THE GIBSON REPORT — 06-08-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group — Keep Up With The Regime’s Latest Anti-Due-Process Shenanigans & Responses Thereto Under “Top News”

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

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

 

EOIR’s Data Release on Asylum So Deficient Public Should Not Rely on Accuracy of Court Records

TRAC: TRAC has concluded that the data updated through April 2020 it has just received on asylum and other applications for relief to the Immigration Courts are too unreliable to be meaningful or to warrant publication. We are therefore discontinuing updating our popular Immigration Court Asylum Decisions app.

 

ICE Agents Detain a Police Brutality Protester, Reportedly a U.S. Citizen and Military Vet, in New York City

TIME: The Immigrant Defense Project, an advocacy organization that provides legal services to immigrants, shared a video Friday afternoonshowing a man they say is of Puerto Rican descent being detained by a group of men, one of whom is wearing a vest identifying him as a member of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a division under Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

 

Fee Schedule Changes

CLINIC: On May 27, 2020, the USCIS Fee Rule transitioned back to the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs, or OIRA. That means the rule is in the process of finalization. Advocates following the progress of the rule estimate that the final rule will be published during the Summer of 2020. Major rules such as this must be made effective at least 60 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register, allowing time for Congressional review. In emergency situations, a major rule can be made effective before 60 days.

 

TRAC Releases Report on the Impact of Immigration Court Hearing Cancellations Due to COVID-19

TRAC estimates that cancelled immigration court hearings due to COVID-19 will “increase hearing delays for months and probably years to come.” TRAC estimates that with scheduling delays in the court’s exiting backlog taken into account, 850,000 immigrants may well be affected by the shutdown. AILA Doc. No. 20060531

 

‘The Bizarro-World’ Immigration Courts Where the Constitution Isn’t Applied

Daily Beast: Detainees can be held for weeks or months before seeing a judge. The Justice Department gave “the word of the agency under penalty of perjury” that it would fix that—but only in NY.

 

Trump looks to Dreamers for an immigration deal

Politico: Trump is expected to slowly wind down the program and use that as leverage to try and strike a broader immigration deal with Democrats this summer, according to six people familiar with the situation.

 

Undocumented Immigrants Affected By Pandemic To Receive Soros Aid Almost Two Months After $20 Million Grant’s Announcement

Gothamist: Each organization has to follow the same eligibility requirements. They have to choose immigrants who don’t qualify for any government assistance. Recipients can get between $400 and $1000 dollars depending on family size. The grant will fund 20,000 families.

 

DHS Cites ‘Internal Disconnect’ For Migrant Hearing Mix-Up

Law360: A U.S. Department of Homeland Security official blamed an “unintentional internal disconnect” after the department sent out conflicting guidance on how migrants stuck in Mexico can pick up their rescheduled U.S. immigration court dates, causing confusion at the border.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

SCOTUS Adds Stop-Time Rule Case to Fall Term

SCOTUSblog: With the grant in Niz-Chavez v. Barr, the justices added another immigration case to their docket for next term. At issue in the case is the kind of notice that the government must provide to trigger the “stop-time rule,” which stops noncitizens from accruing the time in the United States that they need to become eligible for discretionary relief from deportation. See also On the home stretch? The term’s remaining decisions.

 

US: Investigate ‘Remain in Mexico’ Program 

HRW: The United States government should initiate an internal investigation into the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” program, Human Rights Watch said today after submitting a formal complaint to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The department should be held accountable for its failure to protect asylum seekers under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program from routine targeting in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

 

BIA Terminates Proceedings Sua Sponte Following Vacatur of Criminal Conviction

Unpublished BIA decision reopens and terminates proceedings sua sponte after the respondent’s criminal conviction was vacated because he had not been advised of the immigration consequences of his guilty plea. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Deltoro-Aguilar, 2/12/20) AILA Doc. No. 20060502

 

BIA Holds Misuse of a Social Security Number Not a CIMT

Unpublished BIA decision holds that misuse of a social security number under 42 U.S.C. 408(a)(7)(8) is not a CIMT because seeking to obtain a job and support one’s family is not reprehensible. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of M-E-A-, 2/10/20) AILA Doc. No. 20060501

 

BIA Holds Pennsylvania Possession with Intent to Deliver Not an Aggravated Felony

Unpublished BIA decision holds that possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance under 35 Pa. Cons. Stat. 780-113(a)(30) is not categorically an aggravated felony. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of G-L-C-, 2/5/20) AILA Doc. No. 20060500

 

CA2 Finds Connecticut Conviction for Carrying a Pistol or Revolver Without a Permit Did Not Qualify as an INA Firearms Offense

The court held that the Connecticut statute under which the petitioner had been convicted for carrying a pistol or revolver without a permit criminalized conduct that is not a “firearms offense” under the INA, and was therefore not a removable offense. (Williams v. Barr, 5/27/20) AILA Doc. No. 20060538

 

CA2 Says Misprision of a Felony Is Not Categorically a CIMT

Aligning with the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Robles-Urrea v. Holder, the court held that misprision of a felony in violation of 18 USC §4 is not categorically a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT), and granted the petition for review. (Mendez v. Barr, 5/27/20) AILA Doc. No. 20060536

 

CA2 Holds Conviction for Third-Degree Sexual Assault in Connecticut Is Categorically a Crime of Violence Under 18 USC §16(a)

The court held that the petitioner’s conviction for third-degree sexual assault under Connecticut General Statutes §53a-72a(a)(1) fell categorically under the definition of an aggravated felony crime of violence as defined in 18 USC §16(a). (Kondjoua v. Barr, 5/28/20) AILA Doc. No. 20060535

 

CA7 Finds Petitioner’s Eight-Year Delay in Contesting Adequacy of NTA Was Not Excusable

The court held that the petitioner did not make a timely objection to the adequacy of her initial Notice to Appear (NTA), which was received in 2010 and had omitted the time and place of her hearing, and that she could not show excusable delay and prejudice. (Chen v. Barr, 5/29/20) AILA Doc. No. 20060832

 

CA8 Holds Violation of Minnesota’s Fifth-Degree Possession Statute Is a Removable Offense

The court denied the petitions for review, finding that the petitioners, who had pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine in violation of Minnesota’s fifth-degree possession statute, were removable under INA §237(a)(2)(B)(i). (Bannister v. Barr, 5/26/20) AILA Doc. No. 20060836

 

CA8 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Salvadoran Who Claimed He Would Face Persecution by Mara 18 Gang Members

The court found that the BIA’s denial of asylum to the petitioner, a citizen of El Salvador who claimed he would suffer persecution based on his opposition to joining the Mara 18 gang, was supported by substantial evidence in the record. (Prieto-Pineda v. Barr, 5/28/20) AILA Doc. No. 20060838

 

CA9 Says Government Failed to Afford Petitioners Due Process in Terminating Their Asylum Status

Granting the petition for review, the court held that the government violated the petitioners’ due process rights by failing to provide them a full and fair opportunity to rebut the government’s fraud allegations before terminating their asylum status. (Grigoryan v. Barr, 6/2/20) AILA Doc. No. 20060839

 

CA9 Finds California Conviction for Felony Vehicular Flight from a Pursuing Police Car While Driving Against Traffic Was a CIMT

The court upheld the BIA’s determination that the petitioner’s conviction for felony vehicular flight from a pursuing police car while driving against traffic in California was categorically a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT) that rendered him removable. (Lepe Moran v. Barr, 6/2/20) AILA Doc. No. 20060840

 

Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Nonimmigrants of Certain Students and Researchers from the People’s Republic of China

On 5/29/20, President Trump issued a proclamation suspending the entry of certain Chinese nationals seeking to enter the United States on an F or J visa to study or conduct research, with noted exceptions. The proclamation is effective at 12:00 pm (ET) on June 1, 2020. (85 FR 34353, 6/4/20) AILA Doc. No. 20052990

 

DHS OIG Reports That CBP Separated More Asylum-Seeking Families at Ports of Entry Than Reported

DHS OIG reported CBP separated at least 60 asylum-seeking families from May 6-July 9, 2018, despite reporting only seven separations. DHS OIG determined that the separations were based solely on the parents’ prior nonviolent immigration violations and were inconsistent with DHS’s public messaging. AILA Doc. No. 20060233

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

   

Note: Check with organizers regarding cancellations/changes

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, June 8, 2020

Sunday, June 7, 2020

Saturday, June 6, 2020

Friday, June 5, 2020

Thursday, June 4, 2020

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Monday, June 1, 2020

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Thanks, Elizabeth!

Item 6 under “Top News” is particularly enlightening. It shows how instead of exercising leadership and integrity on social justice, the Supremes’ majority is so “in bed” with the White Nationalist Administration that Trump is already assuming that the Supremes will ignore the lower Federal Courts’ correct rulings to enable his scofflaw (and irrational) shafting of “Dreamers” so that Trump can use them as “hostages” for dumping on other categories of immigrants and further racist abuses. The Supremes’ continuing support for the regime’s racist agenda and their continuing “Dred Scottification” of African Americans and Hispanics is not likely to go unnoticed, particularly as to the the cruelty, stupidity, and lack of humanity in going after Dreamers at this point in time.

The Dreamers more then deserve long term protection on their own merits; the idea that there has to be a “trade-off” for doing something clearly in the public interest and the “right thing to do” is total B.S. It reinforces the Trump charade that immigration is somehow “bad” for America. It isn’t.

We’re fortunate that the Dreamers are here and that we still have a chance to make up for past mistakes and integrate them fully into our society. We’re also fortunate that many of our other “undocumented” neighbors have been willing to risk their lives to keep our economy and our society afloat during the pandemic. The real “drag on our society” has been Trump, Miller, Barr, Wolf, and the rest of the gang of “malicious incompetents” in the kakistocracy who did so little to help stem the pandemic and so much to sow racism, injustice, divisions, and unrest in our society.

Hopefully, the Dems will give Trump’s disingenuous scheme a pass, and the voters will figure out that the first step to racial healing in American is to get rid of Trump’s racist regime and its GOP “fellow travelers” at the ballot box. That’s also the way to get started on the reforms of the police, the  Supremes, and the rest of the Article III Judiciary needled to make “equal justice for all” a reality rather than an eternally unfulfilled promise.

Due Process Forever!

PWS

06-09-20

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