THE GIBSON REPORT — 06-03-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

Elizabeth Gibson
Elizabeth Gibson
NY Legal Assistance Group

THE GIBSON REPORT — 06-03-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

 

TOP UPDATES

 

Trump Is Considering Denying Asylum To Immigrants Who Travel Through A Third Country

Buzzfeed: The Trump administration is considering a proposal that would bar asylum for those who transit through a third country, a potential major escalation in the administration’s attempts to deter asylum-seekers, according to sources close to the administration.

 

Trump says U.S. to impose 5 percent tariff on all Mexican imports beginning June 10 in dramatic escalation of border clash

WaPo: The White House plans to begin levying the import penalties on June 10 and ratchet the penalties higher if the migrant flow isn’t halted. Trump said he would remove the tariffs only if all illegal migration across the border ceased, though other White House officials said they would be looking only for Mexico to take major action. See also White House Releases Statement from President Trump Regarding Emergency Measures to Address the Border Crisis.

 

BIA: IJ can dismiss proceedings where meritless asylum used as path to cancellation

BIA: An Immigration Judge has the authority to dismiss removal proceedings pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 239.2(a)(7) (2018) upon a finding that it is an abuse of the asylum process to file a meritless asylum application with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for the sole purpose of seeking cancellation of removal in the Immigration Court.

 

Vermont Service Center (VSC) no longer entertains requests for supervisory review

VSC: Generally speaking, the Vermont Service Center (VSC) no longer entertains requests for supervisory review of requests for evidence (RFEs), via this email hotline or any other method. If your client disagrees with the RFE or believes that the requested evidence has already been submitted, they may wish to indicate this in their response to the RFE. They may also wish to resubmit the requested evidence. Any information submitted will be reviewed by the adjudicating officer.

 

Trump Memo Requires Immigrants’ Sponsors to Reimburse Government for Welfare

U.S. News: President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a memorandum that will direct federal agencies to enforce a longstanding rule requiring the sponsors of legal immigrants to reimburse the government for any public benefits the immigrant uses, such as Medicaid and food stamps.

 

ICE Uses Solitary Confinement on Immigrants Who Are Transgender, Suicidal

AIC: Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials regularly place detained immigrants into prolonged solitary confinement, despite findings that such confinement is a form of torture.

 

U.S. Requiring Social Media Information From Visa Applicants

NYT: Visa applicants to the United States are required to submit any information about social media accounts they have used in the past five years under a State Department policy that started on Friday.

 

Deceased G.O.P. Strategist’s Hard Drives Reveal New Details on the Census Citizenship Question

NYT: Files on those drives showed that he wrote a study in 2015 concluding that adding a citizenship question to the census would allow Republicans to draft even more extreme gerrymandered maps to stymie Democrats.

 

State Department to launch new human rights panel stressing ‘natural law’

Politico: The Trump administration plans to launch a new panel to offer “fresh thinking” on international human rights and “natural law,” a move some activists fear is aimed at narrowing protections for women and members of the LGBT community.

 

TSA sending up to 400 workers to southern border, but says it won’t slow air travel

USA Today: The Transportation Security Administration is preparing to send up to 400 workers to the southern border to assist with the rising number of Central American migrants, but officials say the move shouldn’t affect air travel as the summer travel season gets underway.

 

Trump administration to send DHS agents, investigators to Guatemala-Mexico border

WaPo: The Department of Homeland Security personnel will work as “advisers” to Guatemala’s national police and migration authorities, and they will aim to disrupt and interdict human smuggling operations, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe a plan that has not been made public. U.S. authorities hope that the effort will cut off popular routes to the United States and deter migrants from beginning their journeys north through Mexico.

 

Hundreds Of Immigrants Detained At Southern Border Brought To NYC-Area Jails

Gothamist: Hundreds of immigrants detained at the southern border have been transferred to jails in the New York City area in the last few weeks, as the Trump administration takes unprecedented steps to manage a growing number of migrants seeking entry to the United States.

 

Trump Administration Separates Some Migrant Mothers From Their Newborns Before Returning Them to Detention

Rewire: Advocates also report that some asylum seekers in the Western District of Texas who have given birth in USMS custody were forced to hand over their newborns to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). Reuniting with their newborn hinges on their release from federal custody, and whether they can access legal help to navigate the child welfare system.See also ‘He Started Calling Me Papa Again’: A Separated Migrant Father and Son Reunite After 378 Days Apart; Over 200 Allegations of Abuse of Migrant Children; 1 Case of Homeland Security Disciplining Someone; and Customs and Border Protection is buying 2.2 million baby diapers for its new migrant tent city

 

Trump’s Crackdown on Illegal Immigration: 11 Employers Prosecuted in the Past Year

NYT: The Trump administration’s crackdown on unauthorized immigration has resulted in the prosecution of tens of thousands of people entering the country illegally. But new data suggests that the government has not prioritized the prosecution of employers, whose jobs represent the biggest lure for those crossing the southern border to reach the United States.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

Immigration in the Supreme Court: Cert Petition in DACA Rescission Case, Cert Granted in Border Shooting Case

ImmProf: The Trump Administration is seeking Supreme Court review of a Fourth Circuit decision rejecting the administration’s attempt to rescind DACA.  Here is the cert petition. In addition, the Supreme Court has granted cert in Hernandez v. Mesa, which asks whether the family of a Mexican teen killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in a cross-border shooting can sue the officer for damages (case page at this link).

 

AG Refers Two BIA Cases to Himself and Solicits Amici on Judicial Alteration of a Criminal Conviction or Sentence

The AG invites amici on whether judicial alteration of a criminal conviction or sentence should be taken into consideration in determining the immigration consequences of the conviction. Comments due by 7/12/19. Matter of Thomas and Matter of Thompson, 27 I&N Dec. 556 (A.G. 2019) AILA Doc. No. 19052900

 

Daughter of immigration detainee who died in custody sues Hudson County, its jail

NorthJersey: The daughter of a man who died while in immigration custody filed a wrongful death lawsuit Thursday against Hudson County and its jail, where he was held before he died of internal bleeding at a local hospital.

 

Documents Related to Lawsuit Seeking to Make Unpublished BIA Decisions Publicly Available

NYLAG filed a memo in support of its motion for summary judgment. (NYLAG v. BIA, 5/24/19) AILA Doc. No. 18102232

 

Matter of ANDRADE JASO and CARBAJAL AYALA, 27 I&N Dec. 557 (BIA 2019)

An Immigration Judge has the authority to dismiss removal proceedings pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 239.2(a)(7) (2018) upon a finding that it is an abuse of the asylum process to file a meritless asylum application with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for the sole purpose of seeking cancellation of removal in the Immigration Court.

 

BIA Remands to IJ to Consider Continuance Request by Respondent with Pending U Visa Petition

Unpublished BIA decision vacates denial of continuance where IJ did not make preliminary determination whether respondent was prima facie eligible for U visa. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Gomez-Alfaro, 7/31/18) AILA Doc. No. 19052995

BIA Holds Criminal Judgment Entered In Absentia Not a Conviction for Immigration Purposes

Unpublished BIA decision holds that an administratively entered judgment of guilt due to the respondent’s failure to appear in court does not qualify as a conviction for immigration purposes. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Davies, 7/30/18) AILA Doc. No. 19052895

 

BIA Affirms IJ’s Decision to Terminate Removal, Finding Fraud Conviction Not a CIMT

In an unpublished BIA decision, the BIA affirmed the Immigration Judge’s decision to terminate removal proceedings, finding that the crime of fraud under $5,000, in violation of section 380(1)(b) of the Criminal Code of Canada is not a CIMT. Courtesy of Richard Hanus. AILA Doc. No. 19052834

 

BIA Reopens and Terminates Proceedings Sua Sponte in Light of Intervening Ninth Circuit Decision

Unpublished BIA decision reopens and terminates proceedings sua sponte in light of holding in United States v. Robinson, 869 F.3d 933 (9th Cir. 2017), that assault under Wash. Rev. Stat. 9A.36.021 is not a crime of violence. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ibrahim, 8/7/18) AILA Doc. No. 19052896

 

BIA Holds Making False Statement to Firearms Dealer Not a Firearms Offense

Unpublished BIA decision holds that making false statement to firearms dealer under 18 USC §924(a)(1)(A) is a not a firearms offense because it applies to dealers who falsify their own records. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Lopez, 8/17/18) AILA Doc. No. 19053135

 

BIA Holds Texas Online Solicitation of a Minor Not an Aggravated Felony

Unpublished BIA decision holds that online solicitation of a minor under Tex. Penal Code 33.021 is not aggravated felony sexual abuse of a minor or attempted sexual abuse of a minor because it does not require a victim under 16 years of age. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Adeeko, 8/14/18) AILA Doc. No. 19053132

 

K-D-T-, AXXX XXX 140 (BIA May 2, 2019) (unpublished)

BIA: Vacates order rescinding LPR status because respondent was not given opportunity to cross-examine ex-spouse or USCIS officer who took her statement

 

CA1 Rejects Procedural Due Process Challenge of Petitioner Removed to Ireland in 2018

The court found that the petitioner, a citizen of Ireland who had entered the United States as a child and had overstayed his visa, was not entitled to a presumption of prejudice, and that he could not make a particularized showing of prejudice. (O’Riordan v. Barr, 5/22/19) AILA Doc. No. 19052831

 

CA2 Finds Immigration Detainees Released from Custody Without Discharge Planning Adequately Stated a Fourteenth Amendment Claim

The court vacated the district court’s dismissal of the plaintiffs’ complaint alleging that the defendants’ failure to engage in discharge planning for the plaintiffs’ serious medical needs prior to release violated their substantive due process rights. (Charles v. Orange County, 5/24/19) AILA Doc. No. 19053130

 

CA4 Finds BIA Distorted Record in Denying Asylum to Salvadoran Woman Abused by Partner

The court held that the BIA had disregarded and distorted significant portions of the record when it found that the petitioner had failed to establish that the Salvadoran government was unwilling or unable to protect her from persecution. (Orellana v. Barr, 5/23/19) AILA Doc. No. 19052832

 

CA5 Upholds Asylum Denial to Ex-Law Enforcement Official from Honduras

The court held that substantial evidence supported the BIA’s determination that petitioner, who had been a police officer in Honduras, had failed to show a nexus between the alleged persecution he suffered and his membership in a particular social group. (Martinez Manzanares v. Barr, 5/24/19) AILA Doc. No. 19052833

 

CA7 Finds DHS’s Failure to Include Date and Time in NTA Was Not a Jurisdictional Flaw

The court held that DHS’s failure to include the time and date of the petitioner’s hearing in the Notice to Appear (NTA) was a failure to follow a claim-processing rule, not a jurisdictional flaw, and that petitioner did not timely object to DHS’s misstep. (Ortiz-Santiago v. Barr, 5/20/19) AILA Doc. No. 19052803

 

CA9 Says NTA That Is Defective Under Pereira Cannot Be Cured by a Subsequent Notice of Hearing

The court held that a Notice to Appear (NTA) that is defective under Pereira v. Sessions cannot be cured by a subsequent Notice of Hearing, and therefore does not terminate the residence period required for cancellation of removal. (Lorenzo Lopez v. Barr, 5/22/19) AILA Doc. No. 19052872

 

CA9 Finds Petitioner’s Continuous Residency Did Not Commence with Grant of Parole

The court held that petitioner had failed to show that his 1997 parole constituted an “admission in any status,” and thus found he had not obtained the requisite seven years of continuous residency in the United States to be eligible for cancellation of removal. (Alanniz v. Barr, 5/20/19) AILA Doc. No. 19052871

 

D.C. District Court Vacates a Portion of USCIS’s July 2017 MAVNI Policy

The district court held that USCIS’s policy of declining to naturalize Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) applicants until the Defense Department and the Army had determined they were suitable for service violated the Administrative Procedure Act. (Nio v. DHS, 5/22/19) AILA Doc. No. 19052839

 

EOIR Issues Memo on Its Strategic Caseload Reduction Plan

EOIR issued a redacted version of its strategic caseload reduction plan pursuant to an AILA FOIA request. AILA Doc. No. 19021932

 

U.S. Border Patrol Creates New Position to Support Border Patrol Agents

CBP announced the creation of a new Border Patrol Processing Coordinator position designed to perform administrative tasks related to the intake and processing of individuals apprehended by Border Patrol agents and brought back to stations. AILA Doc. No. 19052837

 

USCIS to Close All International Offices By 2020

USCIS will close its international offices, starting with Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and Manila in the Philippines. All offices, including the main district offices for the separate regions, are scheduled to close by March 10, 2020. Watch this page as AILA tracks which offices are closed. AILA Doc. No. 19053131

 

RESOURCES

 

EVENTS

 

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, June 3, 2019

Sunday, June 2, 2019

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Friday, May 31, 2019

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Monday, May 27, 2019

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

Thanks Elizabeth.

 

PWS

06-07-19

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