by Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), the National Immigration Litigation Alliance (NILA), and the Van Der Hout law firm, on behalf of three applicants who sought to represent a nationwide class of individuals whose applications were rejected under the policy. They alleged that the policy was nothing more than a pretextual basis for denying applicants the opportunity to obtain humanitarian benefits provided by Congress.

On December 22, 2020, the agency agreed to suspend the policy, and the parties then entered settlement discussions to address the tens of thousands of applications that USCIS previously rejected.  The U.S. district court adopted and approved the final settlement agreement on July 20, 2021.

Under the settlement agreement, USCIS will accept the original submission date of the more than sixty thousand applications it has identified as having been rejected under the policy. USCIS will send notices to these applicants explaining the steps they can take to ensure that their applications for humanitarian benefits are recorded as having been filed as of the date they were originally submitted. Without this relief, these applicants not only would suffer the delays caused by USCIS’ rejection of their applications, but many applicants or their family members would be rendered ineligible because they were unable to file the required forms by timelines specified in the statute.

In addition, the settlement agreement prevents the agency from adopting a similar rejection policy with respect to other immigration forms unless authorized by statute or lawfully implemented through regulations.

“It was an outrageous policy clearly aimed to impede individuals from obtaining the humanitarian benefits that Congress has provided,” said Matt Adams, Legal Director for NWIRP. “It aptly demonstrates the Trump administrations’ utter disregard of the law.”

“USCIS’ rejection policy served no legitimate purpose,” said Mary Kenney, Deputy Director for NILA. “Tens of thousands of applicants will now, finally, be able to move forward with applications that the agency should have accepted in 2020.”

The settlement agreement is here and order approving the settlement agreement can be found here.

#####

Media contacts:

Trina Realmuto, National Immigration Litigation Alliance

(617) 819-4447; trina@immigrationlitigation.org

Matt Adams, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project

(206) 957-8611; matt@nwirp.org”

****************

Cruelty, stupidity, illegality, wasting Government resources! So, what else is new about the Trump kakistocracy’s immigration policies and procedures? Wonder why all immigration agencies are running out of control backlogs? Don’t blame the victims — the migrants exercising their legal rights!

In direct contravention of the intent of Congress in structuring DHS so that the “customer services” to migrants and their families would be separate, and no longer subordinate to, immigration enforcement, the Trump kakistocracy turned USCIS into a semi-useless branch of their corrupt, yet inept, White Nationalist enforcement agenda. So incompetent and inappropriate were Trump’s actions that his lackeys managed to “repurpose” USCIS, once one of the few self-sustaining independently funded agencies within Government, into a deficit promoting, bankrupt, money pit.

And, it was a cesspool that failed miserably in its primary mission of serving those seeking legal immigration status, their families, and their employers. A primary reason why the Biden Administration is having difficulties with immigration and human rights is the illegal eradication by the Trump regime of the U.S. legal immigration system, particularly our refugee and asylum systems.

That leaves those suffering from persecution and torture in need of legal protection with no choice but to use the “extralegal system.” Far from  their stunningly false claim to have “enhanced” immigration enforcement, the GOP nativists have also destroyed rational, practical, targeted enforcement with their nonsense. Don’t let them get away with blaming the Biden Administration and the victims of their cruel and often illegal behavior which produced the results that many of us predicted!

The next time you hear Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, or some other GOP nativist restrictionist disingenuously blabbering on about “rewarding lawbreakers” or “doing it the right way,” remember that largely because of them and the Trump regime, America has no functional immigration system for refugees, asylees, or any other type of legal immigrants, nor do we have a functioning Immigration Court system!

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

07-23-21

THE GIBSON REPORT — 05-24-21 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

Elizabeth Gibson
Elizabeth Gibson
Attorney, NY Legal Assistance Group
Publisher of “The Gibson Report”

COVID-19 & Closures

Note: Policies are rapidly changing, so please verify information with the government and colleagues.

 

EOIR Status Overview & EOIR Court Status Map/List:

EOIR plans to resume non-detained hearings on July 6 at all remaining immigration courts.

 

Changes to USCIS Mask Policy: Masks are only required for staff and visitors who have not been fully vaccinated.

 

TOP NEWS

 

Biden administration grants protected status to thousands of Haitian migrants

WaPo: Haitians granted protected status will be exempted from deportation for 18 months. At that point, the Biden administration could choose to renew the designation…Only Haitians already present in the United States are eligible, so migrants who arrive after May 21 would still face potential deportation, according to DHS.

 

The State Department reverses a policy that denied citizenship to some babies born abroad to same-sex parents.

NYT: The new policy effectively guarantees that American and binational couples who use assisted reproductive technology to give birth overseas — such as surrogates or sperm donations — can pass along citizenship to their children.

 

US eases asylum restrictions at border amid legal challenges

AP: The Biden administration has agreed to let about 250 people a day through border crossings with Mexico to seek refuge in the United States, part of negotiations to settle a lawsuit over pandemic-related powers that deny migrants a right to apply for asylum, an attorney said Monday.

 

Children tell of neglect, filth and fear in US asylum camps

BBC: The US has a vast system of detention sites scattered across the country, holding more than 20,000 migrant children. In a special investigation, the BBC has uncovered allegations of cold temperatures, sickness, neglect, lice and filth, through a series of interviews with children and staff.

 

ICE to stop detaining immigrants at two county jails under federal investigation

WaPo: Federal officials chose the two facilities mainly because their detention rosters have shrunk and they are “no longer operationally necessary,” said a Department of Homeland Security official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the administration’s deliberations. Bristol is holding seven detainees out of nearly 200 beds; Irwin has 114 detainees out of almost 1,000 beds.

 

UNHCR chief calls on US to end COVID-19 asylum restrictions at the Mexico border

UN: The agency reminded that, at the height of the pandemic, many countries put in place protocols such as health screening, testing, and quarantine measures, to simultaneously protect both public health and the right to seek asylum.

 

DOJ faces call to reverse Trump rule increasing fees in immigration court

Hill: The rule was finalized by the Department of Justice (DOJ), which oversees the immigration court system, on Jan. 19, but it has since been blocked amid pending litigation. Though it was one of many rules targeted by the Biden administration for review in an early February executive order, the administration has yet to take any action to formally unwind it through the lengthy rulemaking process.

 

The pandemic has taken a devastating toll on undocumented women in New York.

NYT: Roughly 35,000 undocumented women in New York City had too little food to eat this past March.

 

A 19-Year-Old Asylum-Seeker Forced To Wait In Mexico Was Killed Days Before He Was Scheduled To Enter The US

BuzzFeed: Cristian San Martín Estrada, 19, had been waiting in Mexico since 2019 after asking US immigration authorities for asylum, according to his uncle. As part of the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, Estrada was sent back to Mexico after seeking refuge at the border while a US judge adjudicated his case.

 

Trump visa restrictions live on under COVID-19 backlog

Hill: Even as the State Department ramps up vaccinations of its staff, the complications of processing visas during the pandemic are creating a pileup on top of an already daunting backlog.

 

Harris, White House betting on Guatemala to help stem migrant influx

Politico: The Biden administration is most optimistic about working with Guatemala because it’s willing to talk about the tough issues. And it’s not Honduras or El Salvador.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

Court rejects non-citizen’s challenge to “unlawful re-entry” charge

SCOTUSblog: In 2018, Palomar-Santiago was found back in the United States, and he was indicted for illegally re-entering the country after being deported. Palomar-Santiago sought to dismiss the indictment, arguing that the Supreme Court’s decision in Leocal meant that his original removal order was invalid. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit sided with Palomar-Santiago, but in an opinion by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court disagreed.

 

CA1 Backs Asylum-Seeker’s Conviction For Genocide Lies

Law360: A federal appellate court on Monday upheld the conviction and more than eight-year prison sentence of a Rwandan man for lying about his participation in the 1994 Rwandan genocide during asylum and removal proceedings.

 

CA2: KO v. Garland on Competency (Unpub.)

Summary order from the Second Circuit vacating due to the IJ’s failure to fully explore competency/mental health issues and to consider for the purposes of credibility.  KO had a diagnosis of PTSD detailed in the record, and the judge failed to consider this and the fact that they were taking medication for the PTSD in making a MAM assessment and also in assessing credibility.

 

CA2 On Evidence, Well-Founded Fear: Cazahuatl Torres V. Garland (Unpub.)

LexisNexis: Cazahuatl Torres v. Garland (unpub.) “Because the agency “ignor[ed] a significant aspect of [Cazahuatl Torres’s] testimony . . . we are unable adequately to consider whether substantial evidence” in this case supports the BIA’s determination that Cazahuatl Torres failed to demonstrate a well-founded fear of future persecution.

 

CA2: Akre v. Garland on Internal Relocation (Unpub.)

CA2: Because the agency failed to consider relevant evidence that Akre could easily be located due to his tribal identity, that civil strife is ongoing, and that internal movement is restricted, it erred in relying solely on evidence that the northern part of Côte d’Ivoire is predominantly Muslim and that  the  government  encourages  religious  tolerance  to  conclude that it would be reasonable for Akre to relocate.

 

CA3 Won’t Stop Honduran National’s Deportation

Law360: The Third Circuit on Wednesday refused to undo removal orders for a Honduran native who feared harm by a gang that committed rape and murder on his family members, reasoning in a precedential decision that the activity didn’t signal the threat of government persecution that would justify staying in the U.S.

 

AAO Finds Director Did Not Fully Evaluate Favorable Factors in Denying Application for Permission to Reapply for Admission

In a nonprecedent decision, the AAO withdrew the Director’s decision denying the applicant’s Form I-212 and remanded, finding that it did not reflect a proper analysis of the favorable and unfavorable factors in the applicant’s case. Courtesy of Alan Lee. In Re: 5511191 (AAO 5/6/21) AILA Doc. No. 21051934

 

3 State AGs Fight To Revive Trump’s ‘Remain In Mexico’ Policy

Law360: The attorneys general of Texas, Missouri and Arizona urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to allow them to intervene in a lawsuit to reinstate the Trump-era policy forcing asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico during their immigration proceedings, arguing they should be allowed to defend the policy since the Biden administration won’t.

 

Texas Drops Lawsuit Over 100-Day Deportation Freeze

Law360: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have asked a Texas federal court to dismiss a lawsuit over the now-defunct 100-day deportation freeze, jointly saying the object of the suit no longer exists.

 

DAs Drop ICE Courthouse Arrest Suit After Biden Curbs Policy

Law360: A pair of Boston-area district attorneys on Friday dropped their suit challenging a federal government policy allowing civil immigration arrests in courthouses after the Biden administration issued new guidance limiting the practice.

 

Advocates Seek Answers to Reports of Discriminatory Treatment of Black Immigrants in ICE Detention

AIC: The American Immigration Council and Black Alliance for Just Immigration filed 10 Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain government records about the conditions, treatment, and outcomes Black immigrants face in eight immigration detention facilities throughout U.S. southern states.

 

DHS Secretary Designates Haiti for TPS for 18 Months

DHS Secretary Mayorkas announced a new 18-month designation of Haiti for TPS, enabling Haitian nationals and individuals without nationality who last resided in Haiti currently residing in the U.S. as of 5/21/21 to file initial applications for TPS as long as they meet eligibility requirements. AILA Doc. No. 21052430

 

Advance Copy of USCIS Notice Designating Burma for TPS

Advance copy of USCIS notice designating Burma for TPS for 18 months, from 5/25/21 through 11/25/22. The notice will be published in the Federal Register on 5/25/21. AILA Doc. No. 21052436

 

Presidential Memorandum on Restoring DOJ’s Access-to-Justice Function and Reinvigorating the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable

On 5/18/21, President Biden issued a memorandum directing the Attorney General to “consider expanding DOJ’s planning, development, and coordination of access-to-justice policy initiatives,” and reinvigorating the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (LAIR). (86 FR 27793, 5/21/21) AILA Doc. No. 21051833

 

Attorney General Issues Memo on Access to Justice

Attorney General Garland issued a memo reinvigorating DOJ’s Office for Access to Justice and announcing a process to develop a plan for expanding DOJ’s role in leading access-to-justice policy initiatives, including on how DOJ and partners can address barriers to access in the immigration systems. AILA Doc. No. 21051900

 

President Biden Revokes Healthcare Insurance Proclamation

On 5/14/21, President Biden revoked Presidential Proclamation 9945 of October 4, 2019, which suspended the entry of immigrants who would financially burden the U.S. healthcare system. (86 FR 27015, 5/19/21) AILA Doc. No. 21051400

 

DOS Updates Position on U.S. Citizenship Transmission and Assisted Reproductive Technology

DOS announced that children born abroad to parents, at least one of whom is a U.S. citizen and who are married to each other at the time of the birth, will be U.S. citizens from birth if they have a genetic or gestational tie to at least one of their parents and meet the INA’s other requirements. AILA Doc. No. 21051840

 

DHS Issues Statement on the Expiration of 100-Day Removal Pause

DHS issued a statement on the expiration of the 100-day pause on removals. Per the statement: “DHS does not intend to extend or reinstate a policy requiring a pause on the execution of final orders of removal for any noncitizens.” AILA Doc. No. 21052132

 

ACTIONS

 

 

RESOURCES

 

·         AIC: Tracking the Biden Agenda on Immigration Enforcement

·         AILA: Practical and Ethical Considerations in Detention Cases

·         AILA: Current Leadership of Major Immigration Agencies

·         AILA: Practice Pointer: Suggested Handling of Misdirected Mendez Rojas Notices

·         AILA: Practice Pointer: Defensive Asylum Representation Following Matter of A-C-A-A-

·         AILA: Asylum Cases on Social Group

·         AILA: Asylum Cases on Serious Nonpolitical Crime

·         AILA: Asylum Cases on Political Opinion

·         AILA: Asylum Cases on Miscellaneous

·         AILA: Asylum Cases on Deferral of Removal Under CAT

·         CLINIC: Translation of Civics Questions and Answers for the Naturalization Test

·         DHS: TPS/DED Venezuela Live Engagement Q&A

·         DHS: LRIF and DED Liberia Engagement –   Q&A

·         DHS: COVID-19 Vulnerability by Immigration Status

·         DHS OIG: DHS Law Enforcement Components Did Not Consistently Collect DNA from Arrestees

·         DHS OIG: ICE Did Not Consistently Provide Separated Migrant Parents the Opportunity to Bring Their Children upon Removal

·         Excluded Workers Fund FAQs and ITIN guidance

·         Hispanic Federation DACA Scholarship Program

·         NIP/NLG: The INA’s Distorted Definition of “Conviction”

·         NYT: Explore 100 Years of Immigration History With The Times Archive

·         UNHCR: Top US Destinations of Individuals Enrolled in MPP

 

EVENTS

 

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, May 24, 2021

·         Supreme Court Rules Against a Noncitizen in Illegal Re-Entry Case

·         Immigrant of the Week: Montserrat Garibay (Mexico), educator, activist, U.S. government official

Sunday, May 23, 2021

·         Job Announcement: Visiting Clinical Position at Arkansas, Fayetteville

·         From the Bookshelves: The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin (available June 1)

·         WHIAPPI Community Policy Briefing

Saturday, May 22, 2021

·         Secretary Mayorkas Designates Haiti for Temporary Protected Status for 18 Months

·         Your Playlist: The Linda Lindas

·         At the Movies: Limbo

·         From the Bookshelves: Sooley: A Novel by John Grisham

·         Immigrant wanted by ICE is freed from Detroit church sanctuary

Friday, May 21, 2021

·         The Lancet: Fertility, Mortality, Migration, and Population

·         Professor Erika Lee tweeting lessons through AAPI Heritage Month

Thursday, May 20, 2021

·         DHS Ends Contracts at Two Detention Facilities

·         From the Bookshelves: Long Island Migrant Labor Camps: Dust for Blood by Mark A. Torres

·         First circuit leaves courthouse arrests in place

·         LSA 2021 Citizenship and Migration Panels (Day 4)

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

·         Congress passes Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Bill, Biden expected to sign

·         Immprof and Former ImmigrationProf Blog Editor Named Co-Dean of Rutgers Law

·         6,000+ Migrants Swim from Morocco to the Autonomous Spanish Port City of Ceuta

·         Immigration Article of the Day: Michele Goodwin & Erwin Chemerinsky, Trump Administration: Immigration, Racism & Covid-19

·         LSA 2021 Citizenship and Migration Panels (Day 3)

·         State Department Eases Restrictions on Citizenship for Children of Same-Sex Couples

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

·         IJ Leaves SF Court, Burning Bridges Loudly

·         Call For Papers–AALS 2022, New Voices in Immigration Law

·         LSA 2021 Citizenship and Migration Panels (Day 2)

·         Maricopa County, Arizona Continues to Pay for Sheriff Arpaio’s Racial Profiling of Latina/os

Monday, May 17, 2021

·         Suicide Rates in ICE Detention Surge

·         Lack of knowledge about Asian American experiences, discrimination

·         Immigration Article of the Day, Critical Interviewing, by Laila Hlass and Lindsay Muir Harris

·         LSA 2021 Citizenship and Migration Panels (Day 1)

·         Immigration Article of the Day: “Who Does America Want” by Jarienn James

 

******************

Thanks, Elizabeth, and Due Process Forever!

PWS

05-27-21

🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️🤮CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY: ICE Contractor Operates “Gulag Within A Gulag” Near Seattle

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/secret-prison-within-a-prison-report-details-solitary-confinement-practices-at-northwest-detention-center-in-tacoma/

Joseph O’ Sullivan reports for the Seattle Times:

OLYMPIA — The Northwest detention center in Tacoma holds people in solitary confinement on average more than any other dedicated U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, according to a new watchdog report.

The report by the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights also contends that the center — in violation of ICE’s own policies — imposes solitary confinement on inmates with mental-health issues, or who are exercising their First Amendment rights by going on hunger strikes.

The report is based on federal government records and documents by the company that operates the prison, GEO Group, which were obtained by the Center for Human Rights after years of litigation.

The privately run detention center holds as many as 1,575 immigrants accused by the government of living illegally in the U.S. and facing deportation proceedings.

In an interview, Angelina Godoy, director for UW’s Center for Human Rights, said the report “speaks to this existence of a secret prison within a prison.”

“There’s essentially no effective oversight of the practice” of solitary confinement, Godoy added. “And from the data that we were able to gather, there’s really disturbing conclusions about just flagrant violation of international human-rights norms.”

. . . .

***************
Read the full article at the link.

The Biden-Harris Administration must eliminate the “New American Gulag” (NAG”). The money could be “repurposed” for grants to encourage legal representation of migrants and to train more and better Accredited Representatives (non-attorneys) to represent individuals in immigration proceedings. 

Contrary to the bogus narratives spread by DHS and White Nationalist restrictionists, reputable research and studies show that individuals with legal representation appear for hearings at an extraordinarily high level. Thus, punitive private “faux civil” detention in the NAG should, in a rational, properly operating system, be unnecessary.

In those relatively few cases where detention is necessary because the DHS demonstrates a danger to the community or high risk of failure to appear, the Government should provide it in humane, professionally run, closely monitored, and accountable non-punitive facilities.

Due Process Forever!

PWS

11-30-20

WHITE NATIONALISTS BEWARE: 9th Cir. Fires Warning Shot Across Bow Of Racist Judges, Prosecutors, & Police — No Qualified Immunity For You, Neo-Nazis! — Reynaga Hernandez v. Skinner

Dan Kowalski
Dan Kowalski
Online Editor of the LexisNexis Immigration Law Community (ILC)

 

https://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/immigration/b/insidenews/posts/ca9-on-fourth-amendment-reynaga-hernandez-v-skinner

Dan Kowalski reports for LexisNexis Immigration Community:

pastedGraphic.png

Daniel M. Kowalski

11 Aug 2020

CA9 on Fourth Amendment: Reynaga Hernandez v. Skinner

Reynaga Hernandez v. Skinner

“In late 2017, a witness in a courtroom in Billings, Montana, testified that one of the other witnesses, Miguel Reynaga Hernandez (“Reynaga”), was “not a legal citizen.” On the basis of this statement, the Justice of the Peace presiding over the hearing spoke with the local Sheriff’s Office and asked that Reynaga be “picked up.” Deputy Sheriff Derrek Skinner responded to the call. Outside the courtroom, Skinner asked Reynaga for identification and questioned him regarding his immigration status in the United States. Reynaga produced an expired Mexican consular identification card but was unable to provide detailed information regarding his immigration status because he does not speak English fluently. Skinner then placed Reynaga in handcuffs, searched his person, and escorted him to a patrol car outside the courthouse. With Reynaga waiting in the back of the patrol car, Skinner ran a warrants check and, after Reynaga’s record came back clean, asked Immigration and Custom Enforcement (“ICE”) if the agency had any interest in Reynaga. Reynaga was ultimately taken to an ICE facility and remained in custody for three months. Upon his release, Reynaga sued Skinner and Pedro Hernandez, the presiding Justice of the Peace (“Hernandez”), under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violating his Fourth Amendment rights. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court denied each defendant qualified immunity and held that Reynaga’s Fourth Amendment rights had been violated. Skinner and Hernandez interlocutorily appeal the court’s denial of qualified immunity. We affirm.”

From NWIRP: “This decision is important as it makes clear that state and local law enforcement officers may be held liable under the civil rights statute if they unlawfully detain community members in order to turn them over to immigration enforcement,” said Matt Adams, legal director for NWIRP. “Police officers—and even local judicial officials—may be held accountable when, instead of serving the community, they take it upon themselves to stop people based on their suspected immigration status, the language they speak, or their ethnicity or the color of their skin.”  “The harm that [Judge Hernandez and Deputy Skinner] did to me is hard to explain,” said Mr. Reynaga in reacting to the court of appeals decision. “It’s something that lives in me and in my family now. It’s hard to describe what this harm represents to a person. But I’m very grateful for the work NWIRP has done for me. I’m very happy and proud that now immigrants here in Montana and in other states can know that we also have rights.”  Following the court of appeals decision, Mr. Reynaga’s case will return to the district court for further proceedings on the damages he is entitled to in light of the violation of his constitutional rights.”

[Hats way off to Matt Adams (argued), Leila Kang, Aaron Korthuis, and Anne Recinos, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Seattle, Washington, and Shahid Haque, Border Crossing Law Firm P.C., Helena, Montana; for Plaintiff-Appellee!]

***************

Who knows what the Supremes might do on on this? So far they have been reluctant to enforce the Constitution against racism in law enforcement. Remember, they recently gave the Border Patrol a license to unconstitutionally shoot and kill a Mexican kid across the border in Mexico. And, the Supremes majority has happily found ways to impose possible death sentences on legal asylum seekers of color without any meaningful process at all. 

The “JR Five” aren’t particularly creative thinkers —except when it comes to thinking of ways to dehumanize (“Dred Scottify”) persons of color under our Constitution. Then they often are happy to fabricate any rationale to deny due process and equal protection under our laws.

Due Process Forever!

PWS

08-12-20

SCOFFLAW WATCH: FEDERAL JUDGE IN SEATTLE CLEARS WAY FOR DUE PROCESS CLAIM AGAINST ADMINISTRATION’S MISTREATMENT OF DETAINED ASYLUM SEEKERS!

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/judge-declines-to-dismiss-challenge-to-us-asylum-delays/2018/12/12/3526a89c-fe3f-11e8-a17e-162b712e8fc2_story.html

Gene Johnson reports for AP in the WashPost:

SEATTLE — Immigrant rights activists can continue to challenge what they describe as unlawful U.S. government delays in asylum cases, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle dismissed some arguments raised by the lawsuit in a ruling Tuesday, but she said the activists can pursue their claim that the delays violate the due process rights of detained asylum seekers across the country. The government sought to dismiss the case.

The Seattle-based Northwest Immigrant Rights Project filed the lawsuit in June against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which said through a spokeswoman Wednesday that it does not comment on pending litigation.

According to the complaint, migrants seeking asylum after entering the U.S. illegally have had to wait weeks or months for their initial asylum interviews, at which an immigration officer determines whether they have a credible fear of persecution or torture in their home country. After that, there have been long delays in getting bond hearings, which determine whether an asylum seeker will be released from custody as the case proceeds.

The group initially filed the lawsuit in response to the administration’s family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border, saying the delays had kept mothers detained at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, from being reunited with their children in immigration custody across the country. Those plaintiffs have since been released, but the lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of thousands of asylum seekers.

The complaint asks the judge to order the government to make credible fear determinations within 10 days and to conduct bond hearings within seven days of an asylum seeker’s request for one.

Pechman disagreed, saying that because the detainees had crossed into the U.S. they were entitled to greater constitutional protections than the government claimed.

“Simply put, are they ‘excludable aliens’ with little or no due process rights, or are they aliens who are in the country illegally, but nevertheless in the country such that their presence entitles them to certain constitutional protections?” she wrote. “Plaintiffs have adequately plead that they were within the borders of this country without permission when detained, and thus enjoy inherent constitutional due process protections.”

*****************************************

Despite all of their disingenuous whining about being required to follow the law by mere judges, and Trump’s successful effort to fill the Federal Courts with right-wing jurists, there will be plenty more well deserved defeats for this lawless Administration.

Even the most conservative jurists tend to have a concept of the Constitution, the law, and fairness. Trump and his minions, including particularly his stooges at the DOJ, have little concern for law of any type except when it happens to advance their political agenda.  It’s just a political game for them, driven by an anti-American, racist, White Nationalist agenda. That’s not likely to be a successful long-range litigation strategy with judges across the philosophical spectrum.

Many judges are going to require the Administration to comply with Due Process, as is happening here. Significantly, Judge Pechman gave short shrift to the DOJ’s argument that individuals detained at or near the border have no Due Process rights.

PWS

12-13-18

FASCINATING “MUST READ:” “Dickie The P’s” Exit Interview With The NYT — See How Being A Judge Transformed A Conservative “Economic Analyst” Into A Pragmatic Humanist!

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/09/11/us/politics/judge-richard-posner-retirement.html?module=WatchingPortal®ion=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=thumb_square&state=standard&contentPlacement=1&version=internal&contentCollection=www.nytimes.com&contentId=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2017%2F09%2F11%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Fjudge-richard-posner-retirement.html&eventName=Watching-article-click&_r=0&referer

KEY QUOTE:

“The basic thing is that most judges regard these people [unrepresented litigants] as kind of trash not worth the time of a federal judge,” he said.”

**********************************

Read the full, very revealing interview at the above link.

I do hope that Judge P will turn his attention and boundless energy to the way that unrepresented litigants are routinely mistreated, denied due process, and abused in our U.S. immigration Court system. Children forced to present their own asylum claims? He could also shed some needed light on how the DOJ is intentionally attacking and wearing down the NGOs and pro bono attorneys, who are indigent migrants’ sole lifeline to due process, with Aimless Docket Reshuffling (“ADR”).

I was interested in how he described the staff attorney system in the 7th Circuit as placing the real adjuducation of appeals in the hands of staff, with Article III Judges all too often merely “signing off” or “rubber stamping” results. Most Circuit Court staff attorney systems were instituted to deal with the overwhelming flow of petitions to review BIA decisions following the so-called “Ashcroft Purge and Reforms” that largely eliminated critical thinking and dialogue at the BIA and turned it into the “Falls Church Service Center.”

The current BIA is largely a staff-driven organization. That the Article III Courts have replicated the same system resulting in the same problems is disturbing, and shows why due process for migrants is being given short shrift throughout our legal system.

The good news: The New Due Process Army knows what’s going on in the system and is positioned to carry the fight to the entrenched status quo, for decades if necessary, until our legal system delivers on the constitutional guarantee of due process for all.

Many thanks to my good friend and colleague Judge Dorothy Harbeck for sending this item my way!

PWS

09-11-17

MOYERS & CO: Rachel B. Tiven Accuses EOIR Of Participating In Political Vendetta!

http://billmoyers.com/story/airport-lawyers-defied-trump-under-attack/

Tiven writes:

“While the country has been fixated on President Trump’s firings, leaks and outbursts involving the Department of Justice, that agency has itself been stealthily attacking our democracy by telling good lawyers to stop representing people. Four weeks ago, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) — a respected nonprofit in Seattle that represents immigrants in deportation proceedings—received a “cease and desist” letter from the DOJ threatening disciplinary action. The letter demanded that NWIRP drop representation of its clients and close down its asylum-advisory program. The reason: a technicality, perversely applied. NWIRP is accused of breaking a rule that was put in place to protect people from lawyers or “notarios” who take their money and then drop their case.

Last week, NWIRP filed a lawsuit to defend itself against the DoJ’s order—and on Wednesday, a judge granted a restraining order. So for now, the organization can keep helping immigrants who need legal advice. But what’s at stake extends far beyond NWIRP and the 5,000 people it serves every year. The outcome of this legal battle will profoundly impact access to legal representation for the tens of thousands of immigrants who apply for asylum in the United States every year and the hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants whose cases are currently in front of an immigration judge.

The outcome of this legal battle will profoundly impact access to legal representation for the tens of thousands of immigrants who apply for asylum in the United States every year and the hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants whose cases are currently in front of an immigration judge.
Before I explain more, let’s step back for the context: You have no right to counsel in immigration proceedings. If you are not a citizen — or if the government merely alleges you aren’t — you can be taken from your home, jailed and permanently deported without ever seeing a lawyer. This is perfectly legal. It happened to more than a million people under the Obama administration, which vastly expanded the machinery of deportation. (If you want this to be an “Obama was good, Trump is bad” story, sorry to disappoint.)

On the last day of President Obama’s term, nearly half a million people were in immigration court proceedings, which one judge describes as “death penalty trials in a traffic court setting.” Most of them had no lawyer, and the vast majority of them had committed no crime. They were prosecuted solely for being in the United States without authorization, which is a civil violation and not a crime. (That is the reason you don’t get a lawyer: The familiar promise of “if you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you” only applies to people accused of crimes.)

In the absence of a right to appointed counsel, a patchwork of underfunded nonprofits (like NWIRP) and attorneys do their best to help immigrants in court. These nonprofits leverage the volunteer work of lawyers at big law firms, who represent children and refugees in immigration and asylum proceedings for free. There are also a few thousand really good private immigration attorneys nationwide, which isn’t enough even for those who can afford to hire them.

There are thousands more unqualified and dishonest scoundrels who steal money from immigrants too vulnerable to report them. And it is these thieves and cheats that the DoJ’s rules were meant to protect immigrants from. But in Jeff Sessions’s DoJ, the Disciplinary Review office of the Executive Office of Immigration Review is instead pursuing NWIRP, and will soon come after other non-profits. The accusation is that because NWIRP provides advice and assistance to people in immigration proceedings without committing to full representation, it is violating the rules.

It’s a Kafkaesque system: The government won’t provide immigrant defendants with legal representation, and they are allowed to get help for free only if they find a lawyer who will commit up-front to a case that will stretch on for years. Otherwise, they’re not allowed to have any help at all, are required to submit complex legal documents with no assistance and lawyers who try to help them will be sanctioned.

Precisely because this would be a cruel and absurd result, NWIRP and its peers around the country have had longstanding agreements with immigration officials that permit them to run asylum-assistance programs without committing to permanent representation. Attacking them now is a shockingly cynical move, akin to sanctioning an emergency-room doctor for sewing up a bleeding patient without first promising to be their doctor for life.

NWIRP doesn’t know why it was singled out. But we do know that NWIRP has been at the forefront of resisting Trump’s travel ban. Its staff and volunteer lawyers were at SeaTac airport immediately after the White House launched the first Muslim ban, and in March it sued to block the second Muslim ban.

And NWIRP isn’t alone; its nonprofit counterparts did the same at airports around the country, leveraging law-school clinics and large-firm lawyers working pro bono. The DoJ’s suspiciously timed cease and desist letter sends a chilling message to exactly these groups, and to volunteer attorneys. This attack by the government on a legal services-provider for immigrants could dissuade law firms from letting their lawyers volunteer for these cases, scaring those firms away by convincing them that immigration-related projects are too risky pro-bono projects.

If they succeed, they don’t just deprive people of scarce resources for volunteer counsel, they gradually muzzle the bar. They marginalize the heroic work of nonprofits like NWIRP and its peers around the country. They defang the big law firms that have been willing to stand up to this administration—like Davis Wright Tremaine, which is assisting NWIRP—and they make immigrant representation a more marginal part of the law.

When lawyers rushed to airports this winter to protect our friends, our neighbors and our Constitution, people cheered. The Trump administration took offense, and now those lawyers are in their cross hairs. The president is taking a sledgehammer to the pillars of our government: the FBI, the Justice Department, the federal courts. America, we are under attack.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the fact that a restraining order enabling NWIRP to continue representing immigrants has been granted.”

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Don’t know if Tiven is right that Sessions and his  folks put EOIR up to this, or whether it’s just another case of bad bureaucratic judgement on EOIR’s part.

But, either way, it illustrates the real problem that has been swept under the table for too long: you can’t have a due process court system operating an an agency of the Executive Branch, particularly the USDOJ, well known for its political shenanigans over a number of Administrations. In light of this colossal coflict of interest, the idea of having EOIR investigate ethical violations by private entities seems somewhat comical.

PWS

05-25-17