🤡 LATEST GOP IMMIGRATION STUNT FAILS AS MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT VOTE FALLS SHORT IN HOUSE 216-214!

Jennifer Bendery
Jennifer Bendery
Journalist
HuffPost
PHOTO: Twitter

Jennifer Bendery reports for HuffPost:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/house-republicans-homeland-security-secretary-mayorkas-impeachment_n_65c278a0e4b0dbc806ae62c2

In a stunning blow to Republican leaders, the House rejected an effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday after a number of Republicans joined Democrats in opposing it.

The final vote was 214 to 216.

The vote was incredibly dramatic. It was tied 215 to 215 for several minutes, with every Democrat voting no along with three Republicans: Reps. Ken Buck (Colo.), Tom McClintock (Calif.) and Mike Gallagher (Wis.). A tied vote meant the effort would fail, so Democrats began shouting “Order!” at Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to drop the gavel and end it.

Republicans were furiously prodding Gallagher to change his vote, but he wouldn’t. At the last minute, Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah) voted no, not because he opposed the measure but because it would allow the House to bring it back up again another day. That bumped the final tally to 214-216.

Republicans appeared to be counting on one Democrat to be absent in order to squeak through the vote: Rep. Al Green of Texas. He had been out following surgery. But he showed up for Tuesday’s vote.

“I always intended to be here,” Green told reporters after the vote. “I had surgery. I’m recovering, but this was important.”

The whole effort was a political stunt, with one goal: helping Donald Trump look tough on border issues ahead of November’s presidential election. The GOP’s two articles of impeachment accused Mayorkas of “willful” refusal to comply with immigration laws, and of breaching public trust.

 

But they never produced any evidence that Mayorkas had committed crimes ― let alone crimes that meet the threshold for impeachable offenses. The Constitution spells out that impeachment is reserved for rare instances of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” like bribery or treason.

In the case of Mayorkas, a Cabinet secretary charged with carrying out immigration laws, the GOP was essentially attacking him for policies it doesn’t like.

. . . .

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Read the full article at the link. 

Thanks to GOP Reps. Ken Buck (Colo.), Tom McClintock (Calif.), and Mike Gallagher (Wis.) for standing up for common sense and the Constitution.

The determination of MAGAMike and his crew NOT to solve problems and instead to create unnecessary chaos, while wasting time and resources, is stunning, but perhaps not surprising!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

02-06-24

🏴‍☠️☠️ TEXAS GOP, “GOV GREG” HAVE NEW TARGETS FOR CRUELTY: THE HEALTH & SAFETY OF THEIR OWN WORKERS — No More Water Or Rest Breaks For You! 🤮 — “Death Star” ☠️⭐️ Bill Signed!

Sara Boboltz
Sara Boboltz
Reporter
HuffPost
PHOTO: Twitter

Sara Boboltz reports for HuffPost:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/abbott-axes-water-for-construction-workers-as-texas-faces-3-digit-temps_n_648e0669e4b027d92f93f399

As his state faced a dangerous heat wave this week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a broad new law that will nullify a wide range of local regulations, including mandated water breaks for construction workers, beginning Sept. 1, according to The Texas Tribune.

The new Republican-backed law strips the ability of local municipalities to enact certain regulations in favor of state authority, ostensibly to “provide statewide consistency.” It covers a wide range, including other worker protections, environmental protections, housing protections and more.

Critics dubbed it the “Death Star Bill.” The president of the NAACP’s Houston chapter, Bishop James Dixon, called it “a threat to civil rights and human rights,” according to local outlet KHOU11.

. . . .

 *******************

Read the rest of Sara’s report at the link.

GOP cowards, bored with picking on asylum applicants, put another essential, yet vulnerable, group in their crosshairs. Already a leader in worker deaths, under the GOP, Texas is going for new records!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

06-20-23

 🏴‍☠️☠️ NAACP ISSUES TRAVEL WARNING: Florida, The Neo-Fascist “Hate State” ⚠️

 

Nina GolgowskiSenior Reporter HuffPost PHOTO: HuffPost
Nina Golgowski
Senior Reporter
HuffPost
PHOTO: HuffPost

Nina Golgowski reports for HuffPost:

The NAACPs Board of Directors has issued a travel warning about Florida that accuses the state, and pointedly Gov. Ron DeSantis, of being openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.”

Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color,” the notice issued Saturday states.

The civil rights organization specifically accuses DeSantis, a possible 2024 Republican presidential candidate, of aggressively attempting to erase Black history and restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools.”

. . . .

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

Read Nina’s complete report at the link.

Colfax Massacre
“Gathering the dead after the Colfax massacre, published in Harper’s Weekly, May 10, 1873” — White Nationalist snowflakes like DeSantis feel diminished and threatened by the truth about American history and the role of race.                                                                  

The “anti-woke agenda” touted by DeSantis is a very thinly disguised euphemism for “overtly racist!” That, decades after folks like Gov. George Wallace and Sen. Strom Thurmond unabashedly made hate, segregation, and racism the “centerpieces” of failed presidential bids, racists like DeSantis are openly campaigning on the same basic platform, and enacting it in their “mini-reichs,” should be deeply disturbing to younger generations of voters who will have to live with the stupidity, ignorance, cynicism, and hate promoted by these immoral GOP pols. It’s a race backwards and to the bottom that can only end in a complete catastrophe for our nation and the world!

Also remember: It all started with the dehumanization and false demonization of migrants. Many, including too many Dems, have been unwilling to stand up against it! That’s how the GOP’s “destroy America” agenda gains traction!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

05-22-23

 

 

⚖️ SEN COREY BOOKER (D- NJ) WENT TO THE BORDER TO CHECK OUT BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S “CBP ONE APP!” — HE HATED WHAT HE FOUND! — “Inherently Discriminatory!”

Senator Cory Booker
U.S.Senator Cory Booker
D-NJ
PHOTO: Wikipedia
Rowaida Abdelaziz
Rowaida Abdelaziz
Immigration Reporter
PHOTO: Twitter

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cory-booker-asylum-app-homeland-security_n_6422262de4b049e21e2dbf06

Rowaida Abdelaziz reports for HuffPost:

Sen. Cory Booker sent a letter to the heads of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection on Monday criticizing the newly rolled-out CBP One — a mobile application that allows asylum-seekers to secure an appointment with CBP to get through U.S. ports of entry.

“The United States is a beacon of hope for many around the world seeking safety and freedom. Unfortunately, migrants now have to contend with the CBP One app as the sole method to schedule asylum appointments, which has been plagued by technical problems since its introduction,” Booker told HuffPost in an emailed statement.

“We must ensure that our asylum process is just and equitable and protects those who are fleeing violence and persecution in a way that’s consistent with our nation’s most fundamental ideals,” he added.

. . . .

“Even if the CBP One app was as efficient, user friendly, fair, and inclusive as possible – which I hope one day it will be – it would still be inherently discriminatory,” reads Booker’s letter, noting the resources an individual must have to successfully navigate the application.

. . . .

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

Read the complete article, with a copy of Sen. Booker’s letter, at the link.

Advocates at the border have been raising problems about the apps’ poor performance and the totally inadequate number of appointments available. And, even with an appointment there’s no assurance that an individual will get a fair audience on their asylum claim. Indeed, based on the current lack of transparency and atrocious proposed regulations from the Biden Administration, unfair treatment is almost guaranteed!

Notably, the clueless Biden “policy officials” who come up with cruel gimmicks and foist defective technology on the border stay far away from having to confront the faces of the humanitarian disaster they have created. They neither have the guts to meet with nor solicit the advice of advocates, NGO workers, and dedicated volunteers who, unlike the Administration, are trying to save lives, preserve human dignity, and maintain some semblance of the rule of law at the border!

There is no excuse for the Biden Administration’s cosmically poor performance on humanitarian issues at the border. None! And, while Sen. Booker and some of his colleagues have pushed back against the Administration’s abusive approach to asylum, other Dems shamefully have just “run away” from the racially-charged, totally unnecessary, disregard for competence, expertise, and the rule of law at the border. 

Another problem: The absence of legal integrity from the DOJ, ironically led by former U.S. Judge Merrick Garland, who is unwilling to stand up for the rights of asylum seekers and equal justice for all at the border.

Exactly what do Dems stand for anyway? Apparently, not much, except what they believe (however incorrectly) is “politically expedient” at any particular moment in time!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

05-26-23

⚖️👍🏼👨🏻‍⚖️ FINALLY! — U.S. JUDGE RAYMOND DEARIE TO TRUMP’S SLEAZY LEGAL TEAM: “PUT UP OR SHUT UP!” — Real Judges Matter, A Sharp Contrast With Trump-Owned Judge A. “Loose” Cannon!

Mary Papenfuss
Mary Papenfuss
Reporter, HuffPost

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/raymond-dearie-trump-fbi-planted-documents-order_n_632cd107e4b0d12b54033739

Mary Papenfuss reports for HuffPost:

U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie, who is acting as a special master in the Mar-a-Lago documents case, on Thursday demanded that Donald Trump’s lawyers substantiate another one of the former president’s claims: that the FBI “planted” records.

Dearie ordered Trump’s legal team to submit by Sept. 30 a list of of specific items in the Justice Department’s 11-page inventory of documents taken from the Mar-a-Lago resort — including top secret files — that “plaintiff asserts were not seized from the premises.” They must also submit a list of any items seized that were not on the inventory, the order states.

“This submission shall be Plaintiff’s final opportunity to raise any factual dispute as to the completeness and accuracy of the Detailed Property Inventory,” Dearie said.

. . . .

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

Read the complete report at the above link.

Yes, “real Federal Judges” are one of the keys to ending the MAGA Clown Show 🤡 and saving democracy! Finally, an Article III willing to stand up to the un-American, totally dishonest ex-Prez and his sleazy and ethically challenged legal team.

A.G. Garland take note: Real judges matter! Right now the decks of EOIR are awash in Trump-era “Loose Cannons!”

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-23-22

“CROCK”-ODILE 🐊 TEARS 😂: Incredibly, Thomas Bemoans Lack Of Respect For Institutions That He, Ginny, & Their Far-Right Extremist Buddies Helped Destroy!🤮 — “[T]his is a guy who has spent a lifetime trying to take a battering ram to all the Supreme Court major precedents!”

Mary Papenfuss
Mary Papenfuss
Contributor
HuffPost

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/clarence-thomas-accept-roe-v-wade-bullied-live-with-critics_n_6276e62ce4b0b7c8f084fe16

Mary Papenfuss reports for HuffPost:

Critics were stunned Saturday after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas scolded Americans for not accepting controversial rulings — after his own wife battled against the results of a legitimate presidential election.

Thomas chided a distraught public in comments Friday at a judicial conference in Atlanta following the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would gut Roe v. Wade and a half-century of the right to an abortion.

He complained that Americans are “addicted” to results they want — while “not living with” rulings they oppose. He warned that the court will not be “bullied” in the face of protest. Declining respect for the law and institutions, Thomas warned, “bodes ill for a free society.”

Thomas detractors were agog. Not only has his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, refused to “live with” the presidential election, he was the sole Supreme Court justice to vote that former President Donald Trump should not have to release his White House documents to the House committee investigating last year’s insurrection.

Thomas has also repeatedly attempted to rip up legal precedence set by the court.

“The irony is so thick you wonder if it’s maybe a Clarence Thomas impersonator,” former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman said on MSNBC Saturday.

“Among other things, this is a guy who has spent a lifetime trying to take a battering ram to all the Supreme Court major precedents” of law, Litman added. “He’s now saying people don’t respect the law enough. That’s even leaving aside all the controversies he has engendered, as has his wife. It’s just … remarkable.”

. . . .

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Read the full article at the link.

There is no end to the hypocrisy and subversiveness of the Thomas Clan and the far-right.

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

05-09-22

⚖️ THE GIBSON REPORT — 03-14-22 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, Managing Attorney NIJC — My Take: Whither Ukrainian Refugees?

Elizabeth Gibson
Elizabeth Gibson
Managing Attorney
National Immigrant Justice Center
Publisher of “The Gibson Report”
Ukraine
How much of Ukraine will look like this by war’s end?
Photo from Previous Russia-Ukraine War by Wojciech Zmudzinski
Creative Commons License

 

 

 

pastedGraphic.png

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly Briefing

briefing is designed as a quick-reference aggregation of developments in immigration law, practice, and policy that you can scan for anything you missed over the last week. The content of the news, links, and events do not necessarily reflect the position of the National Immigrant Justice Center. If you have items that you would like considered for inclusion, please email them to egibson@heartlandalliance.org.

 

CONTENTS (jump to section)

  • PRACTICE ALERTS
  • NEWS
  • LITIGATION & AGENCY UPDATES
  • RESOURCES
  • EVENTS

 

PRACTICE ALERTS

 

Virtual EOIR Registration: For new attorney registration, practitioners are no longer required to go to the court personally to show an ID. However, they still may appear personally. To coordinate identification verification please contact: Tina.Barrow@usdoj.gov or by phone at 717-443-9157.

 

Adjustment-Ready Cases: DHS is filing motions for dismissal for about 1,000 cases nationwide for Adjustment-Ready Cases (ARCs) to allow for pursuit of relief before USCIS. If you don’t want the case dismissed, timely file your opposition.

 

ICE Appointment Scheduler: Now available in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole in addition to English.

 

TOP NEWS

 

Senate Democrats ‘deeply disappointed’ in Biden administration’s decision to keep Trump-era rule

Hill: The senators said that although the administration “made the right choice to prevent unaccompanied children from being expelled” in its recent announcement, “it is wrong that they made the decision to continue sending families with minor children back to persecution and torture.” See also U.S. leaning toward ending COVID-era expulsions of migrants at Mexico border – sources; The Biden Administration Has Been Planning To Tell Mexico That A Trump-Era Policy Could Soon End And Attract More Immigrants To The Border.

 

Democrats, Republicans struggle to compromise on border, immigration funds

Hill: Immigration restrictionists celebrated that the bill includes funding increases for ICE and Customs and Border Protection, but worried that the Biden administration will not use those funds to implement the Trump-style strict enforcement measures they favor…“The budget gives ICE money to fund over 5,000 more beds than proposed in funding bills introduced last year in both the House and Senate. These funding levels directly contradict commitments made by the Biden administration and members of Congress to reduce the immigration detention system,” Mary Meg McCarthy, executive director of the National Immigrant Justice Center, said in a release.

 

ICE report shows sharp drop in deportations, immigration arrests under Biden

WaPo: Advocates for immigrants said they welcomed many of the Biden administration’s early changes, such as ending the travel ban and increasing the number of refugees allowed into the United States. But they said the most recent spending bill increases funding for immigration enforcement and complained that Biden has not kept his campaign promise to end privately run detention, which accounts for the majority of the ICE system.

 

Biden Administration Fights in Court to Uphold Some Trump-Era Immigration Policies

NYT: The tension has also resonated inside the White House, where senior officials have been anxious that unwinding the Trump-era border restrictions would open the United States to an increase in illegal crossings at the southern border and fuel Republican attacks that Mr. Biden is too lenient on illegal immigration.

 

Even Before War, Thousands Were Fleeing Russia for the U.S.

NYT: More than 4,100 Russians crossed the border without authorization in the 2021 fiscal year, nine times more than the previous year. This fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, the numbers are even higher — 6,420 during the first four months alone.

 

Backlogs force Ukrainians to face long visa waits

RollCall: Now, embassies have shuttered in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. That could increase pressure on other consular posts in the region already feeling the weight of a visa backlog of nearly half a million cases.

 

‘Constantly afraid’: immigrants on life under the US government’s eye

Guardian: Participants in the privately run Isap program, billed as an alternative to detention, describe painful ankle monitors and contradictory rules. See also DHS Taps Church World Service For Detention Alternatives.

 

82,645 Appeals Pending At The BIA

LexisNexis: As of Jan. 19, 2022 there are 82,645 appeals pending at the BIA.

 

Florida OKs bill aimed at keeping immigrants out of state

AP: All Florida government agencies would be barred from doing business with transportation companies that bring immigrants to the state who are in the country illegally under a bill sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday.

 

Coast Guard has returned to Haiti most of the 356 Haitians who arrived in Keys this week

Miami Herald: Nearly 200 Haitian migrants were returned to Haiti on Friday by the U.S. Coast Guard after their bid to reach U.S. shores ended with their overloaded sailboat running aground behind a wealthy North Key Largo resort in the Upper Florida Keys and some of their compatriots making a harried dash to freedom in the choppy waters. See also Black Immigrants to the U.S. Deserve Equal Treatment.

 

2020 Census Undercounted Hispanic, Black and Native American Residents

NYT: Although the bureau did not say how many people it missed entirely, they were mostly people of color, disproportionately young ones. The census missed counting 4.99 of every 100 Hispanics, 5.64 of every 100 Native Americans and 3.3 of every 100 African Americans.

 

ICE Conducted Sweeping Surveillance Of Money Transfers Sent To And From The US, A Senator Says

Buzzfeed: Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents obtained millions of people’s financial records as part of a surveillance program that fed the information to a database accessed by local and federal law enforcement agencies, according to a letter sent Tuesday by Sen. Ron Wyden to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general requesting an investigation into whether the practice violated the US Constitution.

 

U.S. International Student Enrollment Dropped As Canada’s Soared

Forbes: “International student enrollment at U.S. universities declined 7.2% between the 2016-17 and 2019-20 academic years, before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic,” according a new analysis from the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP). “At the same time, international student enrollment at Canadian colleges and universities increased 52% between the 2016-17 and 2019-20 academic years, illustrating the increasing attractiveness of Canadian schools due to more friendly immigration laws in Canada, particularly rules enabling international students in Canada to gain temporary work visas and permanent residence.”

 

LITIGATION & AGENCY UPDATES

 

High Court Told Self-Removal Ruling Creates Circuit Split

Law360: A Salvadoran woman urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review an Eleventh Circuit decision greenlighting her deportation based on a decades-old removal order issued after she voluntarily left the country, saying the ruling conflicted with Fifth and Seventh Circuit precedents.

 

CA2 Revives Asylum Bid Due To Faulty Credibility Ruling

Law360: The Second Circuit on Thursday revived an asylum application from a man who says he fled political violence in Guinea, finding a string of errors in an immigration judge’s determination that he wasn’t credible.

 

CA4 Denies Reh. En Banc In Pugin V. Garland (Obstruction Of Justice)

LexisNexis: Dissent: I respectfully dissent from this court’s denial of rehearing en banc on the issue of whether to grant Chevron deference to the Board of Immigration’s (“Board”) recent interpretation of § 1101(a)(43)(S), providing that an aggravated felony under the INA is “an offense relating to the obstruction of justice, perjury or subornation of perjury, or bribery of a witness.” …Namely, this decision is the first and only to uphold the Board’s 2018 redefinition as reasonable—repudiating the Ninth Circuit’s 2020 decision. Accordingly, by no longer requiring a nexus element, this opinion expands the list of possible state crimes that could trigger immigration deportation consequences for many persons who may not have been otherwise subject to deportation. This is a sizeable impact for many people in our country.

 

CA5 On Stop-Time, Niz-Chavez: Gregorio-Osorio V. Garland

LexisNexis: The Government indicates that the matter should be remanded, in part, to the BIA for consideration of her request for voluntary departure in light of Niz-Chavez. Thus, the petition for review is granted as to the stop-time issue, and this matter is remanded to the BIA for consideration under Niz-Chavez and other relevant precedents.

 

CA7 On BIA Abuse Of Discretion: Oluwajana V. Garland

LexisNexis: The  Board granted one extension but denied a second, suggesting that Oluwajana instead submit his brief with a motion seeking leave to file it late. When he did so, less than two weeks after the submission deadline, the Board denied the motion in a cursory-and factually erroneous-footnote. And having rejected the brief, the Board upheld the removal order without considering Oluwajana’s allegations of error by the immigration judge. Based on the undisputed circumstances of this case, we conclude that the Board abused its discretion by unreasonably rejecting Oluwajana’s brief.

 

CA9 Judge Pans State-US Law Mismatch In Rape Case

Law360: The Ninth Circuit ordered the Board of Immigration Appeals on Wednesday to decide if an immigrant’s rape conviction bars deportation relief, with a dissenting judge saying the decision only delays the “unpalatable” conclusion that the man can seek a removal waiver.

 

Matter of M-M-A-, 28 I&N Dec. 494 (BIA 2022)

BIA: When  the  Department  of  Homeland  Security  raises  the  mandatory  bar  for  filing  a  frivolous asylum application under section 208(d)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1158(d)(6) (2018), an Immigration Judge must make sufficient findings of fact and conclusions of law on whether the requirements for a frivolousness determination under Matter of Y-L-, 24 I&N Dec. 151 (BIA 2007), have been met.

 

Unpub. BIA Equitable Tolling Victory: Matter Of Siahaan

LexisNexis: Additionally, the respondents assert that despite informing immigration officials of their intent to get a new attorney and “sort out [their] case,” ICE officials told them that they were not priorities for deportation and there was nothing more they could do with respect to their case (Respondents’ Mot., Tab G). Accordingly, under these circumstances, we will equitably toll the filing deadline for the respondents’ motion to reopen.”

 

Ill. Judge Tweaks Order To Satisfy DOJ’s Funding Appeal

Law360: An Illinois federal judge closed the book on Chicago’s lawsuit challenging certain Trump-era conditions for recipients of a federal public safety grant on Tuesday when he put the final touches on his judgment blocking conditions for receiving the grant to resolve the case’s outlying issues.

 

Affidavit Of Support Enforcement Victory: Flores V. Flores

LexisNexis: Defendant executed an I-864 Affidavit of Support; therefore, he is contractually obligated to provide Plaintiff and J.K.M.F. any support necessary to maintain their household at an income that is at least 125 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. Plaintiff has received no financial support from Defendant since fleeing to a shelter on October 21, 2021…Accordingly, Plaintiff has alleged a meritorious claim against Defendant for breaching his contractual duty.

 

ICE To Loosen NY Detainee Bond Rules Under Settlement

Law360: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s New York office will overhaul its policy on people suspected of civil immigration offenses while on bond, settling claims it detained suspects beyond what the law allows without a chance to post bail.

 

Judge Orders Feds To Release Names In Asylum Project

Law360: A D.C. district court ordered the federal government to disclose the names of border officers who screened migrants’ asylum claims under a pilot program, saying Friday that asylum-seekers needed to know if they were unwittingly placed in the since-suspended project.

 

Court Tosses Immigrant Spouse’s Stimulus Check Challenge

Law360: A woman’s suit contending she was wrongly deprived of pandemic relief payments from the IRS because of her marriage to an immigrant is barred by a federal law prohibiting court challenges that restrain tax collection, a Maryland federal court ruled.

 

USCIS to Offer Deferred Action for Special Immigrant Juveniles

USCIS: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it is updating the USCIS Policy Manual to consider deferred action and related employment authorization for noncitizens who have an approved Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification but who cannot apply to adjust status to become a lawful permanent resident (LPR) because a visa number is not available.

 

DOS Provides Guidance for Ukraine Nationals

AILA: DOS provided guidance for nationals in Ukraine seeking to enter the United States. The guidance clarifies information on nonimmigrant visas, immigrant visas, COVID-19 entry requirements, humanitarian parole, refugee status, and more.

 

EOIR Updates Procedure for Requesting ROPs in Part I of the Policy Manual

AILA: EOIR updated procedures for parties to request ROPs in chapters 1.5(d) and 2.2(b) in Part I of the policy manual.

 

EOIR Updates Appendix O of the Policy Manual with Adjournment Code 74

AILA: EOIR updated appendix O of the policy manual with adjournment code 74. The reason is “Public Health,” and the definition is “Adjourned for public health reasons.”

 

RESOURCES

 

NIJC RESOURCES

 

GENERAL RESOURCES

 

EVENTS

 

NIJC EVENTS

 

GENERAL EVENTS

 

To sign up for additional NIJC newsletters, visit:  https://immigrantjustice.org/subscribe.

 

You now can change your email settings or search the archives using the Google Group. If you are receiving this briefing from a third party, you can visit the group page and request to be added.

 

Elizabeth Gibson (Pronouns: she/her/ella)

Managing Attorney for Capacity Building and Mentorship

National Immigrant Justice Center

A HEARTLAND ALLIANCE Program

224 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 600, Chicago, IL 60604
T: (312) 660-1688| F: (312) 660-1688| E: egibson@heartlandalliance.org

www.immigrantjustice.org | Facebook | Twitter

 

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

Thanks, Liz!

The “Top News Section” is a good rundown of the Biden Administration’s “mixed bag” on immigration policy, particularly as it relates to our largely defunct asylum system and the refugee system (still reeling from Trump-era “deconstruction”) that does not appear to be prepared for the inevitable flow of Ukrainian refugees. It also highlights some of the lingering damage to our democracy (e.g., racially biased census undercount) done by the Trump regime and its toady enablers.

My Take: Ukrainian Refugees & The U.S. Response

So far, largely meaningless political rhetoric from the Administration concerning Ukrainian refugees has been predictably “welcoming.” But, the actions to date have amounted to nothing more than taking the obvious step of granting TPS to Ukrainians actually here.

That does little or nothing to address the nearly 3 million refugees who have fled Ukraine in recent weeks. If the Administration has a coherent plan for admitting our share of those refugees and resuming processing of Ukrainians and all other refugees seeking asylum at the border, they have not announced it.

For example, despite U.S. and worldwide condemnation of China’s treatment of Uyghurs — some characterizing it as “genocide” — the Administration has done nothing to speed the processing of the very limited number of Uyghur refugees languishing in our still largely dysfunctional asylum system. If, as I’ve pointed out on numerous occasions, the Administration is unable to address “low hanging fruit” like Uyghurs and Immigration Court reform, in a bold and timely matter, how are they going to respond to more difficult human rights issues?  

As this op-ed in today’s NY Times points out, “generous” responses to large-scale refugee situations are often short-lived. As refugees flows inevitably continue and grow, the initial positive responses too often “morph” into xenophobia, nativism, racism, culture wars, and restrictionism.  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/15/opinion/ukraine-refugee-crisis.html

Ukrainian refugees have two potential “advantages” over those from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, Venezuela, Ethiopia, DRC, and the Northern Triangle that could help them realize “more durable” protection. They are 1) mostly White Europeans, and 2) mostly Christian.

Neither of these is a legally recognized international criterion for defining refugees. Fact is, however, that they were not universally descriptive of those aforementioned groups who have often received less enthusiastic receptions from Western democracies. As a practical matter, “cultural attitudes” influence the Western World’s acceptance of refugees, probably to a greater extent than the actual dangers which those refugees face in the lands from which they have fled.

Here’s more on the differing receptions between Ukrainian refugees and refugees from Latin America from Dean Kevin Johnson over at ImmigrationProf Bloghttps://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2022/03/the-long-history-of-the-us-immigration-crisis-compare-the-global-embrace-of-ukrainian-refugees-and-t.html

Also, as usual in refugee situations, women and children in Ukraine have paid the highest price, according to the UN.  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/un-women-pay-highest-price-in-conflict_n_62304567e4b0b6282027aa6a

But, that has also been true in Haiti, Syria, Central America, the DRC and many other trouble spots. It has made little positive difference to the U.S. The Trump regime, led by Uber racist-misogynist refugee deniers “Gonzo Apocalypto” Sessions and “Gauleiter” Stephen Miller actually went out of their way to target the most vulnerable women and children fleeing persecution for further abuse.

And, to date, the Biden Administration’s promise to do better and regularize the treatment of those fleeing gender-based violence has been a huge “nothingburger.” Whatever happened to those promised “gender-based regulations” and the “common-sense recommendations” to replace the restrictionist holdover, bad-precedent-setting BIA with real judges who are experts in gender-based asylum?

The flow of refugees from Ukraine, and a much smaller (at this point) flight of dissidents from Russia, has already “exceeded projections” and is not likely to diminish in the coming weeks and months. Moreover, with Russia focusing on civilian targets and leveling parts of many major metropolitan areas in Ukraine, the essential infrastructure and “livability” of many areas is rapidly being destroyed. 

Thus, even if a “truce” were declared tomorrow (which it won’t be), many who have fled would not be able to return for the foreseeable future, perhaps never, even if they wanted to. The latter is a particular risk if Russia makes good on its threats to eradicate the current Ukrainian Government and replace it with a Russian puppet regime.

Refugee planning has consistently lagged foreign policy developments even though that has been shown to be problematic over and over. When will we ever learn?

We can’t necessarily prevent all foreign wars and internal upheavals, worthy as that goal might be. But, we can learn to deal better with inevitable refugee displacements. 

Indeed, that was the purpose of the UN Convention and Protocol on the Status of Refugees, to which we and the other major democracies are parties. That more than 70 years after the initial Convention was signed we are still groping for solutions (indeed, we have shamefully abrogated a number of our key responsibilities under both domestic and international law) to recurring, somewhat predictable, and inevitable dislocations of humanity is something that should be of concern to all. 

Despite all of the nativist propaganda, the truth is that nobody wants to be a refugee and that it could happen to any of us for reasons totally beyond our control! The similarity of the lives of many Ukrainians, up until a few weeks ago, to daily life in Western Democracies has perhaps “brought home” these realities in ways that the equally bad or even worse plight of other refugees in recent times has not.

I hope that we can learn from this terrible situation and treat not only Ukrainian refugees, but all refugees, with generosity, humanity, compassion, kindness, and as we would hope to be treated if our situations were reversed. Because, in reality, nobody is immune from the possibility of becoming a refugee!

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

03-15-22

🏴‍☠️NO ACCOUNTABILITY: ONE YEAR AFTER PUBLICLY INSTIGATING A FAILED COUP, TRUMP CONTINUES TO OPENLY PLOT TO OVERTHROW DEMOCRACY, AS NEO-FASCIST GOP & ITS TOADY POLITICOS LINE UP BEHIND THE “BIG LIE!” — THE GOP, & THOSE WHO SUPPORT & ENABLE IT, HAS ACTUALLY BECOME THE BIGGEST THREAT TO THE FUTURE OF OUR REPUBLIC!🤮👎🏽🏴‍☠️

S.V. Date
S.V. Date
Senior White House Correspondent
HuffPost
PHOTO: HuffPost

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-coup-attempt_n_61c2733fe4b04b42ab6602a2

SV Date on HuffPost:

WASHINGTON — What if you attempted a coup but people were unwilling to wrap their heads around what you had done?

A year after Jan. 6, 2021, that is the peculiar situation in which Donald Trump finds himself. Instead of being carted off in handcuffs for inciting an insurrection against the United States, or even just being banished from federal office for life by the Senate, the former president instead remains the leader of one of the two major political parties and is openly considering another run for the White House in 2024.

. . . .

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

Cas Mudde
Cas Mudde
US Columnist
The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/05/capitol-attack-january-6-democracy-america-trump?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Cas Mudde on The Guardian:

The government is finally taking the threat of far-right militia groups seriously. But the larger threat are the Republican legislators who continue to recklessly undermine democracy

One year ago, he was frantically barricading the doors to the House gallery to keep out the violent mob. Today, he calls the insurrection a “bold-faced lie” and likens the event to “a normal tourist visit”. The story of Andrew Clyde, who represents part of my – heavily gerrymandered – liberal college town in the House of Representatives, is the story of the Republican party in 2021. It shows a party that had the opportunity to break with the anti-democratic course under Donald Trump, but was too weak in ideology and leadership to do so, thereby presenting a fundamental threat to US democracy in 2022 and beyond.

The risk of a coup in the next US election is greater now than it ever was under Trump | Laurence H Tribe

Clyde is illustrative of another ongoing development, the slow but steady takeover of the Republican party by new, and often relatively young, Trump supporters. In 2015, when his massive gun store on the outskirts of town was still flying the old flag of Georgia, which includes the Confederate flag, he was a lone, open supporter of then-presidential candidate Trump, with several large pro-Trump and anti-“fake news” signs adorning his gun store. Five years later, Clyde was elected to the House of Representatives as part of a wave of Trump-supporting novices, mostly replacing Republicans who had supported President Trump more strategically than ideologically.

With his 180-degree turn about the 6 January insurrection, Clyde is back in line with the majority of the Republican base, as a recent UMass poll shows. After initial shock, and broad condemnation, Republicans have embraced the people who stormed the Capitol last year, primarily referring to the event as a “protest” (80%) and to the insurrectionists as “protesters” (62%), while blaming the Democratic party (30%), the Capitol police (23%), and the inevitable antifa (20%) for what happened. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of Republicans (75%) believe the country should “move on” from 6 January, rather than learn from it. And although most don’t care either way, one-third of Republicans say they are more likely to vote for a candidate who refuses to denounce the insurrection.

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The increased anti-democratic threat of the Republican party can also be seen in the tidal wave of voting restrictions proposed and passed in 2021. The Brennan Center for Justice counted a stunning 440 bills “with provisions that restrict voting access” introduced across all but one of the 50 US states, the highest number since the Center started tracking them 10 years ago. A total of 34 such laws were passed in 19 different states last year, and 88 bills in nine states are being carried over to the 2022 legislative term. Worryingly, Trump-backed Republicans who claim the 2020 election was stolen are running for secretary of state in various places where Trump unsuccessfully challenged the results.

. . . .

At the same time, the Republican party has become increasingly united and naked in its extremism, which denies both the anti-democratic character of the 6 January attack and the legitimacy of Biden’s presidency, and is passing an unprecedented number of voter restriction bills in preparation for the 2022 midterms and 2024 presidential elections. As long as the White House mainly focuses on fighting “domestic violent extremism”, and largely ignores or minimizes the much more lethal threat to US democracy posed by non-violent extremists, the US will continue to move closer and closer to an authoritarian future.

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

You can read both articles in full at the above links.

If you are counting on AG Merrick Garland to “lead the charge” on establishing accountability, your optimism might be tempered by his own failure to “clean house” at DOJ and in particular by his failure to reform his wholly-owned Immigration Court system that was front and center in assisting and carrying out the Trump/Miller White Nationalist assault on the rule of law, primarily targeting individuals of color and the “world’s most vulnerable” seeking justice in our system.

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

01-06-22

 

NOT ROCKET SCIENCE! 🚀 “Any alien who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated port of arrival and including an alien who is brought to the United States after having been interdicted in international or United States waters), irrespective of such alien’s status, may apply for asylum . . . .” INA section 208(a). Black Organizations File Complaint About Biden Administration’s Scofflaw Actions Targeting Black Haitians & Other Asylum Seekers Of Color!

Sanjana Karanth
Sanjana Karanth
Politics Reporter
HuffPost

 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/black-immigration-groups-demand-biden-halt-deportations-haitian-asylum_n_6150a453e4b00164119567a9

Sanjana Karanth reports for HuffPost:

Several Black immigration organizations have filed a formal complaint with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, demanding that the Biden administration halt its continued deportations of Haitian asylum seekers.

The complaint filed by four groups ― the Haitian Bridge Alliance, UndocuBlack Network, African Communities Together and Black Alliance for Just Immigration ― requests that any potential witnesses of Border Patrol abuses be allowed to remain in the U.S. while their asylum claims are investigated. The complaint was first reported by theGrio, and signed by dozens of advocacy groups.

More than 13,000 Haitians were camped along the river at the Texas border town of Del Rio last weekend when Border Patrol officers on horseback charged at some of those gathered there, verbally assaulting and appearing to whip them. Photos of the violence shocked the public.

. . . .

The complaint by the organizations notes that the migrants have been denied access to attorneys, interpreters, adequate medical care, fear-based screening and proper nourishment and sanitation, all under intense heat. It also highlights physical intimidation and violence against migrants by Border Patrol officers, and misleading statements made by Homeland Security officers to Haitians about where they were being flown to.

“We’re not living up to our obligation as a nation to be a place of refuge for people seeking a better life,” former Obama administration Cabinet member Julián Castro told HuffPost earlier this week. “And in the least, asylum seekers, whether they’re from Haiti, or from one of these Northern Triangle countries should be allowed to make their asylum claim, instead of being severely expelled from the country. This was not the change we were hoping for on immigration policy.”

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

Mayorkas’s defense of his grotesque, “Trumpist” misuse of Title 42, which actually has been rejected by a Federal Judge, on “Meet the Press” was as disgraceful as it was dishonest!  

Professor Stephen Yale-Loehr succinctly nailed it in a recent interview for National Geographic: “The United States has to realize that more people are on the move in the world than ever before.  We’re never going to be able to shut off our borders.” https://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/immigration/b/outsidenews/posts/expert-u-s-immigration-laws-don-t-match-current-reality

Professor Stephen Yale-Loehr
Professor Stephen Yale-Loehr
Cornell Law

Either Mayorkas doesn’t understand reality, or he’s too intellectually dishonest to speak truth! Regardless, it’s not good! 

Re-establishing the rule of law and treating asylum seekers fairly and generously, as the law requires, is not an option! It’s a legal and moral obligation! There is absolutely no reason to “apologize” for treating asylum seekers fairly and humanely, no matter what racist GOP nativists like Texas “Governor Death” Greg Abbott and Senator “Cancun Ted the Insurrectionist” Cruz say!

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-27-21

U

SCHUMER RIPS BIDEN’S XENOPHOBIC ASYLUM POLICIES, 🤮 ILLEGAL EXPULSIONS OF HAITIANS TO DANGER ZONES!☠️

Border Patrol on Horses
The Biden Administration’s treatment of Black folks trying to apply for asylum has a certain “Jim Crow” appearance!
PHOTO: times of Israel.com

Igor Bobic reports for HuffPost:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/haiti-migrants-biden-chuck-schumer_n_6149f781e4b077b735eb78f3

. . . .

“We cannot continue these hateful and xenophobic Trump policies that disregard our refugee laws,” Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor. “We must allow asylum-seekers to present their claims at our ports of entry and be afforded due process.”

. . . .

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

Exactly what I’ve been saying at Courtside!

Fact is, nobody appears to know what’s really happening at the border and what policies and criteria are applied. One moment, the Biden Administration brags that Haitians are being rapidly and arbitrarily excluded with no due process. A little later, they claim that many Haitians are being allowed to come into the U.S. for “processing.” https://madison.com/news/national/many-haitian-migrants-released-in-us-trump-sues-niece-ny-times-biden-doubles-vaccine-purchase/article_89244157-a530-500b-9095-ba676e4a2307.html

Who knows what “processing” is? Meat processing? Removal processing? Asylum processing? Who’s making these life or death decisions? What criteria are they using?

I see little evidence that the key decisions are being made by trained Asylum Officers. Rather, the Haitians appear to be at the whim and the mercy of the Border Patrol Agents who encounter them! “Apprehend” seems like a very misleading term for those mostly seeking just to turn themselves in and apply for asylum in the absence of a functioning legal screening system at ports of entry.

One thing we know for sure: Myorkas’s claim that it is “safe” to indiscriminately return individuals to Haiti, a nation every true expert agrees is in total physical and political crisis, is pure BS! The kind of thing that Gauleiter Miller and his toadies would say!

Almost all experts, and Courtside, emphasized the need for the Biden Administration to use the time between the election and the inauguration to “hit the ground running” to have a comprehensive plan ready to deal with asylum cases at ports of entry. This included reopening the ports, getting trained and well-qualified Asylum Officers in place, and fixing the dysfunctional mess at EOIR on at least a temporary basis with real experts on asylum law replacing the BIA and some of the other Immigration Judges unqualified to fairly decide asylum cases.

Instead, they dawdled and did same old old, same old. EOIR remains a dysfunctional mess with a total lack of guidance and a shortage of Immigration Judges skilled in fair adjudication of asylum claims.

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

09–22-21

☹️BREAKING: PARLIAMENTARIAN KILLS DEMS’ HOPES FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM, GUARANTEEING YEARS OF  CONTINUING PAIN, SUFFERING, LOST OPPORTUNITY FOR MILLIONS OF AMERICAN RESIDENTS & OUR NATION!

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/immigration-dreamers-senate-parliamentarian_n_61449d33e4b0556e4dd84e27

 Igor Bobic reports for HuffPost:

Democrats’ push to give young undocumented Dreamers a path to citizenship violates Senate rules, according to the Senate’s parliamentarian, who dealt yet another blow on Sunday to long-stalled immigration reform efforts in Congress.

. . . .

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

Predictable! It’s pretty simple. Long overdue and badly needed positive immigration reform, including Dreamer relief, is dead until enough GOP nativists are removed from Congress to save our democracy!

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-19-21

⚖️🧑🏽‍⚖️👨🏻‍⚖️👩‍⚖️👨🏾‍⚖️BIDEN TAPS DIVERSE GROUP OF PROGRESSIVES FOR ARTICLE III JUDGESHIPS, EVEN AS CAL DEM SENS DRAG FEET, & GARLAND CONTINUES TO RUN AMERICA’S MOST REGRESSIVE, DYSFUNCTIONAL, DISRUPTIVE, & NON-DIVERSE JUDICIARY @ EOIR! — How Are Progressives Going To “Climb The Mountain” When Garland Won’t Even “Pick The Low Hanging Fruit?”

Jennifer Bendery
Jennifer Bendery
Journalist
HuffPost
PHOTO: Twitter

Jennifer Bendery reports for HuffPost:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-judicial-nominees-diverse_n_6138c48ee4b0eab0ada03532

President Joe Biden announced another historic slate of judicial nominees on Wednesday who would bring badly needed diversity to the nation’s federal courts.

His picks also begin to address a major vacancy problem on California’s courts.

Biden announced a total of eight new judicial nominees; three would fill seats on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and five would fill seats on U.S. district courts. All are up for lifetime appointments.

With Wednesday’s nominees, Biden has now nominated a total of 43 people to federal judgeships. Thanks in part to the Democrat-led Senate, he has been confirming judges faster than any president in more than 50 years by this point in their terms.

His latest nominees also reflect his push to bring more diversity to the federal bench, both professionally and demographically. The courts have long been represented by white, male judges with backgrounds as corporate attorneys or prosecutors. President Barack Obama helped to diversify the courts, adding historic numbers of women and LGBTQ judges, for example. But former President Donald Trump reversed that trend by overwhelmingly nominating straight, white, male, right-wing ideologues.

As a candidate, Biden vowed to bring a diversity of perspectives onto the courts, even promising to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court if and when a seat opens up there. He’s kept his word; so far, his court picks have been public defenders, civil rights lawyers, voting rights lawyers and historic firsts with Native American and Muslim American picks.

Wednesday’s nominees include people with backgrounds at legal civil rights organizations, too. Thomas worked for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Urias and Vera both worked for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

California’s senators praised Biden for his six picks for courts located in their state.

“If confirmed, this slate of nominees will bring historic personal and professional diversity to California’s federal bench,” said Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.). “Our justice system needs the experience and unique perspectives these public servants bring.”

But California needs far more nominees than Biden put forward Wednesday. The state still has a whopping 15 vacancies on its federal courts, in part because the state’s two U.S. senators aren’t moving quickly enough to recommend people to the White House to fill those seats.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) acknowledged there is more work to be done here.

“There are 15 additional vacancies on California’s district courts that need to be filled immediately and more expected next year,” Feinstein said. “I look forward to continuing to work with President Biden and Senator Padilla to ensure that the remaining vacancies on the federal courts in California are filled with well-qualified judicial candidates who reflect the makeup of the state.”

. . . .

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

Read the complete story at the link.

It’s an important step — but only a first step in the process of creating a diverse progressive Federal Judiciary, from top to bottom!

Meanwhile, a house built on a bad foundation is in trouble! In this case, that crumbling foundation is the nearly 600-judge U.S. Immigration Court at both the trial and appellate levels. 

This “court” system, with nationwide jurisdiction and life or death authority over millions of lives and American families, is regressive, dysfunctional, and non-diverse, particularly when taking into account the composition of the American communities most directly affected by it’s too often defective, unprofessional, and biased decision making. That’s hardly surprising, because it was largely expanded, packed, weaponized, staffed, and directed in the “image” of Jeff Sessions, Billy Barr, and Gauleiter Stephen Miller! 

Unlike Article III Judges, Immigration Judges currently are considered “DOJ Attorneys” who are selected outside the competitive Civil Service, have no “tenure” in their quasi-judicial positions, are subject to the control of the Attorney General, and can be reassigned, or in some cases terminated, at the will of the Attorney General. In simple terms, Garland could fix this badly broken system, but hasn’t done so. 

The sorry condition of today’s Immigration Courts (“EOIR”) is particularly disgraceful when one considers the wide, diverse, progressive pool of potential judicial talent available in the private/NGO/sector who were either discouraged from applying under Trump or passed over in favor of lesser-qualified candidates perceived (whether accurately or not) to be more receptive and obedient to the overtly White Nationalist, xenophobic stance promoted by Trump’s DOJ.

To date, Garland has replaced zero (0) of the Trump judicial appointees. He has hired no notable progressive judges as inspirational leaders. He “promoted” one notable progressive to be among the several dozen “Assistant Chief Immigration Judges.” He outrageously appointed his first 27 Immigration Judges from among those “preselected” by Barr under defective procedures that have been universally condemned by progressive experts!

For the most part, without any progressive judicial leadership, precedents, or procedures, EOIR rambles on producing the same sloppy, haste-makes-waste, anti-immigrant, anti-asylum, racially and misogynistically tinged decisions that were the “hallmark” of the Trump-era EOIR.

If things don’t change quickly, I guarantee that American progressives will come to rue the squandered opportunity to radically reform EOIR and convert it into a model progressive judiciary that will showcase due-process-focused judging, innovation, and best judicial practices while saving lives and promoting racial justice, gender rights, and equal justice for all at the critical “retail level” of our justice system!

🇺🇸Due Process Forever! 

PWS

09-10-21

☹️PROGRESSIVE ADVOCATES SENT TO BACK OF THE BUS 🚌 AGAIN AS BIDEN HUMAN RIGHTS MISTAKES THEY WARNED AGAINST COST LIVES, PROMOTE CHAOS, DIMINISH AMERICA’S REPUTATION!☠️⚰️

Julian Castro
Julian Castro
American Politician

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/refugee-visas-afghanistan-withdrawal_n_61202499e4b029c152b4ff01

Kevin Robillard and Rowaida Abdelaziz report for HuffPost:

. . . .

There are currently more than 17,000 Afghan nationals — as well as an estimated 53,000 of their family members — awaiting visa approval through the Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) program. The U.S. brought over approximately 2,300 Afghans as part of the program from January to July, and another 2,000 over the last week.

The White House says it has cut the time necessary to approve SIV visas in half, and has issued more than 5,500 between April and July. But advocates say it needs to move faster.

“They seem to be afraid. They seem to be operating out of fear that being a bit bolder on issues with refugees, asylees and migrants will somehow cost them politically,” said former Housing Secretary Julian Castro, who made improving the country’s refugee system a central part of his 2020 presidential campaign. “This is an area where there’s growing disappointment and impatience ― and the stirrings of real anger ― towards the administration.”

. . . .

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

Read the full article at the link.

Julian Castro should have been given a major role by the Biden Administration on cleaning house and straightening out the human rights disaster and dysfunction left behind by Trump and Miller. But, at this point, would he really want the job?

🇺🇸DPF!

PWS

08-23-21

⚖️ BELATED ETHICS REVIVAL? — “Rudster The Trumpster Fraudster” FINALLY Has Bar License Yanked!

Rudy Guiliani
Next on “America’s Crookedest Lawyers” — Rudy Guiliani!
Reprinted under license

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rudy-giuliani-suspended-practicing-law-new-york_n_60d4a45ae4b0b6b5a1635dd9

Ryan Grenoble in HuffPost:

Rudy Giuliani has been suspended from practicing law in the state of New York.

Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and the former head prosecutor for the federal Southern District of New York, was suspended for making “false and misleading statements” about the election loss of his client, former President Donald Trump.

In a ruling sought by the Attorney Grievance Committee of the First Judicial Department (a mid-level appellate court in the state), a five judge panel implemented an interim suspension of Giuliani’s law license, pending further AGC proceedings.

The ruling, issued Thursday, takes effect immediately.

“There is uncontroverted evidence that respondent communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump’s failed effort at reelection in 2020,” the court wrote in its decision.

“These false statements were made to improperly bolster respondent’s narrative that due to widespread voter fraud, victory in the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen from his client. We conclude that respondent’s conduct immediately threatens the public interest and warrants interim suspension from the practice of law.”

. . . .

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

Read the full report at the link.

Could get here be just a little justice in the world after all? On the other hand, why are Jeff “Gonzo Apolcalypto” Sessions and “Billy the Bigot” Barr and a bunch of other corrupt Trump officials still walking free and practicing? A few might even be hanging around in USG jobs!

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

06-24-21

👎🏽🤮”MR. CLEAN” MIA @ DOJ: Garland’s Tone Deaf Defense Of Sleazy “Billy the Bigot” 🦨 Draws Fire From Watchdog, As He Fails To Deliver For Progressives @ Dysfunctional, Ethics-Challenged DOJ!

Mr. Clean
“Progressives haven’t gotten the man they expected when Garland got the nod @ Justice.”
Mr Clean
Photo by Mike Mozart
Creative Commons License

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/watchdog-doj-trump-obstruction-justice-memo-secret_n_60b472d4e4b02a79db8f892c

Mary Papenfuss reports for HuffPost:

Mary Papenfuss
Mary Papenfuss
Contributor
HuffPost

 

A watchdog group has filed a brief opposing the Justice Department’s push to keep secret former Attorney General William Barr’s memo concerning ex-President Donald Trump’s possible obstruction of the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

“The DOJ must produce the document, clean up the department, and show that it will not be used for the personal protection of any president,” the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said in a statement Friday after it filed the brief. CREW initially sought release of the memo through the Freedom of Information Act.

At issue is Barr’s decision to ignore any obstruction of justice issues concerning Trump despite strong evidence against him revealed by then-special counsel Robert Mueller. Critics said Barr misled the public by cherry-picking quotes from Mueller’s report to protect Trump. They accused him of making a political decision rather than a legal one.

Barr claimed that justification for the lack of any action against Trump was carefully considered and spelled out in the memo, which had previously only been made public in a highly redacted form.

But according to U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who ordered the release of the nine-page memo earlier this month, Barr’s decision was a foregone conclusion. Barr had already made up his mind not to prosecute Trump before considering any of the advice or analysis that he claimed informed his decision, she said in her order.

Jackson added that the memo contained “strategic, as opposed to legal, advice” and that both the writers and the recipients already had a mutual understanding about what the prosecutorial decision would be.

A “review of the document reveals that the Attorney General was not engaged in making a decision about whether the President should be charged with obstruction of justice; the fact that he would not be prosecuted was a given,” the judge wrote in the order.

. . . .

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

Read the rest of Mary’s article at the link. 

If Team Garland has a plan to “clean up the Department,” as advocated by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington in their brief, they are certainly keeping THAT a secret.

Nowhere has Garland’s failure to be the long awaited “Mr.Clean” been more notable and harmful to good governance than at EOIR. There, he has inexplicably continued to unconstitutionally promote a charade of a  “court” system that lacks fair and impartial judges. Rather than bringing in the necessary expert progressive reformers from the NDPA to clean up the mess, restore due process, create quasi-judicial independence, and institute best practices, the dysfunction continues to get worse, progressive advocacy groups (who helped put Biden/Harris in office) are totally outraged and frustrated, the “same old, same old” deficient recruitment and hiring practices remain in effect, and the totally dysfunctional bureaucratic structure, comprised largely of Trump holdovers and bureaucrats, maintains its “death spiral.”⚰️

Go figure!

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

05-31-21