TOP UPDATES
Immigration Judges In NYC Are Even Less Likely To Grant Asylum Now
Gothamist: [Contains a great chart summarizing every NYC IJ’s grant rate and changes over time]. Just four years ago, the research group TRAC found New York judges denied just 16 percent of asylum seekers. That figure has been rising since Trump took office. But the average denial rate for a New York judge shot up to 46 percent in fiscal year 2019, according to the latest data, from 32 percent in the previous year. See also Immigration judges quit in response to administration policies.
ICE reopening long-closed deportation cases against Dreamers
CNN: ICE has begun asking immigration courts to reopen administratively closed deportation cases against DACA recipients who continue to have no criminal record, or only a minor record. Immigration attorneys in Arizona confirmed at least 14 such cases being reopened since October, and CNN also found DACA recipients whose cases recently were reopened in Nevada and Missouri.
Bureaucracy as a weapon: how the Trump administration is slowing asylum cases
Guardian: Over a half-dozen immigration attorneys across the country interviewed by the Guardian describe how the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has returned applications unprocessed over the equivalent of failing to dot an I or cross a T – a shift with potentially life-altering consequences for their vulnerable clients.
Federal government deleted more immigration court records about asylum in public data release: researchers
U-T: Though the federal government promised to review a public data release of immigration court cases after researchers pointed to missing records relating to asylum, the issue has only gotten worse.
A Secret Report Exposes Health Care For Jailed Immigrants
Buzzfeed: BuzzFeed News has obtained a memo in which an ICE whistleblower says two immigrants got preventable surgeries and two were given the wrong drugs. Four died — one after getting “grossly negligent” care. See also House panel opens investigation into immigrant detainees’ medical care.
Immigration Was the No. 2 Story of 2019
AP: The drive by the Democratic-led House of Representatives to impeach President Donald Trump was the top news story of 2019, according to The Associated Press’ annual poll. Trump also figured in the second and third biggest stories of the year: the fallout over his immigration policies and the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into whether his election campaign coordinated with Russia.
Immigration Court “Status Docket” – the Secret Almost Alternative to Administrative Closure
LexisNexis: In 2018 the Attorney General ended the ability of immigration judges to administratively close cases, concluding they had in fact never had such authority. As shocking as that was at the time, we’re now seeing pieces of that puzzle were being laid out months before the Attorney General released that decision. And the more we learn, the more it appears the end of administrative closure was more about results (faster deportations) than about the legal principles outlined there.
LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS
Asylum Ban 2.0 Temp Stay Granted in Favor of Administration
The government requests an emergency temporary stay of the district court’s order provisionally certifying a class, and preliminarily enjoining the government from enforcing the Third Country Transit Rule, 8 C.F.R. § 208.13(c)(4), against non-Mexican nationals who were allegedly in the process of arriving at a port of entry before the Third Country Transit Rule went into effect…We grant the government’s motion for a temporary stay to preserve the status quo pending a decision on the motion for stay pending appeal.
Ninth Circuit Orders Review of Immigrant’s Deportation During Appeal
CNS: A Ninth Circuit panel on Friday granted an immigrant’s petition to review the federal government’s decision to deport him, saying that his removal from the country during legal proceedings did not constitute a withdrawal of his appeal.
USCIS Begins Accepting Green Card Applications Under Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness
USCIS began accepting applications to adjust status to lawful permanent resident from certain Liberian nationals under Section 7611 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2020, Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF). USCIS will accept properly filed applications until 12/20/20. AILA Doc. No. 19122690
RESOURCES
· Think Immigration: They/Them/Ours: Discussing pronouns with clients.
· The Collaborators in Honduras: The Girls Who Want to be Mortal: Gang perceptions of women.
EVENTS
· 1/23/20 Debrief on Mississippi Raid: Lessons Learned and Improving Responses
ImmProf
Monday, December 30, 2019
· Nolan Rappaport (The Hill): Removal of DACA recipients has begun: It didn’t take a crystal ball to see DACA would not end well
· New Path to Citizenship for Liberians
· Hispanic voters being overlooked in Democratic presidential campaign
Sunday, December 29, 2019
· Top 10 Immigration Stories of the Decade
· From the Bookshelves: All-American Nativism: How the Bipartisan War on Immigrants Explains Politics as We Know It by Daniel Denvir
Saturday, December 28, 2019
· Trump administration begin to ramp up DACA removals?
Friday, December 27, 2019
· Congress investigating immgrant detainees’ medical care
· Taking Private Lands for the Border
· AP: Immigration Policy Second Biggest News Story of 2019
· Trump administration chasing immigration judges away?
· Immigration Judges Asylum Grants & Denials: Fiscal Years 2018-2019
Thursday, December 26, 2019
· How U.S. Immigration Policy Changed This Year — in 10 minutes
· In Christmas Day Message, Pope Francis Shines Light On Migrant Suffering
· Colorado Governor Pardons Immigrant Mother Who Sought Sanctuary
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
· Santa’s Visa Options
· Documentary: The Faces of Family Separation
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
· An Immigrant’s Christmas Eve
· An Immigrant’s Christmas Eve, 1979
· How ICE Uses Social Media to Surveil and Arrest Immigrants
Monday, December 23, 2019
· Immigrant of the Day: Kamaru Usman
