As usual, lots of “good stuff” in Elizabeth’s Report. Here are the “Top Stories:”
“TOP UPDATES
NYIFUP Accepting New Cases Again
BDS: As most of you know, the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) has not been in intake recently. We are pleased to let you know that the NYIFUP providers will be back accepting new cases at the Varick Street Court as of August 14th for clients who are detained, unrepresented, and financially eligible. We will not be imposing a bar to our services based on criminal history. Because we intake unrepresented clients directly at the court, there is no need to refer us cases, although you are welcome to let the providers know about someone who will be coming through intake ahead of time. At this time, the providers are still determining our capacity to accept cases whose first appearance was during the time that we were out of intake. If you have specific questions about NYIFUP or an individual case, you can reach out to me, to Sarah Gillman at the Legal Aid Society (stgillman@legal-aid.org), or to Sarah Deri Oshiro at the Bronx Defenders (sarahdo@bronxdefenders.org). Thank all of you for your strong support of NYIFUP this year. NYT Coverage.
Increased number of RFEs for pending I-360 SIJS petitions and notices of intent to revoke approved I-360 SIJS petitions
USCIS has been issuing an increased number of RFEs for pending I-360 SIJS petitions and notices of intent to revoke approved I-360 SIJS petitions. USCIS is primarily issuing RFEs to SIJS applicants that were 18 years old or older at the time the guardianship order was issued. However, they are also issuing RFEs to SIJS applicants that obtained a custody order.
EOIR Memo on continuances: Issued July 31, 2017, it directs IJs to take a less liberal stance with regards to continuances, taking into account the complexity of the case, etc. Respondents will be granted at least one continuance to obtain counsel, but it may be harder to receive additional adjournments if they cannot show diligence in seeking counsel.
- 1720: RAISE Act
While it is unlikely that this bill will ever become a law, it has gained a lot of press since Trump announced his support for it. The law would have a significant impact on family-based immigration and also would affect employment-based and refugee programs. In short, it would, cut family-based immigration in half over the next decade (eliminating the categories of adult parents of U.S. citizens, adult siblings of U.S. citizens, unmarried or married adult children of U.S. citizens, and unmarried adult children of LPRs), end the diversity visa lottery, and cap refugee admissions at 50,000. For elderly parents there would be a renewable nonimmigrant visa granted on the condition that parents will not work, access public benefits, and must be guaranteed support and health insurance by their sponsoring children. MPI analysis.
DOJ Announces Anti-Sanctuary City Language Required for Participation in Public Safety Partnership Program
The Department of Justice announced that, in order to participate in the Public Safety Partnership (PSP) program, local jurisdictions must answer questions that “show a commitment to reducing crime stemming from illegal immigration.” Twelve locations were initially selected for the program. AILA Doc. No. 17080333
Data Shows Prosecutorial Discretion Grinds to a Halt in Immigration Courts
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last month that it now has hired 326 immigration judges, 53 more judges than July 2016, yet during that time the immigration court backlog has grown. According to new data released by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) the reason for this may be due to the fact that the Trump administration has nearly ended the use of prosecutorial discretion to close cases, forcing judges to place them all on their dockets.
Advocates File Amicus Brief with BIA on the Modified Categorical Approach and CIMTs
Responding to an amicus invitation, AILA, the Immigrant Defense Project, and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild filed a brief taking the position that the BIA should not depart from the categorical approach when analyzing reprehensibility element of the CIMT analysis. AILA Doc. No. 17080403
Civil Rights Groups Sue State Department – demand processing of Diversity Visa Winners
Civil rights groups filed a federal lawsuit challenging the State Department’s refusal to process visa applications for winners of the U.S. Diversity Visa Program lottery who hail from the six countries covered by President Trump’s Muslim ban. P.K. v. Tillerson, was filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
Still No Action Taken: Complaints Against Border Patrol Agents Continue to Go Unanswered
According to more recent CBP data obtained by the American Immigration Council, the agency has made little progress in its efforts to improve accountability. This data, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, includes 2,178 cases of alleged misconduct by Border Patrol agents and supervisors that were filed between January 2012 and October 2015.”
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Go the the full report at the link for more.
PWS
08-07-17