📖 BOOKS: BLITZING ⚡️ BORDER MYTHS & SACKING 🏈 SELECTIVE HISTORICAL AMNESIA — Jonathan Blitzer Takes On Generations Of Official Misconduct, Human Misery At The Border — PLUS: Here’s Your Chance To Hear From Those Migrants Whose Voices Are Ignored By U.S. Politicos & Media, Courtesy Of Immigration Law & Justice Network & The Hope Border Institute!

Jonathan Blitzer
Jonathan Blitzer
American Author & Staff Writer, The New Yorker
PHGOTO: Linkedin

Read Manuel Roig-Franzia’s WashPost review of Jonathan Blitzer’s book “Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here:”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/02/05/everyone-gone-here-blitzer-review/

Blitzer’s villains include “[n]umerous U.S. institutions, bureaucrats, and presidents” who supported and enabled “savage governments responsible for vast numbers of people killed — many of them poor and Indigenous.” 

Blitzer has particular contempt for “one of the most ineptly titled American officials ever — the State Department’s assistant secretary for human rights, Elliott Abrams — [who] tried to suppress information about the massacre of 978 people, including 477 children, in the Salvadoran village of Mozote.” Abrams, later was convicted of misdemeanors for withholding information from Congress in connection with the Iran-Contra scandal, but was pardoned by Bush I. 

Our political bureaucracy continues to have infinite capacity for inventing intentionally misleading, mocking titles that directly contravene truth, particularly when it comes to abusing human rights. For example, the so-called “Migrant Protection Protocols” (a/k/a “Remain in Mexico”) were quite specifically intended to unlawfully reject migrants who had established a “credible fear” of persecution! The MPP resulted in numerous “publicly documented cases of rape, kidnapping, assault, and other crimes committed against individuals sent back under MPP.” See https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjq1pmw_qWEAxUwL1kFHUbSDMIQFnoECBAQAw&url=https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/migrant-protection-protocols#:~:text=According%20to%20Human%20Rights%20First,individuals%20sent%20back%20under%20MPP.&usg=AOvVaw2ehZRBR_jXYoI41NZZN2DK&opi=8997844.

According to U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal, the MPP “trapped [] asylum seekers in Mexico in dangerous conditions that impeded their ability to access the U.S. asylum system or obtain legal representation.” See https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjLgaLW_6WEAxUqFmIAHb5MDlEQFnoECCYQAQ&url=https://immigrationimpact.com/2023/03/24/where-the-migrant-protection-protocols-stand-four-years/&usg=AOvVaw18vgP5kU86mgTigCBEFLNY&opi=89978449%0A%0A.

Among Blitzer’s unsung heroes are “relentless US. immigration advocates,” the late Rep. Joe Moakley (D-MA) who “grasped all the nuances of U.S.-manufactured border crises,” and of course, an “array of migrants” who bravely persevered in the face of treacherous, dishonest, ill-informed, and often deadly U.S. immigration policies intended to “break them” and destroy their humanity. That disgraceful process continues today — on steroids!

The review ends on a perhaps unexpectedly optimistic note:

And yet, after reading Blitzer’s book, one can’t help but think that the impossible might be possible — that maybe, just maybe, this could be fixed. He’s not trying to lay out a set of policy solutions. He’s making a more nuanced plea, a rejection of the “selective amnesia” of politics in favor of a deeper understanding of how we — as a nation and as a region — got here.

It is a book with a “mission,” he writes, a nudge for U.S. decision-makers and a platform for voices on the other side of the border, a “kind of go-between: to tell each side’s story to the other; to find a way to bring the Homeland Security officials into the housing-complex basement; and to allow the migrants in the basement to participate, for once, in the privileged backroom conversations that decide their fate.”

Hopefully, those with the power to change things will listen.

Manuel Roig-Franzia is a Washington Post features writer and formerly served as The Post’s bureau chief in Miami and Mexico.

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

Following up on the last point — the “seldom-heard and never-heeded by our politicos and media” voices of those whose lives and humanity are threatened by our failed policies, this Thursday, Feb. 15, @ 3 PM EST, Immigration Law & Justice Network & The Hope Border Institute will present a free webinar, “Stop The War On The Border: Migrants Speak: 

pastedGraphic.png

Stop the War on the Border: Migrants Speak – Detengan la Guerra en la Frontera: Migrantes Hablan

Date & Time

Feb 15, 2024 03:00 PM in

Description

ILJ Network and our partners invite you to participate in this webinar and hear directly from migrants in the northern Mexican border and the U.S. interior on how restrictions to asylum and humanitarian parole impact their lives.

ILJ Network y compañeros de coaliciones los invita a participar en este evento virtual para escuchar directamente de migrantes, ubicados entre la parte Norte de México y el interior de los Estados Unidos, acerca de cómo dichas restricciones al derecho de asilo y de parole humanitario impactan sus vidas.

Webinar Registration

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_efx1ZeUqTCmSOVCBNTRxrg#/registration?os=ipad

Information you provide when registering will be shared with the account owner and host and can be used and shared by them in accordance with their Terms and Privacy Policy.

This is very timely! Rarely do we hear from those whose lives, dignity, and safety are being bargained away and devalued as if they were “commodities” at the disposal of disingenuous politicos and interests who have turned their misery and desperation into “profit centers” and political rallying cries.

🏈🏆Finally, on another topic, congrats to Coach Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs, and “Chiefs’ Superfan” Taylor Swift on their second consecutive Lombardi Trophy and third in five seasons.  As almost everyone in sleep-deprived America knows by now, KC outlasted the SF 49ers in yesterday’s Super Bowl ending with a thrilling overtime finish 25-22!

For everyone else, including my Green Bay Packers, it’s “wait till next season!”😎

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

02-12-24

🤯 PROVING MY POINT: “Justice for asylum seekers and other migrants shouldn’t be this difficult in Garland’s courts!” — Despite “Happy Ending,” 600-Day Ordeal In What Should Have Been “Day 1 Grant” To Afghan Ally Shows Deep-Seated Problems @ Garland’s DOJ/EOIR & Human/Operational Consequences Of That Failure!

Star Chamber Justice
AG Merrick Garland’s methods for treating allies and friends of America when they apply for asylum in his “courts” are highly questionable and demonstratively counterproductive. Did the DC Circuit use “trial by ordeal” during Garland’s tenure? If not, why is it OK for EOIR?

From Human Rights First (“HRF”):

https://humanrightsfirst.org/library/ice-pushes-to-deport-asylum-seeking-afghan-incarcerated-in-the-united-states/

About Us

Join the Work

Search

Menu

HELPING AN AFGHAN INCARCERATED IN THE UNITED STATES EARN ASYLUM

Mohammad[1] is an Afghan citizen of the Hazara ethnic minority and Shi’a religion, who fled Afghanistan after repeated threats to his life following the Taliban’s consolidation of power in 2021. He escaped by traveling through the treacherous and only available route to the United States to seek asylum.

In Afghanistan, Mohammad was a professor with a history of advocacy for women’s rights and for victims of the Taliban and other extremist groups. Mohammad’s wife, who worked for a U.S. government-funded nonprofit organization in Afghanistan. Due to her work, she has an initially approved Special Immigrant Visa application that also gives Mohammad a path to permanent residence in the United States.

Despite this, Mohammad was criminally prosecuted for entering the United States to seek asylum.  He spent 7 months in prison before he was transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, where he could only then begin to pursue his asylum claim. ICE repeatedly denied Mohammad’s release into the community despite his having permanent resident family in the United States ready to sponsor and receive him.

Mohammad was forced to undergo his asylum case without an attorney while detained in immigration jail. After being held for one year, an immigration judge denied Mohammad’s asylum claims despite extensive evidence that he survived multiple attacks on his life by the Taliban and ISIS-K, and that the Taliban continue to search for him. The judge also dismissed irrefutable evidence of the significant risk he would face due to his ethnic and religious minority status if forced to return to Afghanistan, and the escalating violence imposed by the Taliban.

Mohammad’s story was detailed by the Associated Press.  The article provided “a rare look inside an opaque and overwhelmed immigration court system where hearings are often closed, transcripts are not available to the public and judges are under pressure to move quickly with ample discretion” and highlights Human Rights First’s efforts to find justice for Mohammad.

The United States should not deport Afghan allies—especially not those like Mohammad, who have courageously fought for human rights in Afghanistan, are members of ethnic and religious minority groups, and have family eligible for SIV status—all factors that would lead to certain risk of persecution and torture at the hands of the Taliban if forced to return.

We argued that Mohammad was subjected to unreasonably prolonged incarceration. He deserved to live freely in the United States and be reunited with his family while he sought asylum.

As Human Rights First acted on Mohammad’s case, we updated this blog with details of that effort.  Please follow this link for more on Mohammad’s story.

December 22, 2023

Mohammad’s journey has been long – he traveled from Afghanistan to South America, through the Darien Gap to the border, to ICE detention, and more – but it has come to a successful conclusion.

Our attorneys were successful in stopping the Department of Homeland Security from deporting Mohammad back to Afghanistan. We filed a Motion to Reopen Mohammad’s case and then filed a new asylum application. We made multiple parole requests to get Mohammad released. We filed for Temporary Protected Status for Mohammad, arguing that it is the U.S. government’s long-standing policy to release any individual who is prima facie eligible for TPS. We contacted government officials and advocated for Mohammad’s release for his sake and for his family — two small children and his wife, whose application through the Special Immigrant Visa program has long been approved. Our request to have his TPS application expedited was denied.

With our partners at the law firm of Akin LLP, we prepared Mohammad for his December 13 Individual hearing before a new judge in Dallas Immigration Court. We gathered additional evidence, spoke with eyewitnesses, consulted with an expert, and filed all necessary filings.

Finally, on December 20, 2023, 602 days after he first arrived in the United States, Mohammad was granted asylum. The immigration judge found that Mohammad had suffered persecution due to his political opinions and ethnicity.

Mohammad was released from detention on December 22, 2023, and will soon reunite with his niece in Michigan. Human Rights First and Akin LLP will now work to reunite Mohammad with his wife and children and help him to pursue a dignified life in the relative safety of the United States.

December 12, 2023

Mohammad is scheduled for an Individual Hearing on December 13.  We are very concerned about the possibility of his facing more detention even though he has an incredibly strong case with multiple claims to asylum.

Mohammad is an ethnic Hazara Shia Muslim who was an outspoken law professor and advocate on behalf of victims of Taliban terrorist attacks. His wife was employed by a U.S.-funded organization, and was granted COM approval for her Special Immigrant Visa.  Mohammad’s two brothers converted to Christianity, a crime punishable by death; Mohammad fears retribution by the Taliban due to their close family relationship and because they lived in the same building unit. In recent months, the Taliban have visited their home in Afghanistan multiple times.

We continue to believe and will argue that Mohammad should have never been detained in the first place.

December 2, 2023

On December 1, USCIS denied Human Rights First’s request to expedite Mohammad’s application for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). At the time of our request, Mohammad had been in detention for over 550 days.

We argued for expedited processing of his TPS application based on urgent humanitarian reasons  — he survived an ISIS-K bombing and an attempted gunpoint abduction by the Taliban — and the national interest of the United States.

We anticipated that the filing of Mohammad’s TPS application would be sufficient for DHS to release him, as he clearly meets the prima facie eligibility requirement. It is a long-standing U.S. government policy that “once granted TPS, an individual cannot be detained by DHS based on their immigration status in the United States.”

Unfortunately, our parole requests have repeatedly been denied, even after the submission of proof of TPS filing and of Mohammad’s wife’s COM approval for her Special Immigrant Visa (SIV).

September 25, 2023

Following the immigration judge’s erroneous denial of Mohammad’s asylum claim, he was connected with a pro bono attorney at Human Rights First to timely appeal that decision. Although ICE argued that Mohammad waived his right to appeal during the final immigration court hearing, experts, including former immigration judges, have reviewed the court transcript and agree with Human Rights First that Mohammad did not receive a fair hearing or knowingly waive his right to appeal. Unfortunately, the Board of Immigration Appeals summarily dismissed Mohammad’s appeal due to that purported waiver.

Human Rights First then filed a motion to reopen his removal proceedings directly with the Immigration Court. With the assistance of Akin Gump LLP, Mohammad also filed a petition for review of the BIA’s decision.[2]

On September 21, Mohammad’s motion to reopen before the immigration court was granted, despite the government’s continued opposition, winning him the opportunity to present his evidence for asylum again but this time with the assistance of an attorney and a new judge. That same day, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the Secretary has redesignated Afghanistan for Temporary Protected Status, which will provide an additional path to temporary protection from deportation for Mohammad. Human Rights First will continue to defend Mohammad’s case until he secures protection for himself and his family.

[1] full name withheld due to security concerns for his family

[2] this petition will be voluntarily dismissed as Mohammad’s motion to reopen removal proceedings was separately granted by an immigration judge

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

I said it yesterday on “Courtside.”

https://immigrationcourtside.com/2023/12/26/🌲under-your-tree-a-gift-🎁-from-sir-jeffrey-chase-of-the-round-table-🛡️-asylum-in-the-time-of-m-r-m-s/.

And, “bingo,” Garland and his inept minions at EOIR and DOJ furnish a great example of a backlog-building, due-process denying, expertise-lacking, dysfunctional, illogical  “court” system that is damaging humanity while undermining U.S. justice and democracy in so many ways!

The full scope of USG failure is on display in this saga:

  • Prosecutorial abuse;
  • Coercive detention;
  • Denial of counsel;
  • Bad judging at both trial and appellate levels of EOIR;
  • Lack of asylum expertise;
  • Absence of positive precedents granting asylum in recurring situations like Afghanistan;
  • Ignoring evidence;
  • Punishing allies;
  • Disregarding potential solutions;
  • Backlog-building, totally unnecessary “Aimless Docket Reshuffling;”
  • Squandering USG and NGO resources;
  • Alienating the NGO community;
  • Mistreating those we eventually will be welcoming and relying upon in our society;
  • Generating unnecessary litigation;
  • Promoting arbitrary and inconsistent results.

The HRF report also notes the supportive role of former Immigration Judges in obtaining justice for Mohammad.

As renowned asylum expert Eleanor Acer, Refugee Protection Director at HRF, said of this case on X: 

So relieved that he was finally granted asylum, but I continue to be appalled that people seeking asylum in the US often face so many obstacles & injustices.  Senators & Biden officials should focus on staffing & steps for accurate & just decisions, not more barriers & cruelty.

Yup! Our leaders “just don’t get it” when it comes to human rights, immigration, and the reality of forced migration. The costs to humanity of their failures is incalculable! 

Institutionalizing “accurate and just decisions” is something that has largely eluded Garland — despite his long service as an Article III Judge and his near-elevation to the Supremes. Many of us, obviously incorrectly, believed that with his judicial background and reputation — and few other real priorities on his plate given his recusal from the Trump prosecutions — Garland would be the AG who would finally fix EOIR and push the transition to Article I status. Instead, he has allowed EOIR to drift and deteriorate on his watch, with destruction of human lives and the undermining of justice in America as consequences!

All the punitive measures Congress is discussing will make things worse! The legislators and the politicos “running” this dysfunction are completely detatched from reality! (Reportedly, Secretary Blinken and other Administration politicos are now in Mexico looking for more “ guaranteed to to fail yet cause more human misery” ways to “enforce their way” out of a humanitarian crisis that is not at core a law enforcement problem at all!)

EOIR and the BIA require senior leaders who are practical experts in asylum law, who put due process and fundamental fairness first, and who are proven problem solvers — not part of the problem as is now the case. Unless and until we get an AG and senior DOJ leaders who recognize both the problems and the (now unrealized) opportunities at EOIR, American justice and democracy will continue to suffer! And human lives will continue to hang in the balance!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

12-27-23

🤯 WACKO PRIORITIES! — Huge Backlogs & Poor Public Service, Yet DOS Bureaucracy Finds Time To “Correct” Their Own “Mistake” From More Than 6 Decades Ago, Thus Making American Doctor “Stateless!”

Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy can obscure common sense!
ATTRIBUTION: Creative Commons 3.0

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/11/25/virginia-doctor-passport-citizenship-nightmare/

Theresa Vargas reports in WashPost:

Theresa Vargas
Theresa Vargas
Reporter
Washington Post

Siavash Sobhani is stateless.

The Northern Virginia doctor knows at least that much about his situation. He knows he is no longer considered a citizen of the United States — the place where he was born, went to school and has practiced medicine for more than 30 years — and that he also belongs to no other place.

“I’m in limbo,” he told me on a recent afternoon.

In the past few years, there have been many passport-renewal nightmare stories, with processing delays forcing people to beg, lose sleep and miss once-in-a-lifetime trips. But what Sobhani has experienced this year after trying to renew his passport is uniquely unmooring.

As he tells it, when he sent in an application for a new passport in February, he had no reason to expect he’d face any difficulties. He had renewed his passport several times previously without problems. This time, it was set to expire in June, and he wanted to make sure he had a valid one in hand before his family took a trip in July.

But he did not receive a new passport. Instead, at the age of 61, he lost what he had held since he was an infant: U.S. citizenship.

A letter from a State Department official informed him that he should not have been granted citizenship at the time of his birth because his father was a diplomat with the Embassy of Iran. The letter directed Sobhani to a website where he could apply for lawful permanent residence.

“This was a shock to me,” said Sobhani, who specializes in internal medicine. “I’m a doctor. I’ve been here all my life. I’ve paid my taxes. I’ve voted for presidents. I’ve served my community in Northern Virginia. During covid, I was at work, putting myself at risk, putting my family at risk. So when you’re told after 61 years, ‘Oh there was a mistake, you’re no longer a U.S. citizen,’ it’s really, really shocking.”

. . . .

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

Read Theresa’s full article at the link.

Months for a routine passport renewal? If you’re lucky! The DOS has struggled to cope with a totally predictable and largely self-aggravated “crisis!” Who would have thought that after several years of pandemic isolation and with a booming economy, Americans would start traveling again in record numbers? Probably, everybody in America except ivory tower DOS bureaucrats who failed to prepare for the obvious and to elevate public service over intrasigence!

As a veteran of more than four decades of dealing with the immigration bureaucracy — from both the inside and outside — I can testify to the truth of the adage that “Some cans of worms are better left unopened!” (Corollary: “If you open it, you own it!”) Where’s the common sense here? Lost in the bureaucratic fog, 🌫️ I guess!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

11-2-23

🤯 UK CONSERVATIVES’ ABSURDIST ASYLUM PLAN CRASHES💥 & BURNS!🔥 — “This grubby, cash-for-people deal was always cruel and immoral but, most importantly, it is unlawful.“

Victims of Rwanda’s Genocide
Victims of Rwanda’s Genocide
Public Realm
Three decades ago, Rwanda was the scene of a horrible genocide. Now, UK right wing pols think it’s an ideal place to “orbit” refugees, in violation of international laws!

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/15/supreme-court-rejects-rishi-sunak-plan-to-deport-asylum-seekers-to-rwanda

Supreme court rejects Rishi Sunak’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda

Judges uphold appeal court ruling over risk to deported refugees and deals blow to PM’s ‘stop the boats’ strategy

By Rajeev Syal and Diane Taylor

The Guardian 15 November 2023

  • UK politics live – latest updates

Rishi Sunak’s key immigration policy has been dealt a blow after the UK’s highest court rejected the government’s plans to deport people seeking asylum to Rwanda.

Five judges at the supreme court unanimously upheld an appeal court ruling that found there was a real risk of deported refugees having their claims in the east African country wrongly assessed or being returned to their country of origin to face persecution.

The ruling undermines one of the prime minister’s key pledges: to “stop the boats”. The government claimed that the £140m Rwanda scheme would be a key deterrent for growing numbers of asylum seekers reaching the UK via small boats travelling across the Channel, a claim that refugee charities have rejected.

Support the Guardian and enjoy the app ad-free.

Support the Guardian

Reading out the judgment, Lord Reed, the president of the supreme court, said the judges agreed unanimously with the court of appeal ruling that there was a real risk of claims being wrongly determined in Rwanda, resulting in asylum seekers being wrongly returned to their country of origin.

He pointed to crucial evidence from the United Nations’ refugee agency, the UNHCR, which highlighted the failure of a similar deportation agreement between Israel and Rwanda.

The ruling came the day after the sacked home secretary, Suella Braverman, released an incendiary letter accusing the prime minister of breaking an agreement to insert clauses into UK law that would have “blocked off” legal challenges under the European convention on human rights (ECHR) and the Human Rights Act.

Braverman said Sunak had no “credible plan B” and added: “If we lose in the supreme court, an outcome that I have consistently argued we must be prepared for, you will have wasted a year and an act of parliament, only to arrive back at square one.”

. . . .

Reed said the legal test in the case was whether there were substantial grounds for believing that asylum seekers sent to Rwanda would be at real risk of being sent back to the countries they came from, where they could face ill treatment.

“In the light of the evidence which I have summarised, the court of appeal concluded that there were such grounds. We are unanimously of the view that they were entitled to reach that conclusion. Indeed, having been taken through the evidence ourselves, we agree with their conclusion,” he said.

Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said it was a victory for men, women and children who simply wanted to be safe.

He said: “The plan goes against who we are as a country that stands up for those less fortunate than us and for the values of compassion, fairness and humanity. The government should be focusing on creating a functioning asylum system that allows people who seek safety in the UK a fair hearing on our soil and provides safe routes so they don’t have to take dangerous journeys.”

Toufique Hossain of Duncan Lewis solicitors, one of the lawyers representing asylum seekers who brought the legal challenge, said: “This is a victory for our brave clients who stood up to an inhumane policy. It is also a victory for the rule of law itself and the separation of powers, despite the noise. It is a timely reminder that governments must operate within the law. We hope that now our clients are able to dream of a better, safer future.”

Advertisement

Support the Guardian and enjoy the app ad-free.

Support the Guardian

Sonya Sceats, the chief executive of Freedom from Torture, said: “This is a victory for reason and compassion. We are delighted that the supreme court has affirmed what caring people already knew: the UK government’s ‘cash for humans’ deal with Rwanda is not only deeply immoral, but it also flies in the face of the laws of this country.

“The stakes of this case could not have been higher. Every day in our therapy rooms we see the terror that this scheme has inflicted on survivors of torture who have come to the UK seeking sanctuary.”

Steve Smith, the chief executive of the refugee charity Care4Calais, a claimant in the initial legal challenge, said the judgment was “a victory for humanity”.

He added: “This grubby, cash-for-people deal was always cruel and immoral but, most importantly, it is unlawful. Hundreds of millions of pounds have been spent on this cruel policy, and the only receipts the government has are the pain and torment inflicted on the thousands of survivors of war, torture and modern slavery they have targeted with it.

“Today’s judgment should bring this shameful mark on the UK’s history to a close. Never again should our government seek to shirk our country’s responsibility to offer sanctuary to those caught up in horrors around the world.”

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

Read the full article at the above link.

Here’s what the most recent USDOS Country Report says about human rights in Rwanda:

Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killings by the government; forced disappearance by the government; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary detention; political prisoners or detainees; politically motivated reprisals against individuals located outside the country, including killings, kidnappings, and violence; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; serious restrictions on free expression and media, including threats of violence against journalists, unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, and censorship; serious restrictions on internet freedom; substantial interference with the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, including overly restrictive laws on the organization, funding, or operation of nongovernmental and civil society organizations; serious and unreasonable restrictions on political participation; and serious government restrictions on or harassment of domestic and international human rights organizations.

https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/313615_RWANDA-2021-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf

Sound like a “safe third country” to you? Gimmie a break! The genocide may be in the (not that distant) past, but it’s still a horrible place from a human rights standpoint! Not to mention, that as a tiny, poor country it has virtually no ability to absorb large numbers of refugees, particularly compared with the UK!

Sunak and the other cowardly UK Tory pols who cooked up and continue to defend this ludicrous scheme should go down in history as guilty of “crimes against humanity” — not to mention grotesque violations of common sense and human dignity. 

Wanton cruelty, immorality, lies, intellectual dishonesty, scofflaw behavior from right wing politicos! Sound familiar? Always interesting how those who pontificate about “law and order” can’t abide by their own laws!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

11-15-23

🏴‍☠️🤮 SURPRISE: NIHILISTS CAN’T GOVERN — INCOMPETENT, UNINTERESTED — With Wars Raging, GOP Clown Show On Full Display, As Scalise Withdraws!🤡

Clown Car
“GOP House Conference en route to Capitol.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Ellin Beltz, 07-04-16, Creative Commons License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Creator not responsible for above caption.

 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/us/politics/scalise-jordan-house-speaker.html

By Luke Broadwater

Reporting from the Capitol

Oct. 12, 2023

Updated 8:57 p.m. ET

Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana withdrew on Thursday from consideration for the speakership he was on the cusp of claiming after hard-line Republicans balked at rallying around their party’s chosen candidate, leaving the House leaderless and the G.O.P. in chaos.

After being narrowly nominated for speaker during a Wednesday closed-door secret-ballot contest among House Republicans, Mr. Scalise, their No. 2 leader, found himself far from the 217 votes needed to be elected on the House floor. Many supporters of his challenger, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the right-wing Republican endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump, refused to switch their allegiance.

With no clear end in sight to the G.O.P. infighting that has left one chamber of Congress paralyzed at a time of challenges at home and abroad, Mr. Scalise said he would step aside in hopes that someone else could unite the fractious party.

“I just shared with my colleagues that I was withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker-designee,” Mr. Scalise said. “If you look at where our conference is, there’s still work to be done. Our conference still has to come together, and it’s not there. There are still some people that have their own agendas.”

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

With two wars involving our allies raging and the USG on track to run out of funding in a month, the GOP focuses on what’s important to them: THEMSELVES!

The GOP is a national disgrace and an international menace! They have brought the same disorder, callous disregard for the common good, and wacko, selfish, far right minority agenda to national politics that they have to the states they misgovern.

The GOP also also threatens America’s standing and influence on the world stage. The only thing standing between us and disaster is President Biden’s determination to lead and govern despite the GOP’s disgraceful chaos and betrayal of the common good!

And remember, it’s not like Scalise, who has coddled White Supremacists — once comparing himself to Klanster David Duke — and is a lifetime shill for a divisive far/right extremist agenda, was qualified to be Speaker. He was, at best, “slightly less unqualified” than insurrectionist election denier and Trump toady Jim Jordan!

As for Trump, his incoherent, hateful, anti-democracy rantings and unhinged ravings shows why the GOP he controls is an existential problem for American democracy. See, e.g.https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/12/hamas-israel-biden-trump/

Just vote ‘em out, vote ‘em out!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-13-23

‼️⚖️🗽ATTENTION: NDPA PRACTICE ALERT: USCIS Announces FY 2025 Diversity Visa (“DV”) Window!

GW Law Immigration Clinic Director Professor Alberto Benítez & Co-Director Professor Paulina Vera

Submitted by Professor Alberto Benitez at GW Law Immigration Clinic: 

The entry submission period for the FY2025 Diversity Visa lottery is from 12:00 pm (ET) on October 4, 2023, to 12:00 pm (ET) on November 7, 2023. Please see the attached.

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

Alberto Manuel Benitez

Professor of Clinical Law

Director, Immigration Clinic

The George Washington University Law School

650 20th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20052

(202) 994-7463

(202) 994-4946 fax

abenitez@law.gwu.edu

THE WORLD IS YOURS…

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

pastedGraphic.png

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

Thanks my friend!

The window opens,

Open Window
Open Window

And the window closes.

Closed Window
Closed Window

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-30-23

🇺🇸 PERSPECTIVE FROM HEATHER COX RICHARDSON: Don’t Let The Trump Gang’s Legal Shenanigans Deflect Focus From Biden’s Successful Initiatives To Restore America’s Prestige & Leadership On The World Stage!

Heather Cox Richardson
Heather Cox Richardson
Historian
Professor, Boston College

From Letters From An American 09-08-23:

https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/september-8-2023?r=330z7&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

It turns out the special purpose grand jury of Fulton County, Georgia, created in May 2022 to investigate the attempt to disrupt the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, recommended criminal charges against more people than the 19 the traditional grand jury indicted in August. Their report, published today, shows that a majority of the 23-person special grand jury also recommended the state bring charges against South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham and the two Georgia senators in early 2020: David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.

The special purpose grand jury also recommended charges against Trump lawyers Cleta Mitchell and Boris Epshteyn, Trump advisor Michael Flynn, and all the false electors.

In most of the votes, it appeared there was one staunch vote opposed to bringing charges against anyone associated with Trump.

Also today, U.S. district judge Steve C. Jones for the Northern District of Georgia denied the request of Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows to move his prosecution to federal rather than state court. This is important. Meadows had argued that the crimes for which the Fulton County grand jury indicted him were part of his duties as a federal official. If the judge had agreed, the removal of his case to federal court would have enabled Meadows to argue that his case should be dismissed because his actions were part of his official duties. But the judge determined that Meadow’s actions were part of his work for the Trump campaign and thus could stay in state court.

To make his case, Meadows testified himself, a high-risk step that now leaves him, as legal analyst Harry Litman of the Los Angeles Times put it, “in a very bad place. He gambled heavily on winning & then getting immunity. Now his ability to cooperate w/ either Jack Smith or Fani Willis is a) of much less value & b) possibly even off the table. He is in a world of hurt.”

Meadows has already appealed.

Other defendants, including Trump himself, were hoping their cases would be removed to federal court, but the decision in Meadows’s case does not bode well for them.

It would be a shame if the growing legal troubles of the Trump conspirators overshadow the work of the Biden administration on the global stage this week as it seeks to counter the power and influence of China by supporting other countries in the region. Vice President Kamala Harris took the lead in a visit to Jakarta, Indonesia, where she participated in the U.S.–Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.

ASEAN is a political and economic group of 10 countries that, combined, have more than 600 million people. Within that group, different countries seek stronger ties either with the U.S. or with China, and Harris has become a key figure in the administration’s attempt to bolster U.S. interests there. This was her third trip to Southeast Asia as vice president and fourth to Asia.

In Jakarta, Harris told Chris Megerian of the Associated Press: “We as Americans…have a very significant interest, both in terms of our security but also our prosperity, today and in the future, in developing and strengthening these relationships.” She said the government must “pay attention to 10, 20, 30 years down the line, and what we are developing now that will be to the benefit of our country then.” Southeast Asia has a young population, with two thirds of it under 35; makes up the fourth-largest market for U.S. exports; and is a passageway for one third of global shipping.

As Harris returned to the U.S., Biden left for New Delhi, India, for the Group of 20 (G20) Leaders’ Summit. On Friday he and Indian prime minister Narenda Modi had a bilateral meeting, and on Saturday and Sunday he will participate in the G20 summit. The G20 is a forum made up of 19 countries and the European Union that works to address issues relating to the global economy. G20 countries are responsible for 85% of the world’s economy and 75% of the world’s trade. The G20 is meeting September 8–10 in New Delhi.

On Tuesday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the U.S. focus at the G20 will be to emphasize the scaling up of development banks, especially the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which provide funding for developing countries. In August, Biden asked Congress to increase funding for the World Bank, and at the G20, Biden will call on G20 members “to provide meaningful debt relief so that low- and middle-income countries can regain their footing after years of extreme stress,” Sullivan said.

The U.S. will also emphasize the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI), a collaborative effort by the Group of Seven (G7) put together in 2022 to fund infrastructure projects from rail to solar to supply chains in developing nations. The G7 is a political forum made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the U.S., and the European Union (EU).

At the center of the G20 meeting is the issue of money for developing countries. In 2013, China launched the so-called Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to invest in infrastructure development in more than 150 countries as part of its assumption of a greater role in world affairs. The U.S. and key allies, including Japan and Australia, saw the plan as an effort to tie world trade to China.

But now, economic troubles in the wake of the onset of the coronavirus pandemic have made BRI debt less attractive to borrowing countries, while China has tightened up lending to reduce its own risk in the midst of an economic downturn. China is planning a big celebration for the tenth anniversary of the initiative in October, but European leaders are not planning to attend. In August, Italy, which was the only G7 country to join BRI, announced it was withdrawing.

Meanwhile, China’s president Xi Jinping will not attend this week’s G20 for the first time since he took office in 2012, possibly signaling internal turmoil in China or Xi’s frustration with what he sees as its increasing orientation toward the U.S., especially the growing ties between the U.S. and India, which shares a contested 2,100-mile border with China. In his place, Premier Li Qiang, the second-ranking leader in the People’s Republic of China, will attend the meeting.

Xi appears to be focusing less on the G20 now and more on BRICS, a bloc of emerging economies that began in 2009 with four countries—Brazil, Russia, India, and China—and added South Africa in 2010. When the group suggested earlier this year that it might admit more member states, more than 40 expressed interest, and BRICS has invited six to join: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen is with the president in New Delhi, where today she told the press that the U.S. is “committed to supporting emerging markets in developing countries” and outlined the ways in which the U.S. hopes to increase access to funds, especially to address climate change. She said the administration is asking Congress for $2.25 billion for the World Bank and a loan of up to $21 billion for the IMF, and is looking to find a way to provide debt relief for struggling countries.

After attending the G20, Biden will travel to Hanoi, Vietnam, as part of what national security advisor Jake Sullivan called “a vision for facing the 21st century together with an elevated and energized partnership.”

Russia is also part of the G20, but Russian president Vladimir Putin will not attend, sending foreign minister Sergey Lavrov instead. While that absence can be attributed to the increasing isolation of Putin and Russia by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there might also be a different source of tension between the normally cooperative Russia and India. Last month, both countries launched lunar probes. India’s landed successfully and has been completing scientific studies.

Russia’s crashed.

Notes:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23944933-2022-ex-000024-ex-parte-order-of-the-judge-2

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/judge-denies-meadows-bid-to-remove-georgia-case-to-federal-court

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/08/mark-meadows-georgia-election-charges

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/in-southeast-asian-summit-kamala-harris-at-the-center-of-white-house-efforts-to-oppose-china

https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-indonesia-summit-34ad8477fc9b0afb1f17adf807dda475

https://apnews.com/article/harris-2024-election-vice-president-7ecabc8d9f0117edad8e83a0c37c9134

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/20/fact-sheet-partnership-for-global-infrastructure-and-investment-at-the-g7-summit/

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202308/1297328.shtml

https://www.rferl.org/a/g7-global-infrastructure-investment-plan-bri-china/31915926.html

https://www.cfr.org/blog/why-italy-withdrawing-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/08/22/the-border-dispute-that-s-bedeviling-china-india-ties/3e86f86a-40cf-11ee-9677-53cc50eb3f77_story.html

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/08/china/china-xi-g20-absence-global-governance-intl-hnk/index.html

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2023/09/08/press-gaggle-by-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-and-national-security-advisor-jake-sullivan-en-route-ramstein-air-base-germany/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2023/09/08/press-gaggle-by-secretary-of-the-treasury-janet-yellen-ahead-of-the-g20-summit-in-india-new-delhi-india/

https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/China-up-close/Analysis-Xi-reprimanded-by-elders-at-Beidaihe-over-direction-of-nation

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/5-things-watch-biden-travels-india-g20-vietnam/story?id=102977070

https://www.wsj.com/articles/europe-avoids-chinas-belt-and-road-forum-keeping-a-distance-from-xi-and-putin-14f6253b

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/29/putin-confirms-g20-absence-to-modi-congratulates-india-on-moon-landing

https://apnews.com/article/russia-moon-luna25-spacecraft-mission-33c9884c907998f06bf9562be6d47445

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/world/india-lunar-lander-chandryaan-mission-obit-scn/index.html

https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-column-brics-bloc-expansion-china-russia-western-alternative-shackelford-20230908-2slrpb52xnblppb3yrotkwtv7u-story.html

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2023/09/05/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-and-national-security-advisor-jake-sullivan-6/

Twitter (X):

harrylitman/status/1700278326902788237

MacFarlaneNews/status/1700305331392331999/photo/1

kyledcheney/status/17001500

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

Forget the “age issue.” There is no way that narcissist Donald Trump and any of the “lesser clowns” 🤡 with whom he surrounds himself could represent America’s interests effectively on the world stage, particularly at this crucial point in time!

Watching low-key yet highly competent Secretary of State Tony Blinken working in Ukraine this week, there is no way that Pompeo could have pulled that off.  America needs a credible presence on the world stage. That’s one of many things that today’s insurrectionist, conspiracy theorist, Putin-appeasing GOP could never accomplish!  

Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-09-23

⚖️🗽 ATTENTION GEORGETOWN LAW STUDENTS: There’s Still Time To Register For “Immigration Law & Policy,” A “Compressed Semester 2-Credit Course” May 30 – June 1! — Learn About The Law & Reality Behind The Most Important, Most Misunderstood & Mis-portrayed Issue In American Law & Society Today — “The Fastest & Most Action-Packed  2 Credits In Legal Education!” — Your ONLY chance in 2023!

PWS
PWS

This class will cover the constitutional and political framework for the U.S. Immigration System, enforcement and adjudication agencies, immigrants, nonimmigrants, removals and deportations, detention and bond, immigration hearings, judicial review, grounds for removal and inadmissibility, “crimmigration,” immigration reform, “Chevron” deference, refugee and asylum status and other international protections. It will also include analyzing major immigration cases like INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421 (1987) (well-founded fear) and Matter of Kasinga, 21 I&N Dec. 357 (BIA 1996) (female genital mutilation).

Immigration Law and Policy

Meets:

TTh 2:00-5:05p

Instructor:

P. Schmidt

Meets:

TTh 2:00-5:05p

Instructor:

P. Schmidt

Search Criteria

  • Search course, faculty, or keyword: law 037 v02

  • Term: Summer 2023

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

    🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

05-25-23

🤯 ADMINISTRATION’S “SLOW WALK” OF AFGHAN ASYLUM CASES DRAWS COURT CHALLENGE!

Mary Meg McCarthy
Mary Meg McCarthy
Executive Director
National Immigrant Justice Center
PHOTO: Linkedin

https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/content/?fromMember=%5B%22ACoAAAptsmoBeio2wAzocjfJWreR5HK57RR3A-k%22%5D&heroEntityKey=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_profile%3AACoAAAptsmoBeio2wAzocjfJWreR5HK57RR3A-k&keywords=mary%20meg%20mccarthy&sid=RlV&update=urn%3Ali%3Afs_updateV2%3A(urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7054955572202270720%2CBLENDED_SEARCH_FEED%2CEMPTY%2CDEFAULT%2Cfalse)

Kirkland & Ellis LLP and NIJC represent class action of people facing prolonged waits for permanent immigration protection following 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan.

Afghan people seeking asylum are suing the U.S. government over delays in processing their asylum applications, nearly two years after they first arrived in the United States as part of a U.S. operation to evacuate allies who faced threats of persecution as the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan.

The plaintiffs in Ahmed v. Department of Homeland Security include people who worked for U.S. agencies in Kabul, women’s rights advocates, a healthcare worker, a teacher, and a journalist. Their temporary immigration status in the United States is set to expire in less than five months. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, challenges the failure of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to adjudicate the asylum applications filed by seven plaintiffs, and thousands of other Afghan people resettled in the United States, within the 150-day deadline set by Congress.

The plaintiffs ask the court to order DHS and USCIS to decide all overdue Afghan asylum adjudications within 30 days and to abide by the 150-day deadline in the future.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP Litigation Partner Mike Williams, who is working on this pro bono case, said: “This is a case about broken promises and broken trust, but also about the United States breaking its own laws. That is why we are asking the Court to require the United States to keep its promises to these Afghan people seeking asylum. These asylum applicants are among the most vulnerable to come to our country, and they should not be in legal limbo.”

National Immigrant Justice Center Attorney Richard Caldarone, who is co-counsel in the case, said: “USCIS’s systematic failure to decide asylum applications for Afghan people in the timeline set by Congress is inexcusable. For thousands of people — particularly those who had to leave family behind in Afghanistan — USCIS’s delays compound the trauma of Taliban threats and violence. Afghan people were forced to flee their homes and their country because they worked for liberty, equality, and democracy; they deserve better.”

The plaintiffs came to the United States in August 2021 as part of the U.S. government’s Operation Allies Welcome, which allowed Afghan people who passed stringent security and background checks to resettle in the United States and receive two years of humanitarian parole while they applied for more permanent immigration status. Additionally, Congress passed legislation requiring DHS and USCIS to “expeditiously adjudicate” asylum applications within 150 days for Afghan people who were resettled under the operation.

But DHS and USCIS have adjudicated just 11 percent of the roughly 16,000 asylum applications filed by Afghan people evacuated to the United States. Thousands of applications have been pending well past the 150-day adjudication deadline, and many people will see their temporary parole status expire in August 2023. The safety of those who applied for asylum remains in limbo, and their spouses and children trapped in Afghanistan continue to live under constant threats of danger.

RELATED DOCUMENTS

Read the complaint

(1.5 MB)

2023-04-19_Ahmed_ECF_001_Class_Action_Complaint.pdf

TAGS

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

This appears to be yet more “low hanging fruit” that the Administration could have handled without litigation to force them to do their job! What a HUGE, INSANE, UNNECESSARY WASTE of time and precious resources for the Biden Administration to choose to be perpetually “at war” with human rights experts and NGOs who have the knowledge and energy to craft and implement better legal approaches to refugees, asylum, adjudications, and restoring “order at the border!”

Casey Stengel
The Biden Administration’s propensity to adopt really bad approaches to human rights, asylum, and due process, and to “boot even the easy ones,” leaves Casey scratching his head and asking, “Can’t anyone here play this game?”
PHOTO: Rudi Reit
Creative Commons

Indeed, forcing Afghan evacuees into a ridiculously backlogged asylum adjudication system when they should have been admitted as refugees was a poorly conceived process in the first place! We sure could have used the Ambassadorial-level U.S. Refugee Coordinator originally created by the Refugee Act of 1980 but eventually swallowed by an intransigent State Department bureaucracy that always resented the function and its intended independence!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

04-24-23

LIVE IN DC ON FEB 24!  — SEE “ROCK STAR” 🎸 IMMIGRATION EXPERT PROFESSOR STEPHEN YALE-LOEHR & HIS “RAMBLIN’ BAND OF EXPERTS” TAKE ON IMMIGRATION POLICY @ THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB! — ONLY DC Area Performance* — Free, In Person or Online! — Just As Administration Rolls Out Idea Steve Has Championed: Private Refuges Sponsorship!

 

* In Feb. 2023

Immigration Rocks
Immigration law rocks with “Professor Stevie & His Ramblin’ Band of Experts!”
Public Realm

pastedGraphic.png

Immigration Reform: Lessons Learned and a Path Forward  

 

Congress has been unable to enact comprehensive immigration reform for over 30 years. 

  • Employers face an unprecedented shortage of workers. 
  • The Dreamers, long-contributing members of our society, face uncertainty due to litigation questioning the legality of the DACA program. 
  • And border security concerns everyone. 

Polls suggest Americans want immigration reform. But the conventional wisdom is that “comprehensive immigration reform” is impossible in a divided Congress.

This conference will explore targeted legislation and other policy changes that could be enacted in 2023, focusing on work visa changes to help alleviate our labor shortages, border security and asylum reforms, and a permanent path forward for Dreamers, farmworkers.

Sponsored by the Cornell Law School Immigration Law and Policy Research Program and cosponsored by the Cornell Migrations Initiative. 

While we encourage in-person attendance, the conference will be webcast live from the National Press Club. Mark your calendars now for this important event!

Panelists from the following organizations:  

 

American Action Forum, American Business Immigration Coalition, AmericanHort, Bipartisan Policy Center, Compete America, Cornell Law School, Migration Policy Institute, National Association of Evangelicals, National Immigration Forum, Niskanen Center, Service Employees International Union, 

Texas Association of Business, TheDream.US, UnidosUS, 

United Farm Workers of America, U.S. Chamber of Commerce 

  

A special thanks to the Charles Koch Foundation for sponsoring this event.

DATE

February 24th, 2023

TIME

8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. 

*Reception to follow

LOCATION

National Press Club

529 14th St NW,

Washington, DC

20045 

REGISTRATION LINK 

 

MORE INFO

Michelle LoParco at: 

k.loparco@cornell.edu

pastedGraphic_1.png

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

The U.S. State Department has just announced an initiative promoted by Steve, his colleague Dr. Janine Prantl, and other experts. See, e.g., https://immigrationcourtside.com/2022/10/17/🗽prantl-yale-loehr-ny-daily-news-private-refugee-sponsorship-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-but-the-biden-administration-has-turned-its-back-on-the-legal-human-rig/

Read the information sheet on the “Welcome Corps” here: https://welcomecorps.org/resources/faqs/.

This is a promising idea. Hope it works! I have to wonder, however, why a coordinated effort like this wasn’t implemented for asylum seekers arriving at the Southern Border? 

You can register (free) for the Cornell Conference, where this and other timely topics will be discussed by the experts!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

01-20-23

 

🤯BILL FRELICK @ THE HILL BLASTS BIDEN’S SCOFFLAW, ELITIST MISTREATMENT OF VENEZUELAN REFUGEES! — Welcome A Few Of The Well-To-Do, Give Others In Need The Screw! 🔩☠️ — Whatever Happened To The Refugee Act of 1980 & The Rule Of Law?

Statue of Liberty
Too many Biden Administration Immigration officials appear to share Stephen Miller’s “upside down” view of the Statue of Liberty, in whole or in part! Why can’t they just follow the Refugee Act of 1980 and establish the robust, timely, generous legal approach to refugees and asylum seekers that best serves America?
Bill Frelick
Bill Frelick
Director
Refugee and Migrant Rights Division
Human Rights Watch

https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/3704714-bidens-new-plan-no-help-for-desperate-venezuelan-refugees/

Refugees are people who flee for their lives. Escape from danger and abuse is usually chaotic, sudden, desperate. The Biden administration’s rollout of its new policy for Venezuelan refugees seems oblivious to this refugee reality and risks doing more harm than good.

. . . .

Announcing the program on Oct. 12, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said Venezuelans who enter irregularly “will be returned to Mexico.”

He didn’t mention — and appeared to disregard — U.S. law, which recognizes that anyone who arrives in the United States has the right to seek asylum “whether or not at a designated port of arrival” and “irrespective of such alien’s status.”

The impact of this announcement, “effective immediately,” was the summary return to Mexico without examination of their asylum claims of any Venezuelans entering the United States without authorization. Mexico has given no assurances that it will examine their refugee claims or provide asylum to those who fear return to Venezuela. In fact, the 4,050 Venezuelans expelled to Mexico since the implementation of the policy have been given visas valid for only one week and instructed to leave the country.

. . . .

With the Biden administration’s plan in effect, we might as well apply a blowtorch to Emma Lazarus’s welcoming poem at the foot of the Statue of Liberty and chisel in a new message: “Give me your well-rested, your well-to-do, your properly ticketed jet-setters yearning to breathe free.”

Bill Frelick is the refugee rights director at Human Rights Watch. Follow him on Twitter @BillFrelick.

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

Read Bill’s complete op-ed act the link. Bill is one of many “practical experts” who would do a much better job than current Administration politicos in establishing and running a refugee and asylum program that would comply with the law,  due process, human dignity, and America’s best interests. Why is Biden following the lead of his “clueless (and spineless) crew?”

The Refugee Act of 1980 was enacted and amended to deal with these situations! Robust, realistic refugee programs outside the U.S. should encourage many refugees to apply, be screened abroad, and admitted legally. 

Other refugees arriving at our border can be promptly screened for credible fear. Those who fail that test can be summarily removed in accordance with existing law. 

Those who pass that test should have access to counsel and receive timely, expert adjudications, with full appeal rights, under the generous “well founded fear” (1 in 10 chance) international standard established by the Refugee Act. See, e.g., INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca (Supremes); Matter of Mogharrabi (BIA).

It’s not “rocket science!” With dynamic, experienced refugee experts running the system and “practical scholars” with expertise in refugee processing and human rights laws serving as USCIS Asylum Officers and EOIR judges at the trial and appellate levels the legal system should be flexible enough to deal with all refugee situations in an orderly manner.

Many, probably a majority, of today’s asylum seekers should be granted asylum and admitted to the U.S. in full legal status, authorized to work, and on their way to green cards and eventual citizenship. Like those admitted from abroad, they could also be made eligible for certain resettlement assistance to facilitate integration into American communities who undoubtedly will benefit from their presence.

The more robust, realistic, and timely our overseas refugee programs become, the fewer refugees who will be forced to apply for asylum at our borders. Also, real, bold, dynamic humanitarian leadership, including accepting our fair share of refugees and asylees, could persuade other countries signatory to the Geneva Refugee Convention to do likewise.

No insurmountable backlogs; no bewildered individuals wandering around the U.S. in limbo waiting for hearings that will never happen; few “no shows;” no long-term detention; no botched, biased “any reason to deny” decisions from unqualified officers and judges leading to years of litigation cluttering our legal system, no diverting Border Patrol resources from real law enforcement, no refugees huddled under bridges or sitting on street corners in Mexico!

It’s not “pie in the sky!” It’s the way our legal system could and should work with competent leadership and the very best available adjudicators and judges! It would support the proper, important role of refugees as an essential component of LEGAL IMMIGRATION, not an “exception” or “loophole” as racists and nativists like to falsely argue.

Instead of demonstrating the competence and integrity to use existing law to deal with refugee and asylum situations, the Biden Administration resorts to ad hoc political gimmicks. Essentially, the “RA80” has been repealed “administratively.” Effectively, we’re back to the “ad hoc” arbitrary approaches we used prior to ‘80 (which I worked on during the Ford Administration, and where I recollect I first heard of Bill Frelick). 

I doubt that the late Senator Ted Kennedy, former Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman, and the rest of the group who helped shepherd the Refugee Act of 1980 through Congress would have thought that using Border Patrol Agents as Asylum Officers or packing the Immigration Courts and the BIA with judges prone to deny almost every asylum claim, regardless of facts or proper legal standards, was the “key to success!”

Congress specifically intended to eliminate the use of parole to deal with refugees except in extremely unusual circumstances, not present here. Biden’s latest ill-advised gimmick violates that premise. It’s totally inexcusable, as the refugee flow from Venezuela is neither new nor unpredictable. I was granting Venezuelan asylum cases before I retired in June 2016. Even then, there were legions of documentation, much of it generated by the USG, condemning the repressive regime in Venezuela and documenting the persecution of those who resisted!

A better AG would say “No” to these improper evasions of existing law. But, we have Merrick “What Me Worry” Garland! His botching of the Immigration Courts has been combined with a gross failure to stand up for equal justice for migrants (particularly those of color) across the board! America and refugees deserve better from our chief lawyer.

The Refugee Act of 1980 actually provides all the tools and flexibility the Biden Administration needs to establish order on the border and properly and fairly process refugees and asylees. Why won’t they use them?

Alfred E. Neumann
AG Merrick Garland has “looked the other way” while the Biden Administration flaunts applicable protection laws in and outside the U.S. He also runs a dysfunctional “court system” where anti-asylum bias, worst practices, poorly qualified decision makers, and grotesque inconsistencies undermine the legal rights of asylum seekers and other refugees. Doesn’t America deserve more competence from its top lawyer?
PHOTO: Wikipedia Commons

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-28-22

⚖️ THE GIBSON REPORT — 04-18-22 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson Esquire, Managing Attorney, National Immigrant Justice Center — 2021 DOS Country Reports, TPS For Cameroon and Ukraine, Harris Co. (TX) Legal Services Fund, Among The “Headliners!”

Elizabeth Gibson
Elizabeth Gibson
Managing Attorney
National Immigrant Justice Center
Publisher of “The Gibson Report”

pastedGraphic.png

 

Weekly Briefing

 

This 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 contents 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

 

TPS For Ukraine Scheduled to Be Published tomorrow, 4/19/22

 

Secretary Mayorkas Designates Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status for 18 Months

 

2021 DOS Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

 

USCIS Announces Online Filing for DACA Renewal Forms

 

ICE announces new policies strengthening protections for detained noncitizens with mental disorders

 

NEWS

 

State Department Unveils US 2021 Human Rights Report

VOA: A U.S. State Department annual report highlighted concerns about continuing human rights abuses in Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, Egypt and other authoritarian nations, as well as the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on rights practices around the world.

 

U.S. arrests 210,000 migrants at Mexico border in March, rivaling record highs

Reuters: The 210,000 migrants arrested in March, a figure made public in a court filing on Friday night, is the highest monthly total on record since February 2000, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics dating back to 2000.

 

Launch of Program for Legal Representation of Detained Immigrants

RAICES: On Monday, April 18th, 2022, immigrant legal services providers, advocates and community members will hold a press conference to announce the launch of the Harris County Immigrant Legal Services Fund (ILSF), which will provide free legal representation for immigrant members of the county who are detained and facing the threat of deportation. As of February 2022, Harris County had the most residents with pending immigration court cases in the country.

 

Democrats intensify fight against Biden immigration policy

CNN: While immigration advocates celebrated the decision to reverse Title 42, many moderate Democrats have sounded the alarm warning that lifting the policy without an adequate plan in place will lead to a rapid influx of migrants at the Southern border, something that Republicans will be quick to seize on the campaign trail.

 

First busload of migrants from Texas arrives in D.C.

WaPo: They were also thankful that Abbott had given them a free ride and trips to McDonald’s, even after being told the governor is calling for them to be expelled from the United States…“The truth is, they helped us. They gave us a hand so that we could arrive here and honestly, we are very grateful.” See also Texas halts truck inspections that caused border gridlock; Examining Nearly Two Decades of Taxpayer-Funded Border Operations.

 

Kansas gov signs bill to ban local ‘sanctuaries’ for immigrants

AP: The bill was filed after Wyandotte County passed a “sanctuary” ordinance in February that would provide local identification cards for immigrants and other residents and would prevent local law enforcement from helping the federal government enforce immigration laws unless public safety is threatened. Lawrence and Roeland Park have similar ordinances.

 

Watchdog Pans ICE For Sole-Sourcing $87M Hotel Deal

Law360: A federal watchdog rebuked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for an $87 million no-bid contract to house migrant families in hotels, saying the agency hadn’t justified directly awarding the deal to a nonprofit inexperienced in emergency family residential services.

 

Cuba has stopped accepting deportations of its nationals from the US, ICE says

Denver Gazette: The Cuban government has not been accepting deportations of Cuban nationals from the U.S. for more than six months, at a time when tens of thousands are leaving the island to reach the U.S. in the largest exodus since the 1980s Mariel boatlift.

 

Illinois budget expands tax breaks and healthcare for immigrants

WTTW: An expanded class of low-income workers will permanently get a larger tax break via the Earned Income Tax Credit, and that benefit will be extended to those who file taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), something that Rep. Aaron Ortiz, D-Chicago, said is important to many immigrants who play an important role in the state’s economy. Illinois is allocating $70 million for healthcare for undocumented immigrants. See also Illinois launches health care coverage for older immigrant adults aged 55 to 64.

 

Ukrainians Face New Hurdle at U.S. Border: No Dogs

NYT: Federal health guidelines limit the entry of pets from countries like Ukraine with a high incidence of rabies. For some refugees, the rule has been devastating. See also Poland builds a border wall, even as it welcomes Ukrainian refugees.

 

LITIGATION & AGENCY UPDATES

 

4th Circ. Won’t Grant Immigrant Fees, Despite Feds’ Loss

Law360: The Fourth Circuit refused to award attorney fees to a man who convinced the full appeals court that the federal government had arbitrarily rejected him for special immigrant juvenile status, saying the U.S. was justified in fighting the suit.

 

7th Circ. Leery Of Letting States Step Into Public Charge Fight

Law360: The Seventh Circuit seemed unconvinced Wednesday that it should unsettle the dust in a dispute over a Trump-era public charge rule that the Biden administration has already begun redrafting by letting a group of Republican-led states enter the fray.

 

USCIS To Give Veterans Citizenship After Failing To Ax Suits

Law360: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will grant naturalization requests made by two immigrant veterans after federal courts refused to toss the soldiers’ lawsuits alleging the agency unfairly disqualified them from expedited processing of their citizenship bids.

 

DHS Can’t Block Probe Of Detained Migrants’ Counsel Access

Law360: A D.C. federal court has denied the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s bid to block inspections of detention facilities that immigration advocates say are denying inmates access to counsel, but the government did get its choice of monitor for the probe.

 

18 Additional States Join Suit To Keep Pandemic Border Block

Law360: Eighteen additional states on Thursday signed on to a lawsuit started by Arizona, Louisiana and Missouri to challenge the Biden administration’s decision to wind down a pandemic-related order known as Title 42 that allows the quick expulsion of migrants arriving at U.S. land borders.

 

Immigrant groups sue ICE for information on alternative detention programs

Hill: A coalition of immigrant rights groups filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking information from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) about the agency’s Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP), a so- called alternative to detention program that has ballooned during the Biden administration.

 

Immigration warning not needed in police questioning of undocumented suspects, court rules

NJ Monitor: Police do not have to — and should not — advise crime suspects that their cooperation could impact their immigration status, a New Jersey appeals court ruled Friday.

 

Secretary Mayorkas Designates Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status for 18 Months

USCIS: Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the designation of Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. Only individuals who are already residing in the United States as of April 14, 2022, will be eligible for TPS.

 

DHS Equity Action Plan

DHS: The key program areas include: Applying for naturalization; Accessing humanitarian protection during immigration processing

Bidding on DHS contracts; Countering all forms of terrorism and targeted violence; Filing complaints and seeking redress in DHS programs and activities; Airport screening; Accessing Trusted Traveler Programs.

 

USCIS Releases New Webpage for Lockbox Filing Location Updates

AILA: USCIS announced that its website will now feature a Lockbox Filing Location Updates page, where customers can track when lockbox form filing locations are updated. Updates will also be emailed and announced on social media.

 

EOIR Announces Appointment of Mary Cheng as Deputy Director

EOIR: Since April 2021, Judge Cheng has served as the Regional Deputy Chief Immigration Judge for the Eastern Region at EOIR. She previously served as a Deputy Chief Immigration Judge from 2017 to 2021, and she was the Acting Principal Deputy Chief Immigration Judge from August 2020 to February 2021. Judge Cheng has also served in the New York Immigration Court both as an Assistant Chief Immigration Judge from 2015 to 2017, and as an Immigration Judge from 2009 to 2015. Before joining EOIR, she served as Assistant Chief Counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, from 2002 to 2009; and before that, she practiced immigration law in New York from 2000 to 2002.

 

EOIR Announces New Appellate Judge

AILA: EOIR announced the appointment of Beth Liebmann as a member of BIA by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. Biographical information for Liebmann has been provided.

 

AMICUS INVITATION (Texas Burglary – Crime of Violence)

BIA: Whether, in light of U.S. v. Herrold, 941 F.3d 173 (5th Cir. 2019) (en banc), and regardless of the specific mens rea of an underlying crime, the commission or attempted commission of a felony, theft, or an assault under Texas Penal Code § 30.02(a)(3) necessarily supersedes or implicitly contains generic burglary’s intent element, which requires an “intent to commit a crime” upon entry into a building or habitation. Due Date: May 3, 2022

 

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 Google Group 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 Elizabeth. 

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

04-19-22

 

 

⚖️ 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

⚖️👩🏽‍⚖️ MORE NDPA CLE: Ellsberg, Harris, Schmidt, Among Headliners @ Inaugural Fourth Circuit Asylum Law Conference @ William & Mary Law on March 11!

Dr. Mary Ellsberg
Dr. Mary Ellsberg
Founding Director
Global Women’s Institute
George Washington University
PHOTO: GWU
Professor Lindsay Muir Harris
Professor Lindsay Muir Harris
UDC Law
Me
Me

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-inaugural-fourth-circuit-asylum-law-conference-tickets-203071732017?aff=speaker

The Inaugural Fourth Circuit Asylum Law Conference

MAR

11

The Inaugural Fourth Circuit Asylum Law Conference

 

11

The Inaugural Fourth Circuit Asylum Law Conference

by William & Mary Law School Immigration Clinic

Follow

15 followers

$20 – $250

Actions and Detail Panel

  • Share this event

$20 – $250

Tickets

Event Information

Join us for a full-day virtual conference discussing Fourth Circuit asylum law and best practices with experts. 6.5 VA & NC CLE credits.

About this event

Join the William & Mary Law School Immigration Clinic, William & Mary Center for Racial and Social Justice, and Immigrant Justice Corps for the Inaugural Fourth Circuit Asylum Law Conference.

Conference Schedule:

Panels and Sessions include:

  • One Year In: The Biden Administration and Asylum Policy
  • Developments in Fourth Circuit Case Law
  • Increasing Access to Pro Bono Counsel in Underserved Areas: Virginia as a Case Study
  • Working Across Disciplines: Best Practices for Attorneys and Mental Health Professionals in Asylum Seeker Evaluations
  • Country Conditions: From Page to Practice

CLE Credit and DOJ Accredited Representative Certifications

This event has been approved for 6.5 credit hours of CLE credit from Virginia and North Carolina. Attorneys seeking CLE credit must purchase tickets indicating that CLE credit is provided (indicated by “CLE” listed by the ticket type).

Attorneys from other jurisdictions who are not seeking CLE credit from Virginia or North Carolina are welcome to attend.

DOJ Accredited Representative certifications will be provided to those who register as DOJ Accredited Representatives seeking certification.

Zoom Webinar Information

Zoom information for the event will be sent to the email address used to register. For security reasons, we do not post the Zoom link information. All Zoom registration information will be provided in a separate email closer to the date of the event.

Tags

Share with friends

Share on Facebook

Share on Facebook Messenger

Share on Linkedin

Share on Twitter

Share by Email

Date and time

Fri, March 11, 2022

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM EST

Location

Online event

Refund policy

Contact the organizer to request a refund.

Eventbrite’s fee is nonrefundable.

Organizer

William & Mary Law School Immigration Clinic

Organizer of The Inaugural Fourth Circuit Asylum Law Conference

Follow

Contact

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

Our panel will be “Country Conditions: From Page to Practice.”

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

02-25-22

😎👍🏼⚖️🗽 MORE FREE NDPA TRAINING FROM THE EXPERTS: 6 Months After the Fall of Aghanistan: Free Webinar Mar. 9 1-2 pm ET!

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

Cornell Law School and the Cornell Migrations Initiative, along with other organizations, are hosting a free public webinar on Wednesday March 9 from 1-2 pm ET entitled “After the Fall: The Future of Afghan Allies Fleeing the Taliban.”

Six months after the fall of Afghanistan, a lot has been done, but a lot remains to be done.The United States evacuated over 100,000 Afghans to the United States or third countries.Yet an estimated 200,000 Afghans who helped the U.S. military or government remain in Afghanistan, fearing persecution and famine.Moreover, those who have made it to the United States have mostly entered on humanitarian parole, which is a temporary status that expires after two years.They need ways to remain in the United States permanently.

Learn what Cornell University and other organizations have done to assist Afghans at risk, what remains to be done, and how you can help.

Speakers include Joel Kelsey, chief of staff to U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal; Chis Purdy, director of Veterans for American Ideals and Outreach at Human Rights First; Nell Cady-Kruse from the Evacuate Our Allies Coalition; Camille Mackler, executive director of Immigrant ARC; and Katie Rahmlow, a Cornell law student who has worked on several Afghan cases. Cornell law professor Stephen Yale-Loehr, who directs an Afghanistan asylum clinic at Cornell Law School, will moderate.

To register for the free webinar, go to https://ecornell.cornell.edu/keynotes/overview/K030922a/

Stephen Yale-Loehr

Professor of Immigration Law Practice, Cornell Law School

Faculty Director, Immigration Law and Policy Program

Faculty Fellow, Migrations Initiative

Co-director, Asylum Appeals Clinic

Co-Author, Immigration Law & Procedure Treatise

Of Counsel, Miller Mayer

Phone: 607-379-9707

e-mail: SWY1@cornell.edu

Twitter: @syaleloehr

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

Thanks so much Steve for passing this along! An all-star lineup to be sure! 🌟🌟🌟 Don’t miss it! Required registration available at the above link.

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

02-24-22