THE GIBSON REPORT — 07-05-21 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

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

 

ALERTS

Note: Policies are rapidly changing, so please verify information with the government and colleagues.

 

EOIR Status Overview

EOIR plans to resume non-detained hearings July 6, 2021 at all remaining immigration courts.

 

TOP NEWS

 

Federal Informants Are Often Promised Visas. They Rarely Materialize.

Intercept: But data that Gershel was able to obtain for his report suggests that bad faith isn’t the primary problem. The S visa system itself is broken. Getting an S visa, an interagency process that requires an application from the Justice Department and then approvals by agencies under the Department of Homeland Security, can take up to a decade — a laborious process that dissuades officials at the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and other agencies from even applying for them. Making S visas even less appealing, the law requires that federal agencies monitor the applicant until the process is complete.

 

Biden administration formally launches effort to return deported veterans to U.S.

WaPo: The Biden administration unveiled plans Friday to bring hundreds, possibly thousands, of deported veterans and their immediate family members back to the United States, saying their removal “failed to live up to our highest values.”

 

U.S. looks into having 3 Central Asian states take in at-risk Afghans -sources

Reuters: They said Washington is in talks with Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan about letting in the at-risk Afghan citizens. Two of the sources were U.S. officials and all requested anonymity.

 

US will close 4 emergency shelters for migrant children

AP: Four of the large-scale shelters will remain open, including one that has faced criticism from immigrant advocates at Fort Bliss Army Base in El Paso, Texas, she said. Others are in Albion, Michigan; Pecos, Texas; and Pomona, California, she said.

 

Supreme Court rules against immigrants claiming safety fears after deportation

WaPo: Alito said Congress had good reason to be more restrictive with those who came back into the country after being deported. “Aliens who reentered the country illegally after removal have demonstrated a willingness to violate the terms of a removal order, and they therefore may be less likely to comply with the reinstated order” that they leave, he said.

 

Republicans go all-in on immigration as a political weapon

Politico: With Donald Trump and a dozen House Republicans joining Abbott on the border on Wednesday, the GOP is loudly signaling its conviction that immigration will be a potent political weapon ahead of the midterm elections and presidential primary in 2024.

 

House Budget Trims ICE Funding, Ends Local Deputy Program

Law360: The House Appropriations Commission has released its homeland security budget for 2022, and it slashes U.S. Customs and Border Protection spending by $927 million, shaves ICE’s budget down a hair and cuts a controversial program that allowed local law enforcement to be deputized as immigration officials.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

Supreme Court Rules That Detained Noncitizens in Withholding-Only Proceedings Are Not Entitled to Individualized Bond Hearings

The U.S. Supreme Court held that INA §241, not INA §236, governs the detention of noncitizens subject to reinstated orders of removal, meaning that such noncitizens are not entitled to a bond hearing while they pursue withholding of removal. (Johnson, et al. v. Guzman Chavez, et al., 6/29/21) AILA Doc. No. 21062935

 

Immigration in the Supreme Court, 2020 Term

ImmProf: The U.S. government prevailed in four of the five cases, an 80 percent success rate.  This rate was higher than that seen in recent Terms.

 

SCOTUS Grants Cert in Patel v. Garland

The U.S. Supreme Court granted a petition for writ of certiorari in Patel v. Garland to decide whether INA § 242(a)(2)(B)(i) “preserves the jurisdiction of federal courts to review a nondiscretionary determination that a noncitizen is ineligible for certain types of discretionary relief.” AILA Doc. No. 21070132

 

Flores settlement applies to minors detained amid pandemic – 9th Circ

Reuters: A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday said a longstanding settlement agreement requiring the government to detain minors who enter the U.S. illegally in licensed facilities rather than hotels applies to children who came to the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

CA2 on Finality of Convictions

PLS: Today, the Second Circuit issued a landmark decision in Brathwaite v. Garland, a case filed by PLS, finding that the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA’s) imposition of a presumption of finality to state criminal convictions that were under appellate review was arbitrary and unreasonable.

 

4th Circ. Upholds Illegal Reentry Law’s Constitutionality

Law360: The Fourth Circuit has affirmed the constitutionality of a federal illegal reentry law, dismissing a Honduran immigrant’s claim that it unlawfully allows an administrative agency, rather than a jury, to establish an element of a crime and incorporates the facts supporting a removal order.

 

5th Circ. Revives Honduran’s Asylum Bid Over Threats

Law360: The Fifth Circuit has sent an appeal by a Honduran asylum-seeker back to the Board of Immigration Appeals, saying the BIA needs to get the immigration judge in the case to clarify an “ambiguous” statement that the man is “likely” to be killed by cops in an order denying asylum.

 

CA4 Remands Claims for Asylum and Related Relief of 15-Year-Old Salvadoran Who Was Threatened by MS-13 Gang

On rehearing en banc, the court held that where a petitioner is a child at the time of the alleged persecution, IJs and the BIA must take the child’s age into account in analyzing past persecution and fear of future persecution for purposes of asylum. (Portillo-Flores v. Garland, 6/29/21) AILA Doc. No. 21063030

 

CA11 Finds BIA Failed to Properly Reconsider Discretionary Denial of Asylum Under 8 CFR §1208.16(e)

The court held that when an applicant is discretionarily denied asylum but granted withholding of removal and the IJ fails to reconsider its discretionary denial of asylum, the BIA must remand for the IJ to conduct this required reconsideration. (Thamotar v. Att’y Gen., 6/17/21) AILA Doc. No. 21062832

 

D.C. Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Claims by Detained Mothers and Children Challenging Credible Fear Regulations

The D.C. Circuit Court affirmed the district court’s determination that the IIRAIRA barred its review of 10 of the 11 alleged policies, because either the policy was unwritten or the challenges to it were untimely. (M.M.V., et al. v. Garland, et al., 6/18/21) AILA Doc. No. 19092532

 

BIA Finds IJs May Exercise Discretion to Rescind In Absentia Removal Orders

The BIA rescinded the absentia order of removal, after finding that an IJ, who has properly entered an in absentia order of removal, has the authority to determine whether a late arrival constitutes “exceptional circumstances.” Matter of S-L-H- & L-B-L- 28 I&N Dec. 318 (BIA 2021) AILA Doc. No. 21070137

 

Challenge to the Biden Administration’s Interim Enforcement Priorities Dismissed Without Prejudice

The district court denied Arizona and Montana’s request for preliminary injunction and dismissed the case without prejudice. (State of Arizona, et al., v. DHS, et al., 6/30/21)

ILA Doc. No. 21063099

 

ACLU Files First Lawsuit Against Biden Admin Over Transportation of Migrants by ICE

Newsweek: The first-ever lawsuit against President Joe Biden’s administration by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was filed Wednesday over long-distance transportation of detained migrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

 

Tech Group Says Schools’ OPT Support ‘Nakedly Political’

Law360: A technology union has urged the D.C. Circuit to bar over 150 colleges and universities from having a say in its lawsuit challenging work permit extensions for foreign graduates, saying that the schools’ arguments are purely political.

 

DHS releases Interagency Strategy for Promoting Naturalization

USCIS: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released the Interagency Strategy for Promoting Naturalization (PDF, 3.77 MB), a whole-of-government approach to breaking down barriers to U.S. citizenship and promoting naturalization to all who are eligible, as outlined in President Biden’s Executive Order 14012.

 

ACTIONS

 

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, July 5, 2021

Sunday, July 4, 2021

Saturday, July 3, 2021

Friday, July 2, 2021

Thursday, July 1, 2021

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Monday, June 28, 2021

 

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Thanks for keeping us up to date, Liz! 😎👍🏼

PWS

07-06-21

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