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)
- ◦NEWS
- ◦LITIGATION & AGENCY UPDATES
- ◦RESOURCES
- ◦EVENTS
PRACTICE UPDATES
USCIS Releases Revised Editions of Forms I-589 and I-765
USCIS: USCIS released the revised editions of Form I-589 and Form I-765 in compliance with the Asylumworks decision. Effective Nov. 7, 2022, USCIS will only accept the 07/26/22 editions of the Form I-589 and Form I-765. Until then, you can submit either the new editions, or the previous editions of Form I-589 (dated 08/25/20) and Form I-765 (dated 05/31/22 and 08/25/20).
NEWS
Texas Says 10,000 Migrants Have Been Bused to Democratic Cities
Bloomberg: Abbott said Friday that the state has bused more than 7,900 people to Washington in the past five months, sent 2,200 to New York and 300 to Chicago. See also Inside Migrants’ Journeys on Greg Abbott’s Free Buses to Washington; Attack on asylum seeker in New York sparks outrage over conditions. (If you’re curious how conservative media is playing this: Chicago mayor accused of ‘hypocrisy’ for sending migrants to GOP suburb.)
TRAC: Using detailed government records, TRAC found that the percent of Border Patrol (BP) apprehensions that comprise repeat border crossers did not significantly increase when, under Title 42 , illegal border crossers were not penalized or sanctioned before they were expelled. This finding, based on data obtained from the Border Patrol by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, is contrary to agency contentions and arguments by policy analysts that immediate expulsions without applying meaningful sanctions such as criminal prosecution to repeat crossers encourages illegal reentry attempts.
Republicans and Democrats have different top priorities for U.S. immigration policy
Pew: Republicans place particular importance on border security and deportations of immigrants who are in the country illegally, while Democrats place greater importance on paths to legal status for those who entered the country illegally – especially those who entered as children, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
DHS unwinds Trump-era ‘public charge’ rule for immigrants
Politico: The new law unravels the Trump-era public-charge rule, under which immigrants could be denied permanent resident status if they had received or were expected to receive food assistance, Medicaid, housing assistance, or other public benefits. The Biden administration in stopped enforcing that regulation in March 2021.
ICE violated federal law by holding migrant teens in adult custody
Sentinel: Following a ruling that transferring migrant kids to adult detention centers just as they turned age 18 was illegal, a federal judge approved a settlement in a 2018 lawsuit this week.
‘Scary and chilling’: AI surveillance takes U.S. prisons by storm
Reuters: Beginning in 2019, Suffolk County was an early pilot site for the Verus AI-scanning system sold by California-based LEO Technologies, which uses Amazon speech-to-text technology to transcribe phone calls flagged by key word searches… Suffolk County is among dozens of county jails and state prisons in seven U.S. states including major metro areas such as Houston, Texas, and Birmingham, Alabama, that LEO says have so far implemented the Verus system to monitor inmates’ calls.
Deported veterans who returned to US face uncertain futures
RollCall: A Biden administration initiative brought them back to America under a temporary immigration status that expires after a year.
USCIS Has Used Nearly All Available Employment-Based Immigrant Visas for FY2022
JDSupra: This is a significant accomplishment for the agency because it approved approximately twice the annual allocation of employment-based immigrant visas in fiscal year 2022 (FY22).
LITIGATION & AGENCY UPDATES
3rd Circ. Tosses Salvadoran Man’s Deportation Review Bid
Law360: A Salvadoran man convicted of marijuana possession cannot overcome removal requirements of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act through a waiver found in a 1952 immigration law, the Third Circuit ruled Friday, denying his petition for review of a deportation order.
5th Circ. Says Guatemalan’s Stepkids Can’t Stop Deportation
Law360: The Fifth Circuit on Friday rejected a Guatemalan man’s bid to cancel his deportation on the basis that it would cause his stepchildren extreme hardship, saying he didn’t provide evidence strong enough to prove they were U.S. citizens.
9th Circ. Says High Court Ruling Limits Detainee Bond
Law360: The Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday that immigrants challenging deportation orders from mandatory detention aren’t entitled to bond hearings while the federal courts review the orders, citing a recent high court ruling at odds with a prior circuit decision allowing bond.
Final Settlement Approved In Lawsuit On Unlawful Detention Of Unaccompanied Youth
NIJC: A federal court approved a settlement agreement on September 7 in a lawsuit challenging the unlawful detention of unaccompanied children who turn 18 in U.S. government custody and are transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities.
Immigration Judges Say the FLRA Made Up Rules to Decertify Union
GovExec: In its appeal in federal circuit court, the National Association of Immigration Judges accused the Federal Labor Relations Authority’s then-Republican majority of already deciding to decertify the union before considering arguments in the case.
Final Rule: Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility
DHS: The rule restores the historical understanding of a ‘public charge’ that had been in place for decades, until the prior Administration began to consider supplemental public health benefits such as Medicaid and nutritional assistance as part of the public charge inadmissibility determination.
DHS Notice of Extension of Venezuela for TPS
AILA: DHS notice extending the designation of Venezuela for TPS for 18 months, from 9/10/22 through 3/10/24. The 60-day re-registration period for existing TPS beneficiaries runs from 9/8/22 through 11/7/22. (87 FR 55024, 9/8/22)
EOIR Memo: Credible Fear and Asylum Procedures
EOIR: This memorandum summarizes certain key provisions of the interim final rule and provides guidance on the new streamlined removal proceedings.
EOIR to Relocate Arlington Immigration Court, EOIR to Open Sterling Immigration Court
EOIR: The Arlington Immigration Court will end normal operations at noon on October 6, 2022, to prepare for the court’s relocation to Annandale.
RESOURCES
- AILA: Practice Alert: Biden Administration’s Asylum Processing Rule Is Now in Effect in the Courts and Asylum Offices of Seven Destination Cities
- AILA: Practice Alert: Filing Form G-1593 to Appear Remotely at Asylum or NACARA Interviews
- AILA: Asylum and Credible Fear Interim Final Rule
- AILA: Find Resources for Assisting Afghan Clients
- CLINIC: Federal Register Notice for 18-Month Extension of TPS Designation for Venezuela Published
- CRS: An Overview of the Statutory Bars to Asylum: Limitations on Applying for Asylum (Part One)
- CRS: An Overview of the Statutory Bars to Asylum: Limitations on Applying for Asylum (Part Two)
- DHS OIG: DHS Encountered Obstacles to Screen, Vet, and Inspect All Evacuees during the Recent Afghanistan Crisis (REDACTED)
- DHS OIG: USCIS Should Improve Controls to Restrict Unauthorized Access to Its Systems and Information
- ILRC: The ICE Parental Interests Directive: How Child Welfare Agencies Can Advocate with ICE to Ensure Fair Treatment of Detained or Deported Parents
- JFL: Advisory on new prison phone surveillance tech
- NIJC: A Brief Guide to Representing Noncitizen Criminal Defendants in Illinois (with Quick Reference Chart for Determining Immigration Consequences of Common Illinois Offenses).
- NLG: Biden’s Asylum Processing Rule: Three Months in, What Practitioners Need to Know
- NLG: Explainer: Biden Administration on Policing Two Years In
- USCIS: USCIS Stopped Applying June 2020 Rules Pursuant to Court Order in Asylumworks v. Mayorkas (Updated: 09/07/2022)
EVENTS
- 9/13/22 PLI: Representing Children in Immigration Matters 2022: Effective Advocacy and Best Practices
- 9/14/22 Representing U Visa Clients with Complex Issue
- 9/14/22 Partial to Full Accreditation Initiative 2022
- 9/15/22 Monthly NIPNLG Removal Defense Webinar: Credibility and Impeachment
- 9/15/22 Advanced Mandamus Trends
- 9/20/22 19th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference
- 9/20/22 Nonprofit and For-Profit Entity Intersection 2022: Achieving Charitable Goals Through Innovative and Nontraditional Mechanisms
- 9/21/22 Breaking Down the Record in a Ninth Circuit Petition for Review
- 9/21/22-9/22/22 Refresher and Practice Tips: Legal Remedies for Immigrant Survivors
- 9/22/22 Maximizing Second Chances: Filing Appeals, Motions, and Practicing before the BIA
- 9/22/22 USCIS: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Final Rule National Stakeholder Engagement
- 9/23/22 Politics and Purpose Movement Lawyering Workshop
- 9/28/22 AILA: Microsoft Word Tricks That Will Change Your Life
- 9/29/22 Consular Processing Roundup for Families and Survivors
- 10/1/22-10/8/22 Spanish for Lawyers in Allende, Mexico
- 10/4/22 & 10/11/22 CLINIC: Webinar Series: U Visa Certification Advocacy: Creating Policies and Laws to Protect Immigrant Victims of Crime
- 10/6/22 2022 Fall Immigration Skills Conference
- 10/6/22-10/19/22 CLINIC: Immigration Practice Skills Course
- 10/7/22-10/28/22 Understanding and Preparing Waivers
- 10/12/22 Prosecutorial Discretion Updates
- 10/12/22-10/13/22 NLG: Immigration Defense Strategies
- 10/18/22 VAWA Updates – USCIS Policy Changes and Practice Tips
- 10/19/22 CLINIC: Outreach Strategies and Social Media to Connect With and Serve Immigrants
- 10/19/22 U Visa: I-929 Process & Issues
- 10/20/22 Understanding Unlawful Presence and I-601/I-601A
- 10/27/22 2022 Convening On Advancing Universal Representation
- 10/29/22 4th Annual 5k for Immigrant Justice (includes remote option)
- 11/2/22 TPS Updates
- 11/3/22 Drugs and Naturalization
- 11/8/22 SIJS-based Adjustment of Status with Delinquency or Crimes
- 11/16/22 Introduction to Conditional Permanent Residence and Filing the I-751
- 11/17/22 NLG: Updates on Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds (TRIG) with guest speaker, Jay Gairson
- 11/29/22 Building an Asylum Claim
- 12/6/22 Emerging Strategies for Prolonged Detention
- 12/7/22 Parole in Immigration
- 12/13/22 The Effects of Absences on Naturalization
- 12/14/22 Hot Topics in Asylum Law
- 12/15/22 NLG: Obtaining Criminal Records with guest speaker, Gabriela Kahrl
- 01/19/22 NLG: Top Ethical Issues Facing Legal Representatives in Removal Hearings with guest speaker, Retired Immigration Judge Dana Marks
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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
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Sure looks like CBP is “apprehending” the same individuals multiple times. Also, many of these so-called “apprehensions” want to be “caught” because it’s the only possible way of getting the chance to apply for asylum that our law guarantees, but fails to provide in practice. That’s because ports of entry are still “closed” under bogus Title 42 restrictions. So, the overhyped “border apprehensions” appear, to a significant extent, to be “smoke and mirrors.”
It’s really not surprising that “sanctions” apparently don’t deter unlawful entries. That’s because 1) the vast majority of unlawful entrants aren’t “criminals” in any normal sense of the word except in the mind of White Nationalist xenophobes, 2) many are just trying to get the Government to follow the law and let them apply for asylum, or other legal protections, and 3) even those without credible claims for protection are, for the most part, at worst, just coming here to work at jobs that U.S. workers don’t want.
Jeff Session’s racist “zero tolerance program” of useless border prosecutions violated the Constitution by intentionally separating families, cost the Government millions, ruined lives, squandered prosecutorial resources that should have been spent on real crime, and accomplished absolutely nothing positive. Yet, Sessions, his neo-Nazi henchman Stephen Miller, and the government sycophants (including unethical DOJ lawyers) who carried out this travesty remain free and will never be held accountable.
Somehow, GOP nativists have gotten away with turning the self-created border “crisis” upside down. If we cut through their smokescreen, we see that the Government actually is the “law breaker” and many of the “forced irregular entrants” actually are trying to comply with the law! Not to mention that the USG has failed to establish viable refugee programs to process Western Hemisphere refugees before they come to our borders. Pretty kafkaesque!
Also, the effort by unqualified right-wing Federal “Judges” and neo-fascist GOP state AG’s to close the border to legal asylum seekers is a national disgrace that seems to be “below the radar screen.” Gotta hope that history “toasts” these corrupt, ignorant, and immoral public officials even if there is little interest in holding them accountable in “real time.”
But, somehow, even the so-called “mainstream media” hypes the wrong story!
🇺🇸Due Process Forever!
PWS
09-14-22