Category: Education

LAW YOU CAN USE: ALL-STAR PROFESSOR LINDSAY MUIR HARRIS TELLS US HOW TO STOP THE TRUMP, SESSIONS, NIELSEN PLAN FOR A “NEW AMERICAN GULAG:” “CONTEMPORARY FAMILY DETENTION AND LEGAL ADVOCACY” — 136 Harvard Latinx Law Review Vol. 21 — “This is our time to act and proudly join the brigade of “dirty immigration lawyers” to ensure protection and due process for the most vulnerable!”

FULL ARTICLE:

SSRN-id3179506

ABSTRACT:

Abstract

This essay explores the contemporary practice of detaining immigrant women and children — the vast majority of whom are fleeing violence in their home countries and seeking protection in the United States — and the response by a diverse coalition of legal advocates. In spite of heroic advocacy, both within and outside the detention centers from the courts to the media to the White House, family detention continues. By charting the evolution of family detention from the time the Obama Administration resurrected the practice in 2014 and responsive advocacy efforts, this essay maps the multiple levels at which sustained advocacy is needed to stem crises in legal representation and ultimately end family detention.

Due to a perfect storm of indigent detainees without a right to appointed counsel, remote detention centers, and under-resourced nonprofits, legal representation within immigration detention centers is scarce. While the Obama Administration largely ended the practice of family detention in 2009, the same administration started detaining immigrant families en masse just five years later. In response to the rise in numbers of child migrants seeking protection in the United States arriving both with and without their parents, and with the purported aim of deterring future flows, the Obama administration reinstituted the policy of detaining families. The Ad- ministration calls these detention centers “family residential centers,” while advocates use the term “baby jail.”

The response from the advocate community was swift and overwhelming. Lawyers and law students from all over the country traveled to the detention centers, in remote areas of New Mexico and later Texas, to meet the urgent need for representation of these asylum-seeking families. This essay calls for continued engagement by attorneys throughout the nation in filling the justice gap and providing representation to these asylum-seeking families and other detained immigrants.

The crisis in representation for detained immigrants is deepening. Given the success of intensive representation at the family detention centers discussed in this article, advocates are beginning to experiment with the same models in other locations. For example, at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, the Southern Poverty Law Center, in conjunction with four other organizations, launched the Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative in 2017. This initiative enlists and trains lawyers to provide free legal representation to immigrants detained in the Southeast who are facing deportation proceedings. The American Immigration Lawyers Association and the American Immigration Council have partnered to create the Immigration Justice Campaign, where pro bono attorneys are trained and mentored when providing representation to detained immigrants in typically underserved locations. Given the expansion of the volunteer model of providing legal services to detained immigrants, opportunities will continue to arise for lawyers, law students, and others to engage in crisis lawyering and advocacy. This article provides the background to understand the government’s practice of detaining families, to the extent that it can be understood, and to emphasize a continuing need for legal services for this population.

The introduction explains the population of asylum seekers and the law and procedure governing their arrival, detention, and release into the United States. The essay then traces the evolution of the U.S. government’s most recent experiment in detaining families from the summer of 2014 to present. The next part outlines the access to counsel crisis for immigrant mothers and children in detention and highlights the difference that representation makes. The article concludes with a call to action to attorneys and non-attorney volunteers nationwide to commit and re-commit to providing services to detained immigrant families and individuals.

MY FAVORITE QUOTE:

We are in an era of incredible need for immigration legal services. That need is most acute within detention centers located outside of major metro- politan areas, including within the family detention centers.

Ultimately, neither the Trump nor the Obama administration can claim to have won or be “winning” with the policy of family detention. The vast majority of women and children still receive a positive result during their credible fear interviews, because they are indeed individuals fleeing persecu- tion under the Refugee Convention. It is a poor use of resources, then, to continue to detain this population. Instead, tax-payer dollars, government energy, and resources, should be invested in providing representation and case management for this population to ensure that they appear in court and follow all required procedures to pursue their claims for protection.125 In the current era of intense immigration enforcement, combined with the Trump Administration’s plans to increase detention bed space and Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Session’s clear attacks on asylum-seekers,126 family de- tention is, however, likely here to stay.

In light of this reality, crowdsourcing refugee rights, as Stephen Man- ning articulates, is more important than ever.127 It is heartening to see the expansion of the model of lawyering within immigration detention centers expand to centers in Georgia and Louisiana, where asylum grant rates are dismal, conditions of detention dire, with a historical extreme lack of access to counsel. Lawyers are needed to ensure that individuals can properly ac- cess their due process rights and to help the immigration court system run more smoothly.128

Lawyers, specialized in immigration or not, must arm themselves with the knowledge and tools to join this fight. Just as non-immigration lawyers quickly rose to a call to action in January at the airports,129 lawyers must again rise, and continue rising, to provide representation for families and individuals held in immigration detention. This is our time to act and proudly join the brigade of “dirty immigration lawyers” to ensure protection and due process for the most vulnerable.

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Lindsay is “one of the best.” We were colleagues at Georgetown Law when I was an Adjunct Professor and she held the prestigious “CALS Fellowship” working with  Professors Andy Schoenholtz and Phil Schrag (of “Refugee Roulette fame”). Lindsay was a guest lecturer in my Refugee Law & Policy class, and I have since returned the favor at both George Mason Law and UDC Law where she now teaches with another of my good friends and superstars, Professor Kristina Campbell. Indeed, my friend Judge Dorothy Harbeck and I are “regulars” at their class and are in the process of planning another session this fall.

Lindsay and Kristina “talk the talk and walk the walk.” They appeared before me frequently at the Arlington Immigration Court with their clinical students.  The have also gone “on site” at some of the worst immigration detention facilities in the country to help refugees in need.

In a truly unbiased, merit-based, independent, Immigration Court system (of the future) they would be ideal judges at either the trial or appellate level. They possess exactly the types of amazing scholarship, expertise and “hands on” experience representing actual individual clients before our Immigration Courts that is sorely lacking in, and in my view has largely been systematically banished from, the 21st Century immigration judiciary, to the detriment of our Immigration Courts, Due Process, and the entire American justice system. That’s one reason why our Immigration Courts are functioning so poorly in basic areas like efficiency, deliberation, quality control, and fundamental fairness!

Some important “take aways” from this article:

  • Contrary to Administration propaganda and false narratives, most of the recent arrivals who have lawyers are found to have credible claims for protection under our laws.
  • Similarly, if given fair access to competent counsel and time to prepare and present their claims in a non-coercive setting to a truly unbiased decision-maker, I believe that majority would be granted asylum, withholding of removal, or protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”).
  • This is the truth that Trump, Sessions, & Company don’t want revealed: most of the folks we are so cavalierly mistreating are, in fact, legitimate refugees, even under current legal rulings that have been intentionally and unfairly skewed against asylum applicants from Central America for years!
  • Even those who don’t currently fit the arcane legal categories for protection probably have a legitimate fear of harm or death upon return. They certainly are entitled to fully present and litigate their claims before being returned to life-threatening situations.
  • Finally, a better country, with better, wiser, more humane leaders, would devise ways of offering these individuals fleeing the Northern Triangle at least temporary protection, either here or in another stable country in this hemisphere, while doing something constructive to address the severe, festering, chronic human rights problems in the Northern Triangle that are sending us these refugees.
  • The “enforcement only” approach has failed over and over in the past and will continue to do so until we get better political leadership in the future.
  • In the meantime, join Lindsay, Kristina, and the other “Charter Members of the New Due Process Army” in resisting the evil, immoral, and illegal policies of the Trump Administration.
  • Due Process Forever! Harm to the most vulnerable among us is harm to all!

PWS

06-02-18

Related posts:

  1. TRUMP TREATS KIDS AS HUMAN PAWNS IN UGLY POLITICAL CHESS GAME – Administration’s Continued Spreading Of False Narrative On Migration Makes Continuing Migration Outside of Legal System Inevitable!
  2. 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”
  3. GONZO’S WORLD: THIS IS WHY HE STAYS: UNDERNEATH ALL THE “TRUMP NOISE” SESSIONS IS METHODICALLY ERADICATING DUE PROCESS, PERVERTING THE LAW, & TURNING ONE OF THE LARGEST FEDERAL COURT SYSTEMS INTO A “KILLING FLOOR” TARGETING OUR MOST VULNERABLE & DESERVING REFUGEES! — “[Sessions] is dumbing down the judges and treating them like assembly-line workers whose only job is to stamp out final orders of removal.”
  4. COMPLICITY HAS COSTS:  Article III Judges’ Association Apparently Worries That Trump, Barr, GOP Toadies Starting To “Treat Them Like Immigration Judges” — Do They Fear Descent To Status Of Mere Refugees, Immigrants, “Dreamers,” Unaccompanied Children, Or Others Treated As “Less Than Persons” By Trump, 5th Cir., 11th Cir., 9th Cir., & The Supremes’ “J.R. Five?” 

LAW YOU CAN USE: HON. DOROTHY HARBECK: “Objections in Immigration Court: Dost Thou Protest Too Much or Too Little?”

Objections in Immigration Court: Dost Thou Protest Too Much or Too Little?1

Hon. Dorothy Harbeck 2

5 Stetson J. Advoc. & L. 1 (2018)

I. Introduction

An objection is generally an expression or feeling of disapproval or opposition. In court, an objection is a reason for disagreeing with some introduction of evidence. 3  In most courts, the reasons and protocols for various objections are set forth in codified rules of evidence; however, the procedures in immigration courts are not so clearly defined since the Federal Rules of Evidence (F.R.E.) are not strictly applied in immigration courts. The rules of evidence applicable to criminal proceedings do not apply to removal hearings. Relevance and fundamental fairness are the only bars to admissibility of evidence in deportation cases. 4  Immigration courts are creatures of statute. They were created under the Immigration & Nationality Act (INA) as part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), specifically the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). The EOIR has a Practice Manual as well as guidance memoranda. 5  The trials are before the bench (with no jury) and a Digital Audio Recording (DAR) is made of the proceedings. Lawyers conduct direct and cross examinations and sometimes — but not often enough — make objections. The F.R.E. can provide some guidance in immigration court practice, although immigration proceedings are not bound by the strict rules of evidence. 6  The relevant F.R.E. citation for each objection has been included. Objections to questions must first be made at the trial court level, because if the objection is not made there, an argument based on that objection cannot be asserted on appeal. 7  In immigration court, as in other courts, evidentiary objections must be made in a timely fashion, and the grounds must, therefore, be identified with particularity. 8
The purpose of this article is to discuss verbal objections in immigration court removal/deportation proceedings. It is notan exhaustive and limiting list. It is merely a discussion of the main fourteen objections out of many potential objections that generally make the most sense in immigration court proceedings. This article does not include any objections based upon the potential mental capacity of a witness. The EOIR has extensive criteria for dealing with witnesses that exhibit such issues and that is well beyond the scope of this discussion. 9  Further, unlike many articles providing a “hip pocket” guide to objections at a trial court level, this article does not examine hearsay objections since hearsay is allowed in immigration court unless its use is fundamentally unfair. 10  The general rule with respect to evidence in immigration proceedings is that admissibility is favored, as long as the evidence is shown to be probative of relevant matters and its use is fundamentally fair so as not to deprive the alien of due process of law. 11
Since I was inspired to write this guide by the line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet where Queen Gertrude comments that a character in a play protests too much, I discuss each of the fourteen objections as though they were part of Shakespeare’s next best known medium, the fourteen line sonnet. 12  A Shakespearean sonnet has three four-line quatrains and then a two line “volta,” or twist, at the end. I have divided up three general groups of objections and saved the best two for the end.

II. The First Quatrain — Questions that Elicit an Organic Response

Argumentative

DISCUSSION: This is not an objection to opposing counsel making a good point. It should be used when the questioning attorney is not asking a question and is instead making an argument of law or application of law that should be argued in summation. It is only valid when the witness is not being asked a question that he or she can properly answer.
F.R.E. Reference: Argumentative (611(a))
RESPONSE: “Your Honor, I am testing the testimony of this witness.” 13

Form

DISCUSSION: An objection that the “form” is improper is a generalization; it is a sort of “catch-all” when the sense is that there is something wrong with a question. The objection is generally dealt with by a direction to counsel to rephrase. The best objections to “form” should state the specific issue.
RESPONSE: “Your Honor, may counsel be requested to inform the court in what specific way is the form of my question insufficient, so that I can remedy any problem?” (Then, when informed, restate the question to eliminate the bad form.)

Compound Question/Double Question

DISCUSSION: The question is really two questions posed as one. This objection should only be used when the question is misleading and the answer could be misconstrued by the jury.
F.R.E. Reference: Compound (611(a))
RESPONSE: Separate the question into the two parts.

Confusing/Vague/Ambiguous

DISCUSSION: Confusing/vague/misleading/ambiguous are all words that convey the objection that the question is not posed in a clear and precise manner so that the witness knows with certainty what information is being sought.
RESPONSE: “Your Honor, I can restate that question.”

Counsel is Testifying/Misstates Evidence/Misquotes Witness/Improper Characterization of Evidence

DISCUSSION: Basically, in immigration court, this is when a lawyer is leading his or her own witness on direct or deliberately misstating facts on cross. The immigration judge has inherent power to administer the trial so that it is fair. The value of making this objection is to both wake up the witness to pay attention and not mindlessly answer the question, and also to call the attention of the immigration judge to the fact that the earlier testimony was different.
RESPONSE: “Your Honor, it is not a misstatement, and certainly the court and jury have heard the evidence.” If the issue is counsel testifying, then, depending on the type of question, the best response is to revert back to non-leading who, what, where, when, how and why questions.

Narrative

DISCUSSION: This type of objection in immigration court is really only useful with expert witnesses. The point being that the immigration judge wants to hear from the respondent in a general narrative form, since so much of the respondent’s case will depend upon whether the immigration judge finds him or her credible. However, objecting to a long narrative by an expert witness has the advantage of preventing an expert witness or other verbally gifted witness from captivating the attention of the immigration judge.
RESPONSE: “Your Honor, this simply asks for a short description of the expert’s methodology.”

III. The Second Quatrain — Questions Based on What Has Happened in Court

Assumes Facts Not in Evidence

DISCUSSION: Facts which are not in evidence cannot be used as the basis of a question, unless the immigration judge allows the question “subject to later connecting up.” Generally, in the interest of good administration and usage of time, the immigration judge may allow the missing facts to be brought in later.
RESPONSE: “Your Honor, we will have those facts later in the case, but this witness is here now and it is the best use of time to ask that question now.”

Beyond The Scope of Direct/Cross/Redirect Examination

DISCUSSION: The testimony sought was not covered by the opposing counsel while questioning the witness and is not relevant to any of the previous issues covered. In the testimony of an expert, the scope of what is within the direct examination is not limited to the exact items the expert talked about. Because the expert is an expert in an entire field and is there to explain items in the field of endeavor, the scope of direct is usually understood to be everything in the expert’s field of knowledge that bears on the case in issue.
F.R.E. Reference: Beyond Scope (of Direct, Cross) (1002).
RESPONSE: “Your Honor, this is within the scope of the direct examination (cross-examination) because [explain].”

Speculative

DISCUSSION: The witness does not have first-hand knowledge of the fact about which he or she is testifying. Greater freedom is allowed with expert witnesses, but still the expert is limited by Rule 702 strictures. Expert witnesses are allowed in immigration court proceedings. 14
F.R.E. Reference: Speculation (602; 701)
RESPONSE: “Your Honor, this is an expert giving an expert opinion within the scope of her expertise.”

Foundation/Lack of Personal Knowledge

DISCUSSION: The predicate evidence has not been entered that would make this evidence admissible. This is a good objection to make when the evidence about to come in is objectionable in some way. The objecting attorney must identify what is necessary to correct the lack of foundation for the deponent to answer. 15  If the witness is a layperson, the usual foundation objection is a lack of showing that the witness has personal knowledge of the facts which the question seeks. If the witness is an expert, the usual foundation objection is a lack of showing that the expert is qualified to give the opinion sought. A (non-expert) witness may not testify to a matter unless evidence is introduced sufficient to support a finding that the witness has personal knowledge of the matter. Evidence to prove personal knowledge may, but not must, consist of the testimony of the witness. With some qualifications, experts can testify to facts they used in their process of building an opinion, even if they do not have personal knowledge of the facts supporting the opinion.
F.R.E. Reference: Rule 602, 703; Lack of Foundation (602; 901(a))
RESPONSE: [Establish by preliminary questions that the person has actual personal knowledge.]

IV. The Third Quatrain — Imagery: Questions Based On Rules

Best Evidence Rule

“OBJECTION: Your Honor, this is not the best evidence. The original document is the best evidence.”
DISCUSSION: This objection can be used when the evidence being solicited is not the best source of the information. 16 It usually occurs when a witness is being asked a question about a document that is available to be entered into evidence. The document should be entered as proof of its contents. There are three aspects to the “Best Evidence Rule.” The first aspect is the one most often invoked: ordinarily a non-expert witness is not allowed to describe what is in a document without the document itself being introduced into evidence. Put the document into evidence first, and then have the lay witness talk about what is in it. The second aspect is requiring the original document to be introduced into evidence instead of a copy — if the original is available. Requiring the original document (the best evidence) to be available for examination insures that nothing has been altered in any way. The original document is not always available, especially in cases where a respondent may be fleeing persecution/prosecution. The third aspect is a summary of voluminous documents. The contents of voluminous writings, recordings, or photographs which cannot conveniently be examined in court may be presented in the form of a chart, summary, or calculation. The originals, or duplicates, shall be made available for examination or copying, or both, by other parties at a reasonable time and place. The court may order that they be produced in court.
F.R.E. Reference: Rules 1002, 1003, 1006.
RESPONSE: Dependent on the aspect of the Best Evidence rule involved in the objection: [Offer the document into evidence] [“Your Honor, this is admissible as a copy under Evidence Rule 1003”] [“Your Honor, this is a summary admissible under Evidence Rule 1006”].

Opinion

DISCUSSION: An improper lay (non-expert) opinion is when a witness is giving testimony that does not require an expertise, but is still an opinion that does not assist the jury in its understanding of the case. In regard to an expert, this objection is made to the competence of the expert due to the inability of the expert to pass the voir dire requirements for experts. If the witness is not testifying as an expert, the witness’ testimony in the form of opinions or inferences is limited to those opinions or inferences which are (a) rationally based on the perception of the witness, (b) helpful to a clear understanding of the witness’s testimony or the determination of a fact in issue, and (c) not based on scientific, technical or other specialized expert knowledge.
F.R.E. Reference: Rule 701, 702.
RESPONSE to Objection Regarding Expert: “Your Honor, the witness is an expert and entitled to draw a conclusion.”

Privileged Communication

DISCUSSION: A privilege is a right of an individual not to testify.
Some general privileges are:
  • Attorney-Client 17
  • Attorney Work Product
  • Husband-Wife 18
  • Mental Health Records 19
  • Physician-Patient
  • Psychotherapist-Patient
RESPONSE: “Your Honor, the matter is not privileged because….”

Public Policy

DISCUSSION: The objection regarding public policy does not consist of an optional right of an individual not to testify. The objection based on public policy refers to a non-optional class of evidence that cannot be introduced, no matter that the person who holds the evidence wants to testify. Subjects forbidden by state and federal law are wide:
  • Medical Expense Payments. Evidence of the payment of medical expenses to show liability for negligence leading to the medical expenses is inadmissible.
  • Medical Review Records. Most states forbid discoverability or admissibility of the records of a medical review committee of a hospital. It is a legislative policy decision to promote the ability of a hospital to discover medical malpractice above that of the injured person to discover the malpractice.
  • Parole Evidence Rule. The “parole evidence rule” has long been a rule of law in the English speaking world. In the absence of fraud or mutual mistake, oral statements are not admissible to modify, vary, or contradict the plain terms of a valid written contract between two parties.
  • Witness is Attorney. Ethical rules prohibit a lawyer from serving simultaneously as a witness and an advocate. Generally, a party’s lawyer who attempts to testify is subject to having to choose between being a witness or continuing as a lawyer in a case.
F.R.E. Reference: 409
RESPONSE: [Depends on the statute or rule involved.]

V. The Couplet — The Volta: The Takeaway, Most Important Objections

Leading on Direct Examination

DISCUSSION: The question on direct suggests an answer. This is (1) not an objection on cross, and (2) actually allowed in some circumstances. The important factor is not whether the question is leading, irrelevant, or without foundation, but rather whether the answer would assist the immigration judge in formulating his or her opinion. The special inquiry officer should weigh this objective along with his obligation to keep the record within bounds when ruling upon objections made by either counsel for the alien or the trial attorney. 20  The problem with a leading question is that the question itself suggests the answer that the examiner wants to have. A leading question often, but not always, can be answered with a “yes.” To encourage witnesses telling facts in their own way, leading questions are not allowed on direct examination when an attorney is examining his/her own friendly or neutral witness. When an attorney has called a hostile witness (which may be someone other than the adverse party), leading questions are allowed in direct examination. Leading questions are always proper in cross-examinations.
F.R.E. Reference: Leading (611(c))
RESPONSE: “Your Honor, this question is only preliminary to move us quickly to the matters in issue.” OR “Your Honor, the witness is a hostile witness.” Depending on the type of question, the best response is often to revert back to non-leading who, what, where, when, how and why questions. 21

Rule 403 (Undue Waste of Time or Undue Prejudice/Immaterial/Irrelevant/Repetitive/Asked and Answered/Cumulative/Surprise)

DISCUSSION: The argument is that the evidence being introduced is highly prejudicial to your client and this prejudice far outweighs the probative value. An objectionable piece of evidence is one that not only hurts your case but is also not sufficiently relevant to the merits of your opponent’s case to be let in.
In immigration court, all relevant evidence should be admitted. 22  Determining “probative value” or “weight” is at the discretion of the immigration judge. 23  The amount of “unfair prejudicial effect” also is determined by the judge. The word “unfair” is the key. In determining whether to exclude evidence, immigration judges should give the evidence its maximum reasonable probative force and its minimum reasonable prejudicial value.
F.R.E. Reference: More Prejudicial Than Probative (401–403); Non-responsive (611a).
RESPONSE: “Your Honor, the exclusion of relevant evidence for unfairness is an extraordinary remedy. There is nothing unfair about this evidence.”
Do not be afraid to object in immigration court. The Federal Rules of Evidence are not strictly followed; however, evidence must be relevant and fundamentally fair. If the evidence is not, no protest is too much.

Footnotes

 1 William Shakespeare, Gertrude to Hamlet, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
 2 Dorothy A. Harbeck is the Eastern Regional Vice President of the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ). The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the official position of the United States Department of Justice, the Attorney General, or the Executive Office for Immigration Review. The views represent the author’s personal opinions, which were formed after extensive consultation with the membership of the NAIJ. This article is solely for educational purposes, and it does not serve to substitute for any expert, professional and/or legal representation and advice. Judge Harbeck is also an adjunct Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law in trial skills.
 7 See Matter of Edwards, 20 I. & N. Dec. 191, 196–197 n.4 (BIA 1990) (objections not lodged before the immigration judge are not appropriately raised first on appeal).
 8 Thus, a party who fails to raise a timely and specific objection to the admission of evidence generally does not preserve such an objection as a ground for appeal. Matter of Lemhammad, 20 I. & N. Dec. 316, 325 (BIA 1991); see also Fed. Rule of Evidence 103(a)(1). See United States v. Adamson, 665 F. 2d 649, 660 (5th Cir. 1982); United States v. Arteaga-Limones, 529 F. 2d 1183, 1198 (5th Cir. 1976). See also 8 C.F.R. § 1240.10(a)(4) (the immigration judge shall “advise the respondent that he or she will have a reasonable opportunity to examine and object to the evidence against him or her.”).
 13 The concept of suggesting a lawyer’s response to a judge after the judge has ruled on the objection was suggested to this author by the work of Leonard Bucklin from his Building Trial Notebooks series (James Publishing). Mr. Bucklin is a Felllow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, which attempts to identify the top 500 trial lawyers in the U.S. He served as a Director of the Academy from 1990 to 1996. He is also a member of the Million-Dollar Advocate’s Forum, which is limited to plaintiffs’ attorneys who have won million or multi-million dollar verdicts, awards, and settlements. On the other side of the table, Mr. Bucklin has been placed in Best’s Directory of Recommended Insurance Attorneys as a result of superior defense work and reasonable fees for over 35 insurers. His training materials have been used by the New Jersey Institute of Continuing Legal Education in basic skills classes.
 14 Matter of D-R-, 25 I. & N. Dec. 445 (BIA 2011). An expert witness is broadly defined as one who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education and who has specialized knowledge that will assist the immigration judge to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue. The “spirit of Daubert” is applicable in immigration court. See Pasha v. Gonzales, 433 F. 3d 530 (7th Cir. 2005) (discussing the rubric of expert testimony and referencing the seminal expert report case under the Federal Rules of Evidence, Daubert v. Merrill Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579 (1993)). The immigration judge has the discretion to exclude expert testimony. Matter of V-K-, 24 I. & N. Dec. 500, fn. 2 (BIA 2008); Akinfolarin v. Gonzales, 423 F. 3d 39, 43 (1st Cir. 2005).
 16 In the Matter of M-, 5 I. & N. Dec. 484 (BIA 1953) (failure to produce reports of Communist Party activity made by the Government witness to the police department is not a violation of the best evidence rule where the sole issue is whether the respondent was a Communist Party member. Such reports did not create Communist Party membership but reflected the witness’s report of such membership; they were not used by the witness or the Government in the hearing; and there was no showing that they were relevant for the purpose of impeachment).
 17 See generally Immigration Court Practice Manual, Chapter 2, Sec. 2.3(d); Matter of Velazquez, 19 I. & N. Dec. 384(BIA 1986); Matter of Athanasopoulos, 13 I. & N. Dec. 827 (BIA 1971) (finding that attorney-client privilege was lost when the representative was in pursuit of a fraudulent claim); see also Ann Naffier, Attorney-Client Privilege for Non-Lawyers? A Study of Board of Immigration Appeals-Accredited Representatives, Prilege, and Confidentially, 59 Drake L. Rev. 584(2011).
 18 Matter of Gonzalez, 16 I. & N. Dec. 44 (BIA 1976); Matter of B-, 5 I. & N. Dec. 738 (BIA 1954).
 19 Matter of B-, 5 I. & N. Dec. 738 (BIA 1954). (The testimony of a physician of the United States Public Health Service in a deportation hearing is competent and not privileged since he is performing a duty provided by applicable law and regulations and the ordinary relationship of physician and patient does not exist).
 21 Dorothy Harbeck, The Commonsense of Direct and Cross Examinations in Immigration Court, 304 New Jersey Law. Mag. (2017) (NAIJ capacity); Dorothy Harbeck, Terms so Plain and Firm as to Command Assent: Preparing and Conducting Optimal Direct Examination of the Respondent, Fed. Law. 13 (Jan./Feb. 2017) (primary author, NAIJ capacity).

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Thanks for sharing, Judge Harbeck.  “Good stuff” as usual! And, for those of you taking “Immigration Law & Policy” with me at Georgetown Law this summer, Judge Harbeck will be a “guest lecturer” at our June 14 class (along with Jones Day’s Worldwide Pro Bono Director Laura Tuell).

 

PWS

05-29-18

Related posts:

  1. LAW YOU CAN USE: ALL-STAR PROFESSOR LINDSAY MUIR HARRIS TELLS US HOW TO STOP THE TRUMP, SESSIONS, NIELSEN PLAN FOR A “NEW AMERICAN GULAG:” “CONTEMPORARY FAMILY DETENTION AND LEGAL ADVOCACY” — 136 Harvard Latinx Law Review Vol. 21 — “This is our time to act and proudly join the brigade of “dirty immigration lawyers” to ensure protection and due process for the most vulnerable!”
  2. HON. JEFFREY CHASE: Matter of W-Y-C- & H-O-B- & The Unresolved Tension In Asylum Adjudication! – Plus My Added Commentary On EOIR Training!
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THE GIBSON REPORT – 05-21-18 – COMPILED BY ELIZABETH GIBSON, ESQUIRE, NY LEGAL ASSISTANCE GROUP

THE GIBSON REPORT 05-21-18

TOP UPDATES

 

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AIC: Altering decades of practice in immigration court and placing immense pressure on an overburdened immigration court system, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a decision in an immigration case on Thursday declaring immigration judges do not have general authority to administratively close cases.

 

Report: Swept up in the Sweep: The Impact of Gang Allegations on Immigrant New Yorkers.

NYIC: Through an extensive field study, the report shows how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with other federal agencies and law enforcement, uses arbitrary methods to profile immigrant youth of color to allege gang affiliation.

 

Criminal justice reform would protect immigrants from deportation

City&State: [M]ore can and should be done to defend New Yorkers from ICE detention and deportation, especially in the realm of criminal justice reform. Studies indicate immigrants are generally more law-abiding than the general public, but even traffic stops or arrests on low-level charges that are later dismissed can cause serious harm to immigrants, as arrest fingerprints collected by the NYPD are shared with the federal government, putting them on ICE’s radar and at risk of indefinite detention and deportation.

 

Trump administration preparing to hold immigrant children on military bases

WaPo: According to an email notification sent to Pentagon staffers, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will make site visits at four military installations in Texas and Arkansas during the next two weeks to evaluate their suitability to shelter children. See also Dem plans amendment to block Trump from using military bases to house undocumented minors separated from parents.

 

The Border Patrol Is Undercounting How Many People Perish While Crossing the Border

New reports reveal there is a significant discrepancy between what the Border Patrol officially claims, and the numbers provided by multiple independent news agencies and advocates. By some accounts, the death toll in some border states is 60 percent higher than what the agency is reporting.

 

California rebukes Trump with health care push for immigrants

Politico: California is poised to become the first state in the nation to offer full health coverage to undocumented adults even as the Trump administration intensifies its crackdown by separating families at the border.

 

Her Husband Beat Her and Raped Her. Jeff Sessions Might Deport Her.

NYT Op-Ed: In recent years, the United States has been something of a beacon of hope for women fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries. In 2014, in a giant step forward, immigration courts explicitly determined that a person fleeing severe domestic violence may be granted asylum here if the violence rises to the level of persecution, if the government in the victim’s home country cannot or will not punish her abuser and if various other criteria are met. It’s a high bar but one that, sadly, women from many countries can clear. Now their last chance at protection may be under threat.

 

New ‘zero tolerance’ immigration crackdown fills border courts
LA Times: Border Patrol caught more than 100,000 people illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in March and April, the highest monthly totals since Trump was elected. Families with children and unaccompanied minors increased from 10% of undocumented migrants detained five years ago to 40% now.

 

Sending Even More Immigrants to Prison

Marshall Project: A Marshall Project analysis of 17 years of federal prison sentences shows that violations of immigration law already constitute the largest category of offenses in the border districts—even more than drug trafficking. Nationally, of the nearly 60,500 people sentenced to federal prison in the last fiscal year, more than 30 percent were convicted of immigration offenses, which can include “illegal re-entry” or people-smuggling.

 

While You Were Offline: Wait, John Kelly Said What?

Wired: In an unequivocal interview, John Kelly told NPR immigrants were “not people that would easily assimilate into the United States, into our modern society. … speaking about the potential separation of children from their families by immigration officials, Kelly said, “the children will be taken care of—put into foster care or whatever.”

 

Republican leaders search for a path amid immigration civil war

CNN: The House speaker gathered together a group of Republican thought leaders on immigration and border security and gave them a mission: agree on something. They couldn’t. Almost exactly eight months later, on Friday, he stood in the back of the House floor, resting his chin on his hand and leaning against a rail as he watched an unrelated farm bill — which would have achieved one of his legacy goals of welfare reform — go down in flames, a casualty of the still-unresolved immigration debate.

 

ORR Request for Emergency OMB Approval for Revised “Sponsorship Review Procedures for Approval for Unaccompanied Alien Children” Information Collection

ORR request for the use of emergency processing procedures for OMB approval of its revised “Sponsorship Review Procedures for Approval for Unaccompanied Alien Children” information collection. ORR also seeks public comment, with comments due within 60 days. (83 FR 22490, 5/15/18) AILA Doc. No. 18051531

 

Senate Democrats Urge Appropriators to Protect Pregnant Women from ICE Detention

On 4/27/18, Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV) led an effort to increase oversight of ICE’s detention practices and policies, including language that would require the release of pregnant women apprehended by or transferred to ICE. Sixteen senators signed the letter. AILA Doc. No. 18051634

 

Practice Alert: Delayed Issuance of I-751 Receipt Notices by California Service Center (CSC)

AILA members have reported that they have not received receipt notices for I-751s filed with the CSC since the beginning of April 2018. In response to AILA reaching out to report the issue, the CSC has confirmed the delay, but that individuals should begin to see receipt notices very soon. AILA Doc. No. 18051731

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

Supreme Court Vacates and Remands 16 Cases for Further Consideration in Light of Sessions v. Dimaya

ImmProf: [T]he U.S. Supreme Court [last week] granted certiorari, vacated the lower court rulings, and remanded 16 separate cases impacted by its April ruling in Dimaya v. Sessions, which found that part of how a “crime of violence” is defined in immigration law for purposes of deporting noncitizens is unconstitutionally vague.

 

Attorney General Holds IJs and the BIA Have No General Authority for Administrative Closure

In a case he had previously referred to himself for review, the attorney general held that IJs and the BIA have no general authority for administrative closure. Matter of Castro-Tum, 27 I&N Dec. 271 (A.G. 2018) AILA Doc. No. 18051749

 

CA2 Holds That Petitioner With Stay of Removal Is Not Held Pursuant to INA §241

The court held that when a stay of removal has been issued by the circuit court, an immigrant is not held pursuant to INA §241 because he or she is not in the “removal period” contemplated by the statute until his or her appeal has been resolved. (Hechavarria v. Sessions, 5/16/18) AILA Doc. No. 18051760

 

CA2 Holds New York First-Degree Bail Jumping to Be an Aggravated Felony

The court held that the petitioner’s conviction for bail jumping in the first degree under New York Penal Law §215.57 was an aggravated felony under INA §101(a)(43)(T). (Perez Henriquez v. Sessions, 5/8/18) AILA Doc. No. 18051761

 

CA4 Holds Individuals Subject to Reinstatement of Removal May Not Apply for Asylum, Even If Changed Circumstances Exist

The court denied the petition for review, holding that an individual subject to a reinstated order of removal may not apply for asylum, even when the factual basis for the asylum claim did not exist prior to the original removal. (Lara-Aguilar v. Sessions, 5/2/18) AILA Doc. No. 18051730

 

CA5 Finds BIA Erred in Requiring Asylum Petitioner to Prove Past Persecution and in Recharacterizing Her Social Group

The court held that the BIA erred both in requiring the asylum petitioner to prove past persecution to establish a claim based on a well-founded fear of future persecution and in recharacterizing the petitioner’s claimed social group. (Cabrera v. Sessions, 5/7/18) AILA Doc. No. 18051733

 

CA5 Holds That Texas Statute on Online Solicitation of a Minor is Overbroad in Light of Esquivel-Quintana

The court found that the Supreme Court’s decision in Esquivel-Quintana v. Sessionsestablished an age requirement that rendered the Texas statute under which the petitioner was convicted of online solicitation of a minor overbroad. (Shroff v. Sessions, 5/15/18) AILA Doc. No. 18051741

 

CA7 Holds BIA Erred By Failing to Adequately Consider Petitioner’s Near-Escapes from MS-13 in Deferral of Removal Case

The court held that in dismissing the petitioner’s appeal from the IJ’s decision denying his application for deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture, the BIA erred by failing to make an adequate inquiry into his near-escapes from the MS-13 gang. (Perez v. Sessions, 5/2/18) AILA Doc. No. 18051742

 

CA7 Finds Petitioner Did Not Submit Sufficient Evidence of Changed Country Conditions in Indonesia

The court denied the petition for review, finding that the petitioner did not submit sufficient evidence to show changed country conditions in Indonesia in order to qualify for an exception to the 90-day limit for filing a motion to reopen removal proceedings. (Yahya v. Sessions, 5/3/18) AILA Doc. No. 18051745

 

CA8 Finds Petitioner’s North Dakota Conviction for Unlawful Entry into a Vehicle to Be an Aggravated Felony

The court held that the petitioner’s North Dakota conviction for unlawful entry into a vehicle was an aggravated felony under INA §101(a)(43)(U) because the unlawful entry was a substantial step toward committing a theft. (Ahmed v. Sessions, 5/15/18) AILA Doc. No. 18051746

 

CA9 Holds BIA’s Interpretation of Physical Presence Requirement for NACARA Cancellation to Be Reasonable

The court held that the BIA’s interpretation of the 10-year physical presence requirement for NACARA cancellation of removal for applicants inadmissible on certain criminal grounds as running from the most recent disqualifying conviction was reasonable. (Campos-Hernandez v. Sessions, 5/2/18) AILA Doc. No. 18051747

 

CA9 Holds INA §241(a)(5) Does Not Deprive Immigration Court of Jurisdiction to Resolve a Motion to Reopen Based on Lack of Notice

The court held that the BIA erred by holding that INA §241(a)(5) deprived the immigration court of jurisdiction to resolve the petitioner’s motion to reopen removal proceedings based on lack of notice of the removal order entered against her. (Miller v. Sessions, 5/8/18) AILA Doc. No. 18051748

 

CA9 Holds Petitioner’s Complaints of Poor Memory Insufficient to Show Mental Incompetency

The court held that the petitioner’s complaints of poor memory, without evidence of an inability to understand the nature and object of the proceedings, were insufficient to show mental incompetency. (Salgado v. Sessions, 5/8/18) AILA Doc. No. 18051800

 

BIA Reopens Proceedings Based on Unpublished BIA Decision

Unpublished BIA decision reopens proceedings following submission of unpublished decision that found 35 Pa. Cons. Stat. 78-113(a)(30) not to be an aggravated felony drug trafficking crime. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Watkins, 6/9/17) AILA Doc. No. 18051641

 

BIA Reopens and Terminates Proceedings Because Conviction Was No Longer an Aggravated Felony

Unpublished BIA decision reopens and terminates proceedings sua sponte where conviction for embezzlement under Va. Code 18.2-111 was neither an aggravated felony theft nor fraud offense. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Mattis, 6/11/17) AILA Doc. No. 18051642

 

USCIS to Recall Incorrectly Dated Green Cards

USCIS announced that on 5/14/18 it will begin recalling approximately 8,543 green cards issued to recipients of approved I-751 petitions for spouses of U.S. citizens due to a production error. Affected cards were mailed between February and April 2018. USCIS will notify the affected individuals. AILA Doc. No. 18051530

 

USCIS Policy Alert Updating Guidance on Adjustment of Status Interview Guidelines and Waiver Criteria

USCIS updated guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual on adjustment of status interviews, including updating the list of the types of cases in which USCIS might waive the interview by removing employment-based and fiancé(e)-based adjustment cases from the list. AILA Doc. No. 18051636

 

President Trump Delivers Remarks on California Sanctuary State Laws

President Trump delivered remarks critical of California’s sanctuary state laws at a roundtable event.

AILA Doc. No. 18051737

 

ICE Has Missed Two Detention Reporting Deadlines Set by Congress in March

AILA joined other organizations calling on congressional appropriators to hold ICE accountable for violations of congressionally imposed transparency obligations in the ever-expanding immigration detention system. AILA Doc. No. 18051738

 

DHS Privacy Impact Assessment Update for the Electronic Health Records (eHR) System

DHS published an update to its 2013 Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) of the Electronic Health Records (eHR) system used to maintain health records on individuals in ICE detention. It describes a new online Patient Medical Record Portal, whereby former detainees can access a copy of their records.

AILA Doc. No. 18051744

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

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

Thanks, Elizabeth!

PWS

05-23-18

Related posts:

  1. KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ALL OF THE REGIME’S LATEST ANTI-IMMIGRANT SCHEMES, GIMMICKS, & SHENANIGANS – THE GIBSON REPORT – 01-06-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group
  2. THE GIBSON REPORT – 09-29-20 – Compiled by Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group – Another Tone-Deaf, Far Right Justice; Higher Fees For Worse Service; Detained Until Dead (“DUD Policy”)☠️⚰️; Dumping On International Students; & Other Nation-Destroying 🏴‍☠️News From The Trump Regime Twilight Zone! 
  3. 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!🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️👎🏻
  4. THE GIBSON REPORT — 12-21-20 — Compiled by Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

THE GIBSON REPORT – 05-14-18 – COMPILED BY ELIZABETH GIBSON, ESQUIRE, NEW YORK LEGAL ASSISTANCE GROUP

THE GIBSON REPORT 05-14-18

TOP UPDATES

AG Sessions Vows to Separate Kids from Parents, Prosecute All Illegal Border-Crossers

AZ Republic: U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions promised to prosecute and separate parents who smuggle their children illegally into the United States as he revealed more details about his “zero-tolerance” approach to border enforcement…In Arizona, he unveiled his plan, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to prosecute all individuals caught crossing the border illegally, saying his Department of Justice would take as many cases “as humanly possible” until they reached a 100 percent prosecution rate. See also Huff Po: Immigration prosecutions are normally open-and-shut cases. But the president’s tweets are once again undermining him in court.

 

ICE to crack down on sponsorship of unaccompanied children

Politico: The Homeland Security Department will check the immigration status of possible sponsors of unaccompanied children and adult household members, according to a proposed rule published in the Federal Register Monday. See also DHS Notice of Modification of “Alien Criminal Response Information Management” System of Records.

 

U.S. embassy cables warned against expelling 300,000 immigrants. Trump officials did it anyway.

WaPo: In the past six months, the Trump administration has moved to expel 300,000 Central Americans and Haitians living and working legally in the United States, disregarding senior U.S. diplomats who warned that mass deportations could destabilize the region and trigger a new surge of illegal immigration.

 

Three-Part Series on Border Deaths

RadioLab: While scouring the Sonoran Desert for objects left behind by migrants crossing into the United States, anthropologist Jason De León happened upon something he didn’t expect to get left behind: a human arm, stripped of flesh. This macabre discovery sent him reeling, needing to know what exactly happened to the body, and how many migrants die that way in the wilderness. In researching border-crosser deaths in the Arizona desert, he noticed something surprising. Sometime in the late-1990s, the number of migrant deaths shot up dramatically and have stayed high since.

 

Immigration crackdown shifts to employers as audits surge

Trib: There were 594 employers arrested on criminal immigration charges from Oct. 1 to May 4, up from 139 during the previous fiscal year, and 610 civil immigration charges during the same period, compared to 172 in the preceding 12-months.

 

Clients arrested in NY transferred out of NY-area before the filing of an NTA.

IDP: MRNY and others are tracking people arrested by ICE in New York who are transferred away from the NY area before the filing of an NTA. To date, LSPs have reported clients transferred to New Mexico and Maryland. As far as we know the ICE detainee transfer policy from 2012 is still in effect. You may be able to use this to advocate for your client before he or she is transferred. If you know of a client who was transferred before an NTA was filed locally, email Natalia (natalia.renta@maketheroadny.org) and Luba (luba.cortes@maketheroadny.org).

 

Chinese Robocalls Bombarding The U.S. Are Part Of An International Phone Scam

NPR: Non-Mandarin speakers may find the robocalls baffling — or annoying — and just hang up. But some Chinese immigrants who have followed the robocall’s prompts have found themselves sucked into an international phone scam… The robocall messages are usually some variation on that theme: This is the consulate; we have an important document that needs to be picked up; it may affect your status in the U.S.; press a button to speak with a specialist — and that is when a connection is made to a live scammer.

 

USCIS and the Justice Department Formalize Partnership to Protect U.S. Workers from Discrimination and Combat Fraud

USCIS: In 2017, the Civil Rights Division launched the Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative, which is aimed at targeting, investigating, and taking enforcement actions against companies that discriminate against U.S. workers in favor of foreign visa workers.

 

Status Docket

NYLAG: In at least one case, the NY Immigration Court placed a case on the status docket with a 2019 check-in where counsel stated at the MCH that they intended to file for a U visa but had not done so yet (DV-based 589 previously filed, but would prefer to move forward on U). The court was served with a copy of the SuppB request filed with NYPD as proof of intent to file for U. IJ gave a long continuance for proof of U filing instead of setting for an individual for asylum, and then notice of transfer to status docket sent by mail a few weeks later.

 

UAC Jurisdiction

NYLAG: Clt is a UAC, entered ewi at 17 years old. Filed I-589 w/ local Bethpage asylum office on prior to 1 year filing deadline and filed before clt turned 18. Today was client’s second master calendar hearing before IJ Lurye. This was NYLAG’s first time entering appearance. Entered pleadings. Relief: asylum, withholding, and CAT, and SIJS.  Then IJ asked if had already filed I-589 with the court. Attorney stated no because we filed it already with the asylum office.  IJ asked how old client was. She said that DHS is now taking on the position of considering de-designating UACs once they turn 18. DHS said yes, but did not mentioning anything else about de designating clt’s uac status.  The IJ said that she was going to schedule another master so that we may file the I-589 with the court and on that date we will schedule clt’s individual. Another attorney that went prior, entered pleadings and then was instructed to go make a copy of the UAC’s I-589 right then and return to the courtroom to go back on the record and file it with the IJ.

 

ICE NTAing I-601As

San Diego AILA Chapter: I have been advised that several AILA attorneys in the US…have been notified by their clients that they must come into the ICE office in a week to report. It appears that ICE is now taking individuals into custody whose I-601A waivers have been approved and are just awaiting their appointment at consulates!! Apparently, ICE will issue the NTA and put them into proceedings and then they must await a VR decision from the IJ to leave. This seriously undermines that entire legal process and if the individual has an NTA with a hearing in 8 months or so, that means that the consular process is stalled. Or the government forces that person out of the country well in advance of the consular interview, making them live longer in their home country.

 

EOIR Releases Court Statistics and Announces Plan to Release Immigration Court Data on Recurring Basis

EOIR released immigration court statistics through the first two quarters of FY2018 with highlights from the data. EOIR also announced that the release of certain immigration court statistics will occur on a recurring basis as an effort to increase transparency of the immigration court system. AILA Doc. No. 18051042

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

Documents Relating to Lawsuit Regarding Government Report on Immigration Status of Convicted Terrorists

Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit challenging the government’s failure to respond to their Information Quality Act petition regarding a report on the immigration status of individuals convicted of certain terrorism-related charges and other crimes. (Protect Democracy Project, Inc. v. DOJ, 5/3/18) AILA Doc. No. 18050737

 

Documents Related to Lawsuit Challenging Termination of TPS for El Salvador, Haiti, and Honduras

Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint challenging the termination of the designation of El Salvador, Haiti, and Honduras for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). (Centro Presente v. Trump, 5/9/18) AILA Doc. No. 18051036

 

BIA Finds Tax Conviction Is Not an Aggravated Felony

Unpublished BIA decision holds that failure to collect or pay over a tax under 26 USC §7202 is not an aggravated felony because INA §101(a)(43)(M)(ii) applies only to offenses described in 26 USC §7201. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Corral, 6/2/17) AILA Doc. No. 18051161

 

BIA Holds Indiana Statute Is Not a Drug Trafficking Aggravated Felony

Unpublished BIA decision holds maintaining a common nuisance under Indiana Code 35-48-4-13(b)(1) as it existed in May 2016 is not an aggravated felony under INA §101(a)(43)(B). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Paul, 5/30/17) AILA Doc. No. 18051162

 

BIA Addresses Extraordinary Circumstances Exception for Minors

Unpublished BIA decision holds that “minor” means person under 18 years of age to qualify for extraordinary circumstances exception to asylum filing deadline but that youth of applicants between 18 and 21 can be considered as a factor. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of A-D-, 5/22/17) AILA Doc. No. 18050735

 

BIA Dismisses DHS Appeal of Order Reopening Proceedings Sua Sponte Notwithstanding Departure Bar

Unpublished BIA decision holds IJ did not err in reopening and terminating proceedings sua sponte given sentence modification rendering offense no longer an aggravated felony and notwithstanding respondent’s departure from the country. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Keserovic, 5/24/17) AILA Doc. No. 18050932

 

BIA Holds Florida Grand Theft Is Not a CIMT

Unpublished BIA decision holds that grand theft under Fla. Stat. 812.014 is not a CIMT because it applies to temporary takings or appropriations of property. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ngo, 6/8/17) AILA Doc. No. 18051035

 

BIA Vacates Discretionary Denial of Asylum Application

Unpublished BIA decision finds IJ erred in denying asylum application as a matter of discretion solely because respondent failed to seek asylum during two prior visits to United Kingdom. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of G-S-, 6/5/17) AILA Doc. No. 18051037

 

Texas District Court Issues Notable Order in Case of Detained Somali National

The court issued an order stating that the immigration court must conduct a merits hearing no later than 8/10/18 and that the government stipulated to the petitioner’s eligibility to apply for cancellation of removal. Courtesy of Geoffrey Hoffman. (Mohamed v. Nielsen, 5/7/18) AILA Doc. No. 18050831

 

Attorney General’s Remarks to Gatlinburg Law Enforcement Training Conference

Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivered remarks in which, among other topics, he addressed immigration enforcement, including DOJ’s hiring of 35 Assistant U.S. Attorney positions for the southwest border and EOIR’s deployment of 18 supervisory judges to detention centers along the southwest border. AILA Doc. No. 18050836

 

USCIS Issues Policy Memo on Accrual of Unlawful Presence and F, J, M Nonimmigrants

USCIS issued a policy memo with guidance to officers on calculating unlawful presence of those in student, exchange visitor, or vocational student status and their dependents, admitted in duration of status or until a specific date. Guidance is effective on 8/9/18. Comments are due by 6/11/18. AILA Doc. No. 18051139

 

Directive entitled Detention and Removal of Alien Parents or Legal Guardians (Detained Parents Directive)

USCIS: The directive provides guidance regarding the detention and removal of alien parents and legal guardians of a minor child(ren), to include those who have a direct interest in family court or child welfare proceedings in the United States. It is intended to complement the detention standards and policies that govern the intake, detention, and removal of alien parents or legal guardians.

 

 

ACTIONS

 

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

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

As always, Elizabeth, thanks for all you do for the “New Due Process Army” (“NDPA”).

PWS

05-15-18

Related posts:

  1. HERE IT IS! — The “Gibson Report” For April 17, 2017!
  2. The Gibson Report 03-19-18
  3. The Gibson Report For June 5, 2017! — More “ADR” On Tap For The New York Immigration Court?
  4. THE GIBSON REPORT 04-22-19 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

A MESSAGE FOR MIGRANT MOTHERS FROM THIS MORNING’S SERVICE AT BEVERLEY HILLS COMMUNITY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA!

And Jesus said, “Come!”

To all mothers and all children he said: “Come!”

To the motherless and the childless he said: “Come!”

To all who long to be mothered, he said: “Come!”

Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am gentle and humble of heart

and you will find rest for your souls.

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

Compare this with the decidedly un-Christlike messages on immigrants, strangers, the poor, and those that differ that we get on a daily basis from our Government.

PWS

05-13-18

 

Related posts:

  1. TRUMP TREATS KIDS AS HUMAN PAWNS IN UGLY POLITICAL CHESS GAME – Administration’s Continued Spreading Of False Narrative On Migration Makes Continuing Migration Outside of Legal System Inevitable!
  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. 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! 
  4. U.S. JUDGE THWARTS (FOR NOW) TRUMP REGIME’S PERSECUTION/PROSECUTION OF HUMANITARIAN AID WORKERS – Regime’s Religious Hypocrisy Runs Deep!

EUGENE ROBINSON @ WASHPOST – THE ST. LOUIS DOCKS AGAIN AT OUR SOUTHERN BORDER — TRUMP, SESSIONS & CO. WANT THE US TO FAIL THE MORAL TEST AGAIN – But, This Time It’s Anti-Hispanic Racism, Rather Than Anti-Semitism Behind Our Government’s Intentional Immorality — Trump & Sessions “are sincere in their desire to stanch the flow of Latino immigration — not, I strongly suspect, because of drugs or crime, but because they loathe the demographic and cultural change that is taking place.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-immigrant-caravan-is-a-test-trump-wants-us-to-fail/2018/04/30/124b975c-4cb4-11e8-84a0-458a1aa9ac0a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.72fbc5bc8d11

The immigrant ‘caravan’ is a test. Trump wants us to fail.

By Eugene Robinson

The “caravan” of asylum-seeking migrants that has finally arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border is a test of American character and purpose — a test President Trump wants us to fail.

I put caravan in quotation marks because the group that reached Tijuana hardly qualifies for the term. Just a few dozen would-be entrants presented themselves at the Port of San Ysidro on Sunday — only to be told that U.S. immigration officials were too busy to attend to them. Another several hundred were reported to be in the general area, waiting their turn to attempt to cross the border.

Trump has spoken of these people as if they were some kind of rampaging horde. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has accused them of “a deliberate attempt to undermine our laws and overwhelm our system.” The truth is that this sort of thing happens every year: Would-be migrants seek safety in numbers as they make the long and perilous trek north through Mexico.

Sessions probably understands this context; Trump probably doesn’t. But I believe both are sincere in their desire to stanch the flow of Latino immigration — not, I strongly suspect, because of drugs or crime, but because they loathe the demographic and cultural change that is taking place.

While he and his administration were being appropriately roasted at the White House Correspondents’ Associationdinner on Saturday evening, Trump was at a rally in Michigan saying that our immigration laws are “corrupt . . . so corrupt” and that the motives of those who defend our nation’s traditional role as a haven for asylum seekers are political. “The Democrats actually feel, and they are probably right, that all of these people that are pouring across are going to vote for Democrats, they’re not going to vote for Republicans.”

They’re not going to vote for anybody, of course, since they’re not citizens. Truth doesn’t matter to Trump. But you knew that.

What seems to really drive the president crazy is that the United States remains a haven for those fleeing persecution. Trump laid out his complaint Saturday: “If a person puts their foot over the line, we have to take them into our country, we have to register them. We then have to ask them a couple of questions. Lawyers are telling them what to say. How unsafe they are. And once they say that, we have to let them go, to come back to court in like a year. Only one problem: They don’t come back, okay. That’s the end. Welcome to the United States.”

You will have noticed that missing from Trump’s rant is any sense of morality or mission.

There is a reason the law makes provision for those seeking asylum. In 1939, Congress rejected a bill that would have admitted 20,000 German Jewish children. Later that year, authorities refused to allow the St. Louis, a ship carrying about 900 German Jews, to dock in Miami; the Coast Guard sent out patrol boats to warn the ship away. The St. Louis was forced to return to Europe, and 254 of its passengers later perished during the Holocaust.

That shameful history led to changes in immigration policy that prohibit rejecting claims of asylum out of hand. The bar is high, but many of the Central American asylum seekers probably clear it.

In El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, the major threat comes from rampant gang violence. Boys are often offered a stark choice: Join a gang or be killed. Girls are threatened with rape. It is easy to say this is a problem local elected officials and police ought to solve, but government institutions are weak, and corruption is widespread. What choice does a family under imminent threat have but to flee? What would you do?

It is of course true that not every Central American who asks for asylum truly merits it. That’s why each case is examined and evaluated, with all the time needed to reach a proper determination — which is how the migrants now at the border must be handled, despite what Trump and Sessions might prefer.

To close our eyes and hearts to legitimate claims of persecution would be to repeat the shameful and tragic mistakes of the World War II era. If the subjects of Trump’s demagoguery were summarily denied entry, as he apparently would like, most would be forced to go home and some would be killed. That would be a terrible stain on the nation’s conscience.

I’m tempted to add that it would be a stain on Trump’s conscience as well, but it’s not clear that he has one.

Read more from Eugene Robinson’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. You can also join him Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for a live Q&A.

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

I remember walking through the “St. Louis Exhibit” at the Holocaust Museum (on an EOIR-sponsored tour, no less, for a long ago and far away Annual Judges Conference — my how official racism & xenophobia have changed things) and asking myself how we could have done that to our fellow human beings.

Then, we had a “special session” explaining the catastrophic failure and cowardice of the German Judiciary during the Nazi rise to power. Judge after judge “adhered to the rule of law” even when those laws unfairly disenfranchised Jews, deprived them of their properly and lawful occupations, and eventually sentenced them to mass death!

I’ve now come to the unhappy realization that the St. Louis might have represented the norm, rather than the exception, to the reality of American democracy and its serious anti-Semitic and racially biased undertones. And, the actions of the corrupt & cowardly German judges of that era are certainly what Trump, Sessions, and their cronies are referring to when they disingenuously pontificate about “the rule of law” and looking for judges, Government officials, and lawyers who are committed to applying it in a biased and one-sided fashion

It’s their rule of law, as they consistently misconstrue it to protect only their favored political and racial groups, and misuse it “punish enemies” and to carry our their increasingly racist, White Nationalist agenda.

And yet 40% of our fellow countrymen are enthusiastically supportive of this heinous agenda. What’s wrong with them? Why ask ourselves how Nazism could have overtaken Germany when we’re in the process of trying to repeat that sordid history here? It’s pretty easy to see Hitler rallies of the 1930s in the Trump rallies of today. The same vicious disregard of both the truth and humanity, scapegoating, and an attacks on the true rule of law and on those who stand up for democracy, all wrapped in an appeal to false religious nationalism! 

We’re failing as a nation on both a moral and a legal basis. It remains to be seen whether the resistance to Trump, his supporters, and his enablers will be sufficient to preserve democracy and human decency in America.

PWS

05-01-18

Related posts:

  1. COMPLICITY HAS COSTS:  Article III Judges’ Association Apparently Worries That Trump, Barr, GOP Toadies Starting To “Treat Them Like Immigration Judges” — Do They Fear Descent To Status Of Mere Refugees, Immigrants, “Dreamers,” Unaccompanied Children, Or Others Treated As “Less Than Persons” By Trump, 5th Cir., 11th Cir., 9th Cir., & The Supremes’ “J.R. Five?” 
  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. 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!
  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!

CHILD ABUSE: COWARDLY ADMINISTRATION USES FALSE NARRATIVES & DISTORTED FACTS TO ATTACK PROTECTIONS FOR REFUGEE CHILDREN — Our National Morality & Human Decency In Free-fall Under Trump! — “It has been national law and policy that as adults we look out for children …. No longer.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/01/us/immigration-minors-children.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Eli Hager of The Marshall Project in the NY Times:

On April 4, the White House posted a fact sheet on its website warning that legal “loopholes” were allowing tens of thousands of immigrant children who entered the country on their own to remain in the United States.

The next day, another post went up: “Loopholes in Child Trafficking Laws Put Victims — and American Citizens — At Risk.”

And the same week, the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services not normally known for its politics, announced that it “joins the President in calling for Congress to close dangerous loopholes.”

Over the past month, the Trump administration has taken aim at a set of child protection laws created to protect young people who cross into the United States without a parent or guardian, perhaps aided by smugglers. The administration now sees some of these same youths as a threat, and is portraying the laws as “loopholes” that are preventing the quick deportation of teenagers involved in gangs.

The campaign is aimed at Capitol Hill, but the Trump administration is not waiting for legislation: In a series of at least a dozen moves across multiple federal agencies, it has begun to curtail legal protections for unaccompanied children who cross the border. Many of these safeguards were created by a 2008 law that provided protections for children who might otherwise be forced into labor or prostitution.

The young people affected by the administration’s measures have been fleeing deadly gang violence in Central America since 2014, when civil strife erupted in the region. They are a less politically shielded group of young people than the so-called “Dreamers,” most of whom came to this country as toddlers with their parents.

The new directives appear aimed at detaining more of these youths after their arrival and speeding deportation back to their home countries — where they may face violent reprisals from gangs or other forms of abuse.

“It has been national law and policy that as adults we look out for children,” said Eve Stotland, director of legal services for The Door, a youth advocacy organization in New York. “No longer.”

Endangered Central American Children

Among the many new directives, the State Department in November gave just 24 hours’ notice to endangered children in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador before canceling a program through which they could apply for asylum in the United States before getting to the border. About 2,700 of them who had already been approved and were awaiting travel arrangements were forced to stay behind in the troubled region.

The Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, has sharply cut back on granting a special legal status for immigrant juveniles who have been abused, neglected or abandoned; the program dropped from a 78 percent approval rate in 2016 to 54 percent last year, according to statistics compiled by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In New York, Texas and elsewhere, the agency in recent months has also begun revoking this protection for children who had already won it, according to legal aid organizations in the states.

The Justice Department has also issued legal clarification for courts and prosecutors about revoking “unaccompanied child” status, which allows minors to have their cases heard in a non-adversarial setting rather than in immigration court with a prosecutor contesting them. (The White House has said that it intends to remove this protection altogether, but has not yet done so.)

And the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which provides social services to vulnerable immigrant youth, is now placing all children with any gang-related history in secure detention instead of foster care, whether or not they have ever been arrested or charged with a crime, according to an August memo to the President’s Domestic Policy Council.

“It’s law enforcement mission creep, and our office is ill-prepared for it,” said Robert Carey, who was director of the refugee agency under President Barack Obama.

A Focus on Gangs

The Trump administration has said that its actions are necessary to stem the tide of violent crime. It has focused on teenagers belonging to or associated with the Salvadoran-American street gang MS-13, which has been linked by the police since 2016 to at least 25 homicides on Long Island — a testing ground for many of the president’s new policies.

About 99 of the more than 475 people arrested in the New York City area during ICE raids for gang members had come to the U.S. as unaccompanied children, a representative for the agency said.

To fortify the “loophole” narrative, official announcements of these ICE actions often point out that a number of those arrested were in the process of applying for various forms of child protection.

Yet 30 of 35 teenagers rounded up during these ICE raids last year and who later filed a class-action lawsuit have subsequently been released because the gang allegations against them were thin, according to the ACLU. And the Sacramento Bee reported that a juvenile detention center in California recently cut back its contract with the federal government and complained that too many immigrant teens were being sent there with no evidence of gang affiliation.

The refugee agency acknowledged in its August memo to the White House that only 1.6 percent of all children in its care have any gang history.

“The arguments they’re making are just really challenging to basic logic,” said Elissa Steglich, a law professor at the University of Texas who teaches a clinic for immigrant families.

“The arguments they’re making are just really challenging to basic logic,” said Elissa Steglich, a law professor at the University of Texas who teaches a clinic for immigrant families.

. . . .

“**************************************

Read the complete article at the link.

Yes, folks, it’s way past time to use the correct term for the Trump Administration’s outrageous, and in many cases illegal, policies directed against primarily Hispanic migrant children:  “Child Abuse!”

I met many of these kids and families coming through my court over the years. While there were a tiny number of “bad actors” (which the DHS did a good job of discovering) the vast, vast majority were nothing like what Trump, Sessions and others are describing. They actually much better represented “true American values,” courage, and the “American work ethic” than do Trump and his valueless cronies.

That’s right folks! OUR U.S. Government is using racist-inspired lies to conduct a war against Hispanic children and to illegally return many of them to deadly and life threatening situations! Bad things happen to nations that let bullies and cowards bully, demean, and harm children!

The Trump Administration’s abuse of migrant children and their legal and Constitutional rights could be taken right out of a State Department Country Report on human rights abuses in a Third World Dictatorship. Is this they way YOU want to be remembered by history?

No, Constitutional and statutory protections for children are NOT “loopholes.” What kind of human beings speak such trash?  The Trump Administration’s response to the “rule of law” when, as is often the case, it doesn’t fit their White Nationalist agenda is always to tell lies, rail against it, and look for ways around it.

Stand up against the lawless behavior and immoral actions of Trump, Sessions, and the rest of their “hate crew!” Join the “New Due Process Army” and fight against the Trump Administration’s erosion of our national values, morality, and the true “rule of law” (which is there to protect migrants and the rest of us from abuse at the hands of our Government).

Harm to the most vulnerable among us is harm to all!

PWS

05-01-18

Related posts:

  1. REPORT FROM FBA, AUSTIN: Read My Speech “JUSTICE BETRAYED: THE INTENTIONAL MISTREATMENT OF CENTRAL AMERICAN ASYLUM APPLICANTS BY THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR IMMIGRATION REVIEW”
  2. HOW “AMERICA’S KILLER COURTS” PROMOTE “CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY” — HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: TRUMP & HIS WHITE NATIONALIST SYCOPHANTS & TOADIES TOUT LAWLESS POLICIES THAT VIOLATE LEGAL OBLIGATIONS & HELP KILL, RAPE, TORTURE THOSE RETURNED TO EL SALVADOR — Supremes & Article III Judiciary Complicit In Gross Human Rights Violations! 
  3. GONZO’S WORLD: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A DIVERSE “NATION OF IMMIGRANTS” ANOINTS A COMMITTED XENOPHOBE AS ITS CHIEF LAW OFFICER? – Gonzo Is Deconstructing Our System Of Justice, One Day At A Time!
  4. AMERICA’S “MASS ATROCITY” — Professor Kate Cronin-Furman Says Don’t Kid Yourself About What The Trump Administration Is Doing In Your Name & How “Ordinary Civil Servants” Carry Out The Unthinkable & Unacceptable!

THE GIBSON REPORT — 04-30-18 – COMPILED BY ELIZABETH GIBSON, ESQ, NY LEGAL ASSISTANCE GROUP

THE GIBSON REPORT -04-30-18

THE GIBSON REPORT — 04-30-18 – COMPILED BY ELIZABETH GIBSON, ESQ, NY LEGAL A

TOP UPDATES

 

BIA Reopens Proceedings Sua Sponte for TPS Holder to Adjust Status

AILA: Unpublished BIA decision reopens proceedings sua sponte for TPS holder to adjust status before USCIS after returning on a grant of advance parole. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Jeune, 5/15/17) AILA Doc. No. 18042431

 

Court Orders Trump Administration to Accept New DACA Applications — Ruling Stayed for 90 Days

ImmProf: Going beyond the injunctions entered by other district courts, Judge John D. Bates (D.D.C.) held in this ruling that the Trump administration must accept new Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applications as well as requests for reauthorization.

 

US set to request five years of social media history for all visa applicants

ABC: The proposed new rule would require foreigners applying for a visa to include their social media usernames on various platforms including Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, as well as previous email addresses, phone numbers, international travel — all from the last five years. The State Department, which filed a notice of the proposed change, estimates it will affect 14.71 million applicants, including those who apply as students, for business trips, or on vacation.

 

New Documents Reveal How ICE Mines Local Police Databases Across the Country

IJT: The software ingests local police databases, allowing users to map out people’s social networks and browse data that could include their countries of origin, license plate numbers, home addresses, alleged gang membership records, and more.

 

Top Homeland Security officials urge criminal prosecution of parents crossing border with children

WaPo: If approved, the zero-tolerance measure could split up thousands of families, although officials say they would not prosecute those who turn themselves in at legal ports of entry and claim asylum.

 

Federal officials lose track of nearly 1,500 migrant children

PBS: The Health and Human Services Department has a limited budget to track the welfare of vulnerable unaccompanied minors, and realized that 1,475 children could not be found after making follow-up calls to check on their safety, an agency official said.

 

Border officials tell people in ‘Stations of the Cross caravan’ it does not have room for them

Guardian: About 50 asylum seekers were allowed through a gate controlled by Mexican officials to cross a bridge but were stopped at the entrance to the US inspection facility at the other end. They were allowed to wait outside the building, technically on Mexican soil, without word of when officials would let them claim asylum.

 

Justice Department Will Not Halt Legal Orientation Program for Detained Immigrants, Reversing Course for Now

AIC: Just two weeks after the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a suspension of the Legal Orientation Program (LOP), Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified today that DOJ will reverse course and continue the program—at least for now.…Sessions did not rule out attempting to end LOP in the future and noted DOJ would be conducting a cost effectiveness and efficiencies study.

 

ICE held an American man in custody for 1,273 days. He’s not the only one who had to prove his citizenship

LA Times: Since 2012, ICE has released from its custody more than 1,480 people after investigating their citizenship claims, according to agency figures. And a Times review of Department of Justice records and interviews with immigration attorneys uncovered hundreds of additional cases in the country’s immigration courts in which people were forced to prove they are Americans and sometimes spent months or even years in detention.

 

Department of Justice Ignores Its Own Evaluators’ Recommendations on Immigration Courts

AIC: The recommendations were made in an April 2017 Booz Allen Hamilton report commissioned by The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)—the agency that houses the immigration courts. The year-long analysis summarized in the report recommended steps to resolve inefficiencies in the immigration court system that have contributed to the courts’ ballooning caseload.

 

Trump Administration Seeks To Bar Immigrants with Disabilities

DisabilityScoop: Disability rights groups have raised concerns about the proposed changes and said that even though the proposal has yet to be adopted, it is already having an impact in the disability community…According to the draft document, the goal of the proposed changes would be to make sure those seeking a visa or residency would be self-sufficient and less likely to use public services. Those who may need such services are defined as a “public charge” in the proposal.

 

USCIS Explains Juvenile Visa Denials (scroll down after clicking link)

Politico: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has denied roughly 260 applicants who sought special immigrant juvenile status based on guidance issued in February, spokesman Jonathan Withington told Morning Shift.

 

USCIS to Begin Using More Secure Mail Delivery Service

USCIS: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the agency will begin phasing in use of the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) Signature Confirmation Restricted Delivery service to mail Green Cards and other secure documents beginning April 30, 2018.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

District Court Vacates Rescission of DACA Program, But Stays Vacatur Order for 90 Days

The district court judge issued an order vacating the decision to rescind DACA, requiring DHS to accept and process both new and renewal DACA applications. The court stayed its order of vacatur for 90 days. (NAACP v. Trump, 4/24/18) AILA Doc. No. 17091933

 

Oral Argument in Trump v. Hawaii/Travel Ban Case

ImmProf: Here is the audio to the oral arguments in the Supreme Court in the travel ban case (Trump v. Hawaii) this morning.  The transcript is here.  Reports(and here) see the Court as upholding the travel ban.  Amy Howe agrees in her recap of the argument.  Commentary is abundant.

 

Judge in case Sessions picked for immigrant domestic violence asylum review issued ‘clearly erroneous’ decisions, says appellate court

CNN: Newly released records now show that the case he handpicked, which involves a Central American woman fleeing domestic abuse from her ex-husband, comes from a judge who has been repeatedly rebuked by appellate judges for his multiple rejections of asylum claims from victims of domestic abuse.

 

BIA Reopens Proceedings Sua Sponte for TPS Holder to Adjust Status

Unpublished BIA decision reopens proceedings sua sponte for TPS holder to adjust status before USCIS after returning on a grant of advance parole. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Jeune, 5/15/17) AILA Doc. No. 18042431

 

BIA Finds Arizona Statute Not a Firearms Offense

Unpublished BIA decision holds that misconduct involving weapons under Ariz. Rev. Stat. 13-3102(a)(1) is not a removable offense under INA §237(a)(2)(C) because it encompasses weapons other than firearms. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Montes de Oca, 5/15/17) AILA Doc. No. 18042430

 

BIA Holds Arizona Aggravated DUI Not CIMT

Unpublished BIA decision holds that aggravated driving under the influence under Ariz. Rev. Stat. 28-1383(A)(1) is not a CIMT because statute applies to mere exercise of physical control over a vehicle. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Rosas-Hernandez, 5/16/17) AILA Doc. No. 18042538

 

BIA Finds California Identity Theft Is Not a CIMT

Unpublished BIA decision holds that identity theft under Cal. Penal Code 530.5(a) is not a CIMT under Linares-Gonzalez v. Lynch 823 F.3d 508 (9th Cir. 2016). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Nguyen, 5/16/17) AILA Doc. No. 18042633

 

BIA Upholds Bond to Respondent with Recent DUI Convictions

Unpublished BIA decision upholds grant of $10,000 bond to respondent convicted of DUI in 2016 in light of strong family ties to United States and wife who was seeking asylum and recently gave birth to a newborn. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of E-D-J-F-T-, 5/19/17) AILA Doc. No. 18042635

 

BIA Sustains DHS Appeal and Vacates IJ’s Grant of Asylum

The BIA found that DHS has the authority to file a motion to reconsider in Immigration Court and that an applicant in withholding of removal only proceedings subject to a reinstated order of removal pursuant to §241(a)(5) is ineligible for asylum. Matter of L-M-P-, 27 I&N Dec. 265 (BIA 2018) AILA Doc. No. 18042731

 

ICE Announces Woman Who Impersonated Attorney Sentences to Federal Prison

ICE announced that Jessica Godoy Ramos, who stole the identity of a New York attorney and filed immigration petitions on behalf of foreign nationals who believed she was a legitimate lawyer, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution to 16 identified victims. AILA Doc. No. 18042436

 

ICE Announces Owner of Fraudulent School Sentences To Federal Prison

ICE announced that the owner of four schools in Koreatown in Los Angeles, who enrolled hundreds of foreign nationals who were not bona fide students, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit more than $450,000. AILA Doc. No. 18042536

 

DHS to Terminate TPS for Nepal on June 24, 2019

DHS announced that it will terminate the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Nepal on June 24, 2019. DHS determined that the country conditions have improved since the 2015 earthquake and subsequent aftershocks. Further details will be posted in the Federal Register. AILA Doc. No. 18042760

 

ACTIONS

 

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

·             9/26/18 Representing Children in Immigration Matters 2018: Effective Advocacy and Best Practices

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

Wow! So much happening! So much information! Thanks Elizabeth, as always!

PWS

04-30-18

Related posts:

  1. KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ALL OF THE REGIME’S LATEST ANTI-IMMIGRANT SCHEMES, GIMMICKS, & SHENANIGANS – THE GIBSON REPORT – 01-06-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group
  2. THE GIBSON REPORT — 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”⚖️
  3. 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!🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️👎🏻
  4. THE GIBSON REPORT — 12-21-20 — Compiled by Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

THE GIBSON REPORT – 04-23-18 – Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esq., NY Legal Assistance Group

THE GIBSON REPORT – 04

TOP UPDATES

 

Annual DOS Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

QUESTION: And when the State Department is talking about this represents our values as Americans, the removal of sections on women’s reproductive rights – why is that not included in values as Americans?

AMBASSADOR KOZAK: There’s still a long section on women. And by the way, if you look elsewhere in the report, I mean, women are also activists, are also journalists. There are – yeah.

 

The Waiting Game

Interactive game simulating asylum detention and backlogs by ProPublica and WNYC: The U.S. is supposed to be a safe haven for people fleeing persecution. But asylum-seekers face years of uncertainty when they arrive.

 

Immigration Court Cases Now Involve More Long-Time Residents

TRAC: The latest available data from the Immigration Court reveals a sharp uptick in the proportion of cases involving immigrants who have been living in the U.S. for years. During March 2018, for example, court records show that only 10 percent of immigrants in new cases brought by the Department of Homeland Security had just arrived in this country while 43 percent had arrived two or more years ago.

 

Hundreds of Immigrant Children Have Been Taken From Parents at U.S. Border

NYT: [N]ew data reviewed by The New York Times shows that more than 700 children have been taken from adults claiming to be their parents since October, including more than 100 children under the age of 4.

 

Detained, Then Violated

Intercept: 1,224 Complaints Reveal a Staggering Pattern of Sexual Abuse in Immigration Detention. Half of Those Accused Worked for ICE.

 

Congress members investigating improper politicization of IJ and BIA hiring

Joint letter: Our offices recently received information alleging that the Department of Justice has targeted multiple candidates for immigration judge or BIA positions based on their perceived political or ideological views.

 

ICE Issues Updated Guidance on the Detention and Removal of Undocumented Parents or Legal Guardians

ICE issued updated guidance regarding the detention and removal of undocumented parents and legal guardians of a minor child(ren), to include those who have a direct interest in family court or child welfare proceedings in the United States. Guidance superseded August 2013 parental interests memo. ICE states that it is intended to complement the detention standards and policies that govern the intake, detention, and removal of undocumented parents or legal guardians. AILA Doc. No. 18042302.

 

A Rule Is Changed for Young Immigrants, and Green Card Hopes Fade

NYT: Under the new interpretation, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services said that applicants in New York who were over 18, but not yet 21, when they began the application process no longer qualify.

 

ICE Memo on ERO Support of the EOIR’s Legal Orientation Program

The Washington Post obtained an ICE memo with guidance on best practices in support of EOIR’s Legal Orientation Program (LOP), stating that LOP attendees “… complete their cases faster than detainees who have not received LOP” and includes a list of the 37 ICE facilities where LOP operates. AILA Doc. No. 18041845

 

Trump orders DHS not to let immigrant caravans into US

Hill: President Trump said Monday he’s ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to turn away “caravans” of immigrants attempting to enter the U.S. through the southern border.

 

ICE arrests 225 during Operation Keep Safe in New York

ICE: Officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 225 during a 6-day period, ending Apr. 14 in New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley. See also Governor Cuomo Concerned With Increase In Ice Raids In State Of New York.

 

Update to Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant; New Edition Dated 04/12/18

Update to Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant; New Edition Dated 04/12/18

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

Supreme Court Rules That Language Defining “Crime of Violence” Is Unconstitutionally Vague

The Supreme Court affirmed the Ninth Circuit’s judgment that the language in 18 USC §16(b), as incorporated into the INA, that defines a “crime of violence” is unconstitutionally vague. (Sessions v. Dimaya, 4/17/18) AILA Doc. No. 18041731

  • DHS Statement on Sessions v. Dimaya

 

SCOTUS to Hear Arguments on When Time Stops Cutting off Cancellation of Removal Eligibility

ILW: Today the Supreme Court will hear arguments on the case of Pereira v. Sessions. The question presented is: “Whether, to trigger the stop-time rule by serving a“notice to appear under section 1229(a),” the government must “specify” the items listed in § 1229(a)’s definition of a “notice to

 

Supreme Court to Hear Oral Arguments (Finally) in “Travel Ban” Case

ImmProf: On April 26, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Trump v. Hawaii, the “travel ban” case.

 

Trump Administration Loses Another “Sanctuary” Case

ImmProf: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld the district court injunction against the Department of Justice’s effort to deny federal funding to so-called “sanctuary cities” — those local jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate in federal immigration enforcement.

appear,” including “[t]he time and place at which the proceedings will be held.”

 

Canadian Lawsuit Challenges the United States’ Designation as a Safe Country for Asylum Seekers

AIC: [T]his lawsuit—filed by the Canadian Council for Refugees, the Canadian Council of Churches, Amnesty International, and affected individuals—argues that current U.S. policies and practices put asylum seekers at risk of refoulment and violate their human rights.

 

Southern Poverty Law Center Challenges Private Immigrant Detention 

ImmProf: Conditions in Georgia Detention Center: Immigrants Forced to Labor for $1 a Day, No Toilet Paper.

 

Iranian Religious Minorities File Class Action Suit Challenging Denials of Lautenberg-Specter Refugee Applications

Plaintiffs, Iranian religious minorities who applied for refugee admission under the Lautenberg-Specter program and their U.S.-based family members, filed a class action suit challenging the denials of their applications without sufficient explanation. (Doe 1 et al. v. Nielsen, 4/18/18) AILA Doc. No. 18042009

 

BIA Finds Forcible Gang Recruit Did Not Commit Serious Nonpolitical Crime

Unpublished BIA decision reverses finding that respondent committed a “serious nonpolitical crime” by delivering drugs and extortion money at the behest of a gang as a 12-year-old homeless child. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of C-H-C-, 5/4/17) AILA Doc. No. 18042003

 

BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Against Respondent Who Provided Relative’s Address

Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order stating that respondent did not waive his right to notice of the hearing by listing the address of an uncle with whom he was not residing. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Mata-Siciliano, 5/11/17) AILA Doc. No. 18042004

 

BIA Finds § 646.9 of the California Penal Code Is Not “Crime of Stalking”

The BIA sustained the appeal and ruled that the offense of stalking in violation of §646.9 of the California Penal Code is not “a crime of stalking” under INA §237(a)(2)(E)(i). Matter of Sanchez-Lopez, 27 I&N Dec. 256 (BIA 2018) AILA Doc. No. 18042007

 

CA3 Holds Possession of Child Pornography Under 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. §6312(d) Is a CIMT

The court denied the petition for review, applying the categorical approach to hold that the petitioner’s Pennsylvania conviction for possession of child pornography under 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. §6312(d) was a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT). (Moreno v. Attorney General, 4/9/18) AILA Doc. No. 18041640

 

CA7 Upholds District Court’s Injunction Against Immigration Enforcement Conditions on Byrne JAG Funds

The court issued an opinion upholding the district court’s 9/15/17 nationwide preliminary injunction against the “notice” and “access” conditions on Byrne JAG funds. (Chicago v. Sessions, 4/19/18) AILA Doc. No. 18041903

 

CA8 Upholds Denial of I-751 Petition

The court denied the petition for review, holding that substantial evidence supported the IJ’s and the BIA’s findings that DHS met its burden to show that the petitioner and her late husband did not intend to establish a shared life at the time of their marriage. (Sagoe v. Sessions, 4/5/18) AILA Doc. No. 18041641

 

CA9 Holds That BIA Erred by Retroactively Applying Matter of Diaz-Lizarraga to Petitioner

The court granted the petition for review and remanded the case to the BIA, holding that the BIA erred in applying Matter of Diaz-Lizarraga retroactively to the petitioner. (Garcia-Martinez v. Sessions, 4/9/18) AILA Doc. No. 18041644

 

CA9 Vacates BIA’s Decision in Matter of G-G-S-

The court vacated the BIA’s published decision in Matter of G-G-S-, holding that its finding that an applicant’s mental health is not a factor to be considered in a “particularly serious crime” analysis was not entitled to Chevron deference. (Gomez-Sanchez v. Sessions, 4/6/18) AILA Doc. No. 18041645

 

USCIS Updates Its Policy Manual Regarding Acquisition of U.S. Citizenship for Children Born Out of Wedlock

USCIS issued guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to clarify certain requirements for acquisition of U.S. citizenship for children born outside the United States and out of wedlock under INA § 301 and 309. USCIS is making conforming edits to the USCIS nationality charts. Comments are due by 5/1/18. AILA Doc. No. 18041833

 

GAO Issued Testimony for Senate Subcommittee on Immigration Courts

The GAO issued testimony for the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration hearing on immigration courts with scenarios for restructuring EOIR’s immigration court system and how EOIR manages and oversees the immigration courts, including hiring and performance assessment. AILA Doc. No. 18042000

 

GAO Issued Report on Opportunities to Improve Cost Estimates in Immigration Detention

The GAO issued a report examining how ICE formulates its budget request for detention resources, how ICE develops bed rates and determines ADP for use in its budget process, and to what extent ICE’s methods for estimating detention costs follow best practices. AILA Doc. No. 18042001

 

 

ACTIONS

 

  • AILA: Call for Examples: Impact of DACA Rescission

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

·             9/26/18 Representing Children in Immigration Matters 2018: Effective Advocacy and Best Practices

 

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As always, thanks Elizabeth, for all you do!

 

PWS

04-23-18

Related posts:

  1. THE GIBSON REPORT 04-22-19 — 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 – 09-29-20 – Compiled by Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group – Another Tone-Deaf, Far Right Justice; Higher Fees For Worse Service; Detained Until Dead (“DUD Policy”)☠️⚰️; Dumping On International Students; & Other Nation-Destroying 🏴‍☠️News From The Trump Regime Twilight Zone! 
  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”⚖️

THE GIBSON REPORT — 04-09-18 – Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, ESQ, NY Legal Assistance Group

THE GIBSON REPORT

TOP HEADLINES:

TOP UPDATES

 

Trump Signs Memo Ordering End to ‘Catch and Release’ Immigration Policy

NYT: President Trump issued a memorandumon Friday directing his administration to move quickly to bring an end to “catch and release,” the practice by which immigrants presenting themselves at the border without authorization are released from detention while waiting for their cases to be processed. The directive does not, on its own, toughen immigration policy or take concrete steps to do so; it merely directs officials to report to the president about steps they are taking to “expeditiously end ‘catch and release’ practices.”

 

Attorney General Announces Zero-Tolerance Policy for Criminal Illegal Entry

DOJ: Attorney General Jeff Sessions today notified all U.S. Attorney’s Offices along the Southwest Border of a new “zero-tolerance policy” for offenses under 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a), which prohibits both attempted illegal entry and illegal entry into the United States by an alien. Today’s zero-tolerance policy further directs each U.S. Attorney’s Office along the Southwest Border … to adopt a policy to prosecute all Department of Homeland Security referrals of section 1325(a) violations, to the extent practicable.

 

EOIR Issues Guidance Implementing Immigration Judge Performance Metrics

EOIR issued guidance outlining performance metrics for immigration judges (IJs), to be implemented on 10/1/18. Metrics will be added to the IJ Performance Work Plan and in addition to other requirements, IJs will need to complete 700 cases per year, to earn a satisfactory rating. AILA Doc. No. 18040301

 

3 States Agree to Deploy National Guard to Border as Others Stall or Refuse

Tribune News Service: Defense Secretary James N. Mattis has signed an order to send up to 4,000 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border but barred them from interacting with migrants detained by the Border Patrol in most circumstances.

 

Border Patrol has thousands of openings it can’t fill

CNN: According to Customs and Border Protection, as of March 17, there were 19,346 Border Patrol agents on duty, short of the congressionally mandated 21,370. That’s almost 100 fewer agents than there were at the end of September 2017.

 

Mexico says it’s already deported 400 people in ‘Caravan’

WashTimes: The Mexican government says it’s already deported 400 people who were part of the caravan of illegal immigrants crossing its territory in a journey from Central America to the U.S. — but says it’s up to American officials, not Mexicans, to stop them from getting into the U.S.

 

U.S. gathers data on migrants deep in Mexico, a sensitive program Trump’s rhetoric could put at risk

WaPo: Operating in detention facilities in southern Mexico and here in [Mexico City], Department of Homeland Security officials have installed scores of screening terminals to collect migrants’ fingerprints, ocular scans and other identifying features, including tattoos and scars.

 

Graham predicts new push for immigration deal

Politico: Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday he expects another push in Congress to reach an immigration deal “by the spring, early summer.”

 

The Betrayal of Triste

NYMag: Henry thought that talking to the cops would help him escape MS-13. Instead, it put his life in even more danger.

 

America needs more workers. Trump’s war on immigration won’t help.

WaPo: The causes of America’s worker shortfall include an aging population and a birthrate that recently hit a historic low. With the jobless rate bumping along at just above 4 percent, companies desperate to fill orders and meet demand are pumping up their recruiting budgets and in some cases turning to ex-convicts to fill jobs.

 

Closure of U.S. Consulate General in St. Petersburg, Russia

DOS announced that due to the Russian government’s closure of the U.S. Consulate General in St. Petersburg, it is no longer able to provide services to U.S. citizens in St. Petersburg. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow and Consulates General in Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok remain open.

AILA Doc. No. 18040207

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

Southern Poverty Law Center Files Suit Challenging Lack of Access to Counsel in Immigration Detention Centers

The Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit in federal district court challenging immigration detainees’ lack of access to counsel in the LaSalle, Irwin, and Stewart detention centers. (SPLC v. DHS, 4/4/18) AILA Doc. No. 18040530

 

BIA Applies Matter of Pickering on a Nationwide Basis

The BIA sustained the respondent’s appeal, reaffirming Matter of Pickering, regarding the validity of vacated convictions for immigration purposes, and the decision is modified to give it nationwide application. Matter of Marquez Conde, 27 I&N Dec. 251 (BIA 2018)AILA Doc. No. 18040630

 

CA1 Denies Petition for Review of Denial of Asylum, Withholding, and CAT Protection to Guatemalan Quiché Petitioners

The court denied the petition for review, holding, among other things, that the petitioners did not show that the government of Guatemala condoned the actions of those who mistreated the petitioners or was unable or unwilling to protect them. (Olmos-Colaj v. Sessions, 3/29/18) AILA Doc. No. 18040341

 

CA1 Denies Petition for Review Challenging BIA’s Denial of Motion to Reopen

The court found that the BIA did not abuse its discretion when it dismissed the petitioner’s motion to reopen as untimely. The court also dismissed for lack of jurisdiction his challenge to the BIA’s decision not to exercise its sua sponte authority to reopen. (Reyes v. Sessions, 3/29/18) AILA Doc. No. 18040431

 

CA2 Finds Petitioner Removable Where CSA Drug Schedules Were Broader at Time of Conviction Than at Time of Removal

The court found that the BIA did not err in determining that the petitioner’s federal drug trafficking conviction made him removable, even though the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) schedules of drugs were broader at time of conviction than at the time of removal. (Doe v. Sessions, 3/29/18) AILA Doc. No. 18040434

 

CA3 Finds New Jersey Conviction for Receiving Stolen Property to Be an Aggravated Felony

The court denied the petition for review, holding that a conviction under N.J. Stat. Ann. §2C:20-7(a) for receiving stolen property is categorically an aggravated felony under INA §101(a)(43)(G). (Lewin v. Sessions, 3/20/18) AILA Doc. No. 18040435

 

CA4 Holds That “Egregious Violation” Exclusionary Rule Applies to State and Local Officers

The court held that the “egregious violation” exclusionary rule applies in civil deportation proceedings to state and local officers, and that the petitioner did not prove an egregious violation by state law enforcement of his Fourth Amendment rights. (Sanchez v. Sessions, 3/27/18) AILA Doc. No. 18040440

 

CA5 Denies Petition for Review Where Defendant Failed to Raise the Issue of the Realistic Probability Test

The court found that the BIA did err in its application of the categorical approach to the petitioner’s conviction, but denied the petition for review because the petitioner failed to address the issue of the realistic probability test in his brief. (Vazquez v. Sessions, 3/21/18) AILA Doc. No. 18040441

 

CA8 Denies Petition for Review of Denial of Asylum to Guatemalan Survivor of Gender-Based Violence

The court denied the petition for review of the denial of asylum, finding that the harm inflicted on the petitioner by her husband and by a neighbor did not rise to the level of persecution and that she failed to establish a fear of future persecution. (Lopez v. Sessions, 4/3/18) AILA Doc. No. 18040342

 

CA9 Finds Petitioner Convicted Under California Penal Code §182(a)(1) Is Ineligible for Cancellation Based on Inconclusive Record

The court held that petitioner had failed to meet her burden of proof to show that her conviction under California Penal Code §182(a)(1) was not for a disqualifying controlled substance offense, and thus that she was ineligible for cancellation of removal. (Marinelarena v. Sessions, 8/23/17) AILA Doc. No. 17082435

 

CA10 Holds that Violation of 18 USC §1542 Is Categorically a Crime Involving Moral Turpitude

The court held that a violation of 18 USC §1542 for making a false statement in a passport application is categorically a crime involving moral turpitude. (Afamasaga v. Sessions, 3/19/18) AILA Doc. No. 18040445

 

CA11 Finds Florida Conviction for Sale of Cocaine to Be an “Illicit Trafficking” Aggravated Felony

The court held that the BIA did not err in concluding that the petitioner was ineligible for cancellation of removal because his Florida conviction for sale of cocaine constituted illicit trafficking within the meaning of INA §101(a)(43)(B). (Choizilme v. Attorney General, 3/30/18) AILA Doc. No. 18040446

 

Court Finds CBP’s Response to AILA FOIA for Officer’s Reference Tool Inadequate

The court denied the government’s motion for summary judgment, noting it is obligated to review and disclose responsive records, including the documents that make up the Officer’s Reference Tool unless a FOIA exemption or other legal objection to disclosure applies. (AILA v. DHS, 3/30/18) AILA Doc. No. 18040337

 

ACLU Affiliates Sends Letter to Greyhound Buses on Immigration Raids

ACLU affiliates sent a letter to Greyhound on its practice of permitting CBP agents to routinely board its buses and question passengers about their citizenship and immigration status, stating Greyhound has the right to deny CBP permission to board and search its buses without a judicial warrant. AILA Doc. No. 18040340

 

USCIS Announces It Will Destroy Undeliverable Green Cards and EADs After 60 Days

USCIS announced that starting 4/2/18, it will destroy permanent resident cards, employment authorization cards, and travel documents returned as undeliverable by the U.S. Postal Service after 60 business days if USCIS is not contacted with the correct address. AILA Doc. No. 18040401

 

ACTIONS

 

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

·            9/26/18Representing Children in Immigration Matters 2018: Effective Advocacy and Best Practices

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

As always, thanks Elizabeth for keeping us all informed!

PWS

04-09-18

Related posts:

  1. KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ALL OF THE REGIME’S LATEST ANTI-IMMIGRANT SCHEMES, GIMMICKS, & SHENANIGANS – THE GIBSON REPORT – 01-06-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group
  2. THE GIBSON REPORT — 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”⚖️
  3. 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!🏴‍☠️☠️⚰️👎🏻
  4. THE GIBSON REPORT — 05-10-21 —Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

SATURDAY SATIRE FROM ANDY BOROWITZ @ THE NEW YORKER – GOV. SCOTT WALKER SHOCKED BY RESULTS OF RECENT WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT ELECTION – “Scott Walker Dismayed That Wisconsin Apparently Smarter Despite Cuts in Education”

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/scott-walker-dismayed-that-wisconsin-apparently-smarter-despite-cuts-in-education?mbid=nl_Borowitz%20040418&CNDID=48297443&spMailingID=13253019&spUserID=MjQ1NjUyMTUwNjY5S0&spJobID=1380331002&spReportId=MTM4MDMzMTAwMgS2

Satire from The Borowitz Report

Scott Walker Dismayed That Wisconsin Apparently Smarter Despite Cuts in Education

By

April 4, 2018

Photograph by Scott Olson / Getty

MADISON (The Borowitz Report)—Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, said on Wednesday that he was “dismayed and alarmed” that people in his state had somehow become smarter despite substantial cuts in education.

“Ever since I took office, I have slashed education with the goal of making the voters of this state markedly dumber and incapable of critical thinking,” he told reporters. “Instead, what I am looking at is a doomsday scenario.”

Walker said that his cuts were based on a theory known as “trickle-up stupidity,” in which students in Wisconsin’s schools would become less informed and their ignorance would eventually infect their voting-age parents.

“Clearly, what looked like a can’t-miss plan on paper has not panned out,” he said.

Although Walker said that “it’s not time yet to press the panic button,” he warned that a so-called Smart Wave could be coming in his state.

“If Wisconsin voters continue to get smarter, that will be the end of me,” he said.

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WARNING: THIS IS “FAKE NEWS” BUT COMES WITH MY ABSOLUTE, UNCONDITIONAL, MONEY BACK GUARANTEE THAT IT CONTAINS MORE TRUTH THAN THE AVERAGE TRUMP TWEET OR SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS NEWS BRIEFING, AND ALSO MORE FACTUAL ACCURACY THAN ANY REPORT PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF “AGENT DEVON!”

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

Man, any time I wake up in Wisconsin, flip on the TV news, and see a whining Scott Walker, I know that something great has just happened for Wisconsin and the nation. In this case, Wisconsin voters defied Walker and had the good sense to overwhelmingly elect the best qualified candidate to the State Supreme Court by an overwhelming margin, thus depriving Walker of another “toady in robes.” Under the toxic, highly partisan leadership of the GOP, the Wisconsin Supremes have become the laughing-stock of the legal world for their pettiness and internecine squabbles generated by the current Walkerite sycophant majority. One can only hope that the next time Old Scotty whines away, he will be doing it as a private citizen removed from office by the voters.

PWS

04-07-18

 

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. MILWAUKEE JOURNAL/SENTINAL: COULD THE EXPLOSIVE GROWTH OF DANE CO. WI – Where, Not Surprisingly, Diversity Is Celebrated & Innovation Welcomed – EVENTUALLY HELP RID WISCONSIN OF SCOTT WALKER AND OUR NATION OF TRUMP & GOP STRANGLEHOLD ON NATIONAL GOVERNMENT?
  3. 🤡CLOWN CAPITOL:  J.R. PRESIDES OVER GOP CLOWN SHOW HE HELPED CREATE — Empowering The Koch Bros, Suppressing Minority Votes, Enabling GOP Gerrymandering, Ignoring Invidious Racial & Religious Motives, Turning A Blind Eye To Lies & Pretexts, It All Contributed To The Arrogant Display Of GOP Dishonesty & Impunity Now On Public Display In The Senate! — Plus Bonus Friday Mini-Essay: “Profiles in Fecklessness”
  4. SATURDAY SATIRE: DAVOS REPORT: TRUMP WOWS INTERNATIONAL FAT CATS WITH PROMISE THAT AMERICA WILL LEAD THE WORLD TO NEW HEIGHTS OF INCOME INEQUALITY — “Starving The Poor To Feed The Rich Will End Poverty,” Says Leader Of World’s Most Powerful Kleptocracy!

HON. BRUCE J. EINHORN IN WASHPOST: SESSIONS’S BLATANT ATTEMPT TO INTIMIDATE U.S. IMMIGRATION JUDGES TO DEPORT INDIVIDUALS IN VIOLATION OF DUE PROCESS SHOWS A SYSTEM THAT HAS HIT ROCK BOTTOM! — Are There Any “Adults” Out There In Congress Or The Article III Courts With The Guts To Stand Up & Put An End To This Perversion Of American Justice? — “Due process requires judges free of political influence. Assembly-line justice is no justice at all.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jeff-sessions-wants-to-bribe-judges-to-do-his-bidding/2018/04/05/fd4bdc48-390a-11e8-acd5-35eac230e514_story.html?utm_term=.770822e8f813

My former colleague Judge Bruce J. Einhorn writes in the Washington Post:

Bruce J. Einhorn, an adjunct professor of immigration, asylum and refugee law at Pepperdine University, served as a U.S. immigration judge from 1990 to 2007.
It’s a principle that has been a hallmark of our legal culture: The president shouldn’t be able to tell judges what to do.
No longer. The Trump administration is intent on imposing a quota system on federal immigration judges, tying their evaluations to the number of cases they decide in a year. This is an affront to judicial independence and the due process of law.
I served as a U.S. immigration judge in Los Angeles for 17 years, presiding over cases brought against foreign-born noncitizens who Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers believed were in this country illegally and should thus be removed. My responsibility included hearing both ICE’s claims and the claims from respondents for relief from removal, which sometimes included asylum from persecution and torture.
As a judge, I swore to follow the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees that “no person” (not “no citizen”) is deprived of due process of law. Accordingly, I was obliged to conduct hearings that guaranteed respondents a full and reasonable opportunity on all issues raised against them.
My decisions and the manner in which I conducted hearings were subject to review before the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals and U.S. courts of appeals. At no time was my judicial behavior subject to evaluation based on how quickly I completed hearings and decided cases. Although my colleagues on the bench and I valued efficiency, the most critical considerations were fairness, thoroughness and adherence to the Fifth Amendment. If our nativist president and his lapdog of an attorney general, Jeff Sessions, have their way, those most critical considerations will become a relic of justice.
Under the Trump-Sessions plan, each immigration judge, regardless of the nature and scope of proceedings assigned to him or her, will be required to complete 700 cases in a year to qualify for a “satisfactory” performance rating. It follows that only judges who complete more, perhaps many more, than 700 cases per year will qualify for a higher performance rating and, with it, a possible raise in pay.
Essentially, the administration’s plan is to bribe judges to hear and complete more cases regardless of their substance and complexity, with the corollary that judges who defy the quota imposed on them will be regarded as substandard and subject to penalties. The plan should be seen for what it is: an attempt to undermine judicial independence and compel immigration judges to look over their shoulders to make sure that the administration is smiling at them.
This is a genuine threat to the independence of the immigration bench. While Article III of the Constitution guarantees the complete independence of the federal district courts and courts of appeal, immigration judges are part of the executive branch. Notwithstanding the right of immigration judges to hear and decide cases as they believe they should under immigration law, they are unprotected from financial extortion and not-so-veiled political intimidation under the U.S. Administrative Procedure Actor any regulations.
Moreover, federal laws do not guarantee respondents in removal hearings a right to counsel, and a majority of those in such hearings are compelled to represent themselves before immigration judges, regardless of the complexity of their cases. Those who lack representation in removal hearings typically cannot afford it, and the funds to help legal aid organizations fill in for private attorneys are nowhere to be found.
Hearings in which respondents proceed pro se, or unrepresented, are often the most challenging and time-consuming for immigration judges, who must take care to assure that the procedural rights of those facing possible removal are protected and to guarantee that inarticulate relief claims are fully considered.
The Trump administration’s intention is clear: to intimidate supposedly independent judges to expedite cases, even if it undermines fairness — as will certainly be the case for pro se respondents. Every immigration judge knows that in general, it takes longer to consider and rule in favor of relief for a respondent than it does to agree with ICE and order deportation. The administration wants to use quotas to make immigration judges more an arm of ICE than independent adjudicators.
In my many years on the immigration bench, I learned that repressive nations had one thing in common: a lack of an independent judiciary. Due process requires judges free of political influence. Assembly-line justice is no justice at all.
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Thanks, Bruce for speaking out so forcefully, articulately, and truthfully!
Jeff Sessions is a grotesque affront to the U.S. Constitution, the rule of law, American values, and human decency. Every day that he remains in office is a threat to our democracy. There could be no better evidence of why we need an independent Article I U.S. Immigration Court!

Due Process Forever! Jeff Sessions Never! Join the New Due Process Army Now! The fight must go on until Sessions and his toxic “21st Century Jim Crows” are defeated, and the U.S. Immigration Courts finally are forced to deliver on the betrayed promise of “guaranteeing fairness and due process for all.” Harm to the most vulnerable among us is harm to all!

PWS

04-05-18

 

Related posts:

  1. GROSS NATIONAL DISGRACE: “A Fucking Disaster That Is Designed to Fail”: How Trump Wrecked America’s Immigration Courts — Fernanda Echavarri Reports For Mother Jones On How Our Failed Justice System Daily Abuses The Most Vulnerable While Feckless Legislators &   Smugly Complicit Article III Judges Look On & Ignore The Human Carnage They Are Enabling — “ Two days after US immigration officials sent her to Tijuana, she was raped.”
  2. REPORT FROM FBA, AUSTIN: Read My Speech “JUSTICE BETRAYED: THE INTENTIONAL MISTREATMENT OF CENTRAL AMERICAN ASYLUM APPLICANTS BY THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR IMMIGRATION REVIEW”
  3. 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! 
  4. COMPLICITY HAS COSTS:  Article III Judges’ Association Apparently Worries That Trump, Barr, GOP Toadies Starting To “Treat Them Like Immigration Judges” — Do They Fear Descent To Status Of Mere Refugees, Immigrants, “Dreamers,” Unaccompanied Children, Or Others Treated As “Less Than Persons” By Trump, 5th Cir., 11th Cir., 9th Cir., & The Supremes’ “J.R. Five?” 

🏀🏀FINAL FOUR RETRO: Back When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Was Still Known As Lew Alcindor, He Was So Incredibly Great That The White Guys Who Ran The NCAA Changed The Rules To Stop Him — It Just Made Him Even Better! – And, He Never Was Afraid To Stand Up For Black America!

https://theundefeated.com/features/lew-alcindor-kareem-abdul-jabbar-ucla-boycot-1968-olympics/

Johnny Smith reports for theundefeated.com:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is known as one of the greatest basketball players in history. During his 20-year professional career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, he appeared in 19 All-Star Games, won six championships and collected six MVP awards. In retirement, he has become a prominent cultural commentator and writer, a leading voice on the intersection between sports and politics. Recently, he published a memoir about his collegiate career at UCLA, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court.

Fifty years ago he was the most dominant college basketball player America had ever seen. Between 1967 and 1969, he led UCLA to three consecutive national titles and an 88-2 record. Yet, his legacy transcends the game; in the age of Black Power, he redefined the political role of black college athletes. In 1968, when black collegians debated boycotting the Olympics, Lew Alcindor, as he was then still known, emerged as the most prominent face in the revolt on campus.

Why did Alcindor refuse to play in the Olympics? To answer that question we have to return to Harlem, New York, in July 1964, the first of many long, hot summers.

HARLEM, 1964

Basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (center), then Lew Alcindor, speaks at a news conference at the Power Memorial High School gymnasium in New York City.

DON HOGAN CHARLES/NEW YORK TIMES CO./GETTY IMAGES

The death of James Powell, a 15-year-old black youth from the Bronx, outraged Alcindor. On a sweltering July day in 1964, outside an apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Lt. Thomas Gilligan, a white off-duty cop, shot and killed James, piercing the ninth-grader’s chest with a bullet from a .38 revolver. Conflicting accounts grayed a story that many saw in black and white. Gilligan, a 37-year-old war veteran, claimed that James charged at him with a knife, but bystanders insisted that James was unarmed.

Two nights later, on July 18, in the heart of Harlem, a peaceful rally organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) turned into a march against police brutality. Demanding justice for Powell, hundreds of demonstrators surrounded the 123rd Street precinct, some threatening to tear the building apart “brick by brick.” Incensed by decades of racial profiling and violent policing, the angry crowd began hurling rocks and bottles at officers. Suddenly, a scuffle broke out and the cops rushed the protesters, cracking their nightsticks against a swarm of black bodies. In a matter of minutes, violence spread through Harlem like a grease fire in a packed tenement kitchen.

That same night, Alcindor, an extremely tall, rail-thin 17-year-old, emerged from the 125th Street subway station, planning to investigate the CORE rally. Climbing up the steps toward the street, he could smell smoke coming from burning buildings. Angry young black men took to the streets and tossed bricks and Molotov cocktails through store windows. Looters grabbed radios, jewelry, food and guns. The sound of gunshots rang like firecrackers. Trembling with fear, Alcindor worried that his size and skin color made him an easy target for an angry cop with an itchy trigger finger. Sprinting home, all he could think about was that at any moment a stray bullet could strike him down.

“Right then and there, I knew who I was, who I had to be. I was going to be black rage personified, Black Power in the flesh.”

For six days, Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant burned. The “Harlem race riots” resulted in 465 arrests, hundreds of injuries and one death. When the smoke cleared, Martin Luther King Jr. visited New York and encouraged black residents to demonstrate peacefully. But Alcindor, like many black youths, had grown impatient with King’s pleas for nonviolence and began questioning the direction of the civil rights movement. That summer, writing for the Harlem Youth Action Project newspaper, he interviewed black citizens who were tired of segregated schools, dilapidated housing, employment discrimination and wanton police violence.

The Harlem uprising fueled his anger toward white America and convinced him more than ever that he had to turn his rage into action. “Right then and there, I knew who I was, who I had to be,” he said a few years later. “I was going to be black rage personified, Black Power in the flesh.” Silence was no longer an option. In the future, he vowed, he would speak his mind.

. . . .

A few days after UCLA beat Dayton for the national title, the NCAA’s National Basketball Committee banned the dunk. The committee argued that too many players got injured stuffing the ball through the hoop or trying to block a player attacking the basket. Coaches were concerned, too, about players breaking backboards and bending rims. Curiously, the committee also claimed, “There is no defense against the dunk, which upsets the balance between offense and defense.” But the truth was that Alcindor threatened the sport’s competitive balance. He upset the balance between offense and defense.

Immediately, critics deemed the dunk ban the “Alcindor rule.” In a time of white backlash against black advancement, the UCLA star interpreted the rule through the lens of race. He could not help but feel like the lily-white committee had targeted him. “To me the new ‘no-dunk’ rule smacks a little of discrimination,” he told the Chicago Defender. “When you look at it … most of the people who dunk are black athletes.

. . . .

Not even the dunk ban could stop Alcindor from dominating the game. In fact, the new restriction made him even better. It forced him to expand his offensive arsenal and develop a devastating signature move: the “skyhook.”

He made it look so easy. With the cool confidence of Miles Davis, Alcindor transformed his game. The skyhook became an innovative expression of individuality and empowerment, a reflection of his intelligence and creativity, an active mind that could see the ball falling through the net like a raindrop the moment the leather sphere touched his fingertips. Over and over again, he pivoted toward the basket, extended his arm toward the sky and gracefully flipped the ball over the outstretched arms of any player who dared to guard him. “Of all the weapons in sports,” Sports Illustrated’s Gary Smith wrote of his skyhook, “none has ever been more dependable or unstoppable, less vulnerable to time, than that little stride, turn, hop and flick from far above his head.”

CLEVELAND, 1967

On June 4, 1967, at 105-15 Euclid Ave. in Cleveland, a collection of some of the top black athletes in the country met with — and eventually held a news conference in support of — world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali (front row, second from left), about Ali’s refusal to be drafted into the U.S. Army in 1967. News conference shows (front row) Bill Russell, Boston Celtics; Ali; Jim Brown and Lew Alcindor. Back row (left to right): Carl Stokes, Democratic state representative; Walter Beach, Cleveland Browns; Bobby Mitchell, Washington Redskins; Sid Williams, Cleveland Browns; Curtis McClinton, Kansas City Chiefs; Willie Davis, Green Bay Packers; Jim Shorter, former Brown; and John Wooten, Cleveland Browns.

BETTMAN/GETTY IMAGES

Alcindor refused to let the white world define him as a basketball player and as a man. He no longer considered himself a “Negro.” He was black and proud. As he became more politically self-aware, he identified with the most successful, outspoken black professional athletes in America: Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell and Jim Brown. He admired their political activism and their courage to confront white supremacy.

. . . .

Alcindor suddenly found himself at the center of a national controversy. Critics called him a disgrace, unpatriotic and much worse. If he did not play for the U.S. Olympic team, then UCLA should revoke his scholarship, they charged. Many white Americans opposed the boycott because they believed that sports were meritocratic and immune to racism. But their objections also revealed discomfort with assertive black athletes who challenged the power structure of American sports, a plantation culture that valued black bodies more than black minds. New York Times columnist Arthur Daley couldn’t imagine Alcindor thinking for himself and suggested that Edwards was exploiting the UCLA star’s fame for personal gain. “I think that charge is sheer idiocy,” Edwards told the San Jose Mercury News. “How can you manipulate anybody like Lew Alcindor?”

But Alcindor was his own man, and his revolt emanated from the deep history of African-American activism and the burgeoning Black Power movement on campus. What the sports establishment failed to recognize was that his experience in Harlem, his identification with Malcolm X and his connection to Ali had transformed the way he viewed protest, patriotism and American sports. How could he stay silent while police brutality, poverty and prejudice afflicted the black community? How could anyone expect him to represent the United States when the moment he confronted the nation’s racism bigots deluged him with hate mail and death threats? How could they expect him to love America when America didn’t love him back?

NEW YORK, 1968

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then Lew Alcindor, sits on the bench at the UCLA-Holy Cross game at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1968.

BARTON SILVERMAN/NEW YORK TIMES CO./GETTY IMAGES

Alcindor had made up his mind. He wouldn’t play for the USA. Although the boycott movement lacked widespread support and ultimately stalled, he and his UCLA teammates Mike Warren and Lucius Allen refused to attend the Olympic trials. His explanation, however, complicated his image as a Black Power hero. Alcindor said that if he participated, then he would miss class and delay his graduation, which was true, but only part of his rationale. He also told a reporter from Life magazine that he and his UCLA teammates “don’t want to get caught in the middle of anything.” He had principles, but discussing them publicly only brought more stress. It was much easier to distance himself from Edwards and the OPHR.

“Yeah, I live here, but it’s not really my country.”

In the summer of 1968, he worked for Operation Sports Rescue, a youth program in New York City. Leading basketball clinics, Alcindor mentored African-American and Puerto Rican youths, encouraging them to get an education. In July, he appeared on NBC’s Today show to promote the program. Co-host Joe Garagiola, a former professional baseball player, began the interview by asking Alcindor why he refused to play in the Olympics. During a heated exchange, Alcindor said, “Yeah, I live here, but it’s not really my country.” Then Garagiola retorted, “Well, then, there’s only one solution, maybe you should move.” It was a common reply among white Americans who demanded accommodation and gratitude from black athletes — a refrain that still exists today.

Alcindor’s comments echoed Malcolm X, who said, “Being born here in America doesn’t make you an American.” If black people were Americans, he argued, then they wouldn’t need civil rights legislation or constitutional amendments for protection. Alcindor recognized that while he was fortunate because of his basketball ability, he couldn’t celebrate his privileged status as long as racial inequality persisted. Only when black citizens enjoyed true freedom could he call America his country.

Although we remember the 1968 Olympics for John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s demonstration on the victory stand, Alcindor was the most famous athlete who avoided the games. More than any other college basketball player, he defined his times, proving also that black athletes could speak their minds and win. No one could tell him to shut up and dribble.

Professor is the Julius C. “Bud” Shaw Professor of Sports, Society, and Technology and an Assistant Professor of History at Georgia Tech. His research focuses on the history of sports and American culture. He is an author whose books include “The Sons of Westwood: John Wooden, UCLA, and the Dynasty That Changed College Basketball,” which explores the emergence of college basketball as a national pastime and the political conflicts in college athletics during the 1960s and 1970s.

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

Read Professor Smith’s full article at the link. Not only is Kareem one of the greatest basketball players ever, but he has established himself as an informed, articulate, and committed social commentator. I never saw Kareem play in person during his days with the Milwaukee Bucks. But, Cathy and I once were fortunate enough to see him “live” as a contestant on “Celebrity Jeopardy” at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington DC, ironically a venue where he once would not have been welcome.

PWS

03-31-18

 

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THE GIBSON REPORT 03-26-18 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, ESQ, NY Legal Assistance Group

THE GIBSON REPORT 03-26-18

TOP UPDATES

 

A.G. Sessions Declares War on Continuances: Matter of L-A-B-R-

Sessions has certified another BIA decision to himself. This time, he is looking at what constitutes ‘good cause’ to grant a continuance for a collateral matter to be adjudicated.”  (Note that the AIC Practice Advisory on Motions for a Continuance has already been updated to address this.)

 

Congress Reaches A Deal to Fund Government for the Year Without Solution for Dreamers

AIC: The legislation does include record levels of immigration enforcement, detention beds, and additional funds related to a border wall.

 

Growing Trend of Lawyers offering “Immigrant Protection Plans”

Tampa Bay Times: Here’s how the Immigrant Protection Plan works: Once an immigrant is arrested, their loved one can contact the program’s 24-hour hotline to contact a lawyer who will be assigned to the case… Several documents, including the lawyer’s notice of appearance and a motion for a bond hearing, will have already been completed and are ready to be filed.…. Clients also receive a laminated card with guidance on how to interact with ICE agents…. The program also identifies possible forms of relief. Clients fill out questionnaires every 60 days that the firm uses to evaluate whether a new solution, either a policy change or personal circumstance, has emerged in their case.

 

Mother in viral arrest video released from immigration detention [on bond]

Union-Tribune: Two videos of the arrest went viral several days later after a teacher of one of the daughters shared them on Facebook. After videos surfaced, Border Patrol said that agents targeted Morales-Luna “for being in the country illegally” and also said the agency suspected her of recruiting drivers for a transnational smuggling organization in East County.

 

USCIS Updates Webpage to Share More Accurate Processing Times

USCIS: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today launched a pilot to test a redesigned processing times webpage that displays the data for all forms in an easier-to-read format and also tests a new way of collecting data and calculating the processing times for some forms.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

Class Action Filed on Ending Obstacles for TPS Recipients Seeking Legal Permanent Residence

AIC: The lawsuit alleges that Defendants’ policy: Violates the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and Administrative Procedure Act (APA) because it refuses to recognize that TPS holders have been “inspected and admitted” for the purposes of adjudicating adjustment of status applications; and Causes Defendants to fail to perform a non-discretionary duty (finding that TPS holders have been inspected and admitted when adjudicating adjustment of status applications). Moreno v. Nielsen, 1:18-cv-01135 (E.D.N.Y., Feb. 22, 2018)

 

BIA Remands Record Due to Lack of Mam Interpreter

Unpublished BIA decision remands record because Mam-speaking respondent did not understand proceedings conducted through a Spanish interpreter. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ambrosio-Domingo, 5/12/17) AILA Doc. No. 18032231

 

CA2 Finds Failure to Inform Defendant of Immigration Consequences of Guilty Plea Was Not Harmless Error

The court held that the district court’s failure to inform the defendant of the potential immigration consequences of his guilty plea was not harmless error. The court vacated the judgment of the district court and remanded. (U.S. v. Gonzales, 3/13/18) AILA Doc. No. 18032000

 

CA2 Holds That BIA Erred by Retroactively Applying Matter of Diaz-Lizarraga

The court held that the BIA erred by retroactively applying the standard announced in Matter of Diaz-Lizarraga for larceny crimes involving moral turpitude to the petitioner’s case and remanded the case to the BIA. (Obeya v. Sessions, 3/8/18) AILA Doc. No. 18031900

 

CA7 Finds Mexican Petitioner Did Not Meet Burden to Establish Eligibility for Withholding of Removal or CAT Relief

The court denied the petition for review, finding that the petitioner did not meet his burden in establishing that he would be subject to future persecution or torture, and that he was thus not entitled to withholding of removal or relief under the CAT. (Cruz-Martinez v. Sessions, 3/14/18) AILA Doc. No. 18031931

 

CA7 Finds Lack of Jurisdiction to Review Whether Petitioner Waived Her Appeal Rights

The court dismissed the petition for review, finding that it lacked jurisdiction to review the question of whether the petitioner had waived her appeal rights. (Melesio-Rodriguez v. Sessions, 3/7/18) AILA Doc. No. 18031935

 

CA9 Finds Requirement to Accept Asylum Petitioner’s Testimony as True Where IJ and BIA Did Not Make Adverse Credibility Determination

The court granted the petition for review of the denial of asylum and withholding of removal, finding that because neither the IJ nor the BIA made an explicit adverse credibility determination, the court was required to accept the petitioner’s testimony as true. (Dai v. Sessions, 3/8/18) AILA Doc. No. 18031938

 

CA11 Finds That Petitioner’s Florida Cocaine Trafficking Conviction Was Not an Aggravated Felony

Relying on its recent decision in Cintron v. Attorney General, the court held that the petitioner’s conviction for trafficking in cocaine under Fla. Stat. §893.135(1)(b)1.c was not an aggravated felony and remanded the case to the BIA. (Ulloa Francisco v. Attorney General, 3/12/18) AILA Doc. No. 18031940

 

CA11 Finds Government Did Not Meet Burden to Show Asylum Petitioner Could Relocate Within China

In an unpublished opinion, the court remanded the case to the BIA, holding that the government did not meet its burden to show that the Chinese Christian petitioner could relocate within China to avoid persecution. Courtesy of Henry Zhang. (Shi v. Attorney General, 3/15/18) AILA Doc. No. 18032160

 

IJ Finds Respondent Established Persecution on Perceived LGBTI Identity

In an unpublished decision, the IJ granted the respondent’s application for asylum, finding he established that he suffered persecution on account of his perceived LGBTI identity and the Guatemalan government is unable to control his persecutors. Courtesy of Brian Blackford. AILA Doc. No. 18032232

 

ICE Announces Texas Man Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Defrauding Immigrants

ICE announced that Alejando Gurany-Navarro, of El Paso, Texas was sentenced in U.S. District Court to three years in prison and three years of supervised release for his scheme to defraud individuals seeking immigration benefits, by claiming he could provide legal status for a fee. AILA Doc. No. 18032032

 

NLRB ALJ Orders Compensation and Reclassification as Employees for Immigration Court Interpreters

The National Labor Relations Board ruled that SOS International, under contract with DOJ to provides the vast majority of interpreters in immigration courts nationally, illegally retaliated against some of the interpreters for organizing and must offer them reinstatement and back pay. AILA Doc. No. 18032132

 

White House Release Fact Sheet on Sanctuary Cities

The White House released a fact sheet with President Trump’s critiques of sanctuary cities. AILA Doc. No. 18032238

 

ACTIONS

 

  • Tahirih Justice Center: Organizational Sign-on Letter re Matter of A-B-: We ask that your organization sign the letterby March 30 to help us ensure that DHS files a brief that is consistent with its prior positions. The text of the letter can be reviewed here. As you know, the Attorney General has certified the case Matter of A-B- to himself and is now reconsidering key elements of asylum law. It appears that the AG may seek to do away with asylum protection for survivors of domestic violence. However, because of the way the question is framed in the certification notice, it is possible that asylum based on persecution such as female genital mutilation/cutting and trafficking, and asylum based on persecution on grounds such as religion and sexual orientation could also be severely limited by this decision. Also, Please take action by signing and sharing this Change.org petition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

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Get the complete report at the above link. Thanks so much, Elizabeth!

PWS

03-27-18

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INSIDE THE GATHERING STORM: Making America Porny Again: Daniels Says Skill Set From Adult Entertainment Career Gives Her A Leg Up In Dealing With Trump!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-eve-of-60-minutes-interview-stormy-daniels-says-working-in-porn-helped-prepare-her-for-public-scrutiny/2018/03/24/b1555594-2ea6-11e8-8ad6-fbc50284fce8_story.html

 

Emma Brown & Frances Stead Sellers report for WashPost:

Stormy Daniels said Saturday that her work in the porn industry has helped her prepare for the international attention she faces on the eve of a much-anticipated television interview about her alleged affair with Donald Trump and the hush money she says she received to keep it quiet.

“Being in the adult industry, I’ve developed a thick skin and maybe a little bit of a dark sense of humor,” she told The Washington Post. “But nothing could truly prepare someone for this.”

Daniels is scheduled to be the star attraction of the CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes” on Sunday evening, a broadcast that caps a two-week media blitz by her attorney, Michael Avenatti. As Daniels’s image and story have become 24/7 fodder for cable news shows, Avenatti has hinted repeatedly that there are more details yet to come out — including in a tweet Friday suggesting that he has a DVD with new information.

In a brief interview Saturday evening, with Avenatti on the line, Daniels sounded upbeat, even as she acknowledged that the media circus she’s attracted has changed her day-to-day life as a wife, mother and adult-film director.

“Without a doubt it’s cutting into my horse show time,” said Daniels, who is an avid equestrian. “And time with friends.”

. . . .

Daniels told The Post on Saturday that she’s been the target of hatred on social media in recent weeks. But she said she also has been overwhelmed by an outpouring of support. When somebody recently accused her of being a liar on Twitter, she said, she received a flood of messages with hashtags like #Ibelieveyou and #teamstormy.

“I didn’t do this to get any sort of approval from anyone or recognition,” she said. “I simply wanted to tell my personal truth and defend myself.”

. . . .

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

Go on over to WashPost at the above link for the complete article by Emma and Frances.

So far, the Stormster has outfoxed the Trumpster at ever turn. Which always brings me back to the same question: How did a smart, multi-talented, personable, on the ball individual like Daniels/Clifford get mixed up with a creep like Trump in the first place?

Tune in to “60 Minutes” tonight and maybe you’ll find out!

PWS

03-25-18

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