Managing Attorney
National Immigrant Justice Center
Publisher of “The Gibson Report”
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
PRACTICAL UPDATES
USCIS: Recommendations for Paper Filings to Avoid Scanning Delays
NEWS
Biden Is Still Separating Immigrant Kids From Their Families
Texas Observer: But as the case of Felipe shows, immigration officials have continued to separate parents and children in violation of the policy. From the start of the new administration to August 2022—the latest month for which data has been published—U.S. authorities have reported at least 372 cases of family separation.
Judge orders end to Trump-era asylum restrictions at border
AP: Within hours, the Justice Department asked the judge to let the order take effect Dec. 21, giving it five weeks to prepare. Plaintiffs including the American Civil Liberties Union didn’t oppose the delay.
Democrats confront bleak odds for immigration deal before 2023
Politico: Party leaders are pushing hard for legislation aiding the undocumented population known as “Dreamers” before Republicans take the House. But GOP senators have little interest. See also House Judiciary GOP Highlights First Oversight Targets.
Quality vs Quantity: How Does Sitting on the Dedicated Docket Impact the Judging Process?
TRAC: The outcome for asylum seekers has long been influenced by the identity of the immigration judge assigned to hear their case. This continues to be true as documented by TRAC’s just released judge-by-judge report series, now updated through FY 2022. In Arlington, Virginia, judge denial rates ranged from 15 percent to 95 percent. In Boston, judge denial rates varied from 17 percent to 93.5 percent. In Chicago, they ranged from 16 percent to 90 percent, while in San Francisco one judge denied just 1 percent of the cases while another denied 95 percent.
ICE lifted its ban on family visits, but relatives still struggle to see loved ones
NPR: Individuals held in immigration detention were barred from visits with relatives and friends for more than two years during the pandemic — far longer than federal prisons. In May, ICE lifted the ban, but immigrant advocates and people in detention centers argue that social visits have not been fully nor consistently reinstated.
Second immigrant bus arrives in Philadelphia from Texas, sent by Gov. Greg Abbott
Philly Inquirer: A second bus carrying immigrants from Texas arrived in Philadelphia Monday morning, a twice-in-six-days sequel that propelled the city to offer fresh welcome to more weary, uncertain travelers from the border.
Cubans, Nicaraguans drive illegal border crossings higher
AP: Fewer Venezuelans came after the the Biden administration introduced new asylum restrictions on Oct. 12, but increasing arrivals from other countries more than offset that decline, according to figures released late Monday. See also Mexico steps up immigration controls in south; Cuba, U.S. to hold second round of migration talks in Havana.
Senate: Migrants subject to unnecessary medical procedures
AP: U.S. immigration authorities didn’t do enough to adequately vet or monitor a gynecologist in rural Georgia who performed unnecessary medical procedures on detained migrant women without their consent, according to results of a Senate investigation released Tuesday.
The Public Has Never Seen The U.S. Government Force-Feed Someone — Until Now
Intercept: According to ICE’s Performance-Based National Detention Standards, whenever there is a “calculated use of force,” staff are required to use a handheld camera to record the incident. The Intercept, with Kumar’s consent, requested the video through the Freedom of Information Act. After ICE refused to turn over the footage, The Intercept filed a lawsuit and ICE subsequently agreed to turn over the footage, but the agency redacted the faces and names of everyone who appears in it, aside from Kumar.
Ten years of hurt: how the Guardian reported Qatar’s World Cup working conditions
Guardian: A multi-country investigation by the Guardian finds at least 6,500 migrant workers from south Asia have died in Qatar in the 10 years since it was awarded the right to host the World Cup.
LITIGATION & AGENCY UPDATES
Matter of Coronado Acevedo, 28 I&N Dec. 648 (A.G. 2022)
AG: (1) Matter of S-O-G- & F-D-B-, 27 I&N Dec. 462 (A.G. 2018), is overruled. (2) Pending the outcome of the rulemaking process, immigration judges and the Board of Immigration of Appeals may consider and, where appropriate, grant termination or dismissal of removal proceedings in certain types of limited circumstances, such as where a noncitizen has obtained lawful permanent residence after being placed in removal proceedings, where the pendency of removal proceedings causes adverse immigration consequences for a respondent who must travel abroad to obtain a visa, or where termination is necessary for the respondent to be eligible to seek immigration relief before United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Biden Admin. Restores Immig. Courts’ Power To Nix Removals
Law360: The Biden administration on Thursday swept aside a Trump-era decision that mostly stripped immigration judges of their power to end removal proceedings, restoring immigration courts’ ability to terminate some deportation cases while it devises new policy.
Judge Allows Biden 5 Weeks To Wind Down Title 42
Law360: A federal judge on Wednesday granted “with great reluctance” the Biden administration’s request for a five-week stay of his previous day’s order to end expulsions of migrants under Title 42, a public health provision the Trump administration began using at the start of the pandemic.
Split 4th Circ. Orders Rehear Of Removal In Light Of Dimaya
Law360: A split Fourth Circuit panel ordered the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals to reconsider a Jamaican man’s removal order, criticizing the agency’s reasons for rejecting his claims that he diligently sought reversal of his order following a Supreme Court ruling.
NY IJ Asylum Victory; Guatemala; Feminist Political Opinion
LexisNexis: Michael Shannon writes: “I wanted to share a very good written decision from IJ Barbara Nelson, who granted asylum to my client based on her actual and imputed feminist political opinion under Hernandez-Chacon v. Barr.”
Feds Get OK For Psych Exams Of Migrant Parents
Law360: The federal government got the green light from an Arizona federal judge to conduct psychological examinations of asylum-seeking parents suing for damages for the alleged emotional trauma from being separated from their children at the southwestern U.S. border.
AILA and Partners Send Letter to USCIS, EOIR, and OPLA on Biometrics Appointments
AILA: AILA and partners sent a letter to USCIS, EOIR, and OPLA addressing the unnecessary hurdles non-detained people in removal proceedings face in securing a biometrics appointment prior to their merits hearing.
AILA: USCIS notice of the automatic extension of the validity of TPS-related documentation for beneficiaries under the TPS designations for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, Honduras, and Nepal set to expire on 12/31/22, through 6/30/24. (87 FR 68717, 11/16/22)
RESOURCES
- AILA: Practice Pointer: Title 42 and Asylum Processing at the Southern Border
- AILA: Featured Issue: Prosecutorial Discretion
- AILA: Practice Alert: ICE Withdraws Attorney Notification Requirements for COVID-19 Risk Factors
- AILA: Practice Alert: USCIS Inaccurate Rejection Notices
- AILA: Using the VESL Line for Your Client’s Change of Address and Change of Reporting Location
- Cardozo Clinic Surveys on Language Access Issues in Detention
- Cato: U.S. Has No Immigrant Visa Processing in 67 Countries—Indefinitely
- Chase: Understanding Government Acquiescence
- CLINIC: Frequently Asked Questions: TPS Terminations and the Ramos v. Mayorkas Litigation
- NIJC’s Fall Pro Bono Asylum Training, Nov. 2022
- NIJC: Immigrant Prosecutions By the Numbers
- OIDO offers documents in additional languages
- Round Table Weighs In @ Supremes On Unconstitutional Vagueness Of “Crime Involving Moral Turpitude”
EVENTS
- 11/29/22 Building an Asylum Claim
- 11/30/22 CGRS Preserving the Record for Appeal in a Fear-of-Return Claim
- 12/6/22 Emerging Strategies for Prolonged Detention
- 12/6/22 Immigration Reform: Might Past Be Prologue?
- 12/7/22-12/8/22 Defending Survivors: Strategies for Immigrant Survivors Seeking Justice
- 12/7/22 Parole in Immigration
- 12/13/22 The Effects of Absences on Naturalization
- 12/13/22 USCIS: Asylum Quarterly Stakeholder Engagement
- 12/14/22 Hot Topics in Asylum Law
- 12/14/22 CLINIC Working Through Vicarious Trauma With Self-Care Strategies
- 12/15/22 NLG: Obtaining Criminal Records with guest speaker, Gabriela Kahrl
- 1/10/23 CLINIC: Comprehensive Overview of Immigration Law (COIL)
- 1/11/22 Preventing and Responding to RFEs and NOIDs for U and VAWA Cases
- 1/19/23 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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Two years of ineptness, failure to clean house at DOJ and DHS, unkept promises to advocates, lack of guts to quickly reverse Trump’s massive scofflaw program of racist-inspired human rights abuses, arrogant “tuning out” of experts, lack of engagement and presence at the border have been largely ignored by Dems in both Houses. Indeed, other than a hearing on the Article 1 bill before Chair Lofgren (at which Garland was not required to appear and explain his due-process-denying mess and abject failure to reform EOIR), Dems failure to conduct meaningful oversight of the Administration’s mishandling of refugee programs, asylum, detention, asylum seeker resettlement, and Immigration Courts will be “coming home to roost” as insurrectionist, racists from the House GOP take aim at “snuffing” humanity and abolishing the rule of law!
Two years of inept, immoral, “Miller Litism” from the Administration leaves Dems with no defense and no supporters of their actions. Nativist restrictionists wanted “100% kill” @ border! Experts wanted a return to the rule of law, orderly processing, and due process. The Biden Administration delivered neither!
We tried to tell them, but they wouldn’t listen! No, McCarthy and his insurrectionist White Nationalist zany-haters have the floor. Just have to hope that historians are fully documenting the lies and Neo-Nazi views that these GOP hacks will be promoting — to help future generations understand how America “went off the rails” in the 21st century! Understandably, the GOP would rather focus on Biden’s failed immigration policies than on the rampant gun violence, hate crimes, child abuse, forced births, and dumbing down of America at the heart of their vile agenda!
🇺🇸Due Process Forever! The GOP’s “New McCarthyism,” Never!
PWS
11-23-22