THE GIBSON REPORT — 06-01-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

Elizabeth Gibson
Elizabeth Gibson
Attorney, NY Legal Assistance Group
Publisher of “The Gibson Report”

#BlackLivesMatter

 

Do Black Lives Matter in the immigrant rights movement?

AlJazeera (from 2017): Black migrants are being assimilated into the terror of the prison industrial complex at an alarming rate. The over-policing, over incarceration, and overt violence of the policing apparatus that is at the core of the #BlackLivesMatter movement is also an immigrant rights issue.

 

Victory for Liberians in the U.S.: Deferred Enforced Departure, A Pathway to Citizenship, and An Immigration Success Story

Featured June 10 event from the NYCBA with a fantastic panel:

Tsion Gurmu,  Legal Director, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Founder and Director, Queer Black Immigrant Project
Amaha Kassa, Founder and Executive Director, African Communities Together
Yatta Kiazolu, a named Plaintiff in ACT et al. v. Trump et al., and a Liberian DED holder
Patrice Lawrence, Co-Director, UndocuBlack Network

 

COVID-19

Note: Policies are rapidly changing, so please verify the latest policies on the relevant government websites and with colleagues on listservs as best you can.

 

New

 

Closures

 

Guidance:

 

TOP NEWS

 

DOJ memo offered to buy out immigration board members

Roll Call: The Justice Department offered buyouts to pre-Trump administration career members on its influential immigration appeals board as part of an ongoing effort to restructure the immigration court system.

 

With citizenship ceremonies postponed, hundreds of thousands could miss chance to vote in November

WaPo: Though USCIS is scheduled to begin a phased reopening next week, the agency has not committed to resuming a full slate of ceremonies nor has publicly released a plan for rescheduling the approximately 150,000 naturalizations that have been postponed because of the closures.

 

A US immigration agency could run out of money by the end of summer without a $1.2 billion bailout

Vox: US Citizenship and Immigration Services is facing a massive budget shortfall because fewer immigrants are applying to enter the US.

 

How Coronavirus Relief Is Being Distributed to Undocumented Immigrants

DocumentedNY: Private donors and independent organizations have connected to move millions of dollars in aid across a gaping hole left in the government’s COVID-19 response.

 

Emails Show Long Island Police Departments Worked Closely With ICE

DocumentedNY: The report, titled “When Help Is Nowhere to Be Found,” is focused on Operation Matador, which was launched by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations department in May 2017 to combat MS-13. According to the report, Operation Matador was initially envisioned as a 90-day effort but has since become a permanent operation.

 

NYC Council Votes to Ban the Terms ‘Alien’ and ‘Illegal Immigrant’ on Official Docs

NBC: The NYC Council voted Thursday to ban the “dehumanizing and offensive” words in local laws, rules and documents, said Speaker Corey Johnson. The term that officials will use going forward will be “noncitizen.”

 

ICE Tells Parents to Separate From Their Children or Risk Indefinite Detention Together

AIC: According to recent reports from attorneys for the detained families, on May 13 and 14, ICE gave the parents a “binary choice:” agree for their child to be released without them or waive the child’s right to release under the longstanding Flores settlement that governs custody of immigrant children.

 

ICE Detainee Who Died Of Covid-19 Suffered Horrifying Neglect

Intercept: The men who were with Escobar Mejia in his final days say they did everything they could to alert ICE and CoreCivic, the private prison corporation that runs Otay Mesa, of his worsening condition, and that the officials responsible for his well-being failed to take those alerts seriously. See also Second man with COVID-19 dies in US immigration custody.

 

Mexico’s President Says Most Domestic Violence Calls Are ‘Fake’

NTY: The leader compared the requests for help to prank calls, the latest controversy over his government’s response to record levels of violence against women.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

SCOTUS Held that Courts Can Review Factual Challenges to a CAT Order

The Supreme Court found that 8 U. S. C. § 1252(a)(2)(C) and (D) do not preclude judicial review of factual challenges to an order denying relief under CAT, which protects noncitizens from removal to a country where they would likely face torture. (Nasrallah v. Barr, 6/1/20) AILA Doc. No. 20060132

 

Federal Court Rules Trump Administration Must Provide Fair Hearings For Immigrants

CAIR: A federal court has ruled the Trump administration must provide fair hearings for people in immigration detention and requires the government to justify detention at a bond hearing. The ruling also requires immigration judges to consider people’s financial circumstances when setting bond amounts and forms of release.

 

CA1 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Salvadoran Petitioner Where IJ and BIA Relied on Boston’s “Gang Assessment Database”

The court upheld the BIA’s denial of asylum, finding that the IJ’s adverse credibility determination was supported by substantial evidence, and that the introduction of law enforcement gang database records did not violate the petitioner’s due process rights. (Diaz Ortiz v. Barr, 5/15/20) AILA Doc. No. 20052634

 

CA1 Finds Petitioner Pardoned by Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles Was Eligible for a Pardon Waiver

The court held that the BIA erred when it found that the pardon issued to the petitioner by the Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles was not effective for purposes of establishing entitlement to a waiver of removal under INA §237(a)(2)(A)(vi). (Thompson v. Barr, 5/21/20) AILA Doc. No. 20052636

 

CA2 Holds Misprision of Felony is not a CIMT – Mendez v. Barr

Justia: The court held that the government failed to show that misprision rises to the level of base, vile, conscience-shocking conduct traditionally attributed to the gravest and most inherently evil offenses. Furthermore, nothing in the misprision statute suggests that the crime has, as an element, the fraudulent intent necessary for misprision to constitute a CIMT.

 

CA3 Holds BIA Erred in Retroactively Applying Matter of Diaz-Lizarraga to Find Petitioner Removable

The court granted the petition for review, holding that the BIA erred in retroactively applying the new standard for theft-related crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMTs) that it had promulgated in Matter of Diaz-Lizarraga to the petitioner. (Francisco-Lopez v. Att’y Gen., 5/15/20) AILA Doc. No. 20052637

 

CA5 Upholds BIA’s Asylum Denial to Mexican Petitioner Whose Father Was Extorted by Zetas Drug Cartel

Finding that substantial evidence supported BIA’s denial of asylum, the court held that petitioner had failed to meet his burden to establish that it would be unreasonable for him to relocate to another part of Mexico, away from his father’s extortionists. (Munoz-Granados v. Barr, 5/12/20) AILA Doc. No. 20052638

 

CA6 Holds BIA Erred in Finding That Asylum-Seeking Mayan Indigenous Woman Could Reasonably Relocate Within Guatemala

The court found that the BIA’s conclusion that the government showed by a preponderance of the evidence that the Guatemalan petitioner could internally relocate and that it would be reasonable for her to do so was not supported by substantial evidence. (Juan Antonio v. Barr, 5/19/20) AILA Doc. No. 20052640

 

CA6 Says Withholding Applicants Must Be Given the Chance to Explain Why Corroborative Evidence Is Not Reasonably Available

Granting the petition for review of the BIA’s denial of withholding of removal, the court found that the IJ and BIA erred in failing to give the petitioner an opportunity to explain why he could not reasonably obtain certain corroborative evidence. (Guzman-Vazquez v. Barr, 5/18/20) AILA Doc. No. 20052639

 

CA7 Says BIA Held Petitioner to Unduly Demanding Burden on Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Allegation

The court found that the BIA should not have faulted petitioner for failing to provide his initial counsel with information significant to a potential U visa application, but denied petition for review because he could not prove prejudice. (Alvarez-Espino v. Barr, 3/6/20, amended 5/20/20) AILA Doc. No. 20031802

 

CA9 Finds It Lacks Jurisdiction to Consider Petitioner’s “Settled Course” Argument Where BIA Denied Sua Sponte Reconsideration

The court held that the petitioner’s “settled course of adjudication” argument was barred by the court’s general rule that it lacks jurisdiction to review claims that the BIA should have exercised its sua sponte power in a given case. (Lona v. Barr, 5/15/20) AILA Doc. No. 20052641

 

CA10 Says Post-Departure Bar Does Not Eliminate an IJ’s Jurisdiction to Move Sua Sponte to Reopen Removal Proceedings

The court held that the BIA erred in ruling that the IJ lacked jurisdiction to move sua sponte to reopen petitioner’s removal proceedings, finding that the post-departure bar does not apply to the IJ’s own sua sponte authority to reopen removal proceedings. (Reyes-Vargas v. Barr, 5/14/20) AILA Doc. No. 20052642

 

District Court Orders ICE to Explain Why It Cannot Immediately Begin Testing NWDC Detainees for COVID-19

A federal court in Washington ordered ICE to explain why it cannot immediately begin testing detainees at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) for COVID-19 on a voluntary basis and implement a plan for those that refuse testing. (Castañeda Juarez v. Asher, 5/28/20) AILA Doc. No. 20060133

 

Complaint Requesting an Injunction Against the April 2020 Proclamation to Protect Minors from Aging Out

AILA and partners filed a complaint requesting a preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining the government from implementing or enforcing any part of the April 20, 2020, Proclamation to protect minors who may age out. (Gomez, et al., v. Trump, et al., 5/28/20) AILA Doc. No. 20052837

 

Civil Rights Coalition Files Lawsuit to Protect Families from Decades of Separation

AILA, Justice Action Center, and Innovation Law Lab, with pro bono support from Mayer Brown LLP, have filed a lawsuit on behalf of U.S. citizens and LPRs petitioning for their children and derivative relatives to join them in the U.S. who would “age-out” while the administration’s ban is in place. AILA Doc. No. 20052838

 

EOIR Announces New BIA Chairman

EOIR announced the appointment of David H. Wetmore as the chairman of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Wetmore was appointed by Attorney General William Barr as the Chief Appellate Immigration Judge of the BIA in May 2020. Notice includes Wetmore’s biographical information. AILA Doc. No. 20052932

 

Practice Alert: DHS and DOJ Issue Joint Statement Rescheduling Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) Cases

On May 10, 2020, DOJ EOIR and DHS issued a joint statement on the rescheduling of MPP hearings. This practice alert provides an overview of the changes made by this statement to prior DHS procedures for MPP cases without individual notice to affected migrants or their attorneys. AILA Doc. No. 20051347

 

USCIS Lockbox Rejecting Some I-485 Adjustment of Status Applications

AILA has recently been made aware that USCIS has been issuing notices to applicants and attorneys regarding Form I-485 adjustment of status applications that were wrongfully rejected by the Lockbox on the basis of an expired form version. AILA Doc. No. 20041738

 

CDC Order Extending and Amending Order Suspending the Introduction of Certain Persons from Canada and Mexico

CDC order extending the 3/20/20 order that suspended the introduction of certain persons traveling from Canada and Mexico until the CDC determines that the danger of further introduction of COVID-19 into the United States has ceased to be a serious danger to the public health. (85 FR 31503, 5/26/20) AILA Doc. No. 20052037

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

Note: Check with organizers regarding cancellations/changes

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, June 1, 2020

Sunday, May 31, 2020

Saturday, May 30, 2020

Friday, May 29, 2020

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Monday, May 25, 2020

 

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I particularly recommend the first item in Elizabeth’s report, “Do Black Lives Matter in the immigrants rights movement?” by Jamila Osman. “The immigrant rights movement has never fully addressed the needs of black migrants in its advocacy work.”

The Trump regime’s “Dred Scottification Project,” often aided by a feckless Congress and complicit Article III Courts, is part of a White Nationalist, far-right agenda that aims at dehumanizing a much larger group than migrants and the Hispanic community. They just happen to be the convenient, easy victims, as shown by the effective repeal of Constitutional due process protections, asylum laws, and immigration laws by the regime using Executive fiat and obvious pretexts (many middle schoolers in the U.S. probably could tell you exactly what Trump’s racist intent is, even if the J.R. Five, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, certain panels of the Second Circuit, and most of the GOP disingenuously claims otherwise) that have garnered neither the widespread outrage (short of a few feckless Dems) nor effective “pushback” from Congress and the Article III Courts that they deserved! 

The African-American community is no stranger to the abuses heaped on people of color by bogus and disingenuous calls for “law and order.” The treatment of Haitian TPS holders is every bit as outrageous, racist, and lawless as the Administration’s threats to end DACA — threats enabled and made worse by a Supreme Court without the courage and decency to do its job and  “just say no” to the regime’s continuing White Nationalist abuses of our Constitution, our laws, and our national humanity. 

What might recent history have been if the Supremes had stood up to Trump’s initial Constitutionally abusive, politically motivated, racially and religiously bigoted pretextual “Travel Ban” instead of going “belly up” and fecklessly inviting more abuses in the name of fabricated “national security?”  What if Congress by veto-proof margins had stood up for the legal rights of asylum seekers at the Southern Border and of brown-skinned children not to be “put in cages?” Instead, many GOP politicos actually joined in and egged on these disgusting abuses of humanity and degredations of our justice system. What if the Supremes had delivered a united condemnation of the GOP’s overtly racist schemes to disenfranchise minority voters and deny them the political power they have earned? Everybody ultimately pays a price for spinelessness in the face of tyranny!

America needs and deserves better, from our Executive, our Congress, and our Courts. There’s unlikely to be much long-term equilibrium and “normalcy” in the U.S. until we get substantial changes in the composition, competency, and compassion of all three branches of our failing Government and its democratic institutions.

Government is actually there to provide and guarantee “equal justice for all,” not for the self-preservation of existing institutions and those privileged ones who temporarily inhabit them and apparently believe themselves to be “above the fray” and the human pain and suffering caused by their fecklessness and complicity.

It’s also worth noting, that despite the lack of a systemic response from the Article III’s putting an end to EOIR’s unconstitutionally abusive “enforcement masquerading as a court” system, individual court decisions continue to find abuses by the BIA in fairly applying the “basics” of asylum and immigraton laws. Elizabeth’s report lists a number of recent instances.

Oh, that the Article IIIs would “connect the dots” and ask themselves why a system supposedly set up to provide due process to individuals regularly goes out of its way to misapply the law to wrongfully subject individuals to deportation, sometimes to situations where they have a substantial risk of death or torture upon return?

This November, vote like you life depends on it. Because it does!

Due Process Forever! Complicit Institutions & Those Who Hide in Them, Never!

PWS

06-02-209

Related posts:

  1. THE GIBSON REPORT — 06-22-20 – Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group – WORLD REFUGEE DAY WAS JUNE 20 – AMERICA’S TRUMP REGIME CELEBRATED BY ADVANCING A DISINGENUOUS RACIST ATTACK ON WORK AUTHORIZATION FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS – Just A Few Days After 8 Justices of Supremes Claimed Cluelessness About Trump’s Racist Immigration Agenda! (See, Item #2 Under “Top News”)
  2. 🇺🇸THE GIBSON REPORT — 11-02-20 — Prepared By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group — Trump/Miller Bogus Public Charge Rule Enjoined Again; CBP Turns Back More Than 13,000 Unaccompanied Kids Using COVID-19 As Cover For Child Abuse; John Oliver With The Incredibly Ugly 🤮 Truth About The Trump-Miller Racist Assault On Asylum & Humanity ☠️⚰️— Other News From America Teetering On The Brink After 4-Years Of Trump Regime Misrule, Cruelty, Corruption, & Undermining Of Democracy!🏴‍☠️
  3. GEORGE PACKER @ THE ATLANTIC: With Failed Institutions & Lousy Leaders, Including a President Leading the Charge to the Bottom, America Faces An Uncertain Future — “A responsible establishment doesn’t exist. Our president is one of the rioters.” — Joe Biden & The Dems Could Be The Last, Best Hope For American Democracy & Real Progress Toward “Equal Justice For All!”
  4. JAMELLE BOUIE @ NYT: The Police & Often The Misuse of a “Bogus Rule of Law” (when used to allow the empowered to run roughshod over the legal and human rights of “the other”) Are Long-Standing Roadblocks to a Fair & Just Society —“The simplest answer to the question ‘Why don’t the American police forces act as if they are accountable to black Americans?’ is that they were never intended to be.”