Category: Education

THE GIBSON REPORT 08-03-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

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

THE GIBSON REPORT 08-03-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

COVID-19

Note: Policies are rapidly changing, so please verify the latest policies on the relevant government websites and with colleagues on listservs as best you can.

 

New

  • Opening dates for some non-detained courts: Hearings in non-detained cases at courts without an announced date are postponed through, and including, August 21, 2020.
  • USCIS Visitor Policy (If requesting telephonic appearance of counsel at an interview, don’t forget to send the client to the interview with a signed G-28 that contains the number where USCIS should call you.)

 

Closures

 

Guidance:

 

TOP NEWS

 

The Trump Administration Will Start Charging Immigrants Fees For Applying For Asylum

Buzzfeed: The US now joins the ranks of Iran, Fiji, and Australia in charging a fee. In the US, there will be a $50 charge on asylum applications starting in October…The asylum fee is just one of many changes included in the rule issued by USCIS, which is primarily funded by immigrants’ applications, such as filing for a green card or work permit. The agency is required to review its fee structure every two years. The final rule will make it so immigrants seeking to naturalize and applying to become US citizens will have to pay upwards of $1,170, a jump from $640. See also Changes to USCIS Fee Schedule; USCIS Pleads for Money to Avoid Furloughs, Democrats Float Making the Funds Contingent on Policy Changes.

 

Trump administration won’t accept new DACA applications

AP: The Trump administration said Tuesday that it will reject new applications and shorten renewal periods for an Obama-era program that shields young people from deportation, taking a defiant stance after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to let it be scrapped completely.

 

DOJ loses bid to nix union for immigration judges

Reuters: A Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) official on Friday rejected the Trump administration’s bid to dissolve a union that represents U.S. immigration judges, saying the judges are not “management officials” who are barred from joining unions.

 

Homeland Security seized $2 billion from travelers, but most were never charged with a crime, report says

WaPo: Federal law allows CBP and other agencies to take cash from travelers as a way to combat drug trafficking and other criminal enterprises, but the new report by the Institute for Justice found nearly 70 percent of such cases are like Nwaorie’s — no arrest accompanies a seizure.

 

Acting ICE chief announces retirement following clashes with Trump officials

Politico: White House officials had accused Albence of favoring humanitarian concerns about the treatment of immigrants over the chance to take more aggressive action.

 

Border Patrol Launches Militarized Raid Of Borderlands Humanitarian Aid Camp

Intercept: For the second time in two years, Border Patrol launched a raid against No More Deaths within days of the group releasing embarrassing information about the agency.

 

Pardoned By Cuomo But Detained By ICE, Bronx Immigrant Marks Three Years In ICE Detention

Gothamist: In an extraordinary move six months ago, Governor Andrew Cuomo pardoned the 26-year-old Gambian immigrant from the Bronx for the one adult criminal conviction on his record — for robbing two gold chains from a female neighbor’s neck, which he said he didn’t do. His attorneys and the legion of activists who are supporting him thought that would pave the way for authorities to release him. That hasn’t happened.

 

Trump To Limit Federal Contractors’ Use Of Foreign Labor

Law 360: President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Monday that will require federal agencies to prioritize U.S. citizens and nationals for contractor roles, expanding on previous orders limiting immigration from June and April.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

District Court Issues Nationwide Injunction on Both DOS and DHS Public Charge Regulations Due to COVID-19

A district judge issued a nationwide injunction on both the DOS and DHS public charge rules due to COVID-19. (Make the Road New York, et al., v. DHS, 7/29/20) AILA Doc. No. 20072935

 

Attorney General Rules on Categorical Approach to Determining Aggravated Felonies

Ruling on the application of the categorical approach to determining aggravated felonies and that respondent’s conviction for grand larceny in the second degree in NY was an aggravated felony, the AG vacated BIA’s decision in Matter of Reyes. Matter of Reyes, 28 I&N Dec. 52 (A.G. 2020) AILA Doc. No. 20073131

 

USCIS Newark Asylum Office to Open Manhattan Branch

The Newark Asylum Office is adding a Manhattan branch which will open for interviews on Aug. 17, 2020…The Manhattan branch will be located in the federal building at 201 Varick Street in lower Manhattan. The main asylum office, currently located in Lyndhurst, N.J., has been closed to the public due to recent, ongoing facility issues.

 

Federal Judge Shuts Down Law Groups’ Intervention in Long-Standing Immigration Case

Courthouse News: A California federal judge denied a motion from nonprofit legal service providers to intervene in a decades-old case that determines the treatment and release of immigration children held by the United States.

 

AILA’s New Jersey Chapter Seek to Enjoin Newark Immigration Court from Compelling In-Person Proceedings

The AILA New Jersey Chapter filed a complaint in district court seeking to enjoin the Newark Immigration Court from forcing immigration attorneys to appear for in-person proceedings during the COVID-19 pandemic. (AILA New Jersey Chapter v. EOIR, 7/31/20) AILA Doc. No. 20080301

 

Citizenship requirements a sticking point in CARES Act and COVID Relief Funding

ImmProf: A federal judge for the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction Friday ordering that the Department of Education could not deny funding authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to a Bunker Hill Community College student based on her immigration status.

 

USCIS and EOIR Proposed Rule on Pandemic-Related Security Bars to Asylum and Withholding of Removal

USCIS and EOIR proposed rule allowing DHS and DOJ to consider “emergency public health concerns based on communicable disease due to potential international threats from the spread of pandemics” when determining whether an individual is ineligible for asylum or withholding of removal on security grounds. AILA Doc. No. 20070831

 

USCIS Provides Information on Injunction of the Public Charge Grounds Final Rule

USCIS provided information on how it plans to adjudicate applications or petitions in light of the July 29, 2020, injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York which enjoins the government from enforcing USCIS’s Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds Final Rule. AILA Doc. No. 20073140

 

DHS Reissues Privacy Impact Assessment for CBP and ICE DNA Collection

DHS updated a previously issued PIA to provide notice to the public of biometric DNA collection from individuals detained by ICE and CBP and the associated privacy risks. DHS reissued the PIA to note that CBP Office of Field Operations is expanding the minimum age for DNA collection from 18 to 14. AILA Doc. No. 20072701

 

ICE Final Rule on Changes Applicable to Surety Bond Companies

ICE final rule which requires surety companies seeking to overcome a bond breach determination to exhaust administrative remedies, and which sets forth “for cause” standards so that ICE may decline bonds from companies that do not cure their deficient performance. (85 FR 45968, 7/31/20) AILA Doc. No. 20073134

 

USCIS Announces Special Instructions for Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Program

USCIS announced that it has added special instructions regarding eligibility requirements, filing, and adjudication of adjustment of status applications based on the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness provision in the NDAA. Individuals should read these special instructions before applying. AILA Doc. No. 20042034

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

Note: Check with organizers regarding cancellations/changes

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, August 3, 2020

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Saturday, August 1, 2020

Friday, July 31, 2020

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Monday, July 27, 2020

 

**********************

Thanks, Elizabeth.

PWS

08-04-20

Related posts:

  1. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⚖️🗽🇺🇸FORMER DEPUTY AG DON AYER, JUDGE MIMI TSANKOV AMONG “HEADLINERS” AT TIMELY UPCOMING NY CITY BAR ASSN. EVENT: “Rule of Law Forum – Preserving the Rule of Law in an Age of Disruption” — Register Now, Right Here!
  2. THE GIBSON REPORT — 10-12-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire. NY Legal Assistance Group —  DocumentedNY Takes You Inside The Maliciously Incompetent Kakistocracy Known As Immigration “Courts,” That Aren’t “Courts” At All & Where The Victims Might Never Have Any Idea Of Why They Are Being “Ordered Deported” By “Judges” Beholden To the Regime’s Corrupt & Racist Enforcement Apparatus! (Item #5 Under “Top- News”) — Plus Other News From The Regime’s “Twilight Zone!”
  3. ⚖️THE GIBSON REPORT — 02-07-22 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group — BONUS: “Ethics On Vacation @ DHS & DOJ”
  4. THE GIBSON REPORT — 02-14-21💝 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group — Mandatory E-Filing @ EOIR Starts & Lots Of Other “Interesting Stuff!”  — CMS Study Shows How Garland Is Ignoring the “Low Hanging Fruit” On His Out of Control EOIR Backlog! ☹️

MUST SEE TV:  “IMMIGRATION NATION” PREMIERES TODAY ON NETFLIX:  Time Magazine Says “Netflix’s Searing Docuseries Immigration Nation Is The Most Important TV Show You’ll See In 2020!” 

Immigration Nation 

Directed by Christina Clusiau and Shaul Schwarz

I appear, along with many others, in a later episode.

As you watch, ask this question: What does most of the enforcement you see have to do with any legitimate notion of “homeland security” except in the sense that abusing, terrorizing, separating, and removing individuals of color evidently makes some folks in the U.S., particularly Trump supporters, feel “more secure?”

No, it’s not “just enforcing the law!” No law is enforced 100% and most U.S. laws are enforced to just a limited extent due to priorities, funding, and sensible prosecutorial discretion used by every law enforcement agency. 

How much does the Trump Administration “enforce” environmental protection laws, civil rights laws, laws protecting the LGBTQ community from discrimination, fair housing laws, financial laws, health and safety laws, tax laws, or for that matter ethics laws, whistleblower protections, or anti-corruption laws? 

Indeed, as hate crimes directed against the Hispanic, Asian, and Black communities have risen, prosecutions have actually fallen under Trump. See e.g., https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/02/us/hate-crimes-latinos-el-paso-shooting/index.html.

Although domestic violence hasn’t decreased in ethnic communities, prosecutions have gone down as a result of the Administration’s “terror tactics” as illustrated in Immigration Nation. Jeff “Gonzo Apocalypoto” Sessions’s racially-motivated prosecutions of minor immigration violators, intended to promote family separation and “deter” others from asserting legal rights, actually diverted Federal prosecutorial resources from real crimes like drug trafficking and white collar crimes.

Remember, Jeff Sessions walks free (his biggest “trauma” being a well-deserved primary defeat in Alabama); his victims aren’t so lucky; some of their trauma is permanent; their lives changed for the worse, and in some cases eradicated, forever! Where’s the “justice” and the “rule of law” in this?

Prosecutions are always prioritized and “targeted” in some way or another, sometimes rationally, reasonably, and prudently, and other times with bias and malice. So, as you watch this and hear folks like former Acting ICE Director Tom Homan and other Government officials pontificate about “just enforcing the law” or “required by law,” you should recognize it for the total BS that it is!

The Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement program is clearly designed by folks like Stephen Miller, Sessions, and others to be invidiously motivated and to terrorize communities of color including U.S. citizens and lawful residents who are part of those communities. They are an affront to the concepts of “equal justice under law” and eliminating “institutional racism.” 

The Administration’s policies are actually “Dred Scottification” or “dehumanization of the other.” You can see and hear it in the voices of DHS enforcement officials, a number of whom eventually view other humans as “numbers,” “priorities,” “quotas,” “missions,” “ops” (“operations”), “beds,” or “collateral damage.” 

That’s exactly how repressive bureaucracies in Germany, the Soviet Union, China, and other authoritarian states have worked and prospered, at least for a time. By breaking dehumanization into “little bureaucratic steps” individuals are relieved of moral responsibility and lulled into losing sight of the “big picture.” 

Did the folks repairing the tracks and switches for the German railroads focus on where the boxcars were heading and what eventually would happen to their passengers? Did they even know, wonder, or care what was in those boxcars?

And, in case you wonder, family and child separations, supposedly eventually abandoned by Trump, might have diminished as a result of court cases, but they still regularly occur. Only now they are kept largely “below the radar screen” and disingenuously disguised under the bureaucratic rubric “binary choice.”

What has really diminished is less the abuses and more the national and international outrage about those abuses. Dishonesty, immorality, and cruelty have simply become “normalized” under Trump as long it’s largely “out of sight, out of mind.”

What do you imagine happens to those turned away at our borders without any meaningful process and “orbited” to the Northern Triangle — essentially “war zones?” (Preliminary studies show that many die or disappear.) A majority of the Supremes don’t care, and apparently most Americans don’t either as long as the carnage and tears aren’t popping up on their TV screens.

And, in many cases, the “removals” and denials of fair process, both the ones you see in Immigration Nation and the ones you don’t, are actually detrimental to our nation, our values, our society, and our future. The series mentions “being one on the wrong side of history;” that’s precisely where the DHS is under Trump. But, so is the rest of our nation for having allowed an evil charlatan like Trump to have power over our humanity.

This November, vote like your life and the future of our nation depend on it! Because they do! We can’t undo the past! But, we can make Trump part of that past and change our future for the better!

PWS

08-03-20

pastedGraphic.png

Related posts:

  1. HOW “AMERICA’S KILLER COURTS” PROMOTE “CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY” — HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: TRUMP & HIS WHITE NATIONALIST SYCOPHANTS & TOADIES TOUT LAWLESS POLICIES THAT VIOLATE LEGAL OBLIGATIONS & HELP KILL, RAPE, TORTURE THOSE RETURNED TO EL SALVADOR — Supremes & Article III Judiciary Complicit In Gross Human Rights Violations! 
  2. COMPLICITY HAS COSTS:  Article III Judges’ Association Apparently Worries That Trump, Barr, GOP Toadies Starting To “Treat Them Like Immigration Judges” — Do They Fear Descent To Status Of Mere Refugees, Immigrants, “Dreamers,” Unaccompanied Children, Or Others Treated As “Less Than Persons” By Trump, 5th Cir., 11th Cir., 9th Cir., & The Supremes’ “J.R. Five?” 
  3. 👹🎃HALLOWEEN HORROR 🏴‍☠️☠️🤮⚰️👎🏻REICHSREPORT: GRUPPENFUHRER MILLER REVEALS “REICHSPLAN” FOR EXTERMINATION OF IMMIGRATION, ASYLUM, REFUGE BY EXECUTIVE DECREE!  — “The Final Solution??”  — Parents, Protect Your Kids, Families, & Your Country From This Grotesque Un-American Monster!
  4. PURE BS 💩 — TRUMP’S “BIG LIE” ABOUT MIGRANT APPEARANCES FOR HEARINGS BOGUS AS $3 BILL 🤮👎🏻— Replacing DHS/EOIR With Rational, Qualified, Fact-Based Governance & Real Judiciary Could Bring Appearance Rate Close To 100%!  — Two Items From ImmigrationProf Blog!

🇺🇸🗽⚖️A LEGAL GIANT PASSES: SAM BERNSEN (1919 – 2020) — Public Servant, Law Partner, Teacher, Scholar, Mentor, Humanitarian, Advocate For Due Process — He Helped Change The Face Of America For The Better!

Sam Bernsen
Sam Bernsen
1919 – 2020
Immigration Official, Law Partner, Educator, Mentor

A LEGAL GIANT PASSES: SAM BERNSEN (1919 – 2020) — Public Servant, Law Partner, Teacher, Scholar, Mentor, Humanitarian, Advocate For Due Process — He Helped Change The Face Of America For The Better!

By Paul Wickham Schmidt

Courtside Exclusive

July 30, 2020.  I’d seen his name on briefs and old court cases (See, e.g., Vaccaro v. Bernsen, 267 F.2d 265 (5th Cir. 1959)). But, the first time I met Sam Bernsen was in January 1976, when I reported for work at the “Legacy” Immigration & Naturalization (“INS”) Office of General Counsel at the Chester Arthur Building in a rather run-down neighborhood within walking distance of the U.S. Capitol. 

That building was perhaps a suitably shabby tribute to the “stepchild” status of INS within the hierarchy of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”). The carpet was shopworn, elevators slow, and the corridors dim as a result of the Ford Administration’s “Whip Inflation Now” (“WIN”) austerity program that had removed every other fluorescent lightbulb from the fixtures.

The office was a far cry from today’s Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) massive legal operations: Just Sam, then the General Counsel, his Deputy, Ralph Farb, and two other “General Attorneys,” Stuart Shelby and Janice Podolny. Stu, Janice, and I actually shared an office with three desks (but only two telephones).

And it was always “Sam” not “Samuel.” Sam was his legal name, and he was very proud of it. Perhaps he connected it with “Uncle Sam.”

In any event, one of his “pet peeves” was when unknowing folks addressed him as “Samuel” in memos or on legal documents. I remember him vigorously “blacking out” the offending “uel” with his pen. His other pet peeve was when the server put parmesan cheese on his daily lunchtime bowl of minestrone soup at the GAO cafeteria!

Remarkably, I had gotten the job without personal interview by Sam. I attributed this to recommendations by Sam’s good friend and my first mentor Maury Roberts, then Chairman of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), and another friend of Sam’s, Leon Ullman, then Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel.

Working for Sam was like having a personal daily seminar in American immigration law from a really great professor. Sam had done it all. And, he took the time to explain everything to those working with him. 

During his teens, Sam started at the very bottom of the Civil Service system as an “assistant messenger” with the U.S. Attorney in New York and then the INS on Ellis Island. According to Sam, he never he never made “full messenger.” But, he did rise to the top of the ranks of Civil Servants as General Counsel. 

In between, Sam was an immigration inspector, chair of a board of special inquiry (the predecessor to today’s Immigration Courts), chief adjudicator, Assistant Commissioner for Adjudications, and District Director in New Orleans as well as serving in the Army during World War II and later as a Major in the Air Force Reserve. He knew the policies and the stories behind every regulation and operating instruction, as well as the history of all the immigration statutes from the 1924 Act on.

America’s immigrant heritage that Sam observed at Ellis Island and in his childhood neighborhood in Brooklyn greatly influenced his life. The 1975 movie “Hester Street,” about Jewish immigrants in New York in the early 20th century, was one Sam’s and his wife Betty’s favorites.

Sam loved providing clear, concise, practical, understandable legal advice to the INS Commissioner (then General Leonard Chapman, Jr., former Commandant of the Marine Corps) and various “operating divisions” of the INS in what was then known as the Central Office (“CO”). It likely came from his experience as a field officer who had to make decisions based on what came out of the CO. Gen. Chapman had Sam on “constant call” for legal advice.

Although Sam’s background was “old school up through the ranks,” he had a “new school” attitude and vision about the future of immigration law. Like his friend Maury Roberts at the BIA, Sam pioneered the use of the “Attorney General’s Honors Program” (of which I was a product) to bring a “new generation” of younger attorneys into the INS. That was later expanded by his immediate successors as General Counsel, David Crosland (Carter Administration) and Maurice C. “Mike” Inman, Jr. (Reagan Administration).

Sam had progressive views on using court decisions and common sense to make the immigration laws function better and easier to administer for everyone, at least in some small ways. One of the things we worked on was the “INS Efficiency Act,” originally introduced by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) in 1979 and eventually incorporated into the “Immigration & Nationality Act Amendments of 1981,” enacted into law by P.L. 97-116 (Dec. 29, 1981). 

This made a number of “common sense” fixes that Sam had noted over the years both by studying appellate court decisions and from answering recurring questions from INS operating divisions and DOJ litigation divisions handling our cases. It harkens back to a bygone time when public service in immigration was about “doing the right thing” and “promoting the common good” rather than advancing restrictionist ideological agendas.

My all-time favorite project with Sam was the July 1976 legal opinion approving and recommending the use of “prosecutorial discretion” by INS enforcement officials. This provided a sound legal basis for the INS’s “deferred action” program. Later, it formed part of the basis for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) program that has so greatly benefitted both America and deserving young people while, at least for a short time, helping to bring some badly needed rationality, humanity, uniformity, and proper prioritization of resources to an all too often scattershot and out of control DHS enforcement program.

Although written by me, that opinion reflects the “essence of Sam” — enforcement with rationality, humanity, prudence, fairness, attention to the views of courts, and standards to prevent arbitrariness. A full copy of that 1976 memorandum is linked below. My initials are at the bottom of the last page. 

In light of all the nonsense making the rounds today, our conclusion is worth keeping in mind:

The power of various officers of the Executive Branch to exercise prosecutorial discretion is inherent and does not depend on express statutory authorization. . . . [T]he Service’s attempts to set forth some standards for the exercise of prosecutorial discretion are particularly appropriate.

My time in the General Counsel’s Office with Sam was all too short. He retired in 1977. At the time, he had 38 years of Federal service, but was only 57-years-old, with several more distinguished careers in front of him. 

Sam went on to become one of the “founding partners” and managing partner of the Washington, D.C. Office of the powerhouse national immigration firm Fragomen, Del Rey, & Bernsen, now the international law firm known as “Fragomen.” He also became a noted educator in the field, lecturing and writing for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”) and serving as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Catholic University and American University. I hired some of his former students in various capacities in some of my “future incarnations.”

Along the way, Sam tried to “recruit” me for his firm. But, I wasn’t quite ready to make the jump. Later, however, we did “reunite” for a short “transition period” when I succeeded him as the managing partner of Fragomen DC in 1993. 

What I remember most about Sam from our stint in private practice was how loyal his clients were and how much they trusted him with their fate and future. One of his greatest joys was working with students, young professionals, and student advisors on issues relating to F-1, J-1, and H-1 non-immigrant visas. We also did some projects relating to the interpretation of statutes and regulations that we had a role in drafting and enacting back in the General Counsel days. His clients and the Government officials he dealt with regarded Sam with reverence, as both the “ultimate authority” and the “total straight shooter,” a somewhat unusual combination for a lawyer in private practice.

Sam and I kept in touch for many years at AILA Conferences and other educational events, even after I rejoined Government in 1995 as Chair of the BIA. Sam was an avid tennis player, and from time to time I would run into folks who had met him in courts of both the tennis and legal variety. Indeed, Sam kindly served as the “featured speaker,” at my investiture as an Immigration Judge at the Arlington Immigration Court in June 2003. 

Along with folks like Maury Roberts, Ralph Farb, Charlie Gordon, Irv Applemen, and Louisa Wilson, Sam was one of my mentors and one of the all-time greats of American law. He represented a constructive, scholarly, and humane view of public service that has all but disappeared from the scene. Yet, he also saw into the future and was able to “reinvent himself” in new and dynamic ways after leaving public service. I had to do some of the same  and always looked to Sam as a role model.

Sam’s decisions, opinions, scholarship, and humanity helped shape generations of American immigration law. His work both in and out of Government changed the lives of thousands of immigrants for the better and helped build our nation into the diverse country it is today. His many students and those he mentored over the years, like me, continued his legacy and formed the forerunner of the “New Due Process Army.”

America and the world are richer and better because of Sam’s life and contributions. Sam knew the law, perhaps better than any other, and he used it to further humane goals whenever possible. Would that we had more role models like Sam in positions of responsibility and authority today! Sam, thanks for everything, and may you rest in peace after a “life very well lived!” 

Here is a link to our 1976 legal opinion on prosecutorial discretion:

Bernsen-Memo-service-exercise-pd

Here’s a link to Sam’s full obituary in the Washington Post:

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=sam-bernsen&pid=196559901&fhid=10909

PWS

07-30-20

Related posts:

  1. WASHINGTON POST: GONZO’S IMMIGRATION COURT “REFORMS” WILL CREATE “KANGAROO COURTS!” —Recent “moves to evaluate judges based on the speed with which they handle dockets that typically exceed 2,000 cases, rather than on fair adjudication, is a recipe for assembly-line injustice.”
  2. VICTORY DANCE! — ICE’S HOMAN SAYS CLIMATE OF FEAR HAS STEMMED BORDER CROSSINGS & PROVES UNRESTRAINED, ARBITRARY IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT WORKS! — “There’s no population that’s off the table,” he said. “If you’re in the country illegally, we’re looking for you and we’re looking to apprehend you.” — America Won’t Be Truly Safe Until The Last Cook, Gardner, Construction Worker, Nanny, Janitor, Tree Cutter, Mechanic, Handyman, Carpenter, Home Health Aide, Computer Programmer, Healthcare Worker, Lettuce Picker, Cow Milker, Landscaper, Lawnmower, Bricklayer, Roofer, Window Washer, Waiter, Sandwich Artist, Teacher, Minister, Coach, Student, Parent, Clerk, Fisherman, Farmer, Maid, Chicken Plucker, Meat Processor, Etc., Without Docs Is Removed And US Citizens Take Over All These Jobs!
  3. MARIA SACCHETTI IN WASHPOST: INSIDE THE “NAG” (NEW AMERICAN GULAG) — CRUEL, INHUMAN, DEGRADING TREATMENT APPEARS TO BE WIDESPREAD IN SO-CALLED “CIVIL” IMMIGRATION DETENTION! — Where’s The Outrage? — Where’s The Congressional Oversight? — Why Aren’t Guys Like “Gonzo” & Homan Who Knowingly Promote Violations Of Legal & Human Rights As (Unlawful) “Immigration Deterrence” Under Investigation For Their Roles In Violating Human, Constitutional Rights!
  4. 🤡CLOWN CAPITOL:  J.R. PRESIDES OVER GOP CLOWN SHOW HE HELPED CREATE — Empowering The Koch Bros, Suppressing Minority Votes, Enabling GOP Gerrymandering, Ignoring Invidious Racial & Religious Motives, Turning A Blind Eye To Lies & Pretexts, It All Contributed To The Arrogant Display Of GOP Dishonesty & Impunity Now On Public Display In The Senate! — Plus Bonus Friday Mini-Essay: “Profiles in Fecklessness”

THE GIBSON REPORT — 07-27-20 — Compiled by Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group — U.S. Not A “Safe” Country For Refugees & Other News About The Kakistocracy 🏴‍☠️☠️

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

 

COVID-19

Note: Policies are rapidly changing, so please verify the latest policies on the relevant government websites and with colleagues on listservs as best you can.

 

New

 

Closures

 

Guidance:

 

TOP NEWS

 

OIRA Concludes Review on USCIS Final Rule Fee Rule

On 7/22/20, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) completed review of a final rule increasing many of USCIS’s filing fees. AILA anticipates that the Federal Register will post a copy of the rule for public inspection in the coming days, before publishing it officially. AILA Doc. No. 20072402

 

Immigration agency pushes back 13,000 furloughs until the end of August

CNN: Earlier this week, two Democratic senators are called on the agency to postpone its planned furloughs. The request came after revised estimates showed the agency will end the fiscal year with a surplus, not the originally projected deficit, according to the lawmakers.

 

Canada court rules ‘Safe Third Country’ pact with U.S. invalid, cites detention risk

Reuters: A Canadian court on Wednesday ruled invalid a bilateral pact that compels asylum seekers trying to enter Canada via the American border to first seek sanctuary in the United States, saying U.S. immigration detention violates their human rights.

 

Trump Sued Over Attempt To Omit Unauthorized Immigrants From A Key Census Count

NPR: Trump now faces a total of three new federal lawsuits that are joining ongoing legal challenges surrounding the 2020 census. A fourth lawsuit may be coming from California State Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office, which is planning to file a complaint against the Trump administration, Sarah Lovenheim, an adviser to Becerra, tells NPR.

 

Homeland Security Dept. Admits Making False Statements in Fight With N.Y.

NYT: The surprise admission came as the Trump administration unexpectedly reversed its decision to bar New Yorkers from programs that allow travelers to speed through airports.

 

In Unprecedented Move, AILA Opposes Trump’s Reelection

AILA: For the first time in our nearly 75 year history, AILA has decided to take action and urge our members to oppose the re-election of the President.

 

The Great Climate Migration

NYT Magazine: Today, 1% of the world is a barely livable hot zone. By 2070, that portion could go up to 19%. Billions of people call this land home.

 

After Increasing Its Caseload, Attorneys Say Boston’s Immigration Court Is In ‘Disarray’

WBUR: WBUR heard from more than a dozen immigration attorneys in New England who say they’ve had hearings advanced or postponed with no written notice from the federal government. In many cases, the attorneys only discovered the rescheduling by checking an online portal or repeatedly calling the court.

 

Trump Admin. Risks Penalties For Inaction On DACA

Law360:  The Trump administration’s failure to fully restart the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, despite court orders telling it to do so, leaves the government on shaky legal ground and may put immigration officials at risk of court penalties.

 

Trump Cuts Legal Immigrants By Half And He’s Not Done Yet

Forbes: By next year, Donald Trump will have reduced legal immigration by 49% since becoming president. That will have significant repercussions for the nation’s economic growth, according to a new analysis. The cuts to legal immigration have come in several categories, and it appears the Trump administration is not finished restricting immigration.

 

A Rare Look Inside Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Draws Legal Threats

NYT: A new documentary peers inside the secretive world of immigration enforcement. The filmmakers faced demands to delete scenes and delay broadcast until after the election.

 

ICE Courthouse Arrest Bill Reaches Cuomo’s Desk

DocumentedNY: Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to sign the bill that would bar arrests in and around courthouses without a judicial warrant.

 

Isolated In Their New Country, Refugees Are Sewing — And Innovating — Covid-19 Masks

Gothamist: About a dozen refugees, mostly from Afghanistan, are working from their new residences in New Jersey sewing masks to help protect against COVID-19. Shut out of the regular workforce because of the pandemic, they have produced more than 2,000 $10 organic fabric masks in a variety of styles. The masks are sold online through their resettlement agency’s Global Grace Marketplace, and at local farmers’ markets and fair trade stores across the country.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

D.C. Circuit Upholds Injunction Against Enforcement of Two of Government’s New Credible Fear Policies

The court affirmed in part the district court’s injunction against enforcement of the government’s new credible fear policies, finding that the “condoned-or-completely-helpless” standard and USCIS’s choice-of-law policy were arbitrary and capricious. (Grace, et al. v. Barr, et al., 7/17/20) AILA Doc. No. 20072134

 

Human Rights Organizations Charge The United States And Mexico With Systemic Human Rights Violations

CentroLegal: Today the USF Immigration & Deportation Defense Clinic and Migration Studies program in conjunction with 40 organizations who do work in Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and the United States filed a request for a thematic hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

 

BIA Says §13-3407 of the Arizona Revised Statues is Divisible with Regard to the Specific Drug Involved in Violation

The BIA issued a decision stating that §13-3407 of the Arizona Revised Statues, which criminalizes possession of a dangerous drug, is divisible with regard to the specific “dangerous drug” involved in a violation of that statute. Matter of P-B-B-, 28 I&N Dec. 43 (BIA 2020) AILA Doc. No. 20072336

 

CA2 Equitable Estoppel and USCIS Misconduct

Justia: The court held that the government is equitably estopped from initiating rescission proceedings to reopen plaintiff’s adjustment of status application or placing her in removal proceedings. In this case, the undisputed facts show that USCIS failed to issue a rejection notice, despite controlling regulation and, consequently, plaintiff was not advised of any defect in her application, depriving her of the opportunity to correct the issue.

 

CA2 Finds Petitioners’ New York Firearms Convictions Were Not Removable Offenses

Applying the categorical approach, the court held that the BIA erred in finding the petitioners removable for having been convicted of a firearms offense under the INA, because their New York convictions criminalized conduct that the INA does not. (Jack v. Barr, 7/16/20) AILA Doc. No. 20072135

 

CA4 Says Convictions for Leaving an Accident and Using False Identification in Virginia Are Not CIMTs

The court held that the petitioner’s convictions for leaving an accident in violation of Va. Code Ann. §46.2–894 and for using false identification in violation of Va. Code Ann. §18.2–186.3(B1) were not categorically crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMTs). (Nunez-Vasquez v. Barr, 7/13/20) AILA Doc. No. 20072033

 

CA5 Rejects Petitioner’s Argument That BIA Acted Ultra Vires by Applying a Heightened Standard to His Waiver Application

The court found that the petitioner’s contention that the BIA should have weighed the equities more in his favor failed to establish that the agency had acted ultra vires by applying a heightened standard to his waiver of inadmissibility application. (Nastase v. Barr, 7/1/20) AILA Doc. No. 20072034

 

CA6 Finds Petitioner Failed to Show That She Would Likely Be Tortured in Bosnia

The court upheld the BIA’s denial of deferral of removal, finding that nothing in the record proved that any mistreatment the petitioner might face in Bosnia due to her family ties and criminal past was more likely than not to rise to the extreme level of torture. (Kilic v. Barr, 7/10/20) AILA Doc. No. 20072131

 

CA6 Finds BIA Failed to Consider Evidence of Russian Petitioner’s Threatened Prosecution in Assessing His Asylum Claim

Granting the petition for review, the court held that the BIA erred in disregarding evidence that the petitioner, who had engaged in anticorruption whistleblowing activities, would be criminally prosecuted for his political opinion if he was returned to Russia. (Skripkov v. Barr, 7/20/20) AILA Doc. No. 20072192

 

CA7 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Petitioner Who Feared Life as an Openly Gay Woman in Mexico

The court upheld the BIA’s denial of asylum to the Mexican petitioner, who sought relief based on threats of physical violence she had received because of her gay sexual orientation, concluding that substantial evidence supported the agency’s decision. (Escobedo Marquez v. Barr, 7/13/20) AILA Doc. No. 20072132

 

CA8 Finds It Lacks Jurisdiction to Consider Petitioner’s Arguments Concerning Changed Country Conditions in Somalia

The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the vast majority of the petitioner’s arguments concerning his motion to reopen his asylum and withholding of removal claims based on changed country conditions in Somalia. (Sharif v. Barr, 7/7/20) AILA Doc. No. 20072233

 

CA9 Upholds Injunction Barring DOJ from Withholding Byrne JAG Awards, But Limits Scope to California

The court affirmed the district court’s permanent injunction barring DOJ from withholding or denying Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants to plaintiffs, but limited the geographical reach of the injunction to California. (City and County of San Francisco v. Barr, et al., 7/13/20) AILA Doc. No. 20072235

 

CA9 Says Conviction for Petty Theft in California Is a CIMT

The court held that petitioner’s conviction for petty theft in California was a CIMT, and that the BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying his motion to reopen to seek asylum based on changed country conditions in the Philippines. (Silva v. Barr, 7/10/20) AILA Doc. No. 20072234

 

CA11 Finds USCIS’s Denial of Form I-129 Was Final Agency Action Where Intended Beneficiary’s Removal Proceedings Were Ongoing

The court held that the denial of the plaintiffs’ Form I-129 was final agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and that INA §242(b)(9) and (g) did not bar the plaintiffs’ challenge to the visa petition denial. (Canal A Media Holding, LLC, et al. v. USCIS, et al., 7/8/20) AILA Doc. No. 20072200

 

CA11 Says BIA’s Application of Stop-Time Rule to Petitioner’s 1995 Conviction Was Impermissibly Retroactive

The court held that the BIA erred in retroactively applying the stop-time rule to the petitioner’s pre-Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) conviction, and thus that he was eligible for cancellation of removal. (Rendon v. Att’y Gen., 7/14/20) AILA Doc. No. 20072103

 

Presidential Memorandum on Excluding Undocumented Immigrants from the Apportionment Base Following the 2020 Census

President Trump issued a memo on 7/21/20 noting that for the purpose of the reapportionment of representatives following the 2020 census, any immigrants who are not in a lawful immigration status under the INA will be excluded from the apportionment base. (85 FR 44679, 7/23/20) AILA Doc. No. 20072100

 

ICE Issues Follow-Up Guidance for Students for Fall 2020 School Term

ICE SEVP issued follow-up guidance stating that active F and M students, as well as schools, should abide by SEVP guidance originally issued in March 2020, which enables schools and students to engage in distance learning in excess of regulatory limits due to COVID-19. AILA Doc. No. 20072492

 

CIS Ombudsman Provides Update on Card Production Delays at USCIS

The CIS Ombudsman’s Office provided an update regarding card production delays at USCIS, which are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. The Ombudsman’s Office is assisting individuals by sending weekly spreadsheets to USCIS to verify card requests are in line to be processed. AILA Doc. No. 20072232

 

USCIS Launches Updated Website

USCIS launched updated versions of all USCIS websites, including uscis.gov, myUSCIS, and Case Status Online. The updates include a new look to all USCIS websites, an “Explore My Options” feature to the forms section, enhanced on-page search and filter-by features, and more. AILA Doc. No. 20072133

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

Note: Check with organizers regarding cancellations/changes

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, July 27, 2020

Sunday, July 26, 2020

Saturday, July 25, 2020

Friday, July 24, 2020

#NoMuslimBanEver

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Monday, July 20, 2020

**************************

Item #3 under “Top News” on how a Canadian court has held that the U.S. is no longer a “safe” country for refugees is not surprising, but serves as a confirmation of how far America has fallen under Trump’s White Nationalist kakistocracy.

Due Process Forever!

PWS

07-28-20

Related posts:

  1. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⚖️🗽🇺🇸FORMER DEPUTY AG DON AYER, JUDGE MIMI TSANKOV AMONG “HEADLINERS” AT TIMELY UPCOMING NY CITY BAR ASSN. EVENT: “Rule of Law Forum – Preserving the Rule of Law in an Age of Disruption” — Register Now, Right Here!
  2. THE GIBSON REPORT — 06-22-20 – Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group – WORLD REFUGEE DAY WAS JUNE 20 – AMERICA’S TRUMP REGIME CELEBRATED BY ADVANCING A DISINGENUOUS RACIST ATTACK ON WORK AUTHORIZATION FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS – Just A Few Days After 8 Justices of Supremes Claimed Cluelessness About Trump’s Racist Immigration Agenda! (See, Item #2 Under “Top News”)
  3. 🇺🇸THE GIBSON REPORT — 11-02-20 — Prepared By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group — Trump/Miller Bogus Public Charge Rule Enjoined Again; CBP Turns Back More Than 13,000 Unaccompanied Kids Using COVID-19 As Cover For Child Abuse; John Oliver With The Incredibly Ugly 🤮 Truth About The Trump-Miller Racist Assault On Asylum & Humanity ☠️⚰️— Other News From America Teetering On The Brink After 4-Years Of Trump Regime Misrule, Cruelty, Corruption, & Undermining Of Democracy!🏴‍☠️
  4. 🧑🏽‍⚖️⚖️🗽🇺🇸WHO’S JUDGE IS IT ANYWAY? — The Crisis Of Independence In Our Immigration Courts! — Coming April 7, 2021! — Sponsored By The HNBA! — Don’t Miss It!

🏴‍☠️☠️🤮⚰️👎🏻KAKISTOCRACY HAS CONSEQUENCES: CLIMATE MIGRATION IS ONE OF THEM! — Trump’s Stupidity & Cruelty On Immigration Climate Science, & Disease Control Promises Horrible Global Human Disaster For Future Generations — Empowering & Enabling A Moron Is Always A Very Bad Idea!  — No Idiotic Wall Or “Drill Baby Drill” Insanity Is Going To Prevent This Human Catastrophe We Are Inflicting On Those Who Follow!

🏴‍☠️

 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/23/magazine/climate-migration.html

THE GREAT CLIMATE MIGRATION

By Abrahm Lustgarten | Photographs by Meridith Kohut

Early in 2019, a year before the world shut its borders completely, Jorge A. knew he had to get out of Guatemala. The land was turning against him. For five years, it almost never rained. Then it did rain, and Jorge rushed his last seeds into the ground. The corn sprouted into healthy green stalks, and there was hope — until, without warning, the river flooded. Jorge waded chest-deep into his fields searching in vain for cobs he could still eat. Soon he made a last desperate bet, signing away the tin-roof hut where he lived with his wife and three children against a $1,500 advance in okra seed. But after the flood, the rain stopped again, and everything died. Jorge knew then that if he didn’t get out of Guatemala, his family might die, too.

This article, the first in a series on global climate migration, is a partnership between ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine, with support from the Pulitzer Center. Read more about the data project that underlies the reporting.

Even as hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans fled north toward the United States in recent years, in Jorge’s region — a state called Alta Verapaz, where precipitous mountains covered in coffee plantations and dense, dry forest give way to broader gentle valleys — the residents have largely stayed. Now, though, under a relentless confluence of drought, flood, bankruptcy and starvation, they, too, have begun to leave. Almost everyone here experiences some degree of uncertainty about where their next meal will come from. Half the children are chronically hungry, and many are short for their age, with weak bones and bloated bellies. Their families are all facing the same excruciating decision that confronted Jorge.

The odd weather phenomenon that many blame for the suffering here — the drought and sudden storm pattern known as El Niño — is expected to become more frequent as the planet warms. Many semiarid parts of Guatemala will soon be more like a desert. Rainfall is expected to decrease by 60 percent in some parts of the country, and the amount of water replenishing streams and keeping soil moist will drop by as much as 83 percent. Researchers project that by 2070, yields of some staple crops in the state where Jorge lives will decline by nearly a third.

Scientists have learned to project such changes around the world with surprising precision, but — until recently — little has been known about the human consequences of those changes. As their land fails them, hundreds of millions of people from Central America to Sudan to the Mekong Delta will be forced to choose between flight or death. The result will almost certainly be the greatest wave of global migration the world has seen.

In March, Jorge and his 7-year-old son each packed a pair of pants, three T-shirts, underwear and a toothbrush into a single thin black nylon sack with a drawstring. Jorge’s father had pawned his last four goats for $2,000 to help pay for their transit, another loan the family would have to repay at 100 percent interest. The coyote called at 10 p.m. — they would go that night. They had no idea then where they would wind up, or what they would do when they got there.

From decision to departure, it was three days. And then they were gone.

. . . .

Our modeling and the consensus of academics point to the same bottom line: If societies respond aggressively to climate change and migration and increase their resilience to it, food production will be shored up, poverty reduced and international migration slowed — factors that could help the world remain more stable and more peaceful. If leaders take fewer actions against climate change, or more punitive ones against migrants, food insecurity will deepen, as will poverty. Populations will surge, and cross-border movement will be restricted, leading to greater suffering. Whatever actions governments take next — and when they do it — makes a difference.

The window for action is closing. The world can now expect that with every degree of temperature increase, roughly a billion people will be pushed outside the zone in which humans have lived for thousands of years. For a long time, the climate alarm has been sounded in terms of its economic toll, but now it can increasingly be counted in people harmed. The worst danger, Hinde warned on our walk, is believing that something so frail and ephemeral as a wall can ever be an effective shield against the tide of history. “If we don’t develop a different attitude,” he said, “we’re going to be like people in the lifeboat, beating on those that are trying to climb in.”

Abrahm Lustgarten is a senior environmental reporter at ProPublica. His 2015 series examining the causes of water scarcity in the American West, “Killing the Colorado,” was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. Meridith Kohut is an award-winning photojournalist based in Caracas, Venezuela, who has documented global health and humanitarian crises in Latin America for The New York Times for more than a decade. Her recent assignments include photographing migration and childbirth in Venezuela, antigovernment protests in Haiti and the killing of women in Guatemala.

Reporting and translation were contributed by Pedro Pablo Solares in Guatemala and El Salvador, and Louisa Reynolds and Juan de Dios García Davish in Mexico.

Data for opening globe graphic from “Future of the Human Climate Niche,” by Chi Xu, Timothy A. Kohler, Timothy M. Lenton, Jens-Christian Svenning and Marten Scheffer, from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Graphic by Bryan Christie Design/Joe Lertola.

Maps in Central America graphics sequence show total population shift under the SSP5 / RCP 8.5 and SSP3 / RCP 8.5 scenarios used by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and it is calculated on a 15-kilometer grid. A cube-root scale was used to compress the largest peaks.

Projections based on research by The New York Times Magazine and ProPublica, with support from the Pulitzer Center. Model graphics and additional data analysis by Matthew Conlen.

Additional design and development by Jacky Myint and Shannon Lin.

*************

Read the full article, with pictures and neat graphics, at the link!

“Safe Third Countries” indeed! It’s total fraud-enhanced immorality by the Trump regime, with our failed and failing “governing institutions” and the rest of the world fecklessly watching us be driven by the irrational hate and stupidity filled agenda of a madman and his toadies! 

No wall will be high enough, no “American Gulag” cruel enough, no rhetoric racist enough, no laws hateful enough, no Supreme Court dehumanizing enough, no immorality and stupidity gross enough to stop mass human migration driven by climate change. “Desperate people do desperate things!”

This November, vote like the future of humanity depends on it. Because it does!

PWS

07-26-20

Related posts:

  1. 👹🎃HALLOWEEN HORROR 🏴‍☠️☠️🤮⚰️👎🏻REICHSREPORT: GRUPPENFUHRER MILLER REVEALS “REICHSPLAN” FOR EXTERMINATION OF IMMIGRATION, ASYLUM, REFUGE BY EXECUTIVE DECREE!  — “The Final Solution??”  — Parents, Protect Your Kids, Families, & Your Country From This Grotesque Un-American Monster!
  2. 🏴‍☠️☠️🤮⚰️👎CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, “PERPS” ON THE LOOSE! — DOJ Internal Report Shows How “Gonzo Apocalypto” Sessions, Rosenstein, Hamilton Conspired To Separate Migrant Kids In Violation Of 5th Amendment — When Will These Criminals Be Charged & Prosecuted Under 18 USC 242? — NY Times Reports!
  3. PURE BS 💩 — TRUMP’S “BIG LIE” ABOUT MIGRANT APPEARANCES FOR HEARINGS BOGUS AS $3 BILL 🤮👎🏻— Replacing DHS/EOIR With Rational, Qualified, Fact-Based Governance & Real Judiciary Could Bring Appearance Rate Close To 100%!  — Two Items From ImmigrationProf Blog!
  4. 😰👹👺🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️🤮“DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN” — Nicole Narea @ Vox With A Glimpse Of Trump’s Second Term: American Apocalypse — Dark, Ugly, Hateful, Violent, Dishonest, Exclusionary, Stupid, Racist, Diminished, Yet Very White & Privileged — Are People Of Color & Their Allies Really Going To Stand By & Watch While Their Past & Our Future As A Strong, Creative, Tolerant, Diverse, Humane Nation Is Written Out Of History By A Racist GOP & Its Totally Wacko Yet Dangerously Evil Cult Leader?

THE GIBSON REPORT — 07-20-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

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

COVID-19

Note: Policies are rapidly changing, so please verify the latest policies on the relevant government websites and with colleagues on listservs as best you can.

 

New

 

Closures

 

Guidance:

 

TOP NEWS

 

EOIR Announces 46 New Immigration Judges

Including:

J. Thomas Bartleson, Immigration Judge, New York – Broadway Immigration Court

Andrew M. Calvelli, Immigration Judge, New York – Broadway Immigration Court

Lorianne M. Campanella, Immigration Judge, New York – Federal Plaza Immigration Court

David A. Fraiden, Immigration Judge, New York – Federal Plaza Immigration Court

Robert J. Gundlach, Immigration Judge, New York – Broadway Immigration Court

Andrea Koppenhofer, Immigration Judge, New York – Broadway Immigration Court

Carolyn L. Krasinski, Immigration Judge, New York – Broadway Immigration Court

Michael W. Lloyd, Immigration Judge, New York – Broadway Immigration Court

Dara F. Reid, Immigration Judge, New York –    Varick Immigration Court

Scott E. Thomsen, Immigration Judge, New York – Federal Plaza Immigration Court

 

More Immigration Judges Leaving the Bench

TRAC: The latest judge-by-judge data from the Immigration Courts indicate that more judges are resigning and retiring. Turnover is the highest since records began in FY 1997 over two decades ago.

 

Trump administration drops restrictions on online-only instruction for foreign students

CNN: One person familiar with the matter told CNN the White House has felt the blowback to the proposal and that some inside the West Wing believe it was poorly conceived and executed. See also Foreign students still in danger of losing visas, despite settlement.

 

Trump expected to exclude undocumented migrants from U.S. census

Reuters: President Donald Trump is expected to soon issue an executive order that would ban undocumented immigrants from being included in the 2020 census count of every person living in the United States, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

 

U.S. Weighs Sweeping Travel Ban on Chinese Communist Party Members

NYT: The presidential order under consideration would be based on the same statute in the Immigration and Nationality Act used in a 2017 travel ban on several predominantly Muslim countries.

 

Trump Administration Rejects New DACA Applications

Inside Higher Ed: The Trump administration is refusing to process new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program despite a Supreme Court ruling that required reinstatement of the program, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

 

Trump is considering a loophole, which he found in a conservative magazine article, to bypass Congress to impose new immigration policies

Business Insider: President Donald Trump is interested in a new National Review article arguing that a recent Supreme Court decision enables him to bypass Congress to impose policies, Axios reported.

 

The Border Patrol Was Responsible for an Arrest in Portland

The Nation: For days, federal agents in unmarked cars have reportedly been snatching Portland protesters off the streets…. A memo consisting of internal talking points for the federal agency responsible for the arrest, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and obtained exclusively by The Nation provides some answers—and raises even more questions.

 

Four States Are Sharing Driver’s License Info To Help Find Out Who’s A Citizen

NPR: To help figure out the U.S. citizenship status of every adult living in the country, the Trump administration has made agreements to accumulate driver’s license and state identification card information from states including Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina and South Dakota, NPR has learned.

 

Border agency fires 4 for secret Facebook groups with violent, bigoted posts

LA Times: More than a year after launching an internal investigation into 138 employees for “inappropriate social media activity,” Customs and Border Protection — the parent agency of the Border Patrol — has removed four employees, suspended 38 without pay and disciplined an additional 27 “with reprimands or counseling,” according to data provided to The Times by the agency.

 

Elizabeth Detention Center Property Owner Announces Plans to Cut Ties with For-Profit Detention Company CoreCivic

InsiderNJ: After months of action by immigrant rights organizers, the Elberon Development Group has decided to cut ties with their tenant, CoreCivic and their property, the Elizabeth Detention Center (EDC), a private immigration detention center that has a long history of inhumane conditions.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

USCIS Issues Policy Alert on Applying Discretion in USCIS Adjudications

USCIS is consolidating existing policy guidance in its Policy Manual regarding officers’ application of discretion in adjudications. The new guidance, among other things, provides an overview of the discretionary analysis and provides lists of discretionary factors that officers should consider. AILA Doc. No. 20071531

 

Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Trump Policies Restricting Asylum for Immigrants Fleeing Domestic and Gang Violence

ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union and Center for Gender & Refugee Studies challenged the policies that sought to speedily send women and children and other asylum seekers back to countries where they faced brutal violence and death. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., today upheld key aspects of a lower court ruling against the administration. The case is Grace v. Barr.

 

Class Action Lawsuit in Minnesota Challenges Matter of Castro-Tum

Plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit in federal district court on behalf of certain individuals in Minnesota who are ineligible to apply for a provisional unlawful presence waiver because their removal proceedings are not administratively closed. (Lopez, et al. v. Barr, et al., 7/13/20) AILA Doc. No. 20071790

 

Individuals, Employers, and Organizations Join to File First Lawsuit Challenging Entirety of Trump’s Immigration Ban

AILA, Justice Action Center, and Innovation Law Lab, with pro bono support from Mayer Brown LLP, sued the Trump Administration on behalf of 23 individual and organizational plaintiffs to prevent the devastating effects of President’s Trump’s unlawful and unconstitutional immigration ban. AILA Doc. No. 20071701

 

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland Orders DHS to Restore DACA

Judge Paul W. Grimm in the Maryland District Court vacated DACA’s rescission and enjoined DHS from implementing or enforcing the rescission and from taking any other action to rescind DACA that is not in compliance with applicable law. (Casa de Maryland, et al., v. DHS, et.al., 7/17/20) AILA Doc. No. 20071741

 

Attorney General Vacates BIA’s Decision in Matter of O-F-A-S-

Clarifying the proper approach for determining “official capacity” for the purpose of deciding CAT protection, the AG vacated the BIA’s decision in Matter of O-F-A-S-, 27 I&N Dec. 709 (BIA 2019), and remanded the case for review. Matter of O-F-A-S-, 28 I&N Dec. 35 (A.G. 2020) AILA Doc. No. 20071433

 

BIA Rules On DHS’s Authority to Return Individuals to a Contiguous Foreign Territory Under MPP

BIA ruled that under INA §235(b)2(c), an individual who is arriving on land from a contiguous foreign territory may be returned by DHS to that country pursuant to MPP, regardless of whether the individual arrives at or between a designated POE. Matter of M-D-C-V-, 28 I&N Dec. 18 (BIA 2020) AILA Doc. No. 20071400

 

CA2 Finds BIA Erred in Denying Petitioner’s Motion to Suppress Evidence of Her Alienage Without an Evidentiary Hearing

Applying the standard set in Cotzojay v. Holder to petitioner’s motion to suppress evidence, the court concluded that the petitioner had submitted sufficient evidence of an egregious Fourth Amendment violation to warrant an evidentiary hearing. (Millan-Hernandez v. Barr, 7/13/20) AILA Doc. No. 20071738

 

CA2 Holds That Changed Circumstances Under INA §208(a)(2)(D) Need Not Arise Prior to the Filing of an Asylum Application

Granting the petition for review, the court held that pursuant to INA §208(a)(2)(D), changed circumstances presenting an exception to the one-year deadline for filing an asylum application need not arise prior to the filing of the application. (Ordonez Azmen v. Barr, 7/13/20) AILA Doc. No. 20071732

 

CA2 Upholds BIA’s Denial of Petitioner’s Motion to Reopen Based on “Intervening” Case Law in Obeya and Mellouli

The court found that “intervening” decisions in Obeya v. Sessions and Mellouli v. Lynch did not compel the conclusion that criminal possession of stolen property was not a crime involving moral turpitude at the time of the petitioner’s conviction. (Ottey v. Barr, 7/7/20) AILA Doc. No. 20071731

 

DHS/DOJ Announce Plan to Restart MPP Hearings “As Expeditiously As Possible”

DHS and DOJ provide the criteria they will use to determine when they will resume MPP hearings. Once the criteria is met, they will provide public notification at least 15 calendar days prior to resumption of hearings with location-specific details AILA Doc. No. 20072000

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

Note: Check with organizers regarding cancellations/changes

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, July 20, 2020

Sunday, July 19, 2020

Saturday, July 18, 2020

Friday, July 17, 2020

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Monday, July 13, 2020

 

*******************************

Thanks, Elizabeth, for all you do!

PWS

07-21-20

Related posts:

  1. KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ALL OF THE REGIME’S LATEST ANTI-IMMIGRANT SCHEMES, GIMMICKS, & SHENANIGANS – THE GIBSON REPORT – 01-06-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group
  2. THE GIBSON REPORT – 02-10-20 – Compiled by Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group: Deporting to Death; “Orbiting” Immigrants to Laos; “Judges” Failing To Meet Deportation Quotas;  ICE Shoots Man in the Face; Using Force In the Gulag; Federal Judge Outs Regime’s Scofflaw Detainers As Regime Inflicts Arbitrary Punishment on New Yorkers for Resisting Overreach; BIA Tanks Again; EOIR Ups “Aimless Docket Reshuffling;” & Other Tales of Abuse From White Nationalist Nation!
  3. THE GIBSON REPORT — 10-05-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group — Federal Judge Rules Trump Not A Monarch; More Intentional Cruelty, Lies, & Threats Of Politically-Inspired Racist Attacks On Ethnic Communities From DHS; Trump Regime Dumps On Refugees & Commies; Cert. Granted In Credibility Case Apparently Seeking To Screw Refugees At Request Of SG; & Other “Interesting & Sometimes Disturbing Stuff”⚖️
  4. THE GIBSON REPORT — 11-23-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal,Assistance Group —  Court Losses, Rebukes Pile Up For Loser Scofflaw White Nationalist Regime — But Cruelty, Stupidity, & Sabotage Of Democracy Still On The Agenda For Defeated Kakistocracy!🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️👎🏻

🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️🤮 NOT ROCKET SCIENCE: When A Country Allows Itself To Be Governed By An Evil Moron & His Sycophantic Followers, Bad Things Happen!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/19/coronavirus-update-us/

By Derek Hawkins and Felicia Sonmez @ WashPost:

With coronavirus cases rising across the country and the U.S. death toll topping 137,000, President Trump on Sunday dismissed concerns about the spike in infections, telling Fox News that “many of those cases shouldn’t even be cases.”

“Many of those cases are young people that would heal in a day,” the president told Fox News host Chris Wallace in an interview. “They have the sniffles and we put it down as a test.”

While young people make up an increasing share of new cases, the virus has affected people in all age groups. A surge of infections is driving deaths back up again after months of decline, and hospitals in hard-hit states such as Florida, Texas and Arizona are facing an influx of patients that health officials say could soon overwhelm medical systems. Nationwide, hospitalizations were on track to exceed their previous peak of roughly 60,000, reached in the pandemic’s early months.

Here are some other significant developments.

• The Trump administration is trying to block billions of dollars for states to conduct testing and contact tracing in an upcoming coronavirus relief bill, people involved in the talks said Saturday. The administration is also trying to block billions that GOP senators want to allocate for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the people said.
• A growing number of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the pandemic. Currently, 38 percent approve of his handling, and 60 percent disapprove, according to a new Post-ABC News poll.
• A study from South Korea could bolster those who argue that reopening classrooms in much of the United States is too risky, suggesting that while children under 10 are less likely to spread the coronavirus, those between ages 10 and 19 will spread it similarly to adults.
• Georgia’s presentation of its coronavirus data is again under scrutiny, with a viral tweet pointing out how the color-coding of a government map has evolved. At the beginning of the month, for instance, a county needed at least 5,959 coronavirus cases to be colored red in the state’s map of the outbreak. Now, a county needs at least 9,597 — with the result that no other county has newly joined the four that have been colored red since July 1, even as the state’s cases have jumped by more than 37 percent in that period.
• Health authorities are seeking to conduct testing faster while conserving resources. The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday reissued an emergency use authorization to Quest Diagnostics for a coronavirus test to be used in pool testing, which involves combining samples from several people and testing them all at once.

Trump’s remarks came after another week of grim data highlighting the uncontrolled spread of the virus. Infections rose in states from every region of the country, with more than a dozen states on Saturday reaching record highs in their seven-day averages for new daily cases.

Georgia, Missouri, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Kentucky reported new single-day case records on Saturday, while states from Vermont to North Dakota to Oregon showed significant increases in their weekly averages, according to tracking by The Washington Post.

More than 20 states are reporting seven-day averages in coronavirus-related deaths that are higher than at the end of June, underscoring the turnaround since May and June, when deaths declined nationally — which Trump had touted as a sign of progress.

Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), whose district encompasses parts of Miami with widespread infections, pushed back on the notion that the new cases were limited to young, healthy people and weren’t a cause for concern.

“It’s the working poor, it’s seniors, it’s now young people, and it’s totally out of control,” Shalala, a former health and human services secretary, said on ABC News’s “This Week.” “We need to close down again … That’s our worst nightmare, and we’re going to have to do that.”

. . . .

************************

You can read the rest of this article about the Trump kakistocracy in action at the link.

It’s a dark and disturbing tale of unrelenting stupidity, evil, corruption, and cowardice on the part of those who refuse to stand up to a would be emperor who has never had any clothes.

PWS

07-19-20

Related posts:

  1. 😰👹👺🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️🤮“DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN” — Nicole Narea @ Vox With A Glimpse Of Trump’s Second Term: American Apocalypse — Dark, Ugly, Hateful, Violent, Dishonest, Exclusionary, Stupid, Racist, Diminished, Yet Very White & Privileged — Are People Of Color & Their Allies Really Going To Stand By & Watch While Their Past & Our Future As A Strong, Creative, Tolerant, Diverse, Humane Nation Is Written Out Of History By A Racist GOP & Its Totally Wacko Yet Dangerously Evil Cult Leader?
  2. 🤮☠️⚰️👎🏻GOP POLITICO SUMS UP TRUMP’S INCREDIBLY NOXIOUS & DANGEROUS KAKISTOCRACY IN A FEW PARAGRAPHS: “Donald Trump has been the worst president this country has ever had. And I don’t say that hyperbolically,” Says Steve Schmidt (No Relation)!
  3. 🏴‍☠️☠️🤮⚰️👎KAKISTOCRACY KORNER: SPOTLIGHT ON AMERICA’S MOST DANGEROUS HATE GROUP: THE RNC!
  4. ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻⚰️⚰️⚰️⚰️⚰️AMERICAN GOVERNANCE APPEARS TO BE IN A DEATH SPIRAL THANKS TO TRUMP KAKISTOCRACY & THE GOP — NOVEMBER COULD BE OUR LAST CHANCE TO AVOID THE FATAL CRASH!

😎🗽⚖️👍🏼MORE GOOD NEWS FOR THE GOOD GUYS!  — Ira J. Kurzban 🏅 To Receive Leonard J. Theberge Award 🏆 for Private International Law From ABA Section of International Law!🍾🥂🍻

 

Ira Kurzban ESQUIRE
Ira Kurzban ESQUIRE
Legendary American Immigration Lawyer

Peggy Taylor reports for the Section:

I am writing to let you know that the ABA Section of International Law will be awarding Ira the distinguished Leonard J. Theberge Award for Private International Law.  The award is in memory of Section Chair Theberge (1979-1980).  The Section established the award to honor persons who have made distinguished, long-standing contributions to the development of private international law.

Obviously, Ira more than deserves this award.  Anyone practicing immigration law for more than two minutes knows about Ira — not only about his invaluable Sourcebook but also his cutting edge litigation, his contributions to immigration law scholarship, and his genuine support of the immigrant community.

The Section will honor Ira in a virtual ceremony on Friday, 7.31.2020 at 12:00 pm ET.  I hope you can attend the ceremony.  I am pasting a registration link at the end of this email.  Also, I am copying the current and incoming Section Chairs on this email.

Please join me in congratulating Ira!  It has been my  honor to work with Ira and each of you on the Crystal Ball Panel.  Be well and safe.  Best.  Peggy

Dear All – Writing with schedule information I received about Ira’s award.  The award ceremony is part of a Section Council Meeting.  While the meeting starts at 12:00 pm, the awards ceremony part of the meeting will probably not start until around 2:30 pm. Best.  Peggy

Register here.

 

**********************

Thanks, Peggy!

Here are a few of the tributes from our fellow “panel members:”

Congratulations, Ira!  Well deserved.  I am actually old enough to remember when Ira was listed among the 40 lawyers under 40 to watch! Seems like yesterday!

 

__________________________

Paul W. Virtue

Mayer Brown LLP 

**********************

A giant in the field — and an indispensable part of every immigration lawyer’s professional journey.

Hon. Mimi Tsankov

U.S. Immigration Judge

V.P. Eastern Region NAIJ

(Personal Capacity Only)

***********************

Many, many congrats to our friend and colleague Ira for his lifetime commitment to human rights and furthering legal excellence!

Paul Wickham Schmidt

U.S. Immigration Judge (Ret.)

immigrationcourtside.com

Congratulations again, Ira, on behalf of all your many admirers in the New Due Process Army (NDPA) in which you are a Five Star General 🎖🎖🎖🎖🎖!👍🏼😎

PWS

07-19-20

Related posts:

  1. ABA PRESIDENT BOB CARLSON PUTS DUE PROCESS CRISIS IN IMMIGRATION @ TOP OF HIS “MUST DO” LIST — Independent Article I U.S. Immigration Court & More Legal Representation Are The Keys!
  2. FRANZ KAFKA’S AMERICA: One Of The Worst Judges In Our Most Dysfunctional Court System Spent 22 Years “On The Bench” & NEVER Granted An Asylum Case! — How Could This Happen? — Gross Distortion Of Justice Has Been Unfolding Right Before The Eyes Of Congress & The Article III Courts For Years — Time For Change!
  3. IMAGINE: How Would YOU Like To Be Judged in America’s Star Chambers?
  4. ⚖️🗽WATCH, LISTEN TO PROFESSOR GEOFFREY HOFFMAN OF U. OF HOUSTON LAW DELIVER THE 2021 SKELTON LECTURE: “What Should Immigration Law Become?”

🏴‍☠️ABUSE OF PROCESS: Trump Regime’s Irrational Threat To Terrorize Foreign Students Withdrawn In Face Of Widespread Bipartisan Outrage, Multiple Lawsuits, & Impending Defeat In Courts!

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-foreign-students-online-classes_n_5f0e0546c5b63b8fc10f86f4

Here’s the deal. America is reeling  from Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic, his divisive racist rhetoric, and his lack of a coherent plan for reopening schools. But, in the midst of these unresolved crises, Trump’s White Nationalist, xenophobic regime found time to issue, without consultation, absurdist rules threatening foreign students whose schools offered only online leaning because of legitimate health and safety concerns for the students, faculty, and staff.

This idiotic, illegal missive threatened to upend the U.S. higher education system and put a $40 billion hit on our economy during a period of unprecedented unemployment and economic disruption. Consequently, numerous educational institutions across America banded together, developed emergency legal strategies, and filed suits against the Trump kakistocracy in numerous Federal Courts. 

This, in turn, tied up legal resources that could have been used more productively, as well as further clogging Federal Court dockets already overwhelmed with various unnecessary suits caused by Trump’s maliciously incompetent attack on immigration. It also tied up Government resources that might better have been used solving real problems.

Faced with certain defeat and the exposition of the total stupidity, not to mention illegality, of these rules, the Trump regime backed down before the first suit even got to hearing. But, this predictable “back off” does not repair the overall damage to our nation caused by Trump’s xenophobic war on legal immigration. Catherine Rampell cogently describes it in an op-ed in the Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/14/even-with-administrations-about-face-international-student-visas-enrollment-is-still-set-plummet/

In the meantime, the problem of abuse of our legal system and the organs of Government by a maliciously incompetent Administration advancing a toxic and unconstitutional White Nationalist agenda remains unresolved. Indeed, the often tone-deaf approach of the Supremes to these gross abuses, particularly in the areas of immigration and human rights, has actually been a large part of the problem.

What could we accomplish if the time and resources now used to prevent a “rogue Government” from destroying democracy were instead devoted to developing constructive, cooperative solutions to our festering national problems? What if we harnessed the power of migration for human progress, rather than futilely and wastefully working at cross purposes with perhaps the oldest and most powerful human phenomenon?🗽⚖️

This November, say “No” to the White Nationalist Kakistocracy!

PWS

07-14-20

 

Related posts:

  1. IT’S NEVER BEEN ABOUT “LEGAL V. ILLEGAL,” “BORDER SECURITY,” “JOBS,” OR “GETTING IN (NON-EXISTENT) LINES” — The Trump Regime Has Always Been About A White Nationalist Immigration Agenda Of Hate!
  2. 😰👹👺🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️🤮“DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN” — Nicole Narea @ Vox With A Glimpse Of Trump’s Second Term: American Apocalypse — Dark, Ugly, Hateful, Violent, Dishonest, Exclusionary, Stupid, Racist, Diminished, Yet Very White & Privileged — Are People Of Color & Their Allies Really Going To Stand By & Watch While Their Past & Our Future As A Strong, Creative, Tolerant, Diverse, Humane Nation Is Written Out Of History By A Racist GOP & Its Totally Wacko Yet Dangerously Evil Cult Leader?
  3. CATHERINE RAMPELL @ WASHPOST:  “Dreamers” Are In The Front Lines Of Essential Workers — Why Is The Regime Persecuting Them? 
  4. 🏴‍☠️☠️🤮⚰️👎🏻KAKISTOCRACY HAS CONSEQUENCES: CLIMATE MIGRATION IS ONE OF THEM! — Trump’s Stupidity & Cruelty On Immigration Climate Science, & Disease Control Promises Horrible Global Human Disaster For Future Generations — Empowering & Enabling A Moron Is Always A Very Bad Idea!  — No Idiotic Wall Or “Drill Baby Drill” Insanity Is Going To Prevent This Human Catastrophe We Are Inflicting On Those Who Follow!

🎓🗽⚖️👍🏼ATTENTION NDPA: POSITIONS AVAILABLE FOR PRACTICE-ORIENTED IMMIGRATION EXPERTS & PROSPECTIVE IMMIGRATION TEACHERS — Professor Michele Pistone @ Villanova Is Recruiting Paid Adjuncts For Her Amazing VIISTA Program!

Professor Michele Pistone
Professor Michele Pistone
Villanova Law

Hi Judge Schmidt,

Can you share the below with your networks:

This fall, I am launching a new online certificate program at Villanova University to train immigrant advocates.  The program is aimed at people who are passionate about immigrant justice but are not interested in pursuing a law degree at the moment, such as recent college grads, people seeking an encore career, retirees, and the many who currently work with migrants and want to understand more about the immigration laws that impact them.  It is also attractive to students seeking to take a gap year or two between college and law school or high school and college.

The program is offered entirely online and is asynchronous, allowing students to work at their own pace and at times that are most convenient for them.  I piloted the curriculum during last academic year and the students loved it.  It launches full time in August, and will subsequently be offered each semester, so students can start in August, January, and May.

I reach out to you because I am now seeking adjunct professors to help teach the course.  Adjunct Professors will work with me to teach cohorts of students as they move through the 3-Module curriculum.  Module 1 focuses on how to work effectively with immigrants.  Module 2 is designed to teach the immigration law and policy needed for graduates to apply to become partially accredited representatives.  Module 3 has more law, and a lot of trial advocacy for those who want to apply for full DOJ accreditation.  Each Module is comprised of 2×7-week sessions and students report that they have worked between 10-15 hours/week on the course materials.  As an adjunct professor, you will provide feedback weekly on student work product, conduct live office hours with students and work to build engagement and community among the students in your cohort.  Tuition for each Module is $1270, it is $3810 for the entire 3-Module certificate program.

Here is a link to the job posting:

https://jobs.villanova.edu/postings/18505

For more information on VIISTA, here is a link, immigrantadvocate.villanova.edu

Please reach out if you have any questions.

Also, please note that scholarships are being offered through the Augustinian Defenders of the Rights of the Poor to select students who are sponsored to take VIISTA by DOJ recognized organizations.  For more information on the scholarships, visit this page, https://www.rightsofthepoor.org/viista-scholarship-program

My best,

Michele Pistone

Michele

Michele R. Pistone

Professor of Law

Villanova University, Charles Widger School of Law

Director, Clinic for Asylum, Refugee & Emigrant Services (CARES)

Founder, VIISTA Villanova Interdisciplinary Immigration Studies Training for Advocates

Co-Managing Editor, Journal on Migration and Human Security

Adjunct Fellow, Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation

610-519-5286

@profpistone

*************************

What an fantastic opportunity to get teaching experience, work on a “cutting edge” program with my good friend and colleague Michele, one of the best legal minds in America, and to make a difference by improving the delivery of justice in America, while being paid a stipend!

A “perfect fit” for members of the New Due Process Army (“NDPA”).

Due Process Forever!🗽👍🏼⚖️

PWS

07-10-20

Related posts:

  1. WHEN ARTICLE III COURTS FAIL: U.S. “Orbits” Refugee Families To Dangerous Chaos In Guatemala Under Clearly Fraudulent “Safe Third Country” Arrangements As Feckless U.S. Courts Fail To Enforce Constitutional Due Process & U.S. Asylum Laws In Face Of Trump Regime’s Contemptuous Scofflaw Conduct!
  2. HOW “AMERICA’S KILLER COURTS” PROMOTE “CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY” — HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: TRUMP & HIS WHITE NATIONALIST SYCOPHANTS & TOADIES TOUT LAWLESS POLICIES THAT VIOLATE LEGAL OBLIGATIONS & HELP KILL, RAPE, TORTURE THOSE RETURNED TO EL SALVADOR — Supremes & Article III Judiciary Complicit In Gross Human Rights Violations! 
  3. NDPA SUPERSTAR 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 SCHOLAR-INNOVATOR PROFESSOR MICHELE PISTONE’S CREATIVE, AMAZING VIISTA PROGRAM IS CHANGING THE FACE OF PRO BONO REPRESENTATION FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS ⚖️— At A Time Of Grotesque Stupidity 🤮 & Management Catastrophe ☠️ Inflicted By The EOIR Kakistocracy, Michele & Her Talented, Problem-Solving Colleagues In The NDPA Are EXACTLY What America Needs To Replace The “Clown Show” With Real Practical Scholars Who Will Lead the New Due Process Revolution!  ⚖️👨🏻‍⚖️🧑🏽‍⚖️🗽🇺🇸
  4. REGIME’S NEWEST SCHEME TO SCREW ASYLUM SEEKERS: BOGUS REGS THAT WOULD ILLEGALLY & UNNECESSARILY EXTEND THE GROUNDS OF “MANDATORY DENIAL,” DECREASE ADJUDICATOR DISCRETION, & SHAFT REFUGEE FAMILIES — Regime’s Outlandish “Efficiency Rationale” Fails to Mask Their Cruelty, Racism, Fraud, Waste, & Abuse – Julia Edwards Ainsley (NBC News) & Dean Kevin R. Johnson (ImmigrationProf Blog) Report

🏴‍☠️KAKISTOCRACY COSTS: Trump Regime’s White Nationalist Attack on Foreign Students Threatens $40 Billion 💸 Hit on U.S. Economy! 

🤡☠️👎🏻

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-uses-the-coronavirus-to-impede-immigration-his-aim-at-foreign-students-is-a-new-low/2020/07/07/ec3ca966-c06a-11ea-b178-bb7b05b94af1_story.html

From WashPost Editorial Board:

By Editorial Board

July 7 at 3:54 PM ET

THE TRUMP administration has used the novel coronavirus as  license to indiscriminately kill off and impede every sort of immigration — legal and illegal, permanent and temporary, work- and family-based. On Monday, it took aim at the more than 1  million international students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities, threatening them with deportation if their classes move online, as many already have.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement made the announcement as a growing number of colleges, facing a widening pandemic, have shifted entirely or largely to virtual learning for the fall. International students at those institutions, who represent a sizable cohort, will have to go home or transfer to another school that offers in-person classes.

ICE provided no rationale — unsurprising, given that it is unfair and irrational as a matter of policy. But within hours of its announcement, President Trump sought to make school closings into an election issue. Democrats, he claimed on Twitter, want schools closed “for political reasons, not health reasons,” to help them in the fall elections.

[[Full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic]]

That’s preposterous. Colleges and universities have scrambled to devise plans to operate safely in the fall, in some cases pivoting from one scenario to another as the virus has spread. Last week, the University of Southern California reversed course, scrapping a mix of in-person and online classes at its campus in pandemic-plagued Los Angeles and shifting to a mostly virtual schedule. Those decisions have nothing to do with partisan politics, nothing to do with the fall elections and nothing to do with Mr. Trump.

The new rule means colleges that depend critically on tuition revenue from international students — many from China, India and South Korea — will be under pressure to offer in-person classes even in places where covid-19 is a major threat. International students will face deportation even if their colleges, facing a fresh outbreak, shift mid-semester from in-person to online classes. International students with preexisting conditions will feel forced to attend in-person classes despite the risk to their lives.

Those students, who constitute 5.5 percent of overall higher education enrollment, contributed more than $40 billion to the U.S. economy in the 2019-2020 academic year. They provide a steady stream of energetic, talented youth, some of whom make key contributions to the U.S. economy and form lifelong ties with U.S. businesses and scientific and cultural institutions.

None of that matters to Mr. Trump, who has made it a personal and political crusade to rid the nation, to the extent possible, of foreigners. Last month, his administration suspended work visas for various non-immigrant categories and widened a ban on new green cards for applicants outside of this country. Under cover of the pandemic, asylum seekers have been effectively banned from the United States for the first time in modern history, and many U.S. embassies and consulates remain shut, closing off other avenues of legal entry for visitors, workers and immigrants alike.

The president’s goal is to turn America’s back on the world. Sadly, it is Americans, and institutions like U.S. universities, that will pay the price.

**************************

This could well put some colleges and universities out of business. Racism is not only stupid and immoral, it costs the U.S. big time, in “real dollars” as well as in goodwill and “moral capital.”

Vote ‘Em Out in November — at all levels! Let America and everyone in it realize their full potential! End racism in America by sending the racists packing!

PWS

07-08-20

Related posts:

  1. 😰👹👺🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️🤮“DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN” — Nicole Narea @ Vox With A Glimpse Of Trump’s Second Term: American Apocalypse — Dark, Ugly, Hateful, Violent, Dishonest, Exclusionary, Stupid, Racist, Diminished, Yet Very White & Privileged — Are People Of Color & Their Allies Really Going To Stand By & Watch While Their Past & Our Future As A Strong, Creative, Tolerant, Diverse, Humane Nation Is Written Out Of History By A Racist GOP & Its Totally Wacko Yet Dangerously Evil Cult Leader?
  2. JIM CROW WINS, AMERICA LOSES, AGAIN — WHITE NATIONALIST CLOWN-IN-CHIEF 🤡 HALTS IMMIGRATION TO DIVERT ATTENTION FROM MASSIVE FAILURE OF GOVERNANCE, AS FECKLESS DEMS PROTEST! — Announced By Tweet At Time When Borders Closed Anyway — A “pathetic attempt to shift blame from his Visible Incompetence to an Invisible Enemy,” Says Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) 😰👎🏻
  3. 🏴‍☠️☠️🤮⚰️👎🏻KAKISTOCRACY HAS CONSEQUENCES: CLIMATE MIGRATION IS ONE OF THEM! — Trump’s Stupidity & Cruelty On Immigration Climate Science, & Disease Control Promises Horrible Global Human Disaster For Future Generations — Empowering & Enabling A Moron Is Always A Very Bad Idea!  — No Idiotic Wall Or “Drill Baby Drill” Insanity Is Going To Prevent This Human Catastrophe We Are Inflicting On Those Who Follow!
  4. 🏴‍☠️NEW JIM CROW: Miller Uses Pandemic To Revive Racist Myths & Stereotypes About Dangers Of Immigrants! — A White Nationalist’s Dream Comes True!

THE GIBSON REPORT — 07-06-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

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

COVID-19

Note: Policies are rapidly changing, so please verify the latest policies on the relevant government websites and with colleagues on listservs as best you can.

New

Closures

Guidance:

 

TOP NEWS

 

A Top Immigration Court Official Called For Impartiality In A Memo He Sent As He Resigned

BuzzFeed: The Trump administration selected Tracy Short, previously the lead ICE prosecutor, for the chief immigration judge role. ICE prosecutors often take up roles as immigration judges, but the selection of Short, formerly ICE’s principal legal adviser, left some claiming the move would undercut the appearance of neutrality at the court. Christopher Santoro, the acting chief immigration judge, appeared to signal that in his message to court employees announcing his resignation.

 

New Trump immigration policy would disqualify asylum for people from countries with spreading disease

WaPo: The Trump administration is preparing broad new immigration restrictions that would deny humanitarian refuge to anyone from a country with a disease outbreak, deeming those asylum seekers to be a danger to public safety.

 

The NYPD’s Long History of Targeting Black Immigrants

DocumentedNY: Despite making up only 7.2 percent of the noncitizen population in the US, more than 20 percent of people facing deportation on criminal grounds are Black.

 

The Immigration System Is Set To Come To A Near Halt, And No One Is Paying Attention

BuzzFeed: If Congress does not provide US Citizenship and Immigration Services with emergency funding before Aug. 3, the employees, who make up more than 60% of all staffers, will be furloughed for up to three months due to the budget crisis…While the reasons for the funding shortage are debated — agency officials cite a massive decline in immigration applications due to the pandemic, while immigrant advocates and experts argue that the Trump administration’s policies have played a part in the budget issues — the impact to the immigration system is not.

 

The Shadow Court Cementing Trump’s Immigration Policy

The Nation: The Board of Immigration Appeals, once an impartial appellate court, has become a new front in the Trump administration’s war against migrants.

 

USCIS Announces July Naturalization Drive Before Furloughs

Law360: To clear its backlog before the bulk of its workforce is sent home, the agency must naturalize another 45,500 new Americans this month.

 

Failing Our Liberian Neighbors: Eligibility and Application Rates Under Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness

CLINIC: The report concludes that in light of the large number of potential applicants, USCIS’ failure to successfully adjudicate and approve a single application four months into the program, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Congress should extend the December 20, 2020, deadline for at least an additional year to ensure that all eligible Liberians are able to apply for relief.

 

Inspector General Report Overlooks Serious Medical Care Issues Within Border Patrol Custody

AIC: While the report critiques the agency for not meeting its own standards, it also allows CBP to avoid meaningful accountability for numerous failures in meeting the health needs of those detained.

 

How Biden Plans to Undo Trump’s Nativist Agenda

Slate: In a little-noticed announcement, the former vice president committed to a more ambitious refugee policy than existed under Obama.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

TVPRA Victory in Ramirez v. ICE

NIJC: A federal court has ruled that the failure of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to consider less restrictive settings before transferring unaccompanied immigrant youth to ICE detention on their 18th birthdays violates U.S. immigration laws.

 

District Court Vacates Third-Country Transit Ban, Effective Immediately

A federal judge found the government unlawfully promulgated the 2019 interim final rule that categorically disqualified individuals from receiving asylum unless they sought protection in another country before entering the southern border. (CAIR Coalition et al., v. Trump et al., 6/30/20) AILA Doc. No. 20070104

 

Immigration judges union suing Justice Dept. over policy restricting public speaking

The Hill: The Knight First Amendment Institute, a legal group at Columbia University, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in federal court on behalf of the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ). The suit alleges that the speech restrictions against immigration judges amount to violations of the First and Fifth Amendments and asks the court to impose a preliminary injunction blocking the policy.

 

EOIR Director Rules Amicus Curiae Cannot Seek Further Action Once Decision Has Been Rendered in Recognition and Accreditation Proceedings

The EOIR Director ruled that an amicus curiae is not a party in recognition and accreditation proceedings and has no authority to seek further action following the conclusion of an administrative review. Matter of Bay Area Legal Services, Inc., Applicant, 28 I&N Dec. 16 (DIR 2020) AILA Doc. No. 20070208

 

CA4 Upholds Asylum Denial to Salvadoran Who Feared Persecution by His Brother’s Murderers

The court held that substantial evidence supported the BIA’s conclusion that the attackers who threatened the petitioner were motivated by a desire to prevent him from reporting his brother’s murder to the police, and not by the petitioner’s family ties. (Cedillos-Cedillos v. Barr, 6/26/20) AILA Doc. No. 20070205

 

CA6 Upholds Denial of Motion to Reopen Where BIA Found Petitioner Had Failed to Overcome Presumption of Receipt of Mailed Notices

Where the evidence was conflicting, the court held that a reasonable adjudicator could conclude that the petitioner had failed to overcome the presumption that he had received notices of his hearing that were mailed to his aunt and uncle’s address. (Valadez-Lara v. Barr, 6/26/20) AILA Doc. No. 20070691

 

CA7 Rejects Castro-Tum and Holds That IJs Are Not Precluded from Administratively Closing Cases When Appropriate

Granting petition for review, the court rejected Matter of Castro-Tum’s conclusion that administrative closure is not within an IJ’s authority to take “any action” appropriate and necessary for the disposition of cases pursuant to 8 CFR §1003.10(b). (Meza Morales v. Barr, 6/26/20) AILA Doc. No. 20070207

 

CA8 Finds BIA Did Not Err in Denying CAT Relief to HIV-Positive Member of the Begedi Clan in Somalia

The court upheld the BIA’s denial of petitioner’s application for deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), finding that the IJ had clearly erred in forecasting that petitioner would more likely than not be tortured if returned to Somalia. (Abdi Omar v. Barr, 6/26/20) AILA Doc. No. 20070692

 

CA9 Affirms District Court’s Grant of a Preliminary Injunction Against Third Country Transit Ban

The court upheld a lower court’s injunction preventing the implementation of DHS/DOJ joint interim final rule that categorically denies asylum to individuals arriving at the U.S./Mexico border. (East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, et al. v. Barr, et al., 7/6/20) AILA Doc. No. 20070636

RESOURCES

EVENTS

 

Note: Check with organizers regarding cancellations/changes

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, July 6, 2020

Sunday, July 5, 2020

Saturday, July 4, 2020

Friday, July 3, 2020

Thursday, July 2, 2020

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Monday, June 29, 2020

**************************

Thanks for keeping us informed, Elizabeth!

PWS

07-08-20

Related posts:

  1. KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ALL OF THE REGIME’S LATEST ANTI-IMMIGRANT SCHEMES, GIMMICKS, & SHENANIGANS – THE GIBSON REPORT – 01-06-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group
  2. THE GIBSON REPORT — 06-29-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group  — DHS Suggests Asylum Seekers Should Get Used to ‘Homelessness’ After Stripping Work Permits — See What Other “Crimes Against Humanity” Are Being “Normalized” By The Trump Regime
  3. THE GIBSON REPORT — 10-05-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group — Federal Judge Rules Trump Not A Monarch; More Intentional Cruelty, Lies, & Threats Of Politically-Inspired Racist Attacks On Ethnic Communities From DHS; Trump Regime Dumps On Refugees & Commies; Cert. Granted In Credibility Case Apparently Seeking To Screw Refugees At Request Of SG; & Other “Interesting & Sometimes Disturbing Stuff”⚖️
  4. 🇺🇸THE GIBSON REPORT — 11-02-20 — Prepared By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group — Trump/Miller Bogus Public Charge Rule Enjoined Again; CBP Turns Back More Than 13,000 Unaccompanied Kids Using COVID-19 As Cover For Child Abuse; John Oliver With The Incredibly Ugly 🤮 Truth About The Trump-Miller Racist Assault On Asylum & Humanity ☠️⚰️— Other News From America Teetering On The Brink After 4-Years Of Trump Regime Misrule, Cruelty, Corruption, & Undermining Of Democracy!🏴‍☠️

🇺🇸JULY 4 SPECIAL🗽: CRISTIAN FARIAS @ KNIGHT INSTITUTE WITH LOADS OF “PAYWALL-FREE” ONLINE RESOURCES HIGHLIGHTING REGIME’S ABUSE OF IJ’S 1ST AMENDMENTS RIGHTS AS WELL AS PUBLIC’S RIGHT TO KNOW ABOUT THE FRAUD, WASTE & GROSS ABUSES UNFOLDING DAILY IN AMERICA’S MOST OUTRAGEOUSLY UNFAIR AND MISMANAGED “COURT” SYSTEM! — Our Taxpayer Funds Are Being Flushed Down The Toilet 🚽 By “Billy The Bigot” & His “Maliciously Incompetent” Gang Of White Nationalist Enablers & Promoters @ EOIR!

 

Cristian Farias
Cristian Farias
Writer in Residence
Knight First Amendment Institute

Cristian writes:

Hi, Paul:

Lots of other, nonpaywalled coverage of this new case:

Link to complaint:

https://knightcolumbia.org/cases/naij-v-mchenry

https://www.inquirer.com/news/immigration-judges-trump-lawsuit-free-speech-eoir-columbia-knight-center-20200701.html

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/immigration-judges-challenge-doj-limits-public-speaking/story?id=71552573

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/505388-immigration-judges-union-sues-justice-dept-over-policy-restricting?rnd=1593610305

https://in.reuters.com/article/usa-court-immigration-judges/immigration-judges-challenge-justice-dept-over-policy-gagging-them-from-public-speech-idINKBN24263H?il=0

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/01/politics/immigration-judges-lawsuit/index.html

Thank you for all you do,

Cf.

********************

As many of you know, Cristian is a contributor to Courtside and a tireless advocate for free speech and Constitutional rights for everyone in America.

Thanks, Cristian, for all you do for America!

🇺🇸Celebrate America’s birthday by standing up for our Constitution and human dignity against the racism, ignorance, hate, & tyranny of the Trump regime!🗽

👍🏼Due Process Forever!⚖️

Here’s my previous reporting on this:

🤡CLOWN COURT REPORT: Dysfunctional “Court” System Notorious ☠️ For Denying Migrants’ Rights Forces Own Judges To Sue In Federal Court To Protect Their Individual Constitutional Rights!  — No Wonder The Mis-Management-Induced Backlogs Are Endless & Growing!

PWS

07-04-20

Related posts:

  1. 🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️KAKISTOCRACY WATCH: AILA Blasts Appointment Of Prosecutors Without Judicial Qualifications To Top Judicial Positions in Billy the Bigot’s Weaponized Anti-Due-Process “Court” System — Dysfunction, Bias, Illegitimate Decisions Run Rampant As Congress, Article IIIs Fail to Enforce U.S. Constitution!
  2. 🏴‍☠️🤡KAKISTOCRACY KORNER: Experienced Immigration Judges Flee America’s Star Chambers At Record Numbers As Trump Regime’s Malicious Incompetence Triples Backlog With Twice The Number Of Judges On Bench, According To Latest TRAC Report!
  3. FELIPE DE LA HOZ @ THE NATION: “The Shadow Court Cementing Trump’s Immigration Policy” — “It’s not a court anymore, it’s an enforcement mechanism,” said Paul Wickham Schmidt, who was himself chair of the BIA between 1995 and 2001 and now writes a popular immigration blog called Immigration Courtside. “They’re taking predetermined policy and just disguising it as judicial opinions, when the results have all been predetermined and it has nothing to do or little to do with the merits of the cases.”
  4. ROUND TABLE CHAMPION 🛡⚔️JUDGE PAUL GRUSSENDORF SPEAKS OUT FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON REGIME’S IMMIGRATION ATROCITIES, ☠️🤮⚰️ URGENT NEED FOR PRACTICAL HUMANITARIAN REFORMS — “The sham is that no law enforcement body in the country, federal or state, has a zero tolerance policy, simply because no one has the resources to detain, charge, prosecute, adjudicate and jail all offenders. (This stark reality is in fact the reason for the plea bargaining system in criminal court).”

🇺🇸😎⚖️🗽👍🏼LAW YOU CAN USE:  Michelle Mendez and CLINIC Publish A New Practice Advisory on Opening & Closing Statements in Immigration Court

Michelle Mendez
Michelle Mendez
Defending Vulnerable Populations Director
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (“CLINIC”)

 

https://cliniclegal.org/resources/litigation/practice-advisory-opening-statements-and-closing-arguments-immigration-court

Practice Advisory: Opening Statements and Closing Arguments in Immigration Court

Last UpdatedJuly 2, 2020

Topics Litigation Removal Proceedings Appeals

Opening statements and closing arguments can win cases for clients, if the practitioner is able to deliver a performance that is both concise and compelling. This practice advisory offers guidance and tips that will help practitioners deliver concise and compelling opening statements and closing arguments in immigration court.

**********************

Read more and download this wonderful resource at the link.

Michelle and her team @ CLINIC promise more “great stuff” next week.

Going in Opposite Directions: Ironically, as the Trump DOJ has worked overtime to “dumb down” EOIR, Michelle and many others in the Immigration & Human Rights communities, particularly AILA, other NGOs, Clinical Professors, and pro bono counsel at “Big Law,” have been working even harder to promote “best immigration and legal practices” before all tribunals. And, despite the Supreme’s “willful blindness” to the Constitution, the rule of law, and human dignity as it applies to asylum seekers and migrants, the results are showing elsewhere in the justice system. 

It also points to the obvious unconscionably overlooked untapped source for better Federal Judges in the future, from the Supremes to the Immigration Courts: the pro bono and clinical immigration and human rights bars — actually the main fount of courageous opposition to the regime’s concerted attack on our Constitution, our justice system, and our humanity. 

If these folks and others like them were on the Supremes, American justice wouldn’t be in shambles and equal justice justice for all under our Constitution would actually be enforced, rather than degraded or intentionally skirted with legal gobbledygook. The lack of both legal and moral leadership from our highest Court in the face of a clearly out of control and unqualified White Nationalist Executive and his toadies is simply astounding, not to mention discouraging. 

It’s little wonder that the tensions caused in no small measure by the Court’s systemic failure to stand up for voting rights, civil rights, the rights of other persons of color in the U.S., and to hold abusers at all levels accountable, is now overflowing into the streets. No, an occasional vote for a correct result from Roberts or another member of “The Five” is not going to solve the problem of Constitutional, racial, and moral dereliction of duty by our highest Court.

Almost every day, “real” Article III Lower Courts “out” some aspect of the outrageously biased and unprofessional performance of EOIR and the rest of Trump’s immigration kakistocracy before the courts. Even some GOP and Trump appointed Article III Judges have “had enough” and don’t want their professional reputations and consciences sullied by association with the regime’s unlawful White Nationalist agenda.

Unfortunately, however, the Federal Courts generally have failed to follow through by sanctioning the often unethical and dishonest performance of the regime in court and by shutting down EOIR’s unconstitutional “kangaroo courts,” DHS’s equally unconstitutional “New American Gulag,” and the fraudulent operation of bogus “Safe Third County Agreements,” “Remain in Mexico,” and patiently disingenuous ridiculously overbroad COVID-19 “immigration bars” (which are actually thin cover for Stephen Miller’s preconceived White Nationalist nativist agenda). Moreover, lower Federal Court Judges who courageously stand up against the regime’s unconstitutional agenda and program of “dehumanization” are too often improperly undermined by the Supremes (sometimes without explanations or “short circuiting” the system), thereby “greenlighting” further “crimes against humanity” by an unscrupulous and unethical Executive.

We’re making a permanent record of both the “crimes against humanity” committed by the regime and those public officials, be they so-called “public servants,” feckless legislators, or life-tenured judges who have actively aided, abetted, been complicit, or “gone along to get along” with Trump’s countless lies and abuses. Later judicial “corrections” by a better Court or legislative “fixes” by a real Congress will not reclaim the lives of those shot on the streets by police, infected with COVID-19 in the Gulag, kidnapped and abused by gangs in Mexico while waiting for fake hearings, or “rocketed” back to persecution and torture in the Northern Triangle and elsewhere in violation of U.S. and international laws without any meaningful process at all. Nor will they wipe out the abuses by governments at all levels elected without the full participation of American citizens of color and in poverty whose votes were purposely suppressed or political authority diminished by corrupt GOP pols and their Supreme enablers. 

As we can see by the long-overdue historical reckoning coming to Confederates and other racists who actively worked to undermine our Constitution, block equal justice for all, and dehumanize other humans in America, there will be an eventual historical reckoning here, and justice ultimately will be served, even if not in our lifetimes. That’s bad news for Roberts, his right-wing colleagues, and a host of others who have willfully enabled the worst, most abusive, and most clearly lawless presidency in U.S. History, as well as the most overtly racist regime since Woodrow Wilson.

Due Process Forever!

This November, vote like your life depends on it! Because it does!

JOIN THE NEW DUE PROCESS ARMY (“NDPA”) & BE PART OF THE SOLUTION TO UNEQUAL JUSTICE IN AMERICA!

PWS

07-03-20

Related posts:

  1. ⚖️🗽🧑🏽‍⚖️COURTS OF APPEALS CONTINUE TO THROW ROTTEN TOMATOES 🍅 @ BIA’S ANTI-ASYLUM BIAS — Basic Analytical, Legal Errors Continue From Weaponized, Non-Expert “Star Chamber” ☠️ Posing As ”Tribunal!” — Judge Garland Must Fix This Inexcusable, Unnecessary, Systemic Failure Now! — Justice For Persons Of Color & Migrants Can’t “Wait For Godot!”
  2. 🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️KAKISTOCRACY WATCH: AILA Blasts Appointment Of Prosecutors Without Judicial Qualifications To Top Judicial Positions in Billy the Bigot’s Weaponized Anti-Due-Process “Court” System — Dysfunction, Bias, Illegitimate Decisions Run Rampant As Congress, Article IIIs Fail to Enforce U.S. Constitution!
  3. PURE BS 💩 — TRUMP’S “BIG LIE” ABOUT MIGRANT APPEARANCES FOR HEARINGS BOGUS AS $3 BILL 🤮👎🏻— Replacing DHS/EOIR With Rational, Qualified, Fact-Based Governance & Real Judiciary Could Bring Appearance Rate Close To 100%!  — Two Items From ImmigrationProf Blog!
  4. HOW “AMERICA’S KILLER COURTS” PROMOTE “CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY” — HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: TRUMP & HIS WHITE NATIONALIST SYCOPHANTS & TOADIES TOUT LAWLESS POLICIES THAT VIOLATE LEGAL OBLIGATIONS & HELP KILL, RAPE, TORTURE THOSE RETURNED TO EL SALVADOR — Supremes & Article III Judiciary Complicit In Gross Human Rights Violations! 

THE GIBSON REPORT — 06-29-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group  — DHS Suggests Asylum Seekers Should Get Used to ‘Homelessness’ After Stripping Work Permits — See What Other “Crimes Against Humanity” Are Being “Normalized” By The Trump Regime

 

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

COVID-19

Note: Policies are rapidly changing, so please verify the latest policies on the relevant government websites and with colleagues on listservs as best you can.

 

New

  • Newark Asylum Office Remains Closed due to unresolved facility issues unrelated to COVID-19

 

Closures

 

Guidance:

 

TOP NEWS

 

DHS Suggests Asylum Seekers Should Get Used to ‘Homelessness’ After Stripping Work Permits

AIC: The new rule, which goes into effect on August 25, 2020, would block work permits for almost all asylum applicants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border. It bans work permits for anyone who crosses the border between ports of entry to seek asylum.

 

More than 13,000 federal workers face a possible furlough of 30 days or longer

WaPo: Three-fourths of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services workforce — more than 13,000 employees — could be told as soon as Wednesday that they face extended furloughs starting Aug. 3 that would cut off their salaries and severely curtail the agency’s work, the union representing the employees has said.

 

Immigration Court Fee Hikes Sent To White House For Review

Law360: The U.S. Department of Justice will soon hike fees on immigration court filings following opposition from advocacy organizations and attorneys who claimed the fee increases, which could surpass 700%, will undermine due process for low-income immigrants.

 

Trump Suspends Visas Allowing Hundreds of Thousands of Foreigners to Work in the U.S.

NYT: The move is fiercely opposed by business leaders, who say it will block their ability to recruit critically needed workers from countries overseas.

 

As Pandemic Keeps Borders Shut, Closed Consulates Are Biggest Barrier for Many

WSJ: Couples are separated, workers and students remain stuck outside the U.S. as coronavirus shutdown extends into third month.

 

Trump’s Judicial Picks to Sway Immigration Law for Years

Law360: President Donald Trump’s 200th confirmation to the federal courts builds on a transformation of the judiciary that could rattle the U.S. immigration system for years to come, especially if Trump wins reelection.

 

ICE and CBP Agents Were Deployed at Black Lives Matter Protests

AIC: According to a leaked internal government document, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deployed more than 700 personnel in the Washington, D.C. area alone.

 

COVID measures have made immigrant detentions longer and more isolated

Denverite: Some attorneys are working remotely to defend clients they’ve never met in person, others are delaying cases until they might feel comfortable returning to court in person.

 

Trump moving fast to shore up immigration campaign promises

Washington Examiner: The Trump campaign is highlighting the president’s immigration record under the banner of “Promises Made, Promises Kept,” citing an 84% reduction in apprehensions along the southern border.

 

San Diegans become American citizens during drive-thru naturalization ceremony

Union-Trib: More than 150 people from 42 countries were naturalized in an unusual drive-thru ceremony Wednesday morning held by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency.

 

City Funding for Undocumented Immigrants is Shrouded in Secrecy

DocumentedNY: Still no official information on how to apply, who qualifies or which organizations are giving out funds.

 

Indonesian villagers defy Covid-19 warnings to rescue Rohingya refugees

Guardian: Residents repeatedly urged the authorities to do something, but they were told the group could not be brought to shore because to do so would risk spreading coronavirus. Worried that people’s lives were in immediate danger, they took matters into their own hands and sailed out with ropes to tether the boat to safety.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

Immigration Decisions in the Supreme Court 2019 Term, Upcoming Cases in the 2020 Term

ImmProf: Immigration proved to comprise a significant part of the U.S. Supreme Court’s docket for the 2019 Term.  Eight decisions directly or indirectly address immigration issues… At least for now, there do not appear to be any major cases on the Court’s docket for the 2020 Term.

 

SCOTUS confirms limitations on federal review for asylum seekers

SCOTUSblog: In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court in Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam upheld a scheme of limited and narrow judicial review over expedited removal, a bare-bones administrative process created under the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act.

 

Appeals court allows Trump’s expansion of fast-track deportation

RollCall: The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the Department of Homeland Security did not have to go through federal rule-making procedures before making the change in July 2019.

 

Federal judge blocks removal of Honduran boy caught in coronavirus-related border restrictions

CNN: A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from removing a 16-year-old Honduran boy from the United States who was at risk of being expelled as a result of new border restrictions relating to coronavirus.

 

Government must release migrant children in detention centers because of coronavirus, judge orders

NBC: Children held more than 20 days at certain facilities should be released by July 17, Judge Dolly Gee said.

 

U.S. Magistrate Judge Finds Petitioner’s Membership in the CCP Fell Within “Meaningful Association” Exception

A federal judge concluded that the petitioner established a preponderance of evidence that she had no meaningful association with the China Communist Party (CCP), and thus she was not ineligible for naturalization under INA §313. Courtesy of Baolin Chen. (Crosby v. Miller, et al., 2/3/20) AILA Doc. No. 20062905

 

District Court Finds Child Born in Canada to Same-Sex Couple Is a U.S. Citizen

The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland held that DOS erred in concluding that a child born in Canada to same-sex, naturalized U.S. citizens via assisted reproductive technology and surrogacy was born out of wedlock under INA §309. (Kiviti, et al., v. Pompeo, et al., 6/17/20) AILA Doc. No. 20062233

 

CA2 Remands Asylum Claim to Consider Petitioners’ Evidence of Changed Country Conditions in Indonesia

The court held that the BIA’s denial of the petitioners’ motion to reopen failed to account for relevant evidence of changed country conditions for Christians in Indonesia, and that 8 CFR §1003.2(c)(1) did not require them to submit a new asylum application. (Tanusantoso v. Barr, 6/23/20) AILA Doc. No. 20062536

 

CA7 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Argentinian Petitioner Who Alleged Persecution Based on His Family Membership

The court held that the record supported the BIA’s conclusion that petitioner had not presented a case warranting relief because of a credible fear of persecution or torture, and that the BIA had correctly determined that a waiver signed upon his entry was valid. (Ferreyra v. Barr, 6/16/20) AILA D

 

CA8 Says Conviction in Minnesota for Obstruction of Legal Process Is Not Categorically a CIMT

The court held that the BIA erred in finding that the petitioner’s conviction in Minnesota for obstruction of legal process was categorically a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT), and thus granted the petition for review and vacated the BIA’s order of removal. (Ortiz v. Barr, 6/23/20) AILA Doc. No. 20062537

 

CA9 Finds “Wealthy Landowners” in Colombia Is Not a PSG

Denying the petition for review, the court held that the BIA had properly concluded that the petitioner’s proposed particular social group (PSG) of wealthy landowners in Colombia was not cognizable, because it lacked particularity and social distinction. (Cordoba v. Barr, 6/16/20) AILA Doc. No. 20062539

 

BIA Holds Georgia Domestic Violence Statute Not a CIMT

Unpublished BIA decision holds that simple battery family violence under Ga. Code Ann. 16-5-23(f) is not a CIMT. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Cooke, 3/5/20) AILA Doc. No. 20062402

 

BIA Holds Ninth Circuit TPS Decision Constitutes Fundamental Change in Law

Unpublished BIA decision holds Ramirez v. Brown, 852 F.3d 954 (9th Cir. 2017), which held that TPS holders are deemed admitted for adjustment purposes, as a fundamental change in law sufficient to warrant reopening sua sponte. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Acevedo, 3/2/20) AILA Doc. No. 20062401

 

BIA Finds Failure to Challenge Removability Constituted Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

Unpublished BIA decision finds that respondent’s prior attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to argue that indecent exposure under Iowa Code 709.9 was not a CIMT. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Kahn, 2/28/20) AILA Doc. No. 20062303

 

BIA Holds Pennsylvania Statute Not an Aggravated Felony or Firearms Offense

Unpublished BIA decision holds that possession of a firearm under 18 Pa. Const. Stat. 6105(a)(1) is neither an aggravated felony nor firearms offense because the state definition encompasses some antique firearms. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Engelund, 2/27/20) AILA Doc. No. 20062302

 

USCIS Final Rule on Employment Authorization for Asylum Applicants

USCIS final rule making multiple changes to the regulations governing asylum applications and eligibility for employment authorization based on a pending asylum application. The rule is effective 8/25/20. (85 FR 38532, 6/26/20) AILA Doc. No. 20062236

 

Presidential Proclamation Suspending Entry of Individuals Who Present a Risk to the U.S. Labor Market Following the Coronavirus Outbreak

On 6/22/20, President Trump issued a proclamation continuing Proclamation 10014 and suspending and limiting the entry, with exceptions, of individuals seeking entry on an H-1B, H-2B, J, or L visa, including individuals accompanying or following to join people on these visas. (85 FR 38263, 6/25/20) AILA Doc. No. 20062237

 

DOS Final Rule Removing Defunct Visa Classification for Women Expatriates

DOS final rule removing from the regulations a provision relating to a defunct immigrant visa classification for women who lost U.S. citizenship as a result of marrying a foreign national prior to September 22, 1922. The rule is effective 6/26/20. (85 FR 38321, 6/26/20) AILA Doc. No. 20062600

 

USCIS 60-Day Notice and Request for Comments on Proposed Revisions to Form I-485

USCIS 60-day notice and request for comments on proposed revisions to Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, and related forms. Comments are due 8/24/20. (85 FR 38151, 6/25/20) AILA Doc. No. 20062535

 

Texas Service Center Moving to New Address on June 26, 2020

On June 23, USCIS announced that on June 26, 2020, the Texas Service Center (TSC) will move to a new address. Although the move is scheduled for June 26, USCIS cannot accept mail at the new address until Monday, June 29. AILA Doc. No. 20062330

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

Note: Check with organizers regarding cancellations/changes

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, June 29, 2020

Sunday, June 28, 2020

Friday, June 26, 2020

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Monday, June 22, 2020

*****************

Thanks, Elizabeth, for chronicling the cruelty, stupidity, illegality, immorality, and “malicious incompetence” of  America’s White Nationalist regime. The real question: How have we as Americans and human beings allowed this outrage to happen on “our watch?”

PWS

06-30-20

Related posts:

  1. THE GIBSON REPORT – 02-10-20 – Compiled by Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group: Deporting to Death; “Orbiting” Immigrants to Laos; “Judges” Failing To Meet Deportation Quotas;  ICE Shoots Man in the Face; Using Force In the Gulag; Federal Judge Outs Regime’s Scofflaw Detainers As Regime Inflicts Arbitrary Punishment on New Yorkers for Resisting Overreach; BIA Tanks Again; EOIR Ups “Aimless Docket Reshuffling;” & Other Tales of Abuse From White Nationalist Nation!
  2. 🇺🇸THE GIBSON REPORT — 11-02-20 — Prepared By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group — Trump/Miller Bogus Public Charge Rule Enjoined Again; CBP Turns Back More Than 13,000 Unaccompanied Kids Using COVID-19 As Cover For Child Abuse; John Oliver With The Incredibly Ugly 🤮 Truth About The Trump-Miller Racist Assault On Asylum & Humanity ☠️⚰️— Other News From America Teetering On The Brink After 4-Years Of Trump Regime Misrule, Cruelty, Corruption, & Undermining Of Democracy!🏴‍☠️
  3. THE GIBSON REPORT — 10-05-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group — Federal Judge Rules Trump Not A Monarch; More Intentional Cruelty, Lies, & Threats Of Politically-Inspired Racist Attacks On Ethnic Communities From DHS; Trump Regime Dumps On Refugees & Commies; Cert. Granted In Credibility Case Apparently Seeking To Screw Refugees At Request Of SG; & Other “Interesting & Sometimes Disturbing Stuff”⚖️
  4. THE GIBSON REPORT — 11-23-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal,Assistance Group —  Court Losses, Rebukes Pile Up For Loser Scofflaw White Nationalist Regime — But Cruelty, Stupidity, & Sabotage Of Democracy Still On The Agenda For Defeated Kakistocracy!🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️👎🏻