Attorney, NY Legal Assistance Group
Publisher of “The Gibson Report”
COVID-19
Note: Policies are rapidly changing, so please verify information on the relevant government websites and with colleagues as best you can.
EOIR Status Overview & EOIR Court Status Map/List: Hearings in non-detained cases at courts without an announced date are postponed through, and including, December 18, 2020. NYC non-detained remains closed for hearings.
TOP NEWS
WBUR: The new deadlines were established by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), an office of the Department of Justice which oversees the nation’s immigration courts. Attorneys in Boston say they began receiving the orders in the mail earlier this month, calling for individuals in certain cases to file an application with the court to remain in the U.S. within a matter of weeks or risk being deported.
Immigration advocates celebrate Alejandro Mayorkas as Biden’s pick to run Homeland Security
Yahoo: Prior to becoming deputy secretary of DHS in 2013, Mayorkas served as director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, where he worked on a number of policy initiatives, including DACA, which, at its peak, provided protection from deportation for roughly 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. by their parents as young children.
African travelers could be required to pay a $15,000 bond to enter the U.S.
CBS: Under the six-month pilot program starting December 24, U.S. consular officials could start requiring applicants for B-1 and B-2 visas who hail from the selected countries to pay a $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 bond, according to the temporary final rule issued by the State Department.
LA Times: During President Trump’s last weeks in office, Black and African asylum seekers say, the administration is ramping up deportations using assault and coercion, forcing them back to countries where they face harm, according to interviews with the immigrants, lawyers, lawmakers, advocates and a review of legal complaints by The Times.
Pregnant, Exhausted and Turned Back at the Border
NYT: One woman said she was told by a C.B.P. agent that “Trump didn’t want there to be any more pregnant people here,” according to the A.C.L.U.’s court complaint. See also Undocumented and Pregnant: Why Women Are Afraid to Get Prenatal Care.
Behind Trump’s final push to limit immigration
Politico: Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf just named two new members to an advisory council to help him craft policy — Tom Jenkins, the fire chief in Rogers, Ark., and Catherine Lotrionte, a senior researcher at Georgetown University. And they’re launching some changes that can be enacted swiftly.
ICE Expelled 33 Immigrant Children Back To Guatemala After A Judge Said They Couldn’t
BuzzFeed: The injunction was issued Wednesday by US Judge Emmet Sullivan minutes before an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) flight left for Guatemala City with the 33 children.
FY 2021 Begins with Largest Immigration Court Backlog on Record
TRAC: Fiscal Year 2021 began with the largest number of Immigration Court cases in its active backlog to date: in October, 1,273,885 immigration cases were pending before the courts. Most of the pending cases—918,673 or 72 percent—involved nationals from Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and El Salvador.
US Southwest Border Oct. 2020: The Surge Continues
PPA: For the month of October, US Customs and Border Protection reported 66,337 apprehensions at the US unsecured southwest border. This is 12,000 higher than the previous month and the highest for October since 2005.
Detained immigrants at Bergen County Jail stage hunger strike, get support from protesters
NorthJersey: Emilio Dabul, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said nine detainees at the jail had stopped eating meals, but would not say for how long.
LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS
U.S. Supreme Court weighs Trump bid to bar illegal immigrants from census totals
Reuters: The Supreme Court on Monday is set to take up President Donald Trump’s unprecedented and contentious effort to exclude illegal immigrants from the population totals used to allocate U.S. House of Representatives districts to states.
The BIA sustained the DHS appeal and vacated the IJ decision, after finding that TPS does not constitute an admission and that a TPS applicant who was not admitted or paroled should not have removal proceedings terminated. Matter of Padilla Rodriguez, 28 I&N Dec. 164 (BIA 2020) AILA Doc. No. 20112339
Advance copy of notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would amend EOIR regulations governing the filing and adjudication of motions to reopen and reconsider and add regulations governing requests for discretionary stays of removal. AILA Doc. No. 20112591
Advance Copy of EOIR Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Define “Good Cause”
Advance copy of EOIR notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to define the term “good cause” in the context of continuances, adjournments, and postponements. The rule will be published in the Federal Register on 11/27/20 with a 30-day comment period. AILA Doc. No. 20112590
USCIS Issues Alert on Asylum EAD Applications Following Preliminary Injunction
USCIS issued an alert regarding the steps it is taking to comply with the 9/11/20 injunction in Casa de Maryland, et al. v. Chad Wolf, et al. concerning the application of certain regulatory changes to Forms I-589 and I-765 filed by asylum applicants who are CASA or ASAP members. AILA Doc. No. 20100530
DOS Provides Guidance After District Court Enjoins Suspension of Certain K-1 Visa Issuances
DOS issued an update after a district court granted a preliminary injunction, stating that applicants who are named plaintiffs in Milligan v. Pompeo and subject to a regional proclamation should contact their nearest Embassy or Consulate for guidance on scheduling a visa interview. AILA Doc. No. 20113030
DOS Temporary Final Rule Creating Visa Bond Pilot Program
DOS temporary final rule creating a six-month pilot program under which applicants for B-1/B-2 visas from countries with high overstay rates and who have been approved by DHS for an inadmissibility waiver may be required to post a bond as a condition of visa issuance. (85 FR 74875, 11/24/20) AILA Doc. No. 20112333
USCIS Adjustment of Status Filing Dates for December 2020
USCIS determined that for December 2020, F2A applicants may file using the Final Action Dates chart. Applicants in all other family-sponsored preference and employment-based preference categories must use the Dates for Filing chart. AILA Doc. No. 20112335
RESOURCES
- AILA: Trump Policies That May Be Finalized Before Inauguration Day 2021
- AILA: Practice Alert: Receipt Notice Delays for I-485s and I-140s Filed with USCIS Lockbox
- AILA: Practice Advisory: Insight into USCIS’s Application of the “No-Blanks” Policy to U-Visa Petitions
- AIC: Practice Tip: The Government Answered a Complaint Alleging Administrative Procedure Act Violations – Now What?
- JFL: Meet EDDIE: Biometric Tech Used against Immigrant Communities
- CLINIC: Summary of Immigrant Ineligibility for Federal Public Benefits
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EVENTS
- 11/30/20 Perfecting a Winning Strategy for Asylum Applications
- 12/2/20 Migration, Climate Change, and Human Adaptation
- 12/2/20 An Overview of Naturalization
- 12/2/20 Legal Writing for DOJ Accredited Representatives
- 12/2/20-12/3/20 Legal Remedies for Immigrant Survivors: Introductory Seminar Series
- 12/3/20 Representing Permanent Residents in LPR Cancellation Cases
- 12/3/20 2020 AILA Crimes and Immigration Virtual Conference
- 12/3/20-12/4/20 53rd Annual Immigration and Naturalization Institute
- 12/8/20 Litigating Your Way Out of Delay
- 12/8/20 Update from the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez
- 12/9/20 Public Charge in Consular Processing
- 12/15/20 Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude
- 12/16/20 LPRs and Public Charge
- 12/16/20 Program Strategies for Removal Defense Practice
- 1/7/21 Trauma-Informed Lawyering: Strategies and Best Practices
- 1/12/21-2/26/21 Comprehensive Overview of Immigration Law
- 1/21/21 Immigration in 2021: Anticipating Changes under a New Administration
- 2/4/21 Basic Immigration Law 2021: Business, Family, Naturalization and Related Areas
- 2/5/21 Asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, Crime Victim, and Other Immigration Relief 2021
- 2/5/21 Addressing Domestic Violence 2021: Remote Family and Immigration Law Practice During Pandemic or Disaster
- 2/9/21 What Every Lawyer Should Know About U.S. Immigration Law
- 4/21/21 Working with Domestic Violence Immigrant Survivors: The Intersection of Basic Family Law, Immigration, Benefits, and Housing Issues in California 2021
ImmProf
Monday, November 30, 2020
- Supreme Court Hears Arguments Today in Trump v. New York
- First Latino DACA recipient wins Rhodes
- Faculty Openings: Pace Law School
Sunday, November 29, 2020
- An Account of the Iran Hostage Crisis: One Iranian Student’s Experience
- An Account of the Iran Hostage Crisis: One Iranian Student’s Experience
- 20 Books About Immigration Everyone Should Read
- A Mother, A Son — and a 1500 mile search for home
- Your Playlist: Carlos Santana
Saturday, November 28, 2020
Friday, November 27, 2020
- Is Mayorkas the “immigration wizard” who can overhaul exclusionary policies
- Supreme Court considers Trump’s plan to adjust census based on immigration status
Thursday, November 26, 2020
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
- 33 Unaccompanied Minors Returned to Guatemala in Contravention of Court Order
- Biden discusses plans for first 100 days
- Trump administration settles lawsuit from U.S. Latinas detained after speaking Spanish
- Immigration Article of the Day: Coordinating Injunctions by Bert Huang
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
- Fugetsu-Do: An LA Immigration Story
- Dual Roles as Workers and Parents May Account for Steeper Decline in Employment during Pandemic for Immigrant Women with School-Age Children
- How to Counteract the Court: Congress has the power to override Supreme Court rulings based on statutory interpretations
- FY 2021 Begins with Largest Immigration Court Backlog on Record
- US Southwest Border Oct. 2020: The Surge Continues
- A Vision for America as a Welcoming Nation: AILA Recommendations for the Future of Immigration
- This is Family Separation and What It Means to People and Lives
- Immigration Article of the Day: Is The Supreme Court Irrational: Trump v. Hawaii by Brian Ownsley
Monday, November 23, 2020
- The Revised Naturalization Civics Exam – Another Attempt by the Trump Administration to Discourage Immigrants from Becoming U.S. Citizens
- Trump Can Still Do Damage Through Executive Orders
- Breaking News: Biden Announces Intention to Nominate Alejandro Mayorkas as Homeland Security Secretary
- How many of our immigration judges are amateurs at immigration law?
- U.S. Faces Key Opportunity to Reset Cooperation with Mexico and Central America & Build a Workable Regional Migration System
- Job Announcement: Rutgers Immigrant Rights Clinic seeks Managing Attorney for its Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative (DDDI) Project
- Undocumented and Pregnant: Why Women Are Afraid to Get Prenatal Care
- Biden Will Try to Unmake Trump’s Immigration Agenda. It Won’t Be Easy
- Immigration Article of the Day: The Final Act: Deportation by ICE Air by Deborah M. Weissman, Havan Clark, & Angelina Snodgrass Godoy
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Wow! The EOIR kakistocracy is truly going out in a “blaze of inglorious malicious incompetence,” taking human lives and a chunk of our justice system down with it!
It’s likely that the “record backlog” @ EOIR reported by TRAC is substantially understated. First, it apparently doesn’t include approximately 300,000 cases mindlessly and illegally “queued up” to artificially increase the backlog by the now long departed Jeff “Gonzo Apocalypto” Sessions.
Additionally, given the well-documented intellectual dishonesty and incompetent record-keeping at EOIR, there likely are hundreds of thousands of additional “off-docket” cases that simply aren’t reflected in EOIR records and might or might not ever be found in the disastrous “non-e-filing system.”
The solution to the backlog really isn’t “rocket science.” With a “system capacity” of approximately 250,000 – 300,000 cases annually, all non-detained, non-emergency cases should be removed from the docket. DHS should be allowed to re-file their 250,000 “highest priority” cases and then to file new cases only in a responsible manner that complies with and respects the “system max.”
No more “Aimless Docket Reshuffling” and intentional creation of unnecessary backlogs! No more “everything’s a priority” so “nothing’s a priority.” No more malicious misuse of the Immigration Court system as a “weapon” to engage in a racist program of terrorizing ethnic communities and punishing so-called “sanctuary cities.”
Moving forward from a kakistocracy of malicious incompetents and racists will be a huge challenge — probably the biggest ever faced by an incoming President. But, Joe Biden and and Kamala Harris have the leadership, knowledge, skills, and plans to make it happen.
Due Process Forever. Kakistocracy, never again!
PWS
12-01-20