Category: Education

NEWEST BATTALION OF THE “NEW DUE PROCESS ARMY:” I Gave The Inaugural Speech To The Tulane Immigration Law Society (“TILS”)!

TILS President Sophia I. Barba, Me, TILS Vice President Amanda M. Glenz

New Orleans, LA

February 14, 2019

Here’s a link to the “video version” of “Welcome to The Breakfast Club — Tulane Law Version:”

https://wavetulane-my.sharepoint.com/personal/pdunn_tulane_edu/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fpdunn%5Ftulane%5Fedu%2FDocuments%2FStudent%20Organizations%2FWelcome%20to%20the%20Breakfast%20Club%2DTulane%20Law%20Edition%2Emp4&parent=%2Fpersonal%2Fpdunn%5Ftulane%5Fedu%2FDocuments%2FStudent%20Organizations

And, here’s the “complete transcript of proceedings” prepared by Sophia Barba (good practice for a future stint as a Judicial Law Clerk at the U.S. Immigration Court, Sophia):

Transcription Tulane Law 2019

Congratulations again to Sophia, Amanda, and the other wonderful members of the TILS.  Honored to have you join the NDPA. Also thanks to Professor Mary Yanik and my good friend and former Georgetown Law colleague Professor Laila Hlass for being the “faculty support” for TILS.  And, of course, it was a singular honor to have been your inaugural speaker.

PWS

02-28-19

Related posts:

  1. PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP — PROFESSOR LAILA HLASS @ TULANE LAW TAKES ON “GUILT BY ASSOCIATION” AND “IMPLICIT BIAS “ IN IMMIGRATION ADJUDICATIONS INVOLVING GANG ALLEGATIONS!
  2. LET THE IMMIGRATION JUDGES SPEAK! — What Kind Of “Court System” Muzzles Judges, Shuns Educational Dialogue? 
  3. JUSTICE PREVAILS AGAIN IN IMMIGRATION COURTS EVEN IN THE “POST-A-B-“ ERA — Outstanding Analysis By Judge Eileen Trujillo Of The U.S. Immigration Court In Denver, CO, Recognizes “Women In Mexico” As PSG, Finds Nexus, Grants Asylum, Distinguishes A-B-
  4. ⚖️👩🏽‍⚖️ MORE NDPA CLE: Ellsberg, Harris, Schmidt, Among Headliners @ Inaugural Fourth Circuit Asylum Law Conference @ William & Mary Law on March 11!

THE GIBSON REPORT — 02-25-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, New York Legal Assistance Group

THE GIBSON REPORT — 02-25-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, New York Legal Assistance Group

TOP UPDATES

 

Homeland Security Regional Compact Plan

DHS: On February 20, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen met Northern Triangle security ministers in San Salvador, El Salvador to discuss the development of a “regional compact” and action plan aimed at addressing the ongoing humanitarian and security crisis of irregular migration and the formation of migrant caravans. See also Homeland Security Regional Compact Plan Won’t Address Root Causes of Refugee Crisis.

The Demographics of Detention: Immigration Enforcement in NYC Under Trump

NYC Comptroller:  The data clearly show that immigration enforcement actions have increased under the Trump Administration… Chinese immigrants make up the largest nationality of New York City immigrants with immigration court proceedings, with over 10,000 immigration cases (21 percent of cases) begun since FY 2016. Immigrants from India comprise roughly ten percent of all cases, while immigrants from Ecuador account for about 7 percent of cases and immigrants from Bangladesh for about 8 percent of cases.

 

Trump Admin Weighs Shielding Venezuelan Migrants From Deportation

DailyBeast: Team Trump moved to end ‘Temporary Protected Status’ for people from half a dozen countries. Now there’s debate about extending it to Venezuelans—and the pushback has begun.

 

EOIR Rules Are Biased Against Immigration Attys, AILA Says

Law360 reports on a letter sent by AILA Executive Director Ben Johnson and AILA President Anastasia Tonello to EOIR Director James McHenry expressing concerns that a memo he issued “perpetuated” the “continued imbalance in the treatment of counsel” appearing in immigration courts. AILA Doc. No. 19022001

 

Mexican Cops Do Trump’s Dirty Work Thwarting Asylum Seekers

DailyBeast: Mexico is not paying for ‘The Wall,’ but some officials are playing the U.S. administration’s game along the border, and the human cost is high.

 

Transgender woman deported from US murdered in El Salvador

WaBlade: The group looked for Camila at various hospitals and eventually learned she had been admitted to Rosales National Hospital in San Salvador, the Salvadoran capital, on Jan. 31 with multiple injuries. Camila passed away on Feb. 3.

 

ICE Is Sending Hundreds of Asylum-Seekers to a Private Prison in Mississippi

MJ: ICE’s experiment at Tallahatchie has been carried out with little transparency or oversight. Congress required ICE in 2018 to publish basic information about the jails and detention centers it uses, but the agency has kept Tallahatchie off that list.

 

Migrant Youth Go From A Children’s Shelter To Adult Detention On Their 18th Birthday

NPR: When migrant children cross the border without their parents, they’re sent to federal shelters until caseworkers can find them a good home. But everything changes when they turn 18. That’s when, in many cases, they’re handcuffed and locked up in an adult detention facility. The practice is sparking lawsuits and outrage from immigrant advocates.

 

Democrats Used To Talk About ‘Criminal Immigrants,’ So What Changed The Party?

NPR: The makeup of the Democratic Party has changed, and its base has adopted a fundamentally more progressive attitude on immigration in a relatively short time span, which poses a challenge for party leaders.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

Multiple Lawsuits Filed Against Trump’s National Emergency Declaration

AIC: The biggest challenge yet came on Monday [2/18], when a coalition of sixteen states—including California, New Mexico, and New York—brought a lawsuit in the Federal District Court in the Northern District of California. See also Tracking the legal challenges to Trump’s emergency declaration.

 

After long wait, U.S. moves forward with proposal to end work permits for spouses of H-1B visa holders

NBC: The rule change would strip employment authorization from the spouses of H-1B visa recipients who are on track for green cards to work in the United States.

 

EOIR Issues Memo on Its Strategic Caseload Reduction Plan

EOIR issued a redacted version of its strategic caseload reduction plan pursuant to an AILA FOIA request. AILA Doc. No. 19021932. See also FOIA Reveals EOIR’s Failed Plan for Fixing the Immigration Court Backlog.

 

EOIR Announces Plans to Relocate the Buffalo Immigration Court

EOIR announced it will temporarily close its Buffalo, NY, immigration court at 12:00 noon (ET) on February 20, 2019, to prepare for relocation to another floor within the building. Hearings will recommence on the third floor of the building on February 26, 2019. AILA Doc. No. 19021933

 

USCIS Contact Center Experiencing “Higher Than Normal” Wait Times

USCIS announced that its Contact Center is experiencing higher than normal wait times for callers to speak to a representative. Representatives are available from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm (ET), Monday – Friday (excluding federal holidays). USCIS encourages callers to use its online tools. AILA Doc. No. 19022531

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, February 25, 2019

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Saturday, February 23, 2019

Friday, February 22, 2019

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Monday, February 18, 2019

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

Thanks, Elizabeth!

 

PWS

02-27-19

Related posts:

  1. THE GIBSON REPORT — 02-18-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group
  2. 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
  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!🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️👎🏻

HOYA ALERT — ATTENTION GEORGETOWN LAW STUDENTS: Join Me For “Immigration Law & Policy — 2109 Version” In June – “The Most Action-Packed Two Credits Around!”

Here’s the course description:

https://curriculum.law.georgetown.edu/course-search/?keyword=LAW+037+02&srcdb=201819

This class will cover the constitutional and political framework for the U.S. Immigration System, enforcement and adjudication agencies, immigrants, nonimmigrants, removals and deportations, detention and bond, immigration hearings, judicial review, grounds for removal and inadmissibility, “crimmigration,” immigration reform, “Chevron” deference, refugee and asylum status and other international protections. It will also include reading and analyzing major immigration cases like INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421 (1987) (well-founded fear) and Matter of Kasinga, 21 I&N Dec. 357 (BIA 1996) (female genital mutilation).

Here’s last summer’s Syllabus:

ILP 2018 Syllabus-1

Experience educational stimulation, get “on top” of our most pressing national issue, bond with a great team of students, and experience the beauty and relaxed atmosphere of the Law Campus and Hotung Hall in June! Don’t wait till it’s too late!  Sign up today!

PWS

02-25-19

Related posts:

  1. JOIN THE EXPERTS FROM GEORGETOWN LAW! GET SOME MUCH-NEEDED TRUTH, FACTS, AND HONESTY ABOUT ASYLUM, REFUGEES, IMMIGRATION, DUE PROCESS, AND THE BORDER! – Join Professor Andy Schoenholtz and Michelle Brane (’94) Of The Women’s Refugee Commission @ 10 AM This Morning On Facebook!
  2. “TERRIFIC TRIO” INSPIRES STUDENTS, FIGHTS FOR IMMIGRANT JUSTICE AT UVA LAW IMMIGRATION CLINIC — PLUS EXTRA BONUS: Go Back To School This Fall — Take My “One-Lecture” Class “Basic Asylum Law for Litigators” Right Here!
  3. CALLING ALL U.S. JUDGES (ARTICLE III, U.S. IMMIGRATION JUDGES, ADMINISTRATIVE, STATE, ACTIVE, RETIRED, SENIOR), INVOLVED IN (OR WHO WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT) ASYLUM AND REFUGEE ADJUDICATION AT THIS CRITICAL JUNCTURE: Come Join Me At The America’s Conference Of The International Association Of Refugee & Migration Judges At Beautiful Georgetown Law Center In Washington, D.C. , August 1-5, 2018!
  4. ATTENTION ALL JUDGES (ACTIVE & RETIRED): THE CANADIANS ARE COMING (Along with Judges From Other Western Hemisphere & EU Countries)! – MEET, GREET, SHARE NOTES, AND LEARN ALONG WITH YOUR INTERNATIONAL COLLEAGUES – HEAR KEYNOTE SPEAKER DORIS MEISSNER, ONE OF THE “ALL TIME GREATS” OF U.S. MIGRATION LAW, & MANY OTHER “SUPERSTAR” SPEAKERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD! – THERE’S STILL TIME TO REGISTER FOR THE AMERICAS’ CHAPTER CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REFUGEE & MIGRATION JUDGES @ THE BEAUTIFUL CAMPUS OF GEORGETOWN LAW IN WASHINGTON, D.C., AUGUST 1-5, 2018!

THE GIBSON REPORT — 02-18-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

THE GIBSON REPORT — 02-18-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

TOP UPDATES

 

Presidential Proclamation on Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States

President Trump issued a presidential proclamation declaring a national emergency along the southern border. AILA Doc. No. 19021539. See also: National Emergency Declaration is Unnecessary and Irresponsible.

 

William Barr was confirmed as U.S. attorney general. Here’s what to expect on crime, immigration and marijuana.

NBC: Barr has taken uncompromising positions on immigration, and experts say they don’t expect that to change. During Barr’s first term as attorney general, from 1991 to 1993, he made it harder for asylum-seekers to enter the United States. He sent immigration officers to foreign airports to screen people before they boarded planes to America. And he blocked Haitians fleeing a 1991 coup, arranging for them to be detained at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and screened for HIV and AIDS before they could claim asylum at the U.S. border.

 

H.J.Res.31: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019

On 2/15/19, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 to fund the government through the end of FY2019. Among other things, the bill increases funding for immigration detention by at least 12% and includes $1.375 billion for 55 new miles of border fencing. AILA Doc. No. 19021470

 

Immigration groups say they won’t recommend IDNYC to clients if financial smart chip plan moves forward

DailyNews: Advocacy groups will no longer recommend that undocumented immigrants get a municipal I.D. card if the city goes forward with plans to add a financial services smart-chip to them, several said Monday.

 

More border surveillance tech could be worse for human rights than a wall

WaPo: Lacking meaningful oversight, there is essentially no limit to the ways the government could abuse this kind of data, which includes personal details like family history and health information. Spending more money on these existing surveillance programs will only increase their scope and their capacity for harm. It seems only defense contractors and big tech companies stand to profit from government contracts by helping to build a “smart wall.”

 

Importance of Nationality in Immigration Court Bond Decisions

TRAC: The chances of being granted bond at hearings before immigration judges vary markedly by nationality, as do required bond amounts. These differences among nationality groups are striking and are the focus of this report. Currently more than three out of every four individuals from India or Nepal, for example, were granted bond, while only between 11 and 15 percent of immigrants from Cuba received a favorable ruling.

 

New Report: False “Gang Allegations” Deny NY Teens’ Access to Immigration Status and Bond Services

NYIC: The New York Civil Liberties Union and the New York Immigration Coalition released a new report today documenting how allegations of gang membership, no matter how vague or flimsy, can lead to the denial of immigration relief to immigrant youth. The report finds that gang allegations are used to deny petitions for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, release on bond, and other forms of relief such as asylum, DACA and even U-visas.

 

Border Towns Are Among the Safest in the United States

AIC: . FBI data shows that border towns have statistically lower violent crime rates than other parts of the country. Former Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner David Aguilar even testified that “border communities are safer than the interior locations of each of the border states.”

 

ICE Is Sending Hundreds of Asylum-Seekers to a Private Prison in Mississippi

MJ: The closest city to Tallahatchie is Memphis, 90 miles to the north. CoreCivic, the private prison giant that runs Tallahatchie, has traditionally used the 2,672-person prison to hold criminals sent by state governments across the country facing space shortages in their own facilities. But when CoreCivic said last year that California would remove its 1,300 inmates from Tallahatchie amid an effort to end its use of out-of-state prisons, the company found a new population of inmates to make up for the shortfall: In June, it signed a contract that allows ICE and the US Marshals Service to incarcerate up to 1,350 people at the prison.

 

Immigration And The Economy

NPR: The U.S. has a big advantage when it comes to a young labor pool — its population of immigrants. David Wessel of the Brookings Institution explains why to NPR’s David Greene.

 

US Undocumented Population Continued to Fall from 2016 to 2017 and Visa Overstays Significantly Exceeded Illegal Crossings for the Seventh Consecutive Year

CMS: The US undocumented population from Mexico fell by almost 400,000 in 2017. In 2017, for the first time, the population from Mexico constituted less than one half of the total undocumented population. Since 2010, the undocumented population from Mexico has declined by 1.3 million.

 

Wait in Mexico Policy, Access to Counsel, & Crime

Chase: One of my first reactions to the remain in Mexico policy was the impact it would have on access to counsel.  I have heard disturbing first-hand reports from individuals who have traveled to Tijuana to provide legal assistance to refugees there.  When crossing back to the U.S., American citizens identified by Customs and Border Patrol officers as “activists” have been harassed by being sent to secondary inspection, where they have been questioned and, remarkably, have had the contents of their electronic devices accessed by DHS agents.

 

Being An Immigration Judge Was Their Dream. Under Trump, It Became Untenable.

BuzzFeed: While some, like Jamil, have resigned, others have retired early in large part because of the policies instituted under Trump, they said. For those remaining at the immigration court, the mood is bleak.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

Groups File Lawsuit Against Trump Policy Forcibly Returning Asylum Seekers to Mexico

CGRS: The American Civil Liberties Union, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Center for Gender & Refugee Studies filed a federal lawsuit [] challenging the Trump administration’s new policy forcing asylum seekers to return to Mexico and remain there while their cases are considered.

 

Government asks justices to resolve census citizenship case this term

SCOTUSblog: Last week the Supreme Court announced that it would no longer hear oral argument on February 19 in a dispute over evidence in a challenge to the Trump administration’s decision to bring a question about citizenship back to the 2020 census. That announcement came after a federal district court in New York barred the government from using the question. Today the federal government asked the justices to consider right away whether it can include the question, without waiting for the court of appeals to weigh in on the issue first.

 

Judge Blocks Discrimination Against Puerto Ricans, Says Federal Government Is Engaging in “Citizenship Apartheid”

Slate: In a fiery ruling, Gelpí accused the federal government of unconstitutionally discriminating against Puerto Ricans, violating their equal protection rights by withholding disability benefits owed to mainland residents who are from the island. Gelpí concluded that the Supreme Court’s recent marriage equality decision eroded the old, racist precedents, guaranteeing Puerto Ricans the full privileges of citizenship.

 

CA2 on Padilla – Doe v. US

2nd Cir.: Ineffective assistance of counsel, including during the plea-bargaining process, is a circumstance compelling the grant of a timely application for coram nobis relief… We therefore direct the district court to grant Doe’s coram nobis petition and vacate both his conviction and his plea.

 

USCIS Class Action Member Identification Notice

A class was certified in Zhang v. USCIS that includes any individual with a Form I-526 that was or will be denied on the sole basis of investing loan proceeds that were not secured by the individual’s own assets. Contact USCIS if you believe you are a potential class member. AILA Doc. No. 19021300

 

Presidential Proclamation Extending Proclamation 9822 for 90 Days

President Trump issued a proclamation extending the suspension and limitations from Proclamation 9822 for an additional 90 days. (84 FR 3665, 2/12/19) AILA Doc. No. 19020801

 

USCIS Announces Guidance on Adjudicating Spousal Petitions Involving Minors

USCIS announced the publication of guidance for its officers to consider when adjudicating spousal petitions involving minors. USCIS has also created a flagging system that sends an alert in the electronic system at the time of filing if a minor spouse or fiancé is detected. AILA Doc. No. 19021532

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, February 18, 2019

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Friday, February 15, 2019

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Monday, February 11, 2019

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

Thanks Elizabeth.

Elizabeth’s “last item” should be required reading for new AG Bill Barr, Deputy AG nominee Jeff Rosen, DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and others working on immigration policy in this Administration.

PWS

02-20-19

 

Related posts:

  1. THE GIBSON REPORT — 05-13-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group
  2. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⚖️🗽🇺🇸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!
  3. THE GIBSON REPORT FOR 12-18-17 – RECOGNIZING: The Absolutely Amazing ELIZABETH GIBSON Of The NY Legal Assistance Group and ALL She Does For Fairness, Justice, & Due Process! — MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF OUR MOST VULNERABLE!
  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!🏴‍☠️

THE GIBSON REPORT — 02-11-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

THE GIBSON REPORT — 02-11-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

TOP UPDATES

Talks Over Border Security Break Down, Imperiling Effort to Prevent Shutdown

NYT: Congressional efforts to reach a border security deal ahead of another government shutdown broke down on Sunday over Democratic demands to limit the detention of undocumented immigrants, as President Trump moved more troops to the border and prepared to rally supporters in Texas on Monday. See also Trump to make last-ditch wall pitch on U.S.-Mexico border.

 

Why the Trump admin wants more detention space for migrants and Democrats want a cap

NBC: ICE is already holding more migrants than Congress authorized. It is authorized to hold 40,000, but there were 49,057 immigrants in detention as of Feb. 6.

 

USCIS Processing Times Get Even Slower Under Trump

AIC: The average case processing time for all application types has increased 46 percent under President Trump.

 

Fact-checking President Trump’s 2019 State of the Union address

WaPo: Apprehensions of people trying to cross the southern border peaked most recently at 1.6 million in 2000 and have been in decline since, falling to just under 400,000 in fiscal 2018. The decline is partly because of technology upgrades; tougher penalties in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks; a decline in migration rates from Mexico; and a sharp increase in the number of Border Patrol officers. See also For the Last Time, Here’s the Real Link Between Immigration and Crime.

 

Groups File FOIA Request to Demand Transparency on Implementation of “Remain in Mexico” Policy

NILC: Advocacy groups are seeking information regarding the Trump administration’s recent changes to the asylum process at the southern border, which have been outlined only in vague terms so far but promise to significantly change the process as we know it.

 

Letter to Nielsen Shows Potential Catastrophic Impact of Migrant Protection Protocols

AIC: First-hand testimonies of ten asylum-seeking families attest to the violence—including rape, beatings, kidnappings, and ransom—they faced on the Mexican side of our southern border.

 

Trump’s immigration policies are benefiting smugglers and violent crime groups in Mexico

AZ: Smugglers are also increasingly shifting routes to New Mexico and Arizona, where migrants and advocacy groups can more easily help deliver migrants to U.S. authorities, Correa-Cabrera said. But the border terrain there is also more hostile, with vast deserts and mountains and farther away from major cities, she said.

 

New Mexico governor withdraws National Guard from the border, slams Trump’s ‘charade’

NBC: While Lujan Grisham ordered the withdrawal of many of the troops, she also directed troops in Hidalgo County and the surrounding southwestern areas to remain in place. Those troops will continue to “assist with the ongoing humanitarian needs of communities there, who have seen large groups of families, women and children crossing over the border in the remote Antelope Wells area in recent months,” she said.

 

The largest-ever U.S. fentanyl bust came at a legal entry point. That shouldn’t come as a surprise.

WaPo: President Trump has repeated time and again a border wall will prevent illegal drugs from being trafficked into the United States. The Washington Post’s fact-checking team has previously debunked these claims and determined Trump has repeated some version of them at least 71 times.

 

New York bill targets workplace immigration discrimination

StarTrib: Attorney General Letitia James is proposing legislation to sharpen the language of an existing law, which bars employers from firing, threatening, penalizing or otherwise discriminating against workers who report or blow the whistle on wage violations.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

BIA Reopens Proceedings Sua Sponte for TPS Holder to Adjust Status

Unpublished BIA decision reopens proceeding sua sponte to let respondent with TPS adjust status under Ramirez v. Brown, 852 F.3d 954 (9th Cir. 2017). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Pineda, 2/23/18) AILA Doc. No. 19020802

 

BIA Holds California Child Abuse Statute Not a CIMT

Unpublished BIA decision holds that child abuse under Cal. Penal Code 273a(a) is not a CIMT because it only requires a mens rea of negligence and can be violated by conduct that is believed in good faith to be in the child’s best interest. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Torres, 2/22/18) AILA Doc. No. 19020630

 

BIA Rejects DHS Request to Overrule Matter of Cota

Unpublished BIA decision rejects DHS request that it overrule Matter of Cota, 23 I&N Dec. 849 (BIA 2005), over dissent of Member Garry Malphrus. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Madrigal, 2/22/18) AILA Doc. No. 19020632

 

BIA Declines to Consider Interlocutory DHS Appeal Challenging Three-Month Continuance

Unpublished BIA decision declines to consider interlocutory DHS appeal of decision continuing proceedings from November 2017 to February 2018. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Concha, 2/16/18) AILA Doc. No. 19020540

 

BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Because Attorney Failed to Update Address

Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order because hearing notice was mailed to old address that attorney failed to update after moving offices. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Liu, 2/12/18) AILA Doc. No. 19020438

 

BIA Equitably Tolls 30-Day Appeal Deadline

Unpublished BIA decision equitably tolls deadline to file appeal in light of ineffective assistance by prior counsel in failing to pursue asylum application. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of S-L-H-O-, 2/12/18) AILA Doc. No. 19020439

 

BIA Finds Respondent Eligible to Adjust Status Under INA §245(i)

Unpublished BIA decision finds respondent eligible to adjust status under INA §245(i), stating that an applicant need only be the beneficiary of either a labor certification or a visa petition filed on or before April 30, 2001. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Dominguez, 2/13/18) AILA Doc. No. 19020532

 

BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Because Hearing Notice Omitted “In Care Of”

Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order because address on hearing notice did not include “in care of” notation listed on respondent’s change of address form. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Mejia-Flores, 2/15/18) AILA Doc. No. 19020533

 

BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order for Respondent Whose Car Broke Down En Route to Hearing

Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order under totality of the circumstances against respondent who had appeared at 15 prior hearings and whose car broke down en route to his final hearing. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Gudiel, 2/16/18) AILA Doc. No. 19020504

 

BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Because NTA Did Not Specify Immigration Court

Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order because NTA did not specify the particular immigration court at which the respondent was required to appear. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ramos, 2/9/18) AILA Doc. No. 19020434

 

BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Because Attorney Failed to Notify Respondent of Hearing

Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order where attorney who received hearing notice conceded that he failed to notify the respondent of the hearing. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Jiminez, 3/1/18) AILA Doc. No. 19021104

 

BIA Dismisses DHS Appeal as Moot Following Issuance of Immigrant Visa

Unpublished BIA decision dismisses as moot a DHS appeal challenging the termination of proceedings following approval of a provisional unlawful presence waiver because the respondent was issued an immigrant visa while the appeal was pending. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Arroyo, 3/5/18) AILA Doc. No. 19021106

 

BIA Holds Possession of Drug Paraphernalia in Arizona Is Not a Controlled Substance Offense

Unpublished BIA decision holds that possession of drug paraphernalia under Ariz. Rev. Stat. 13-3415(A) is not a controlled substance offense because Arizona’s drug schedules contain substances not listed on the federal schedule. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Arreaza-Oliva, 2/28/18) AILA Doc. No. 19020803

 

CA1 Upholds BIA Finding That Untimely MTR Was Not Amenable to Equitable Tolling for Failure to Diligently Pursue Relief

The court affirmed petitioner failed to exercise the due diligence necessary to equitably toll MTR; found evidence he was on notice of possible ineffective assistance claim prior to, and after, removal order, yet waited nearly five years to file MTR. (Medina v. Whitaker, 1/22/19) AILA Doc. No. 19021105

 

CA1 Holds Persecutor Bar Applies Even If Applicant Lacked Personal Motive When Participating in Persecution

The court upheld reversal of NACARA cancellation, finding persecutor bar does not require an assistant share persecutors’ motive; bar applies to one who knowingly aided persecution based on protected ground, regardless of whether they held “illicit motive.” (Alvarado v. Whitaker, 1/24/19) AILA Doc. No. 19020836

 

CA1 Finds Failure to Demonstrate Past Persecution or Fear of Future Persecution Based on Any Protected Ground

The court affirmed petitioner only raised “wealthy returning Guatemalans” as protected ground, which precedent says is not PSG; failed to raise family status as potential protected ground; and failed to establish any fear of torture for CAT remedy. (Batres Agustin v. Whitaker, 1/25/19) AILA Doc. No. 19020841

 

CA1 Upholds BIA Denial of MTR for Failure to Show Material Change in Country Conditions for Asylum

The court found gang and cartel violence in Mexico between 2012 and 2018 had not materially changed; rather, gang/cartel violence was a persistent problem and one that petitioner failed to prove would impact her as an “imputed American citizen.” (Garcia-Aguilar v. Whitaker, 1/16/19) AILA Doc. No. 19020535

 

CA1 Upholds BIA Determination of Untimely MTR, Denies Jurisdiction to Review BIA Decision to Not Exercise Sua Sponte Authority to Reopen

The court affirmed I-130 filed after removal order was not statutory exception to deadline, nor was it extraordinary circumstance to trigger equitable tolling; CA6 also declined to decide if §242(a)(2)(D) confers jurisdiction in constitutional-claim context. (Gyamfi v. Whitaker, 1/10/19) AILA Doc. No. 19020536

 

CA4 Upholds BIA Dismissal of Appeal from Withholding Denial for Lack of Nexus Due to Alleged Protected Ground

The court did not reach whether harm constituted persecution or petitioner was member of proposed PSG (related to disabled family member) because it affirmed no nexus; rather, evidence showed rejection of gang membership triggered harassment. (Cortez-Mendez v. Whitaker, 1/7/19) AILA Doc. No. 19020702

 

CA5 Upholds BIA Denial of Untimely Filed MTR, Finds No Relevant Exceptions

The court held motion to reopen denial based on ambiguous record of mailing address was not abuse of discretion; no jurisdiction to review changed country conditions as it’s question of fact; and no due process violation because no liberty interest exists in MTR. (Mejia v. Whitaker, 1/16/19) AILA Doc. No. 19020805

 

CA5 Holds BIA’s Adverse Credibility Determination Supported by Explicitly Considered and Substantial Evidence

The court held BIA did not err in relying on inconsistencies between testimony, application, and affidavits; nor did it err in determining that corroborating documentary evidence was reiterative and failed to resolve the inconsistencies within main narrative. (Ghotra v. Whitaker, 1/4/19) AILA Doc. No. 19020804

 

CA9 Reverses, Vacates EAJA Award that Disallowed Fees on Unreached Claims, Remands to Redetermine Fees and Government’s Bad Faith Actions

The court held district court erred in finding unreached claims were “unsuccessful”; per Hensley, they all arose from same course of conduct, were related, and recoverable; held agency conduct and litigation be considered in totality to determine bad faith. (Ibrahim v. DHS, 1/2/19) AILA Doc. No. 19020833

 

CA9 Upholds BIA Denials of Asylum and Withholding, Affirms No Duress or De Minimus Exceptions to Material Support Bar

The court held Annachamy foreclosed duress argument, and, thus, was not colorable claim for jurisdiction over otherwise unreviewable determination; also held plain text of material support bar unambiguously contained no exception for de minimus funds. (Rayamajhi v. Whitaker, 1/15/19) AILA Doc. No. 19020832

 

CA11 Upholds Denial for Failure to Show Membership in a Cognizable Social Group

The court affirmed—whether under Chevron or de novo—that “Mexican citizens targeted by criminal groups because they have been in the US and they have families in the US” was not sufficiently particular nor distinct to be PSG; it also found no nexus. (Perez-Zenteno v. Att’y Gen., 1/25/19) AILA Doc. No. 19021107

 

CA11 Remands to BIA to Determine Depth of IJ’s Inquiry Into Voluntariness in Ineffective Assistance Claim

The court found petitioner failed to order transcript, and held it could rely on IJ’s record reconstruction; here, record was inadequately memorialized, so CA11 determined it could be incomplete and remanded to determine the scope of the recreation. (Flores-Panameno v. Att’y Gen., 1/22/19) AILA Doc. No. 19020537

 

ICE Announces Indictment of Eight Individuals for Exploiting Student Visa System

ICE reports eight individuals were indicted and arrested for conspiracy to commit visa fraud and harboring foreign nationals for profit as part of an undercover operation involving a private university in Detroit that was operated by ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents. AILA Doc. No. 19013108

 

CBP Officer Involved in Shooting at Port of Nogales, DeConcini Crossing

CBP announced that an officer was involved in a shooting on 2/7/19 and the driver of the truck involved sustained a gunshot wound. CBP officers were not injured. The driver, a U.S. citizen, is in critical condition. AILA Doc. No. 19021101

 

USCIS 30-Day Extension of Comment Request Period on Proposed Revisions to Form I-693

USCIS 30-day extension of a comment period originally announced at 83 FR 52228 on 10/16/18 on proposed revisions to Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record. Comments are now due 3/4/19. (84 FR 1189, 2/1/19) AILA Doc. No. 19020436

 

USCIS to Close the Moscow Field Office

USCIS will permanently close its field office in Moscow, Russia, on 3/29/19. The last day it will be open to the public and accepting applications is 2/28/19. The USCIS field office in Athens, Greece, will assume jurisdiction over immigration matters from countries previously covered by Moscow. AILA Doc. No. 19020502

 

RESOURCES

 

·         Practice Alert: Changes to the USCIS InfoPass Scheduling Process

·         DOJ, ICE Recognize International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

·         Stokeling v. United States: Supreme Court Defines “Crime of Violence”

·         “Migrant Protection Protocols”: Legal Issues Related to DHS’s Plan to Require Arriving Asylum Seekers to Wait in Mexico

·         A Constitutional Argument for an Independent Immigration Court

·         Lawful Permanent Residency 101: Procedural Overview and Visual Step-by-Step

·         Practice Alert: Update on USCIS Practice of Denying Pending Forms I-131 for Abandonment Due to International Travel

·         Matter of A-B- : Case Updates, Current Trends, and Suggested Strategies

·         NIJC on Matter Of A-B-

·         AILA ICE Liaison Committee Meeting Q&As (10/23/18)

 

EVENTS

 

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, February 11, 2019

·         From the Bookshelves: No Human Is Illegal: An Attorney on the Front Lines of the Immigration War by J. J. Mulligan Sepulveda

Sunday, February 10, 2019

·         USCIS Ombudsman Failing Responsibility

·         Evangelical Pastor: Immigration is Biblical

·         WaPo Covers Congressmen’s Immigration Poster Wars

·         The Advantage of Immigrant Actors?

·         Immigration Article of the Day: Driver’s Licenses for All? Racialized Illegality and the Implementation of Progressive Immigration Policy in California by Laura E. Enriquez, Daisy Vazquez , and S. Karthick Ramakrishnan

Saturday, February 9, 2019

·         FindHello: New App Seeks to Provide Resources to Immigrants, Asylees, Refugees

·         Immigration Article of the Day: Dreams Deterred: The Collateral Consequences of Localized Immigration Policies on Undocumented Latinos in Colorado by Lisa M. Martinez and Debora M. Ortega

·         At the Movies: The Long Ride, a documentary

Friday, February 8, 2019

·         Your Playlist: Malinda Kathleen Reese

Thursday, February 7, 2019

·         Immigration Article of the Day: Rights Disappear When US Policy Engages Children As Weapons of Deterrence by Craig B. Mousin

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

·         Career Opportunity: University of California Immigrant Legal Services Center: UC San Diego Staff Attorney Position

·         Your Playlist: The Killers

·         President Trump Delivers State of the Union, Touts Border Wall

·         From the Bookshelves: The Age of Walls: How Barriers Between Nations are Changing Our World by Tim Marshall

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

·         From the Bookshelves: Deported Americans: Life after Deportation to Mexico by Beth C. Caldwell

Monday, February 4, 2019

·         Government Argues Family Reunification Would Be “Traumatic”

·         The Trump immigration plan? Keep whites in U.S. majority

·         From the Bookshelves: Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together Hardcover by Andrew Selee

·         Shoba Wadhia on the Two Year Anniversary of the Travel Ban

 

 

If you would like to be added to the Weekly Briefing distribution list, please email egibson@nylag.org.

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

As always, thanks Elizabeth, for all you do!

PWS

02-12-19

Related posts:

  1. THE GIBSON REPORT — 04-09-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Project — Why Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan Should End Up In Jail If He Follows Trump’s Unlawful & Unconstitutional Plans!
  2. BIA SEEKS TO REPEAL CAT BY MISINTERPRETATION; MUSALO’S FACT FINDING MISSION TO EL SALVADOR SHOWS MALICIOUS ABSURDITY OF REGIME’S BOGUS “SAFE THIRD COUNTRY” ASSAULT ON HUMAN RIGHTS; 9th & 11th CIRCUITS CONTINUE TO TANK ON THE RULE OF LAW; & OTHER LEGAL NEWS ABOUT THE WHITE NATIONALIST REGIME & THE RESISTANCE — The Gibson Report — 12-10-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group
  3. A VERY TRUMPY CHRISTMAS:  PERVERTING ASYLUM REGS; USING VULNERABLE KIDS AS BAIT; ORBITING REFUGEES TO DEADLY ASYLUM-FREE ZONES; SCREWING WITH LEGAL IMMIGRANTS; DEATH CAMPS; STAR CHAMBERS; MORE PROSECUTORS AS JUDGES; & OTHER “GIFTS” FROM THE REGIME & ITS ARTICLE III JUDICIAL ENABLERS — Get The “Holiday Horror Update” On All Of America’s Human Rights Abuses & Gratuitous Cruelty From The Gibson Report 12-23-19 
  4. BIA’S “GONZO HIRING PLAN” & OTHER TALES FROM THE TRUMP REGIME TWILIGHT ZONE – The Gibson Report – 01-20-21 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

HON. JEFFREY S. CHASE: The Drama Of Immigration Court!

Feb 10 All The World’s A Stage (including the 2d Cir.!)

“How did we get here?  How the hell…

Pan left – close on the steeple of the church.”

  • Jonathan Larson, “Halloween,” from Rent

The above lines popped into my head as I sat in an ice-cold dressing room in the basement of Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village just prior to curtain for the final performance of the world premiere run of Waterwell’s play The Courtroom.  I was performing the role of the judge in the final scene who conducts a naturalization ceremony in which the journey of the protagonist, Elizabeth Keathley, through the immigration system ends with her becoming a U.S. citizen.  The castwas comprised of stars of stage and screen, including a Tony Award winner, and a Tony nominee and Obie, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle winner.  “How did I get here?”

The Courtroomis the result of the inspired vision of Waterwell’s co-founder, Arian Moayed, himself a Tony-nominated Broadway actor who currently plays Stewie on the HBO hit Succession.  A civic-minded theater company, Waterwell has staged musicals written during WW II aboard The Intrepid with a cast of actors and veterans, and a bilingual Farsi-English production of Hamlet set in 1918 Tehran.  (Waterwell also runs an incredible educational program with New York City High School students, and its film division produces the Emmy-nominated web series The Accidental Wolf.)

An immigrant himself, Arian was moved by his own family history to respond to the present immigration climate, and took the unorthodox approach of seeking out actual immigration court transcripts to serve as the script.  The production’s wonderful associate producer, Madelyn Murphy, quickly connected with Chicago immigration attorney Richard Hanus. He suggested the case of Elizabeth Keathley, whose path to a green card based on her marriage to a U.S. citizen was put in jeopardy over an innocent mistake regarding voter registration while applying for a driver’s license.   Years later, Elizabeth prevailed on appeal to the 7th Cir. Court of Appeals in Keathley v. Holder, when Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook was persuaded by Hanus’s argument that the criminal common-law defense of entrapment by estoppel should apply in the immigration law context.

The script for the first act of The Courtroomis the verbatim transcript of Ms. Keathley’s immigration court proceedings in 2008.  The script for the second act is the verbatim oral argument before the 7th Cir. and the panel’s written decision.  So instead of a piece written by a playwright seeking to make a statement about our immigration system, one case plucked from that system was allowed to speak for itself.  I had the pleasure of attending the first table read-through at Waterwell’s Manhattan offices. I remember Arian asking “Will this work as drama?” but he had a strong feeling that it would, and his instincts proved right.

What I found compelling about the case was that everyone involved in the immigration court hearing was respectful, professional, and thoughtful.  After witnessing the complete immigration court hearing, the audience does not feel animosity towards the judge or ICE attorney. Nevertheless, the wrong result was reached.  To me, an important theme is that of faith in an imperfect system – and not only the faith of the protagonist and her loving husband who are unexpectedly caught in a system they don’t understand, or of the brilliant lawyer who perseveres knowing that the correctness of his argument is no guarantee of a satisfying outcome.  It also speaks to the faith that our justice system requires from society, a point I touched on in my stage remarks.

Waterwell’s managing director, Adam Frank, came up with the idea for a third act portraying Elizabeth’s naturalization ceremony.  Adam told me the idea was inspired by his hearing Arian speak emotionally about his own naturalization, an experience that native-born Americans never have.  So in the last act, the entire audience is naturalized. The role of the judge in that last scene was played by actual judges. My fellow former immigration judge, Betty Lamb, sitting immigration judge Mimi Tsankov, Magistrate Judge Sanket J. Bulsara of the Eastern District of New York, and myself took turns playing the role.  And each of us were allowed to write our own remarks following the oath. This imbued each performance with a personalized view of the process in the words of actual judges who have performed these ceremonies in real life. My remarks are copied below.

I was first invited to perform at one of the two performances held inside the main courtroom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse in lower Manhattan.  (Other performances were held at Fordham Law School, St. Mark’s Church in the East Village, and Judson Church). For the courthouse performances, audience members had to have their names on a list, go through security, and check their cell phones at the door.  I still can’t believe that I was fortunate enough to perform on the stage of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, a once in a lifetime experience. The courtroom held an energy unlike any of the other venues. The setting created the sense of watching an actual hearing in a real courtroom, without the usual sense of separation when sitting in the audience watching a play on a stage.  As one of the actors pointed out, in the courtroom performances, when he read the line “please rise,” the whole audience rose to its feet without hesitation.

Ruthie Ann Miles, Kathleen Chalfant, Happy Anderson, Kristin Villanueva, Linda Powell, Michael Braun, Michael Bryan French, Mick Hilgers, and Hanna Cheek comprised the brilliant cast.  Lee Sunday Evans’ inspired direction had to contend not only with the unorthodox nature of the script, but with the constantly changing layouts and acoustics over the four different venues.  In the hands of these outstanding professionals, it all worked beautifully.

The real-life Keathleys and Richard Hanus traveled to New York and attended two of the performances, sitting in the audience just a few rows behind the actors portraying them.

I was left in awe of the talent and dedication of all involved; it was also without exception the warmest, kindest group of individuals I have ever had the privilege to be involved with.  Thanks to all of them for briefly welcoming me into their world.
Hereis a link to a New York Times’ article about the play.

My remarks from the naturalization ceremony:

“It is my great honor and pleasure to congratulate you all and address you for the first time as fellow citizens of the United States.  Performing these ceremonies is undoubtedly the best part of my job. Judges have a number of powers, but none is greater or more humbling than the act we just performed together.  Just a few minutes ago, you were citizens of many different countries. But by raising your hands and repeating an oath, you all instantly, almost magically, became citizens of the United States.  To fully comprehend the significance of this, think back to the first time you ever heard of this country – maybe from a book or in a movie, or through a family friend or relative who was visiting from America.   Imagine if you were told at that moment that you would be standing here today as an American citizen. Hopefully, that memory will capture the wonder of this great ceremony.

For some of you, the path to U.S. citizenship may have been short and without incident; others might have traveled a longer, more difficult road to arrive here today. Regardless, you should all be congratulated on reaching this most important milestone.  

You should not feel a sense of loss today.  American citizenship does not erase your past; to the contrary, it simply adds a new dimension to who you already are.  We are a country of hyphenated Americans. Whether we are Mexican-American, African-American, Iranian-American, or Filipino-American, we should all wear our heritage as a source of pride, as the culture, thoughts and traditions that we bring to the American experience makes all of us richer.

There are of course responsibilities that come with citizenship.  I’m going to mention two such responsibilities today. First, you have the responsibility to perform jury duty if called upon to do so.  In a democracy, faith in our judicial institutions is paramount. However, our courts will not always reach the right result. But society will abide by judicial outcomes that they disagree with if they believe that the result was reached impartially by people who were genuinely trying to get it right.  Abiding by judicial decisions is a key to democracy. It is what prevents angry mobs from taking justice into their own hands. In the words of Balzac, “to distrust the judiciary marks the beginning of the end of society.” To keep this public trust, we must all try our best every day to get it right. Your participation in this system as part of a jury of one’s peers, and your fairness in trying to reach the correct result under the law is crucial to this process.

The other responsibility I want to mention today is the responsibility to vote.  As a U.S. citizen, your vote counts the same as that of anyone else, no matter how rich or powerful they may be.  You should exercise that right by voting responsibly and often. No election is too small for you to exercise your right to vote.  As Abraham Lincoln famously said in his Gettysburg Address, this is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. As of today, you all now share the responsibility for ensuring that those words remain true.

Once again, congratulations!”

Copyright 2019 Jeffrey S. Chase.  All rights reserved.

 

JEFF CHASE

 

Jeffrey S. Chase is an immigration lawyer in New York City.  Jeffrey is a former Immigration Judge, senior legal advisor at the Board of Immigration Appeals, and volunteer staff attorney at Human Rights First.  He is a past recipient of AILA’s annual Pro Bono Award, and previously chaired AILA’s Asylum Reform Task Force.

 

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Thanks, Jeffrey.  I’m speaking with Adam Frank tomorrow about how we might use this production as a teaching vehicle in a number of contexts!

 

I always said that being an immigration was “50% scholar, 50% performing artist.”

 

And, congrats to “Our Gang” member, retired Immigration Judge Betty Lamb on making her stage debut!

Watch the “trailer/teaser” for “The Courtroom” here:

http://waterwell.org/watch-the-courtroom-trailer/

PWS

02-11-19

 

 

Related posts:

  1. TIME FOR SOME GOOD NEWS: Waterwell’s Immigration Court Drama “The Courtroom,” Featuring Roles By Some “Judges Of The Roundtable,” Makes NY Times “Best Theater of 2019” List! — “[W]e citizens are on trial, too. What kind of a nation are we? How cruel have we permitted ourselves to be?”
  2. JUST “OFF BROADWAY,” BUT REACHING THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF AMERICA – Waterwell’s “The Courtroom” & “The Flores Exhibits” Paint a Chilling Picture Of Justice That All Americans Should See!  — Retired Immigration Judges & Pro Bono Advocates Join “A-List” Actors In Giving Human Voices To The Dispossessed Struggling For Their Lives In A Badly Broken & Dysfunctional System That All too Often Leaves Humanity Behind As It Mindlessly Grinds Down Lives!
  3. HON. JEFFREY S. CHASE BLOG PRESENTS “THE FLORES EXHIBITS” – Truth, No Matter How Terrible & Disturbing, Is The Best Antidote To Notorious Human Rights Abuser “Big Mac With Lies” & His Truly Despicable Knowingly False Narratives & Immoral Actions! – “At this time when our nation is led by scoundrels, we are in need of heroes.”
  4. LEE SUNDAY EVANS @ WATERWELL: “The Power of Transcripts”— “It wasn’t hard to recognize the power of each individual story, and the patterns revealed when reading two, three, ten testimonies were a disturbing depiction of how the protections outlined in the Flores Settlement Agreement (FSA) were being violated.”

THE GIBSON REPORT 02-04-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

THE GIBSON REPORT 02-04-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

TOP UPDATES

 

USCIS Processing Delays Have Reached Crisis Levels Under the Trump Administration

AILA’s analysis of USCIS data reveals crisis-level delays in its processing of applications and petitions for immigration benefits under the Trump administration. This brief examines how current USCIS policies lengthen the delays and what steps USCIS and Congress can take to remedy this crisis. AILA Doc. No. 19012834

 

ICE told hundreds of immigrants to show up to court Thursday — for many, those hearings are fake

CBS: ICE is required to include court dates with court notices, per a Supreme Court decision last summer, but most don’t actually reflect scheduled hearings. The American Immigration Lawyers Association issued a “practice alert” on Tuesday evening, warning members “the next upcoming date on NTAs that appears to be fake is this Thursday.”

 

Immigration Court Backlog Surpasses One Million Cases

TRAC: The Immigration Court backlog has jumped by 225,846 cases since the end of January 2017 when President Trump took office. This represents an overall growth rate of 49 percent since the beginning of FY 2017.

 

Retired judge: Shut down this immigrant detention center

Houston Chronicle: Lumpkin has fewer than 1,200 locals plus up to 1,900 men delivered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Stewart from across the country, including Texas. The town has just one private immigration lawyer.

 

Prisons Across The U.S. Are Quietly Building Databases Of Incarcerated People’s Voice Prints

Intercept: In New York and other states across the country, authorities are acquiring technology to extract and digitize the voices of incarcerated people into unique biometric signatures, known as voice prints. Prison authorities have quietly enrolled hundreds of thousands of incarcerated people’s voice prints into large-scale biometric databases. Computer algorithms then draw on these databases to identify the voices taking part in a call and to search for other calls in which the voices of interest are detected. Some programs, like New York’s, even analyze the voices of call recipients outside prisons to track which outsiders speak to multiple prisoners regularly.

 

Immigrant rights attorneys and journalists denied entry into Mexico

LA Times: Two U.S. immigrant rights attorneys and two journalists who have worked closely with members of a migrant caravan in Tijuana said they had been denied entry into Mexico in recent days after their passports were flagged with alerts by an unknown government.

 

Migrants Say They Pay For Inclusion On ‘La Lista’ To Make Border Crossing

Appeal: Migrants near Brownsville, Texas say that if they don’t bribe Mexican officials they’re stuck at the bottom of a list of people seeking refuge in the U.S. via international bridges

 

‘A watershed moment’: Trump faces crossroads amid mounting threats on all sides

WaPo: Senate Republicans also are overwhelmingly resistant to declaring a national emergency, according to two senior GOP aides. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) privately cautioned Trump last week that doing so could divide the GOP and told the president that Congress might pass a resolution disapproving an emergency declaration.

 

ICE Failed to Hold Detention Center Contractors Accountable, Report Finds

NPR: The report detailed several of the most egregious cases, including contractors failing to notify ICE of sexual assaults and employee misconduct, using tear gas instead of approved pepper spray, and commingling detainees with serious criminal histories with those who might be at risk of sexual assault.

 

India Protests U.S. Detention of Students in Fake-University Sting

NYT: The American authorities said this past week that they had indicted eight people accused of exploiting the country’s student visa system. They were said to have helped foreign nationals illegally remain in the United States by enrolling them into the University of Farmington in Farmington Hills, Mich., which billed itself as a “nationally accredited business and STEM institution” with an innovative curriculum, flexible class schedules and a diverse student body. But the private university was being secretly operated by agents of the Department of Homeland Security to expose immigration fraud, according to federal prosecutors who announced charges in the case.

 

Federal prosecutors unseal indictments naming 19 people linked to Chinese ‘birth tourism’ schemes that helped thousands of aliens give birth in US to secure birthright citizenship for their children

USCIS: The indictments charge operators and clients of three “maternity house” or “birthing house” schemes that were dismantled in March 2015 when federal agents executed 35 search warrants, which resulted from international undercover operations.

 

Two young adults infiltrated an immigration detention center in Florida. This Sundance film shows what they found

Deseret News: In 2012, Saavedra and Martinez, two young adults in their early 20s, decided to turn themselves in to authorities to get inside the Broward Transitional Center, a for-profit immigration detention facility in Florida that houses 600 men and 100 women.

 

ICE confirms it is force-feeding detainees on hunger strike

WaPo: Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have confirmed they are force-feeding nine detainees who initiated a hunger strike at an El Paso detention center.

 

The Travel Ban at Two: Rocky Implementation Settles into Deeper Impacts

MPI: Monthly immigrant visa issuances to nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen were down an average of 72 percent between FY 2017 and 2018 (see Figure 1).

 

OCA Mulls Rule Requiring Judicial Warrants for ICE Arrests in NY Courts

NY Law Journal: The Office of Court Administration, which oversees New York state courts, is considering making a rule that would prohibit federal immigration officers from arresting undocumented immigrants in state courthouses without a warrant signed by a federal judge.

 

Government Quietly Increases ICE Detention to 48,000 Beds During the Shutdown
AIC: ICE drastically expanded its network of immigration jails in the last month by a startling 7 percent.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

Defense Department engaged in illegal discrimination against some soldiers, district court finds

ABA: A Seattle federal district court ruled Thursday that the federal government illegally discriminated against naturalized U.S. citizens in the U.S. Army by requiring security checks on them every two years, without individualized suspicion.

 

Acting AG Refers BIA Case to Himself and Invites Amicus Regarding “Particular Social Group” Membership

The Acting AG referred a BIA decision to himself for review whether an individual may establish persecution on account of membership in a “particular social group” based on membership in a family unit. Amicus briefs are due by 2/25/19. Matter of L-E-A-, 27 I&N Dec. 494 (A.G. 2018) AILA Doc. No. 18120432

 

Acting AG Refers BIA Case to Himself and Invites Amicus Regarding Cancellation of Removal and Impact of Multiple DUIs

The Acting AG to review cancellation of removal eligibility and the impact of multiple convictions for driving while intoxicated or driving under the influence with regards to “good moral character.” Amicus briefs due by 2/25/19. Matter of Castillo-Perez, 27 I&N Dec. 495 (A.G. 2018) AILA Doc. No. 18120437

 

BIA Terminates Proceedings Over DHS Opposition Following Approval of U Visa

Unpublished BIA decision reopens and terminates proceedings sua sponte over DHS opposition following approval of respondent’s application for U nonimmigrant status. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Singh, 1/18/18) AILA Doc. No. 19012838

 

BIA Orders Further Consideration of Request for Continuance for U Visa Applicant

Unpublished BIA decision remands for further consideration of request for continuance pending U visa application adjudication where respondent was no longer detained and IJ didn’t consider likelihood application would be granted. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Munoz-Pocasangre, 1/19/18) AILA Doc. No. 19012841

 

BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Because NTA Did Not Specify Immigration Court

Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order because NTA did not specify the particular immigration court at which the respondent was required to appear. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ramos, 2/9/18) AILA Doc. No. 19020434

 

BIA Vacates Bond Decision Based on Allegations in Police Report

Unpublished BIA decision reverses IJ determination that respondent was danger to community, stating that it accords little weight to conduct described in police documents that is neither prosecuted criminally nor independently corroborated. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of A-B-L-, 1/23/18) AILA Doc. No. 19012940

 

BIA Finds DHS Failed to Properly Authenticate Form I-213

Unpublished BIA decision vacates finding that respondent was present without being admitted or paroled because DHS failed to properly authenticate the Form I-213 used to establish alienage. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Reyes, 1/26/18) AILA Doc. No. 19013033

 

BIA Finds Respondent Did Not Knowingly Waive Appeal

Unpublished BIA decision finds respondent did not knowingly waive right to appeal because IJ did not warn him failing to appeal would constitute an irrevocable waiver of the right. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Chaudhary, 1/18/18) AILA Doc. No. 19012839

 

BIA Finds LPR Who Involuntarily Reentered U.S. Without Inspection Was Not Seeking Admission

Unpublished BIA decision holds that returning LPR was not properly regarded as an applicant for admission because he was fleeing for his life from a drug cartel in Mexico when he illegally reentered the country. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of I-C-B-, 1/25/18)

 

BIA Holds Utah Sexual Battery Not a CIMT

Unpublished BIA decision holds that sexual battery under Utah Code section 76-9-702(3) is not a CIMT because it is a general intent offense for which no harm or evil intent is required. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of V-C-, 1/24/18) AILA Doc. No. 19013031

 

BIA Equitably Tolls Motion to Reopen Deadline

Unpublished BIA decision equitably tolls deadline for motion to reopen where respondent was suffering from undiagnosed medical condition while in detention and was unable to obtain record from immigration court. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of A-A-B-, 1/22/18) AILA Doc. No. 19012939

 

BIA Remands for Testimony on Amount of Loss to Victims of Fraud

Unpublished BIA decision holds that IJ should have permitted respondent to testify regarding amount of loss to the victims before finding that he had been convicted of an aggravated felony under INA §101(a)(43)(M)(i). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Mena, 2/7/18) AILA Doc. No. 19020103

 

BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Against Respondent Who Recently Gave Birth

Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order upon finding that respondent giving birth via caesarean section 10 days prior constituted exceptional circumstances for her failure to appear. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Valencia Barragan, 2/5/18) AILA Doc. No. 19020102

 

BIA Vacates Denial of Bond Hearing to Respondent Mistakenly Designated as Arriving Alien

Unpublished BIA decision reversed determination that IJ lacked jurisdiction over bond hearing where respondent was apprehended after entering country and was mistakenly designated an arriving alien on the NTA. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of A-M-Y-, 2/2/18) AILA Doc. No. 19013140

 

BIA Finds Failure to Meet Filing Deadline Constitutes Ineffective Assistance On Its Face

Unpublished BIA decision holds that prior attorney’s failure to submit application by court-imposed deadline was ineffective assistance on its face, reopening proceedings despite failure to comply with Matter of Lozada. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Cortes-Reyes, 1/26/18) AILA Doc. No. 19013139

 

BIA Reopens and Terminates Proceedings Sua Sponte Following Reduction in Drug Sentence

Unpublished BIA decision reopens and terminates proceedings sua sponte following reduction of respondent’s sentence for possession of cocaine to simple drug misdemeanor under Cal. Penal Code 1170.18(G). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Gonzalez, 2/2/18) AILA Doc. No. 19020100

 

BIA Finds Terrorizing Statute Not a CIMT

Unpublished BIA decision holds that terrorizing under Guam Code Ann. 19.60(a) is not a CIMT because the victim is not required to actually experience fear. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Eidaro, 1/19/18) AILA Doc. No. 19012938

 

CA6 Upholds Determination that Asylee Who Copied and Distributed Flyers Provided Material Support to Terrorist Organizations

The court affirmed USCIS adjustment denial and its finding that MeK and Fek between 1979 and 1981 were Iranian terrorist organizations and that copying and distributing flyers was material in that it was both “relevant” and “significant” to terrorism. (Hosseini v. Nielsen, 12/19/18) AILA Doc. No. 19012833

 

CA7 Affirms District Court Dismissal of APA and DJA Claims Based on Doctrine of Consular Nonreviewability

The court found that in citing a valid statutory basis and offering a factual predicate, a consular officer’s visa rejection was facially legitimate and bona fide; it also held that plaintiffs made no affirmative showing that officer acted in bad faith. (Yafai v. Pompeo, 1/4/19) AILA Doc. No. 19012901

 

CA9 Panel Issued Amended Decision on “Crime of Domestic Violence” Conviction

The court issued an amended decision, where the panel concluded that a class one misdemeanor domestic violence assault under Arizona Revised Statutes §§ 13-1203 and 13-3601 conviction was a “crime of domestic violence” under 8 USC §1227(a)(2)(E). (Cornejo-Villagrana v. Whitaker, 12/27/18) AILA Doc. No. 19012836

 

CA9 Upholds BIA Controlled Substance Removability Finding and Remands to Determine Continuous Presence for Cancellation Claim

The court found that the BIA correctly determined that the Travel Act is divisible and that petitioner was removable based on his conviction for a controlled substance offense and remanded for consideration of the claim for cancellation of removal. (Myers v. Sessions, 9/25/18)

 

CA9 Denies Petition for Review Citing Bermudez-Cota After NTA Didn’t Specify Time/Date

The court denied petitioner’s petition for review, holding that a NTA that does not specify the time/date vests an IJ with jurisdiction over the removal proceedings, so long as a notice specifying this information is sent to the individual in a timely manner. (Karingithi v. Whitaker, 1/28/19) AILA Doc. No. 19012972

 

CA9 Denied Petition for Review After Applying Leal I and Leal II Standard and Finding Petitioner Removable For Two CIMTs

The court held the BIA did not commit any of the raised legal errors related to In re: Leal and Leal v. Holder by concluding that the petitioner’s conviction for reckless engagement was a crime involving moral turpitude. (Olivas-Motta v. Whitaker, 12/19/18) AILA Doc. No. 19012933

 

Ohio Attorneys Sue ICE Alleging Public, Humanitarian, and Bioethical Abuse

Attorneys David Malik and Anna Markovich submitted a FOIA request asking ICE for information about the people who have been deported, ICE’s policies related to racial and ethnic profiling, and ICE’s process for determining which individuals to deport. (Malik v. ICE, 1/9/19 AILA Doc. No. 19012832

 

USCIS Announces Online Case Status Feature for Asylum Applicants

USCIS announced that applicants who have a pending affirmative asylum application with USCIS can now check the status of their applications online at uscis.gov/casestatus. It will not cover defensive asylum applicants whose cases are pending in immigration court. AILA Doc. No. 19012804

 

DHS OIG Issues Report on ICE’s Failure to Fully Use Contracting Tools to Hold Detention Facility Contractors Accountable

DHS OIG’s report found ICE doesn’t adequately hold detention facility contractors accountable to performance standards and issues waivers seeking to exempt them from complying with certain standards instead of applying financial penalties for deficient conditions. AILA Doc. No. 19020104

 

DHS Releases Policy Guidance for Implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols

CBP Releases Guidance on Migrant Protection Protocols

USCIS Releases Guidance for Implementing Section 235(b)(2)(C) of the INA and the Migrant Protection Protocols

 

EOIR Releases Addendum to LOP Cohort Analysis of Phase I: Detention Length with DHS Data

EOIR Releases Phase II Analysis of Its Legal Orientation Program Cohort

 

Announcements of ICE Enforcement Actions

ICE reports that it arrested 118 during a five-day period, from January 14-18, 2019, in New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley. AILA Doc. No. 17041232

 

HHS Annual Update of Poverty Guidelines for 2019

Health and Human Services (HHS) notice providing the annual update of the HHS poverty guidelines to account for last calendar year’s increase in prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index, effective 1/11/19. (84 FR 1167, 2/1/19) AILA Doc. No. 19020107

 

Applicants Can Now Request Certificates of Citizenship Online

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that applicants can now complete and file Form N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship, and Form N-600K, Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322 online.

 

RESOURCES

 

·         IDP is releasing a new practice advisory and issue-spotting checklist addressing conviction finality issues in light of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ August 2018 decision in Matter of J.M. Acosta.

·         Practice Alert: DHS Issuing NTAs with Fake Times and Dates

·         Practice Alert: Long-Pending I-765 and I-131 Applications at the NBC

·         AILA’s Administrative Litigation Task Force Provides Litigation Briefings

·         Ethical Considerations in Declining Representation

·         Crossing State Lines: A Practical Guide for Immigration Lawyers When Volunteering Their Services Out of State

·         Zero Protection: How U.S. Border Enforcement Harms Migrant Safety and Health

·         Matter of A-B-: Case Updates, Current Trends, and Suggested Strategies

·         Stopping Immigration Services Scams: A Tool for Advocates and Lawmakers

·         Filing DACA Applications in the Wake of Federal Court Rulings

·         Central Americans were Increasingly Winning Asylum Before President Trump Took Office

 

EVENTS

 

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, February 4, 2019

·         From the Bookshelves: Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together Hardcover by Andrew Selee

·         Shoba Wadhia on the Two Year Anniversary of the Travel Ban

Sunday, February 3, 2019

·         Race in Our Politics: A Catalog of Campaign Materials — Immigration as a Racial Dog Whistle

·         University of Farmington? ICE set up a fake university. Hundreds enrolled.

·         The Travel Ban at Two: Rocky Implementation

·         Immigrants from New Origin Countries in the United States

·         “U.S.” Rapper Facing Removal

·         Federal prosecutors unseal indictments naming 19 people linked to Chinese ‘birth tourism’ schemes

·         SCOTUS Says Government Must Give Notice of Time and Place of Immigration Court Hearings, So Government Gives Times/Places for Nonexistent Hearings. Again.

·         Super Sunday: DHS Fights Super Scammers

·         THE BIG SLOWDOWN — AILA Policy Brief: USCIS Processing Delays Have Reached Crisis Levels Under the Trump Administration

·         At the Movies: The Invisibles

Saturday, February 2, 2019

·         Amanda Frost: The revival of denaturalisation under the Trump administration

·         Trump’s Former Undocumented Housekeeper to Join Congressman as State of the Union Guest

·         From the Bookshelves: Mexico The Good Neighbor: Contracts, Betrayal and Survival in the Cold War by Soledad Quartucci

·         Al Otro Lado Legal Director Nora Phillips Denied Entry to Mexico in Apparent Retaliation for Human Rights Work

Friday, February 1, 2019

·         Immigration Article of the Day: Growing the Resistance: A Call to Action for Transactional Lawyers in the Era of Trump by Gowri Krishna

Thursday, January 31, 2019

·         Detained Migrants Being Force Fed

·         Alleged Illegal Voters in Texas are Actually Citizens

·         Immigration Article of the Day: Health Justice for Immigrants by Medha D. Makhlouf

·         No-Stop Religious Services to Avoid Deportation in the Netherlands

·         Symposium: Immigration in the Trump Era, Southwestern Law School

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

·         Border Fencing To Prevent Another Kind of Migration Altogether

·         When Spouse’s Freedom Depends on ICE Agent’s Discretion

·         From the Bookshelves: Islands of Sovereignty: Haitian Migration and the Borders of Empire by Jeffrey S. Kahn

·         U.S. Government Shutdown Worsens Immigration Court Backlog

·         How immigration could help a shrinking American labor force

·         Immigration and Civil Rights in an Era of Trump by Kevin R. Johnson

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

·         Border Patrol Openings Hard to Fill

·         Call For Papers: Emerging Immprofs @ BYU June 7 & 8

Monday, January 28, 2019

·         Desert X: Roadtripping for Large-Scale Immigration Art

·         Message to Italy: Allow Minors to Land

 

 

If you would like to be added to the Weekly Briefing distribution list, please email egibson@nylag.org.

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

Check out Elizabeth’s first four items showing how Trump’s “malicious incompetence” is destroying the U.S. immigration system and harming people in a variety of ways.

PWS

02-05-19

Related posts:

  1. THE GIBSON REPORT — 04-09-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Project — Why Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan Should End Up In Jail If He Follows Trump’s Unlawful & Unconstitutional Plans!
  2. THE GIBSON REPORT — 05-13-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group
  3. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⚖️🗽🇺🇸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!
  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!🏴‍☠️

PAUL WALDMAN @ WASHPOST: Why True Bipartisan Immigration Reform In Our National Interest Will Require “Regime Change:” “[I]t’s highly unlikely that we’ll achieve such reform, even reform most Republicans could live with, without both houses of Congress and the White House in Democratic hands. But that will happen sooner or later. Then we’ll see if we can get closer to a solution that everyone can live with over the long run.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/01/31/never-mind-wall-theres-more-important-question-we-need-answer/

Waldman writes:

As immigration policy hangs over the ongoing conflict over whether the government is going to remain open, there’s something missing from this discussion, something so fundamental that it’s quite remarkable that we all seem to have forgotten to even ask about it. The president is demanding his border wall, Democrats are fighting against him, and occasionally we bring up issues like the fate of the Dreamers and those here under Temporary Protected Status.

But what nobody asks is this: What kind of immigration system do we actually want?

Not what might happen in the next negotiation or what each side would be willing to give up, but what does each side see as the ultimate goal they’re working toward? If they could look forward ten or twenty years and say “This is where we should get to,” what would that look like?

It’s a vital question, because whatever we’re doing at the moment should be guided by our long-term goals. Once we understand what those goals are, we can think more clearly about where we should go after we get this whole shutdown ridiculousness behind us. And we all ought to be able to agree that there is some future we’re trying to arrive at, a point at which we have a system that works to our satisfaction and immigration isn’t something we’re constantly at each other’s throats about.

That may not be possible, but I’ll start with what liberals would like to see. There are certainly disagreements not just on the left generally but among immigration advocates as well, but there is a basic vision one can identify.

The first thing they want, of course, is to take the 11 million or so undocumented immigrants who are in the country now and give them a path to citizenship. That’s something even some Republicans agree with, and if you put requirements like learning English and paying back taxes on it, support becomes nearly universal.

Second, liberals would like to see an expansion of the legal immigration system, which is a consistent source of frustration and a driver of illegal immigration. When it can take decades to get approved to move to the United States, of course many people are going to opt for the illegal route, even if it can be dangerous and uncertain. If the legal immigration works, people will go through it and not around it.

And if you have a well-functioning legal system, you can make illegal immigration less attractive, with things like an E-Verify process that makes it harder to find work if you’re undocumented. There may always be some kind of black market for workers, but if you’re simultaneously offering people a legal path — both toward permanent residency and with temporary work visas for people who are looking only to make some money and then return to their home countries — it will be much smaller problem.

So in the liberal vision, we might end up with about the same number of immigrants coming into the country as we have now, it’s just that the overwhelming majority would be coming legally. We’d have security at the border, but we wouldn’t need ICE breaking down doors and tearing parents from their children’s arms. We’d have a robust system to evaluate asylum claims so we wouldn’t have to be throwing people in cages. We certainly wouldn’t pretend that one day there will be no more demand in the labor market for immigrant workers.

There are many Republicans who could be okay with that future, even if it wasn’t exactly what they wanted. But the conservative vision is complicated. For years, we heard Republican politicians say, “I’m for legal immigration. I’m against illegal immigration.” They may not usually have been advocating significant increases in legal immigration, but it’s important to remember that the current venomous hostility toward immigrants was not always the standard Republican position. Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush were both far friendlier toward immigrants than Donald Trump is.

Conservatives might disagree with this characterization, but as I see it, their ultimate goal is a system in which coming into the country illegally is utterly impossible, but levels of legal immigration don’t change much. In other words, we still have immigration, but the flow slows to a trickle. And the Trump administration is making attempts to drastically reduce legal immigration. With the president’s enthusiastic support, domestic policy adviser Stephen Miller is driving a nationalist agenda that seeks to drastically reduce the inflow of immigrants to the country and even looks for every possible means to deport both legal and undocumented immigrants, even if they’ve been living here for years or decades.

That’s a somewhat extreme position even within the Republican Party, but it does reflect a discomfort with immigration that is common on the right. It’s the cultural problem, the fact that many people just don’t like having contact with people who don’t look like them or don’t speak the same language they do or eat the same foods they do. Trump very skillfully played to that discomfort by essentially telling voters he could wind back the clock to the time when they were young, before all this disconcerting change happened. His targets were the people who say “I don’t recognize my country anymore,” and when he said he would make America great again, “great again” meant “like things were when you were young.”

That’s a demand that can never be satisfied, even if it’s only a portion of the Republican electorate that really dreams of an America where there are almost no new immigrants and most of those who are already here just disappear. Unfortunately, that portion currently not only controls the White House but exercises a veto over any attempt at comprehensive immigration reform, because the rest of the GOP is so terrified of them.

Which is why it’s highly unlikely that we’ll achieve such reform, even reform most Republicans could live with, without both houses of Congress and the White House in Democratic hands. But that will happen sooner or later. Then we’ll see if we can get closer to a solution that everyone can live with over the long run.

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

Right on, Paul!  You “nailed” it!  Pretty much what I’ve been saying on “Courtside” all along!

However, the unlikelihood of achieving “comprehensive immigration reform” in the “Age of Trump” shouldn’t prevent the parties from working together in a bipartisan manner on “smaller fixes” such as that relating to child marriage suggested by Nolan Rappaport, posted earlier this week. See https://wp.me/p8eeJm-3Hu

Progress is progress, even by “small steps.”

PWS

02-01-19

Related posts:

  1. 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!
  2. INCONVENIENT TRUTH: HALEY SWEETLAND EDWARDS @ TIME TELLS WHAT TRUMP, MILLER, COTTON, SESSIONS, & THEIR WHITE NATIONALIST GANG DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW: Human Migration Is A Powerful Force As Old As Human History; It’s A Plus For Receiving Nations; It Won’t Be Stopped By Walls, Jails, Racist Laws, Or Any Other Restrictionist Nonsense; But, It Can Be Intelligently Controlled, Channeled, Harnessed, & Used For The Benefit Of The U.S. & The Good Of The Migrants! — “But to maximize that future good, governments must act rationally to establish humane policies and adequately fund an immigration system equipped to handle an influx of newcomers.”
  3. JAMELLE BOUIE @ SLATE: TRUMP, SESSIONS, MILLER & THE GOP RESTRICTIONISTS HAVE PUT GOOD OL’ 1920S RACISM AT THE FOREFRONT OF THEIR WHITE NATIONALIST IMMIGRATION AGENDA! –“What good does it do to bring in somebody who’s illiterate in their own country, has no skills, and is going to struggle in our country and not be successful? . . . That is not what a good nation should do, and we need to get away from it.” — J. “Gonzo Apocalypto” Sessions, Attorney General of the United States of America & Unapologetic White Nationalist With A Long History Of Racism!
  4. 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.”

“VACATION WITH A PURPOSE” THIS AUGUST: COME SPEND A WEEK OF FUN AND GROUP LEARNING WITH PROFESSOR JENNIFER ESPERANZA (BELOIT COLLEGE) AND ME AT LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY’S BEAUTIFUL BJÖRKLUNDEN CAMPUS ON THE SHORES OF LAKE MICHIGAN IN BEAUTIFUL DOOR COUNTY, WI! – Register For “American Immigration” Aug. 4-9, 2019 Here!

American Immigration

A Legal, Cultural, & Historical Approach to Understanding the Complex and Controversial Issue Dominating Our National Dialogue. All Americans are products of immigration. Even Native Americans were massively affected by the waves of European, involuntary African-American, Asian, and Hispanic migration. Are we a nation of immigrants or a nation that fears immigration? Should we welcome refugees or shun them as potential terrorists? Do we favor family members or workers? Rocket scientists or maids and landscapers? Build a wall or a welcome center? Get behind some of the divisive rhetoric and enter the dialogue in this participatory class that will give you a chance to “learn and do” in a group setting. Be part of a team designing and explaining your own immigration system. Your faculty leaders will be retired U.S. Immigration Judge Paul Wickham Schmidt, currently an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law, and Professor Jennifer Esperanza of the Beloit College Anthropology Department, who will also share her compelling experiences as the daughter of immigrants. Professor Esperanza and Judge Schmidt have successfully used their unique “legal/cultural anthropological approach” in undergraduate teaching and will now offer it in a post-graduate seminar.

Paul Wickham Schmidt ’70, retired in 2016 after 13 years as a U.S. Immigration Judge at the Arlington (VA) Immigration Court. Prior to that, he was an Appellate Immigration Judge on the Board of Immigration Appeals, U.S. Department of Justice, serving as the Chairman for six years. He also practiced business immigration law as a partner at Jones Day and managing partner of the D.C. Office of Fragomen. He was Senior Executive in the “Legacy INS” under administrations of both parties. Following graduation from Lawrence, he received a J.D from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He also received the 2010 Lucia Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award from Lawrence. Currently, he is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law, writes the blog immigrationcourtside.com, and is a frequent speaker, radio, and tv commentator on current immigration issues.

Jennifer Esperanza received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from UCLA. She also holds a M.A. from UCLA and a B.A. from USC. She has been a Professor of Anthropology at Beloit College since 2008. As one of two socio-cultural anthropologists in the Department of Anthropology, her primary areas of expertise include political economy, Southeast Asia (Indonesia and the Philippines), tourism and handicrafts, language and identity, consumerism and immigration and refugee resettlement in the United States. She believes students must learn that culture cannot be properly understood without examining its economic and political contexts. In addition to authoring a number of scholarly publications, she received a Marvin Weisberg Foundation for Human Rights Faculty Research Grant in 2015, and a Mellon Foundation research grant in 2018-19.

Date:
Sunday, August 4, 2019 to Friday, August 9, 2019
Fee(s):
$925 – Double; $1,200 – Single; $465 – Commuter
Topic(s):
Law & Politics
********************************************
Come join us this summer in Door County for an exciting and unforgettable vacation and learning experience.
Paul & Jennifer
Here’s the link for registration:

Related posts:

  1. JOURNAL ON MIGRATION & HUMAN SOCIETY (“JMHS”) PUBLISHES MY TRIBUTE TO JUAN OSUNA (1963-2017): “An Overview and Critique of US Immigration and Asylum Policies in the Trump Era”
  2. MARK JOSEPH STERN @ SLATE: GONZO’S GONE! — Bigoted, Xenophobic AG Leaves Behind Disgraceful Record Of Intentional Cruelty, Vengeance, Hate, Lawlessness, & Incompetence That Will Haunt America For Many Years!
  3. PROFESSOR FITZ BRUNDAGE @ WASHPOST: Can We Regain Our Humanitarian Values In The Age Of Trump? — “We must shine a spotlight on cruel and illegal policies that undermine our national ideals and find the wisdom and the courage to do better.”
  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! 

INCONVENIENT TRUTH: HALEY SWEETLAND EDWARDS @ TIME TELLS WHAT TRUMP, MILLER, COTTON, SESSIONS, & THEIR WHITE NATIONALIST GANG DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW: Human Migration Is A Powerful Force As Old As Human History; It’s A Plus For Receiving Nations; It Won’t Be Stopped By Walls, Jails, Racist Laws, Or Any Other Restrictionist Nonsense; But, It Can Be Intelligently Controlled, Channeled, Harnessed, & Used For The Benefit Of The U.S. & The Good Of The Migrants! — “But to maximize that future good, governments must act rationally to establish humane policies and adequately fund an immigration system equipped to handle an influx of newcomers.”

http://time.com/longform/migrants/

Haley Sweetland Edwards writes in Time Magazine:

But they were willing to do whatever it took. Going back to Guatemala was simply not an option, they said. Monterroso explained that in October, their family was forced to flee after a gang threatened to murder the children if they didn’t pay an exorbitant bribe, five months’ worth of profits from their tiny juice stall. The family hid for a day and a half in their house and then sneaked away before dawn. “There is nobody that can protect us there,” Monterroso said. “We have seen in the other cases, they kill the people and kill their children.” Her voice caught. “The first thing is to have security for them,” she said of her kids, “that nothing bad happens to them.”

All told, more than 159,000 migrants filed for asylum in the U.S. in fiscal year 2018, a 274% increase over 2008. Meanwhile, the total number of apprehensions along the southern border has decreased substantially—nearly 70% since fiscal year 2000. President Donald Trump has labeled the southern border a national crisis. He refused to sign any bill funding the federal government that did not include money for construction of a wall along the frontier, triggering the longest shutdown in American history, and when Democrats refused to budge, he threatened to formally invoke emergency powers. The President says the barrier, which was the centerpiece of his election campaign, is needed to thwart a dangerous “invasion” of undocumented foreigners.

But the situation on the southern border, however the political battle in Washington plays out, will continue to frustrate this U.S. President, and likely his successors too, and not just because of continuing caravans making their way to the desert southwest. Months of reporting by TIME correspondents around the world reveal a stubborn reality: we are living today in a global society increasingly roiled by challenges that can be neither defined nor contained by physical barriers. That goes for climate change, terrorism, pandemics, nascent technologies and cyber-attacks. It also applies to one of the most significant global developments of the past quarter-century: the unprecedented explosion of global migration.

. . . .

They abandoned their homes for different reasons: tens of millions went in search of better jobs or better education or medical care, and tens of millions more had no choice. More than 5.6 million fled the war in Syria, and a million more were Rohingya, chased from their villages in Myanmar. Hundreds of thousands fled their neighborhoods in Central America and villages in sub-Saharan Africa, driven by poverty and violence. Others were displaced by catastrophic weather linked to climate change.

Taken one at a time, each is an individual, a mixture of strengths and weaknesses, hope and despair. But collectively, they represent something greater than the sum of their parts. The forces that pushed them from their homes have combined with a series of global factors that pulled them abroad: the long peace that followed the Cold War in the developed world, the accompanying expansion of international travel, liberalized policies for refugees and the relative wealth of developed countries, especially in Europe and the U.S., the No. 1 destination for migrants. The force is tidal and has not been reversed by walls, by separating children from their parents or by deploying troops. Were the world’s total population of international migrants in 2018 gathered from the places where they have sought new lives and placed under one flag, they would be its fifth largest country.

The mass movement of people has changed the world both for better and for worse. Migrants tend to be productive. Though worldwide they make up about 3% of the population, in 2015 they generated about 9% of global GDP, according to the U.N. Much of that money is wired home—$480 billion in 2017, also according to the U.N.—where the cash has immense impact. Some will pay for the passage of the next migrant, and the smartphone he or she will keep close at hand. The technology not only makes the journey more efficient and safer—smugglers identify their clients by photos on instant-messaging—but, upon arrival, allows those who left to keep in constant contact with those who remain behind, across oceans and time zones.

Yet attention of late is mostly focused on the impact on host countries. There, national leaders have grappled with a powerful irony: the ways in which they react to new migrants—tactically, politically, culturally—shape them as much as the migrants themselves do. In some countries, migrants have been welcomed by crowds at train stations. In others, images of migrants moving in miles-long caravans through Central America or spilling out of boats on Mediterranean shores were wielded to persuade native-born citizens to lock down borders, narrow social safety nets and jettison long-standing humanitarian commitments to those in need.

. . . .

The U.S., though founded by Europeans fleeing persecution, now largely reflects the will of its Chief Executive: subverting decades of asylum law and imposing a policy that separated migrant toddlers from their parents and placed children behind cyclone fencing. Trump floated the possibility of revoking birthright citizenship, characterized migrants as “stone cold criminals” and ordered 5,800 active-duty U.S. troops to reinforce the southern border. Italy refused to allow ships carrying rescued migrants to dock at its ports. Hungary passed laws to criminalize the act of helping undocumented people. Anti-immigrant leaders saw their political power grow in the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Italy and Hungary, and migration continued to be a factor in the Brexit debate in the U.K.

These political reactions fail to grapple with a hard truth: in the long run, new migration is nearly always a boon to host countries. In acting as entrepreneurs and innovators, and by providing inexpensive labor, immigrants overwhelmingly repay in long-term economic contributions what they use in short-term social services, studies show. But to maximize that future good, governments must act -rationally to establish humane policies and adequately fund an immigration system equipped to handle an influx of newcomers.

. . . .

But protocols and treaties can, at best, hope to respond to the human emotions and hard realities that drive migration. No wall, sheriff or headscarf law would have prevented Monterroso and Calderón, or Yaquelin and Albertina Contreras, or Sami Baladi and Mirey Darwich from leaving their homes. Migrants will continue to flee bombs, look for better-paying jobs and accept extraordinary risks as the price of providing a better life for their children.

The question now is whether the world can come to define the enormous population of international migrants as an opportunity. No matter when that happens, Eman Albadawi, a teacher from Syria who arrived in Anröchte, Germany, in 2015, will continue to make a habit of reading German-language children’s books to her three Syrian-born kids at night. Their German is better than hers, and they make fun of her pronunciation, but she doesn’t mind. She is proud of them. At a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric is on the rise, she tells them, “We must be brave, but we must also be successful and strong.” —With reporting by Aryn Baker/Anröchte, Germany; Melissa Chan, Julia Lull, Gina Martinez, Thea Traff/New York; Ioan Grillo/Tijuana; Abby Vesoulis/Murfreesboro, Tenn.; and Vivienne Walt/Paris •

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

I strongly encourage everyone to read Haley’s outstanding article at the link.  It is one of the best and most easily understandable explanations of a complex phenomenon that I have seen recently. As I always say, “lots of moving parts.” But Haley and her colleagues have distilled the fundamental truths concealed by this complexity. Congrats and appreciation to Haley and everyone who worked on this masterpiece!

Haley debunks and eviscerates the restrictionist, racist “fear and loathing” baloney that Trump and his White Nationalist gang peddle. The simple truth always has been and continues to be that America needs more immigration.

The only real question is whether we are going to be smart and funnel it into expanded legal and humanitarian channels or dumb like Trump and push the inevitable migration into an extra-legal system. The latter best serves neither our country nor the humans pushed into an underground existence where they can be exploited and are artificially prevented from achieving their full potential for themselves and for us. Right now, we have a mix skewed toward forcing far, far too many good folks to use the extra-legal system.

We’ll only be able to improve the situation by pushing the mix toward the legal and the humanitarian, rather than the extra-legal. That’s why it’s virtually impossible to have a rational immigration debate with folks like Trump who start with the racist-inspired fiction that migrants are a “threat” who can be deterred, punished, and diminished.

Contrary to Trump and the White Nationalists, the real immigration problems facing America are 1) how can we best integrate the millions of law-abiding and productive undocumented individuals already residing here into our society, and 2) how can we most fairly and efficiently insure that in the future individuals like them can be properly screened and come to our country through expanded humanitarian and legal channels. Until we resolve these, American will continue to founder with immigration and fail to maximize its many benefits. That’s bad for us, for migrants, and for the future of our nation.

As a reminder, in the context of Congressional negotiations on border security, I recently put together a list of “practical fixes” to the immigration system which would address border security, humanitarian relief, and improved compliance with Constitutional Due process without major legislative changes — mostly “tweaks” and other common sense amendments that would make outsized improvements and certainly would be an improvement on squandering $5.7 billion and getting nothing but a largely symbolic “instant white elephant” border wall in return.  So, here it is again in all its hypothetical glory:  “THE SMARTS ACT OF 2019:

https://wp.me/p8eeJm-3E3

SECURITY, MIGRATION ASSISTANCE RENEWAL, & TECHNICAL SYSTEMS ACT (“SMARTS ACT”) OF 2019

  • Federal Employees
    • Restart the Government
    • Retroactive pay raise

 

  • Enhanced Border Security
    • Fund half of “Trump’s Wall”
    • Triple the number of USCIS Asylum Officers
    • Double the number of U.S. Immigration Judges and Court Staff
    • Additional Port of Entry (“POE”) Inspectors
    • Improvements in POE infrastructure, technology, and technology between POEs
    • Additional Intelligence, Anti-Smuggling, and Undercover Agents for DHS
    • Anything else that both parties agree upon

 

  • Humanitarian Assistance
    • Road to citizenship for a Dreamers & TPSers
    • Prohibit family separation
    • Funding for alternatives to detention
    • Grants to NGOs for assisting arriving asylum applicants with temporary housing and resettlement issues
    • Require re-establishment of U.S. Refugee Program in the Northern Triangle

 

  • Asylum Process
    • Require Asylum Offices to consider in the first instance all asylum applications including those generated by the “credible fear” process as well as all so-called “defensive applications”

 

  • Immigration Court Improvements
    • Grants and requirements that DHS & EOIR work with NGOs and the private bar with a goal of achieving 100% representation of asylum applicants
    • Money to expand and encourage the training and certification of more non-attorneys as “accredited representatives” to represent asylum seekers pro bono before the Asylum Offices and the Immigration Courts on behalf of approved NGOs
    • Vacate Matter of A-B-and reinstate Matter of A-R-C-G-as the rule for domestic violence asylum applications
    • Vacate Matter of Castro-Tum and reinstate Matter of Avetisyan to allow Immigration Judges to control dockets by administratively closing certain “low priority” cases
    • Eliminate Attorney General’s authority to interfere in Immigration Court proceedings through “certification”
    • Re-establish weighing of interests of both parties consistent with Due Process as the standard for Immigration Court continuances
    • Bar AG & EOIR Director from promulgating substantive or procedural rules for Immigration Courts — grant authority to BIA to promulgate procedural rules for Immigration Courts
    • Authorize Immigration Courts to consider all Constitutional issues in proceedings
    • Authorize DHS to appeal rulings of the BIA to Circuit Courts of Appeal
    • Require EOIR to implement the statutory contempt authority of Immigration Judges, applicable equally to all parties before the courts, within 180 days
    • Bar “performance quotas” and “performance work plans” for Immigration Judges and BIA Members
    • Authorize the Immigration Court to set bonds in all cases coming within their jurisdiction
    • Fund and require EOIR to implement a nationwide electronic filing system within one year
    • Eliminate the annual 4,000 numerical cap on grants of “cancellation of removal” based on “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship”
    • Require the Asylum Office to adjudicate cancellation of removal applications with renewal in Immigration Court for those denied
    • Require EOIR to establish a credible, transparent judicial discipline and continued tenure system within one year that must include: opportunity for participation by the complainant (whether Government or private) and the Immigration Judge; representation permitted for both parties; peer input; public input; DHS input; referral to an impartial decision maker for final decision; a transparent and consistent system of sanctions incorporating principles of rehabilitation and progressive discipline; appeal rights to the MSPB

 

  • International Cooperation
    • Fund and require efforts to work with the UNHCR, Mexico, and other countries in the Hemisphere to improve asylum systems and encourage asylum seekers to exercise options besides the U.S.
    • Fund efforts to improve conditions and the rule of law in the Northern Triangle

 

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

No, it wouldn’t solve all problems overnight. But, everything beyond “Trump’s Wall” would make a substantial improvement over our current situation that would benefit enforcement, border security, human rights, Due Process, humanitarian assistance, and America. Not a bad “deal” in my view!

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

PWS

01-27-19

 

 

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. 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. JOURNAL ON MIGRATION & HUMAN SOCIETY (“JMHS”) PUBLISHES MY TRIBUTE TO JUAN OSUNA (1963-2017): “An Overview and Critique of US Immigration and Asylum Policies in the Trump Era”
  4. REPORT FROM FBA, AUSTIN: Read My Speech “JUSTICE BETRAYED: THE INTENTIONAL MISTREATMENT OF CENTRAL AMERICAN ASYLUM APPLICANTS BY THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR IMMIGRATION REVIEW”

COURTSIDE EDUCATION: INSIDE TODAY’S PUBLIC TEACHING PROFESSION WITH ANNA PATCHIN SCHMIDT — “The morale of teachers is a pretty good gauge for the future of our nation. No one will escape the ramifications of deprioritizing public education.”

Anna writes on Facebook:

I have a question for you. If you learned that the attached quote was functioning as someone’s daily mantra or motivation, what job or endeavor would you imagine that person to be connected to? Perhaps an investigative journalist exposing some hard truths. Maybe a civil rights lawyer. Maybe someone speaking up about an abusive relationship. Perhaps, even, someone gearing up for battle. With that in mind, what does it mean that on a Wednesday morning last week, I came into my classroom and saw this quote on my daily feminism calendar and connected with it so deeply that I had to tape it next to my desk? I am a teacher, people. I work with children. What does that say to you about the conditions that public school teachers are working under? I came in this morning to a quiet classroom, empty of students for the weekend, and only then did I have the rare clarity of mind to see the quote taped there and recognize something: it isn’t right that I need this here; it isn’t normal and it most certainly is not acceptable. Sometimes I feel like I AM gearing up for battle. There are days, weeks, or even months in this profession that are so hard that I question whether I’m going to make it another 25 years. I think I can. I know I want to. But sometimes when I think about my emotional and physical well-being, I wonder if I should keep going. I don’t blame my administrators: they are just finding temporary loopholes in a broken system. I don’t blame parents: teachers are an easy scapegoat when life is hard and unfair. I don’t even blame the students: we raised them, after all. The morale of teachers is a pretty good gauge for the future of our nation. No one will escape the ramifications of deprioritizing public education. And yet, I AM still here. I AM sticking around. Silence from me is only an indication that I have thoughts brewing.

(Disclaimer: It’s sad that I feel a need to point this out alongside every post I make about education, but please do not file this post as reason number 472 why you aren’t going to send your kid to public school. You might have come to that decision for different reasons that I hope have nothing to do with me. I don’t think it’s right to sugarcoat or hide the hard truths about public education just because I’m scared someone will read them and bolt. At the end of the day, I don’t just send my kids to the public school around the corner and teach in another because I think I should- I actually feel fortunate to do so.)

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

I’m sure there are many U.S. Immigration Judges, Immigration Court Clerks, pro bono lawyers, and other dedicated and talented government employees who feel the same way. Public institutions are essential to a great future. Once destroyed, they won’t easily, if ever, be rebuilt.

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

Anna Patchin Schmidt is a Middle School English teacher in the Public Schools of Beloit, Wisconsin, where she lives with her husband, Professor Daniel Barolsky, and their three children Oscar, Eve, and Atticus.  Oscar and Atticus attend a bilingual program at Todd Elementary School, a Beloit Public School, where Eve will go next year. Anna holds a B.A. and a B.Mus., both with honors, from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin where she was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She received her M.A. in Education from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. She is also certified to teach English Language Learning and did so in the Menasha and Walworth, Wisconsin Public School Systems before joining the Beloit System. She and Daniel are dedicated members of the “Beloit Proud” Movement, and she is also a qualified Doula who has assisted in the delivery of several babies. Anna grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, where she attended Alexandria City Public Schools (as did her brothers, Wick & Will) and graduated from T.C. Williams High School (“Remember the Titans”) with honors, earning 12 varsity letters, rowing on several championship crew teams, and playing oboe in the T.C. Williams Band. She is our daughter.

PWS

01-21-19

Related posts:

  1. DIANE HENDRICKS: AMERICA’S SECOND RICHEST WOMAN’S QUEST TO REVIVE BELOIT, WI!
  2. COURTSIDE GUEST COLUMNIST: ANNA PATCHIN SCHMIDT — “2020 End of School Year Roundup From Beloit, WI”
  3. “Warren Buffett on Immigration Reform: Buffett feels that immigrants (including undocumented ones) have been and continue to be a key part of our prosperity — not a part of the problem.“
  4. JAMELLE BOUIE @ SLATE: TRUMP, SESSIONS, MILLER & THE GOP RESTRICTIONISTS HAVE PUT GOOD OL’ 1920S RACISM AT THE FOREFRONT OF THEIR WHITE NATIONALIST IMMIGRATION AGENDA! –“What good does it do to bring in somebody who’s illiterate in their own country, has no skills, and is going to struggle in our country and not be successful? . . . That is not what a good nation should do, and we need to get away from it.” — J. “Gonzo Apocalypto” Sessions, Attorney General of the United States of America & Unapologetic White Nationalist With A Long History Of Racism!

GEORGE WILL @ WASHPOST: AMERICA’S “CLOWN PRINCE” 🤡

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-a-misery-it-must-be-to-be-donald-trump/2019/01/18/d0e05eea-1a82-11e9-8813-cb9dec761e73_story.html

George Will writes:

Half or a quarter of the way through this interesting experiment with an incessantly splenetic presidency, much of the nation has become accustomed to daily mortifications. Or has lost its capacity for embarrassment, which is even worse.

If the country’s condition is calibrated simply by economic data — if, that is, the United States is nothing but an economy — then the state of the union is good. Except that after two years of unified government under the party that formerly claimed to care about fiscal facts and rectitude, the nation faces a $1 trillion deficit during brisk growth and full employment. Unless the president has forever banished business cycles — if he has, his modesty would not have prevented him from mentioning it — the next recession will begin with gargantuan deficits, which will be instructive.

The president has kept his promise not to address the unsustainable trajectory of the entitlement state (about the coming unpleasant reckoning, he said: “Yeah, but I won’t be here”), and his party’s congressional caucuses have elevated subservience to him into a political philosophy. The Republican-controlled Senate — the world’s most overrated deliberative body — will not deliberate about, much less pass, legislation the president does not favor. The evident theory is that it would be lèse-majesté for the Senate to express independent judgments.

And that senatorial dignity is too brittle to survive the disapproval of a president not famous for familiarity with actual policies. Congressional Republicans have their ears to the ground — never mind Winston Churchill’s observation that it is difficult to look up to anyone in that position.

The president’s most consequential exercise of power has been the abandonment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, opening the way for China to fill the void of U.S. involvement. His protectionism — government telling Americans what they can consume, in what quantities and at what prices — completes his extinguishing of the limited-government pretenses of the GOP, which needs an entirely new vocabulary. Pending that, the party is resorting to crybaby conservatism: We are being victimized by “elites,” markets, Wall Street, foreigners, etc.

After 30 years of U.S. diplomatic futility regarding North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, the artist of the deal spent a few hours in Singapore with Kim Jong Un, then tweeted: “There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.” What price will the president pay — easing sanctions? ending joint military exercises with South Korea? — in attempts to make his tweet seem less dotty?

Opinion | Trump owns the Republican Party, and there’s no going back

President Trump has irreversibly changed the Republican Party. The upheaval might seem unusual, but political transformations crop up throughout U.S. history. (Adriana Usero, Danielle Kunitz, Robert Gebelhoff/The Washington Post)

By his comportment, the president benefits his media detractors with serial vindications of their disparagements. They, however, have sunk to his level of insufferable self-satisfaction by preening about their superiority to someone they consider morally horrifying and intellectually cretinous. For most Americans, President Trump’s expostulations are audible wallpaper, always there but not really noticed. Still, the ubiquity of his outpourings in the media’s outpourings gives American life its current claustrophobic feel. This results from many journalists considering him an excuse for a four-year sabbatical from thinking about anything other than the shiny thing that mesmerizes them by dangling himself in front of them.

Dislike of him should be tempered by this consideration: He is an almost inexpressibly sad specimen. It must be misery to awaken to another day of being Donald Trump. He seems to have as many friends as his pluperfect self-centeredness allows, and as he has earned in an entirely transactional life. His historical ignorance deprives him of the satisfaction of working in a house where much magnificent history has been made. His childlike ignorance — preserved by a lifetime of single-minded self-promotion — concerning governance and economics guarantees that whenever he must interact with experienced and accomplished people, he is as bewildered as a kindergartener at a seminar on string theory.

Which is why this fountain of self-refuting boasts (“I have a very good brain”) lies so much. He does so less to deceive anyone than to reassure himself. And as balm for his base, which remains oblivious to his likely contempt for them as sheep who can be effortlessly gulled by preposterous fictions. The tungsten strength of his supporters’ loyalty is as impressive as his indifference to expanding their numbers.

Either the electorate, bored with a menu of faintly variant servings of boorishness, or the 22nd Amendment will end this, our shabbiest but not our first shabby presidency. As Mark Twain and fellow novelist William Dean Howells stepped outside together one morning, a downpour began and Howells asked, “Do you think it will stop?” Twain replied, “It always has.”

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

Stripped of its detracting “jabs at the opposition” and the “obligatory swat” at the essential safety net that actually keeps America functioning, even in tough political times like these, Will largely has Trump “pegged.” As others and I have said, the Trump Administration is “Kakistocracy in action.”

But, what took you so long, George, to “get religion?” For years, the GOP has been pushing a “soulless,” intentionally divisive, program of “beggar thy neighbor” and promoting the “worst in America.”

It’s not like equally sad and unfit GOP politicos such as Steve King, Tom Trancedo, Roy Moore, Jeff Sessions, Steve Bannon, Kris Kobach, Corey Stewart, and Stephen Miller just “hatched” during the Trump regime. Trump is the logical outcome of a “valueless conservatism” that has embraced some of the vilest individuals and ideas in modern American political history in a (somewhat successful) minority attempt to seize power from the majority of Americans and to govern against the overall public interest.

No surprise that a party bankrupt of both constructive conservative ideas and morality should end up installing a sad an unqualified character like Trump as its “Supreme Leader.” Trumpism is deeply rooted in modern American conservatism, not the “compassionate” kind of Bush I (which unfortunately was “DOA” within the party) but the vile brand that glosses over its racial and class overtones and its erroneous conception that the rich have every right to loot America and leave the crumbs to everyone else.

Yes, I think that America needs and deserves a credible “conservative movement” to engage in an honest governing dialogue with the Democrats. What might that conservative movement look like:

  • Constructive concern about runaway deficits and borrowing from the PRC;
  • Recognition of the threat that Russia and the PRC are to America’s future;
  • Commitment to secular governing principles (perhaps embodying, but not improperly favoring, some religious values) and support of  the rights of all covered by our Constitution regardless of status;
  • Encouraging and enabling all qualified Americans to vote;
  • Congress retaking the authority to declare war and pass budgets and restricting Executive overreach (by both parties) in these areas;
  • Prudence in entering into future “foreign military adventures;”
  • A robust, effective, and efficient national defense that is held accountable for expenditures, strategies, and results;
  • Maintenance, funding, improvements, and accountability mechanisms for adequate safety net programs including social security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare;
  • An end to unnecessary tax breaks for the rich that strip the U.S. Treasury of necessary revenues without advancing any national agenda;
  • An end to “Government shutdown” forever and a pledge to respect the contributions of “America’s Crown Jewel:” our nonpartisan, professional, honest Civil Service;
  • Return of some authority to states, not as a device for “bogus” budget savings and to screw the poor and minorities, but to recognize and take advantage of areas where states are committed to actually funding and carrying out programs that produce better (not just cheaper) results than the Feds can;
  • Much more robust legal immigration and refugee acceptance programs;
  • A sharp reduction in wasteful funding for Federal detention of all kinds (including immigration detention) and the mandated use of alternatives that will work and benefit society;
  • Encouraging educational and economic development initiatives by the private sector in economically depressed areas (such as the Midwest and Appalachia) ;
  • Encouraging a robust trade agenda that provides mutual benefits to both the U.S. and our trading partners.

That would involve not only ditching Trump, but also abandoning the racially charged, fiscally wasteful, White Nationalist agendas that drive both him and his base and committing to governing in the public interest — in and of itself a key conservative principle.

We need an end to the “Clown Kakistocracy.”  And, that will require some honest conservative support by a “new conservative” movement. I doubt that it can be headed by Trump sycophant, xenophobic enabler, and far right religious bigot Veep Mike Pence. Perhaps, however, folks like George have a constructive role to play in fashioning, inspiring, and leading it!

PWS

01-21-19

Related posts:

  1. 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!
  2. 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!
  3. MLK DAY 2018 — DR. KING’S DREAM OF AN AMERICA CELEBRATING EQUALITY & RACIAL HARMONY IS UNDER VICIOUS ATTACK BY TRUMP, PENCE, SESSIONS, AND A HOST OF OTHERS IN TODAY’S WHITE NATIONALIST ENABLING GOP — Who Is Going To Fight To Reclaim The Dream, & Who Is Going To “Go Along To Get Along” With The 21st Century Version Of Jim Crow?
  4. JAMELLE BOUIE @ SLATE: TRUMP, SESSIONS, MILLER & THE GOP RESTRICTIONISTS HAVE PUT GOOD OL’ 1920S RACISM AT THE FOREFRONT OF THEIR WHITE NATIONALIST IMMIGRATION AGENDA! –“What good does it do to bring in somebody who’s illiterate in their own country, has no skills, and is going to struggle in our country and not be successful? . . . That is not what a good nation should do, and we need to get away from it.” — J. “Gonzo Apocalypto” Sessions, Attorney General of the United States of America & Unapologetic White Nationalist With A Long History Of Racism!

THE GIBSON REPORT – 01-14-19 – Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Project

THE GIBSON REPORT – 01-14-19 – Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Project

 

TOP UPDATES

 

New York City mayor vows health care for all — including undocumented immigrants

WaPo: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) on Tuesday issued a bold guarantee of affordable health care for every resident, thrusting the nation’s largest city to the forefront of debates over universal health coverage and immigrant rights. The promise is aimed at 600,000 New Yorkers who lack insurance because they can’t afford it, believe they don’t need it, or can’t get it because they are in the country illegally.

 

‘Never been more depressed’: Trump kills Graham effort to end shutdown

Politico: President Donald Trump has rejected a plan proposed by a bloc of Senate Republicans who had hoped to break an impasse over the government shutdown, leaving Congress and the White House with little obvious way out of the extended battle over Trump’s border wall.

 

Head Of Controversial Tent City Says The Trump Administration Pressured Him To Detain More Young Migrants

VICE: Kevin Dinnin, the CEO of the contractor that ran the controversial tent city for migrant children in Tornillo, Texas, says the facility is closing down because he refused the government’s request to detain more youths there. See also Trump administration removes all migrant teens from giant Tornillo tent camp

 

A Waiting Game For Immigrants And Border Agents On 2 Sides Of The Border Wall

NPR: Their numbers have dropped dramatically from around 6,000 to fewer than 2,000 today. They’re staying in makeshift shelters throughout the city, waiting week after week to hear their own number called out in an announcement that is made every morning in a small park near the U.S. port of entry. See also Migrants’ Despair Is Growing at U.S. Border. So Are Smugglers’ Profits.

 

The Judicial Black Sites the Government Created to Speed Up Deportations

AIC: In certain areas there is simply no way of knowing how many detained individuals—including children—have been deported without the opportunity to obtain counsel, and without appropriate safeguards preventing their removal to imminent harm.

 

As Government Pulls Back, Charities Step In to Help Released Migrants

NYT: But as the number of migrant families in recent months has overwhelmed the government’s detention facilities, the Trump administration has drastically reduced its efforts to ensure the migrants’ safety after they are released. People working along the border say an ever larger number of families are being released with nowhere to stay, no money, no food and no means of getting to friends and relatives who may be hundreds or thousands of miles away.

 

Trump floats path to citizenship for specialized visa holders

Politico: President Donald Trump seemingly teased plans for broader immigration reform on Friday, tweeting that he is open to a new path to citizenship for holders of a visa for high-skilled workers known as H-1B.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

Matter of A-B- Guidance from Grace v. Whitaker

The instructions which the Court ordered USCIS and EOIR to provide asylum officers and immigration judges conducting credible fear interviews and reviews of negative credible fear findings.

 

FOIA Lawsuit Seeks Names of CBP Officers Who Allegedly Abused Children

AIC: Disturbing information has been revealed about extensive allegations of sexual, physical, and verbal abuse of children in CBP custody. Now, the ACLU wants the names of officials alleged to have abused migrant children.

 

Federal Judge Argues That Illegal Reentry Prosecutions Not a Good Use of Judicial Resources

ImmProf: A federal judge has spoken out against a sharp increase in Northern Virginia in the prosecution of illegal immigrants for reentering the country after deportation.

 

A trial on whether Trump has the right to end TPS for Haiti ends. Now comes the wait

Miami Herald: A federal trial in New York challenging the Trump administration’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for thousands of Haitians, concluded Thursday with internal government emails showing that the administration was so determined to end the program that it ignored its own government’s research flagging health and safety concerns.

 

CA1 Upholds IJ/BIA Denial of Asylum Due to Lack of Nexus to a Protected Ground

The court found petitioner secretly informed Ecuadorian police about gangs suffered persecution, but failed to prove he was targeted due to political opinion or particular social group since there was no evidence that his attackers knew he was an informant. (Mendez v. Whitaker, 12/11/18) AILA Doc. No. 19010870

 

CA1 Upholds BIA Reversal of IJ Grant of CAT Deferral to Domestic Violence Victim

The court denied petition for review and held the BIA correctly found the petitioner was unable to prove that the Dominican government acquiesced in her domestic abuse; thus, failed to meet the CAT definition of “torture” mandated for deferral of removal. (Ruiz-Guerrero v. Whitaker, 12/12/18) AILA Doc. No. 19010872

 

CA2 Vacates Unlawful Reentry Sentence Imposed on Noncitizen Based on Incorrect “Drug Trafficking Offense” Finding, and Remands for Resentencing

Using the categorical approach, the court held AZ’s drug law was overbroad; thus, district court erred in finding defendant’s prior conviction a “drug trafficking offense” that subjected him to 2016 Guidelines’ higher sentencing than that of 2014 Guidelines. (U.S. v. Guerrero, 12/10/18) AILA Doc. No. 19010831

 

CA2 Remands to BIA to Apply Correct Standard of Review on Good Faith Marriage Question

The court found BIA erred in applying clear error, instead of de novo, standard of review to IJ’s good faith marriage waiver denial; it also held petitioner abandoned abuse of discretion claim on MTR denial because he failed to adequately argue it in brief. (Alom v. Whitaker, 12/17/18) AILA Doc. No. 19010876

 

CA3 Holds PA Child Endangerment Statute Does Not Categorically Match INA §237(a)(2)(E)(i) Definition of Child Abuse

The court found BIA erred in finding 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. §4303(a)(1) is a categorical match for removability; rather, it does not have the requisite risk requirement to match INA’s “likelihood of harm” standard; remanded to consider alternative removal ground. (Liao v. Att’y Gen., 12/10/18) AILA Doc. No. 19010832

 

CA6 Finds Conviction for Rape by Digital Penetration Under Ohio Rape Statute Does Not Match Federal Definition

The court held BIA erred in conflating “rape” and “sexual abuse” definitions to conclude that generic rape crime included digital penetration; under Ohio law, digital penetration is not rape for purposes of aggravated felony-based removal. (Keeley v. Whitaker, 12/17/18) AILA Doc. No. 19010834

 

CA8 Denies Petition for Review, Finding No Due Process Violations by IJ

The court found although IJ stopped petitioner’s attorney from listing potential PSGs (potential denial of right to counsel), there was no prejudice because IJ considered three PSGs; and IJ was not biased by asking about her failure to report crimes to police. (Molina v. Whitaker, 12/12/18) AILA Doc. No. 19010833

 

CA11 Dismisses in Part Under §242, Upholds BIA’s Controlled Substance and Agg Fel Determinations That Were Not Appealed but Adjudicated Nonetheless

The court confirmed lack of jurisdiction to review BIA determination of removability ground; it also upheld not only BIA’s affirmance of IJ’s CIMT finding that was on appeal, but additional BIA controlled substance and agg fel findings not appealed by DHS. (Bula Lopez v. Att’y Gen., 11/21/18) AILA Doc. No. 19010873

 

CA11 Upholds BIA’s §237(a)(2)(B)(i) Removability Determination for Possession of Cocaine Based on Florida Drug Possession Statute’s Divisibility

The court denied petition for review, finding that based on state law precedent and jury instructions, the identity of a controlled substance is an element of Fla. Stat. §893.13(6)(a) and that BIA correctly found possession of cocaine a removable offense. (Guillen v. Att’y Gen., 12/13/18) AILA Doc. No. 19010874

 

CBP Releases Data on Increase in Medical Emergencies on the Southern Border

CBP released data regarding medical care referrals being made for arriving migrants by CBP to medical providers along the southwest border. On average, Border Patrol referred approximately 50 cases a day to medical providers. December 26, 2018, Border Patrol referred 82 cases to a medical provider. AILA Doc. No. 19010802

 

USCIS Notice that Lapse in Federal Funding Does Not Impact Most USCIS Operations

ICYMI: USCIS announced that a lapse in annual appropriated funding does not affect USCIS’s fee-funded activities. USCIS offices will remain open, and all individuals should attend interviews and appointments as scheduled. USCIS will continue to accept petitions and applications, except as noted. AILA Doc. No. 18122408

 

Practice Alert: What Happens If the Government Shuts Down?

Drawing on information from government announcement and past government shutdowns, AILA provides an overview as to how this shutdown may impact immigration-related agencies. We will update this practice alert as new information becomes available. AILA Doc. No. 17042640

 

Full Transcripts: Trump’s Speech on Immigration and the Democratic Response and The Democratic Response

NYT: President Trump delivered an address to the nation on Tuesday night from the Oval Office to make a broad-based public push for border wall funding. After his speech, Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leaders, delivered a response from Capitol Hill.

 

NEWARK ASYLUM OFFICE AFFIRMATIVE ASYLUM PUBLIC SCHEDULING UPDATE – January 2019 –

The Asylum Division gives priority to the most recently filed affirmative asylum applications when scheduling asylum interviews.  Generally cases are scheduled three to four weeks in advance utilizing the following priorities:

First priority: Applications rescheduled at the applicant’s request or the needs of USCIS.

Second priority: Applications that have been pending 21 days or less.

Third priority: Applications pending over 21 days, starting with newer filings and working towards older filings.

** This month, in addition to first and second priority cases, we are interviewing applicants who filed on or around October 2018. 

 

RESOURCES

 

EVENTS

 

ImmProf

 

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Friday, January 11, 2019

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Monday, January 7, 2019

 

 

AILA NEWS UPDATE

http://www.aila.org/advo-media/news/clips

 

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

Thanks Elizabeth.  I was just “touting” Elizabeth and Adina Appelbaum of CAIR to some folks at Georgetown Law as examples of some of my many star “Refugee Law and Policy” students who have gone on to superstar careers in advancing social justice (an important focus at Georgetown Law). There are, of course, many others. And, the neat thing is that many of them have kept in contact. Indeed, right now our “Gang of 32” retired Immigration Judges is working with Adina and others on an amicus brief project that she brought to our attention.

PWS

01-16-19

 

 

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JIM WALLIS @ SOJOURNERS: Things Will Get Worse Under Trump; Moral Resistance Is Essential: “[Trump] almost perfectly exemplifies the worst of America — the ugliest things in our history and the greatest dangers to our future.“

https://sojo.net/articles/its-going-get-worse-america-it-gets-better-2019-opportunity

Jim Wallis writes:

Most people have consistently underestimated Donald Trump. When he came down the escalator at Trump Tower to announce his candidacy by attacking and demonizing non-white immigrants, people should have understood that Trump would likely win the Republican nomination and possibly the election.

Why? Because Donald Trump appeals to the worst of America. His promotion of fear, division, hate, racism, xenophobia, rallying of white nationalism, mistreatment of women, purposeful denial of truth, and consummate love of money, power, and fame are, of course, nothing new in America. Neither are his desire to destroy democracy, love for authoritarian rulers or desire to be one. Indeed, there is nothing new about Donald Trump, but he almost perfectly exemplifies the worst of America — the ugliest things in our history and the greatest dangers to our future.

Now let’s move from the political and moral to the theological and spiritual: These traits and actions also represent the worst of humanity. To seek money and power over all else, to consistently put yourself over all others, to make private self-interest the only the goal of life and overturn any sense of the common good, to create conflict to win and make all others into losers, to constantly lie and try to kill the truth, to make exploitation and abuse the definition of sexuality, to be as violent in word and deed as you can get away with, to never answer to God or seek forgiveness — there are examples of these sins throughout the Bible and human history. They are also, unfortunately, what our country’s leader seems to stand for, what he promotes in our culture, and what he models for our children.

READ: #EleNão Movement Confronts ‘Brazilian Trump’

Strongmen, autocrats, and dictators don’t all do the same things. They do whatever they can to maximize their own wealth, power, and fame. The only thing that prevents them from going as far as they can is the resiliency of a society’s institutions and social sectors — like the media, the judiciary, political parties, law enforcement, civil society, and places of vocational or historical moral authority like faith communities.

So how are we faring on those fronts?

Press: In our current political situation, a new generation of young reporters are showing great resiliency in the new Trump era, revealing the facts that undermine official lies and offering analysis that seeks to hold power accountable.

Judiciary: Trump appointments at the Supreme Court and Circuit Court levels are gradually politicizing the judiciary to rule in favor of his interests, white interests, and corporate interests.

Law Enforcement: Trump has continued to attack the Justice Department and relentlessly seeks to undermine the Special Counsel’s investigation into his campaign’s involvement with Russia. Trump’s behavior in response to the investigation of him and his campaign puts the rule of law into jeopardy, depending on how his administration reacts to the results and reports of the Robert Mueller-led investigation.

Civil Society: Will the civil society seek to hold the government responsible for civility in the way that it governs? So far, nonprofit organizations focused on good government, exposing corruption, and protecting the vulnerable have done important work in galvanizing massive protests at key moments of danger or significance, as well as leading or joining key court cases that have sought to rein in some of the worst travesties of the administration, like the monstrous policy of family separation at the border.

Faith Communities: On the religion side, white evangelicals have been the most supportive of Trump as their Religious Right has entered a transactional, Faustian bargain with his administration, agreeing to look away from Trump’s immoral behavior and brutal treatment of those Jesus called “the least of these” in exchange for the judicial appointments and conservative economic policies they support. Others, like the Reclaiming Jesus movement, with Sojourners involvement, have proclaimed that the gospel itself is at stake in the faith community’s response to Trump. This year will be “an hour of decision,” to use Billy Graham’s old language, for the faith community’s testimony in the face of Donald Trump’s corrupt and cruel practices and policies, which are antithetical to the teachings of Jesus.

WATCH: Reclaiming Jesus in a Time of Crisis

In 2019, I believe things are going to get worse in America before they get better. We now face grave dangers to democracy itself, and to societal moral decency. But that danger also provides us an opportunity: to go deeper into our faith and into our relationships to each other, especially across racial lines, and into relationship with the most vulnerable people in our society — a practice our faith says will change us. If we do go deeper, this moment could become a movement for all the things that many of us have consistently lived and fought for all our lives. If we don’t go deeper, but just continue to react or ultimately retreat into frustration and cynicism, we will indeed be in great danger.

If we start to see that executive overreach as distraction, there must be a moral response. And the response of faith communities could be a game changer. I believe it is time to prepare for that response from the followers of Jesus. Stay tuned and prayerfully get ready.

Jim Wallis

Jim Wallis is president of Sojourners. His new Audible spoken-word series, Jim Wallis In Conversation, is available now, as is his book, America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a

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Amen! That’s why the efforts of the New Due Process Army are so important to the survival of our republic.

PWS

01-06-19

Related posts:

  1. MARK JOSEPH STERN @ SLATE: GONZO’S GONE! — Bigoted, Xenophobic AG Leaves Behind Disgraceful Record Of Intentional Cruelty, Vengeance, Hate, Lawlessness, & Incompetence That Will Haunt America For Many Years!
  2. 🤮NO PEACE ON EARTH GOODWILL TOWARD MEN (WOMEN, OR ESPECIALLY CHILDREN) FROM REGIME OF “BAD SANTAS” 🦹🏿‍♂️🎅🏻— Illegally Separated Families Continue To Suffer Irreparable Trauma, 😰 Volunteer Groups 😇🗽⚖️ Left To Pick Up Pieces — A Reminder That Defeated Regime Has Mocked, Disparaged, & Trashed Christ’s Values & Assaulted Humanity Over Four Christmases!🏴‍☠️🤮☠️⚰️👎🏻
  3. 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!
  4. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: CLYDE W. FORD @ LA TIMES: “Opinion: The immigration crisis and the racism driving it have roots in Hitler’s ‘bible’”

THE GIBSON REPORT — 12-24-18 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

TOP UPDATES

Justices rebuff government on asylum ban

SCOTUSblog: Last week the federal government went to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to block a ruling by a federal judge that bars the Trump administration from denying asylum to immigrants who enter the United States illegally from Mexico. Today the justices turned down the government’s request, which means that the government will not be able to enforce its new policy on asylum while the government appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and, if it comes to that, the Supreme Court. See also Ruth Bader Ginsburg Voted From Hospital To Block Trump Asylum Restrictions.

 

Trump is officially turning back asylum seekers who come to the US through Mexico

Vox: The policy change means that people who are trying to exercise their legal right to seek asylum will be barred from the US for months or even years while they wait for their asylum claim to come before a judge. See also Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen Announces Historic Action to Confront Illegal Immigration.

 

EOIR Creates More Obstacles for Families

Jeffrey Chase: In a November 16 memo to immigration judges, EOIR’s Director, James McHenry, announced that after a nearly two-year reprieve,  “Family Unit” cases are again being prioritized, under conditions designed to speed them through the immigration court system, ready or not, with or without representation, due process be damned.

 

How Trump Is Stripping Immigrants of Their Citizenship

The Nation: Twin operations have been set up to accomplish this: Operation Janus, which is housed at an office in Los Angeles and had plans to refer 1,600 cases for prosecution and possible denaturalization, and Operation Second Look, which will review hundreds of thousands of petitions to locate the tiniest of discrepancies. See also Is Denaturalization the Next Front in the Trump Administration’s War on Immigration?

 

Trump’s crackdown hits legal immigrants

Politico: State Department data show visa issuances have slumped under Trump, according to government information reviewed and analyzed by POLITICO. The number of visas for temporary stays in the U.S. fell 13 percent in fiscal year 2018 compared with two years earlier, the last full year under President Barack Obama. Immigrant visas, which allow a person to apply for a green card, dropped by 14 percent over the same period.

 

Two Honduran teens from migrant caravan are killed in Tijuana

WaPo: Mexican authorities said the bodies of the two boys — thought to be 16 or 17 years old — were discovered last weekend. They had stab wounds and had been strangled after an apparent robbery attempt, according to the state police.… Mexican police said the two Hondurans, who were not identified, had left a shelter for migrant youths Saturday to visit a sports arena used as a migrant shelter in another part of the city.

 

Thousands of Migrant Children Could Be Released With Trump’s Major Policy Reversal

TexasMonthly: Federal officials have reversed course and announced they will reduce fingerprint requirements of potential sponsors for detained children.

 

‘A moral disaster’: AP reveals scope of migrant kids program

AP: Decades after the U.S. stopped institutionalizing kids because large and crowded orphanages were causing lasting trauma, it is happening again. The federal government has placed most of the 14,300 migrant toddlers, children and teens in its care in detention centers and residential facilities packed with hundreds, or thousands, of children. As the year draws to a close, about 5,400 detained migrant children in the U.S. are sleeping in shelters with more than 1,000 other children. Some 9,800 are in facilities with 100-plus total kids, according to confidential government data obtained and cross-checked by The Associated Press.

 

In Immigrant Children’s Shelters, Sexual Assault Cases Are Open and Shut

ProPublica: Across the country, kids are reporting sexual assaults in immigrant children’s shelters. Alex decided to come forward. He told the shelter two older teens dragged him into a bedroom. There was surveillance video. But Alex’s case wasn’t investigated. His isn’t the only one.

 

Growth in the Immigration Court Backlog Continues in FY 2019

TRAC: The Immigration Court backlog continues to rise. As of November 30, 2018, the number of pending cases on the court’s active docket topped eight-hundred thousand (809,041) cases. This is almost a fifty percent (49.1%) increase compared to the 542,411 cases pending at the end of January 2017 when President Trump took office. This figure does not include the additional 330,211 previously completed cases that EOIR placed back on the “pending” rolls that have not yet been put onto the active docket.

 

People smugglers arrested in several Latin American countries

BBC: A crackdown on migrant smuggling networks across the Americas has resulted in 49 arrests. The operation was co-ordinated by Interpol which said organised crime networks were helping to smuggle South Asian migrants into the US.

 

Healthcare, Immigration Down as Most Important Problem

Gallup: In the first survey after the midterm Congressional election, mentions of immigration and healthcare as the top problems facing the country are down. Sixteen percent of Americans cite immigration as the top problem, down from 21% last month, while those noting healthcare dropped to 5% from 11%.

 

‘Very possible’ shutdown could last into new year, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney says

WaPo: The partial shutdown paralyzing large portions of the federal government may last into January when Democrats retake control of the House, the White House acknowledged Sunday, as negotiations over funding for President Trump’s border wall sputtered to a near-standstill and congressional leaders abandoned Washington for Christmas.

 

NY Expands Legal Aid Program for Immigrants

AP: New York state is expanding a legal defense project for immigrants launched in 2017 to include social and health care services for families. Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the new “Project Golden Door” will provide family support services at 12 existing sites. In addition, a new Regional Rapid Response team will set up attorneys in the state’s 10 regional economic development council areas to respond to raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

Judge Finds Attorney General’s Gutting of Asylum Protections Unlawful

AILA President Anastasia Tonello and Executive Director Benjamin Johnson responded to today’s ruling striking down key portions of then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision in Matter of A-B-, which restricted asylum for victims of domestic and gang violence. AILA Doc. No. 18121940.

Matter of A.J. VALDEZ  27 I&N Dec. 496 (BIA 2018)

(1) An alien makes a willful misrepresentation under section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(C)(i) (2012), when he or she knows of or authorizes false statements in an application filed on the alien’s behalf.

(2) An alien’s signature on an immigration application establishes a strong presumption that he or she knows of and has assented to the contents of the application, but the alien can rebut the presumption by establishing fraud, deceit, or other wrongful acts by another person.

 

ICE Blocks Immigrants From Lawyers With Draconian Phone Rules In California, ACLU Says

Newsweek: An immigration detention center in California has effectively worked to keep immigrants from contacting lawyers through phone rules, a lawsuit alleged last week.

 

U.S. Representatives Request to Investigate DHS’s TPS Termination Decision

On 12/4/18, over 80 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to DHS Acting Inspector General requesting an immediate investigation into DHS’s decision to terminate TPS for Sudan, Nicaragua, Nepal, Haiti, El Salvador, and Honduras. AILA Doc. No. 18122033

 

ICE Releases Death Detainee Report

Congressional requirements described in the 2018 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill require ICE to make public all reports regarding an in-custody death within 90 days. ICE has provided those reports, beginning in FY2018. AILA Doc. No. 18121905

 

EOIR Releases Memo on Internal Reporting of Suspected Ineffective Assistance of Counsel and Professional Misconduct

EOIR released guidance establishing policies and procedures for reporting suspected incidents of ineffective assistance of counsel or other violations of the EOIR Rules of Professional Conduct for Practitioners to the Office of General Counsel Attorney Discipline Program. Guidance effective 1/1/19. AILA Doc. No. 18121938

EOIR Announcement of Closing on December 24, 2018

EOIR announced that it would be closed on 12/24/18 in accordance with Executive Order 13854. Immigration court hearings scheduled for 12/24/18 will be rescheduled and new hearing notices will be sent to both parties. AILA Doc. No. 18122113

 

RESOURCES

 

EVENTS

 

ImmProf

 

Sunday, December 23, 2018

Saturday, December 22, 2018

Friday, December 21, 2018

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Monday, December 17, 2018

 

 

AILA NEWS UPDATE

http://www.aila.org/advo-media/news/clips

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

Thanks, Elizabeth.

PWS

12-30-18

Related posts:

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  3. 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
  4. 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”⚖️