THE GIBSON REPORT — 05-15-22 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, National Immigrant Justice Center (“NIJC”) — Racially Motivated Immigration Policies, Decisions, Take Center Stage In Light of Buffalo/California Killings! 

Elizabeth Gibson
Elizabeth Gibson
Managing Attorney
National Immigrant Justice Center
Publisher of “The Gibson Report”

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Weekly Briefing

 

This briefing is designed as a quick-reference aggregation of developments in immigration law, practice, and policy that you can scan for anything you missed over the last week. The contents of the news, links, and events do not necessarily reflect the position of the National Immigrant Justice Center. If you have items that you would like considered for inclusion, please email them to egibson@heartlandalliance.org.

 

CONTENTS (jump to section)

  • PRACTICE ALERTS
  • NEWS
  • LITIGATION & AGENCY UPDATES
  • RESOURCES
  • EVENTS

 

PRACTICE ALERTS

 

ICE announces updated phased return to social visitation at detention facilities

 

NEWS

 

Supreme Court limits review of factual disputes in immigration cases

CNN: The ruling made it more difficult for non-citizens who are in removal proceedings to get a federal court to review factual determinations that were made by an immigration court concerning relief from deportation. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the decision for 5-4 court. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the dissent for himself with the three liberal justices.

 

Buffalo shooting pushes ‘great replacement theory’ into national spotlight

The Hill: A mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store that left 10 people dead has placed a national spotlight on a far-right conspiracy theory espoused by the suspected shooter. The so-called “great replacement theory” asserts that there is an intentional effort to replace white Americans with people of color by encouraging immigration.

 

Republicans Wrongly Tie Biden Immigration Policies to Baby Formula Shortage

NYT: Republican lawmakers have misleadingly suggested that the Biden administration is sending baby formula to undocumented immigrants at the expense of American families amid a national shortage.

 

Migrant disappearances quadruple in Mexico in 2021, says report

Reuters: The number of missing foreigners grew by 292% to 349 from 89 cases, said the report presented by the Jesuits’ Missing Migrant Search Program (SJM), a human rights organization.

 

“This Is America Motherfucker”: Witnesses Describe Border Patrol Killing Of Mexican Migrant

Intercept: Men traveling with Carmelo Cruz Marcos told authorities that Border Patrol agents tampered with evidence and sought to concoct a cover story. See also Border Patrol disbands units accused of covering up abuse.

 

Cubans are arriving to the US in record numbers. Smugglers are profiting from their exodus

CNN: As Cuba confronts the worst shortages of food and medicine in decades and runaway inflation, a new exodus of the island’s citizens is underway.

 

Cook County program providing legal help for immigrants starts taking cases

Chicago Sun-Times: In Chicago, there are more than 110,000 pending cases in immigration court, including more than 56,000 cases where people aren’t represented by an attorney, according to a data analysis from Syracuse University. The Midwest Immigrant Defenders Alliance is providing legal help to anyone who is in deportation proceedings in the immigration court in Chicago, even if the person lives in a different state.

 

LITIGATION & AGENCY UPDATES

 

Patel v. Garland

SCOTUSblog: Holding: Federal courts lack jurisdiction to review facts found as part of any judgment relating to the granting of discretionary relief in immigration proceedings enumerated under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2).

 

Matter of B-Z-R-, 28 I&N Dec. 563 (A.G. 2022)

AG: (1) Matter of G-G-S-, 26 I&N Dec. 339 (BIA 2014), is overruled. (2)  Immigration adjudicators may consider  a  respondent’s  mental  health  in  determining  whether  an  individual,  “having  been  convicted  by  a  final  judgment  of  a  particularly  serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of the United States.”  8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(2)(A)(ii); see id § 1231(b)(3)(B)(ii).

 

DOJ Lets Immigration Judges Consider Mental Health History

Law360: Immigration courts can once again consider whether a noncitizen’s mental health history lightens the immigration consequences of a conviction, according to a Monday decision from U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland that overturns a 2014 Board of Immigration Appeals ruling.

 

BIA Erred On Money Laundering Deportation, 2nd Circ. Says

Law360: The Second Circuit has found the Board of Immigration Appeals erred in denying a South Korean citizen’s bid to stay in the country, deciding Monday the woman’s second-degree money laundering conviction is not enough to warrant deportation.

 

4th Circ. Erases Order Granting Detainees New Bond Hearings

Law360: The Fourth Circuit erased a lower court injunction requiring the Baltimore Immigration Court to conduct new bond hearings for detainees who say their first hearings were flawed, ruling Thursday that federal judges are barred from entering classwide injunctions over immigration bond hearings.

 

9th Circ. Orders BIA Review Of Nepalese Man’s Asylum Denial

Law360: The Ninth Circuit revived a Nepalese man’s bid for asylum and withholding of removal after finding the Board of Immigration Appeals discounted reports of the Nepali government’s lack of interest in stopping violence inflicted by a major political party.

 

CA9 on FOIA: Transgender Law Center v. ICE

LexisNexis: Yet here the advocates’ FOIA requests met first with silence and then with stonewalling; only after the advocates filed suit did the government begin to comply with its statutory obligations. Our task is to discern whether the government’s belated disclosure was “adequate” under FOIA. We conclude that it was not.

 

11th Circ. Says No Counsel Needed Before Immigration Judge

Law360: A split Eleventh Circuit panel on Wednesday denied a Haitian asylum seeker’s request to review a removal order, saying the man was not entitled to counsel when he appeared before the immigration judge who reviewed his asylum request.

 

Separated Migrant Families Can Continue Quest For Damages

Law360: Three Bay Area migrant families who were separated under the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy may continue to seek compensation for resulting harms they suffered after a California federal judge denied the government’s bid to move or toss the case.

 

Texas AG “Investigating” Texas Bar Foundation is an Attempt to Shift Attention and Undermine the Rule of Law

AIC: The Council and AILA stand in support of the Texas State Bar Foundation in response to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s investigation of the Foundation for supporting organizations that provide legal representation, citizenship classes, and other legal needs to the immigrant community in Texas.

 

Foreign Pot Workers Not Barred From US, CBP Memo Says

Law360: A 2018 U.S. Customs and Border Protection document recently disclosed amid a lawsuit filed by Davis Wright Tremaine LLP indicates that foreign nationals working in legal cannabis industries aren’t inadmissible to the U.S., despite statements to the contrary from CBP officials.

 

USCIS Correction to South Sudan TPS Notice Regarding Expiration Date of Current EADs

AILA: USCIS correction to a typographical error in the 3/3/22 South Sudan TPS notice. USCIS is correcting the date from 9/17/21 to 5/2/22 as the expiration date that should be showing on South Sudan TPS-based EADs to receive an automatic 180-day EAD extension through 11/1/22.

 

House Panel Votes Yes On Independent Immigration Courts

Law360: The House Judiciary Committee voted 24-12 to advance a bill that would remove immigration courts from the U.S. Department of Justice and make them independent of the executive branch.

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

NIJC EVENTS

 

 

GENERAL EVENTS

 

 

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Elizabeth Gibson (Pronouns: she/her/ella)

Managing Attorney for Capacity Building and Mentorship

National Immigrant Justice Center

A HEARTLAND ALLIANCE Program

224 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 600, Chicago, IL 60604
T: (312) 660-1688| F: (312) 660-1688| E: egibson@heartlandalliance.org

www.immigrantjustice.org | Facebook | Twitter

 

 

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The deterioration of the immigration dialogue, overt racism, poorly qualified judges at all levels making bad decisions, GOP White Supremacy, and failure of courage in the Biden Administration and on the part of some so-called Democrats have led to a deadly situation that threatens Americans and our democracy!

Immigrants’ rights are human rights! Ironically, the GOP with its aggressive “dehumanization campaign” recognizes this, even if some Dems don’t.

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

05-18-22