THE GIBSON REPORT – 09-17-18 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, ESQ, NY Legal Assistance Group
TOP UPDATES
U.S. to reconsider asylum for separated immigrant families
Reuters: President Donald Trump’s administration has agreed to reconsider the asylum claims of some 1,000 immigrant parents and children who were separated at the U.S. border as part of a deal to settle lawsuits over his “zero-tolerance” immigration policy.
Former US Officials Challenge Report Linking Terrorism, Immigration
VOA: A group of former national security officials is pushing back against a controversial Trump administration report on the link between terrorism and immigration, saying the report gives the false impression that immigrants are responsible for the majority of terrorist attacks in the United States.
AC: Department of Homeland Security documents show that a total of $200 million—including $10 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency—was transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the summer of 2018.
The simple reason more immigrant kids are in custody than ever before
CNN: A record number of immigrant children are in US custody, and it’s likely because the Trump administration’s policies are keeping them there.
As of this week, there are 12,800 immigrant children being cared for by the Health and Human Services Department. That’s the most ever, an HHS spokeswoman confirmed.
Asian-Americans Make Up Most of the New U.S. Immigrant Population
NatGeo: The number of foreign-born residents in the United States is now the highest it has been since 1910, according to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Compared to past decades, the country’s newest immigrants are most likely to come from Asia. See also Key findings about U.S. immigrants.
AG Sessions’ Remarks Emphasize Need for Independent Immigration Courts
AILA responds to remarks delivered by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to a group of 44 new immigration judges. AILA Doc. No. 18091042
ABA Issues Statement Regarding Immigration Lawyers and Judges
In response to a speech by Attorney General Sessions, ABA President Bob Carlson issued a statement in support of immigration lawyers and judges, stating that the ABA strongly supports the independence of immigration judges and immigration courts and applauds the work of immigration lawyers. AILA Doc. No. 18091200
A 9/13/18 letter from Senator Cortez Masto and others expressing concerns about ICE plans to recalendar potentially hundreds of thousands of administratively closed cases following the Attorney General’s decision in Matter of Castro-Tum, and requesting information on the initiative.AILA Doc. No. 18091404
U.S. Plans to Pay Mexico to Deport Unauthorized Immigrants There
NYT: In a recent notice sent to Congress, the administration said it intended to take $20 million in foreign assistance funds and use it to help Mexico pay plane and bus fare to deport as many as 17,000 people who are in that country illegally.
The US-Mexico trade deal leaves out one important group: immigrants
Guardian: Some take the position that immigration reform and a trade bill with Mexico are two separate issues. For most small businesses – and particularly the ones who rely on low-skilled workers – the two issues are very much intertwined.
LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS
DOJ issued a memo, stating the guidelines will “arm Department litigators handling these cases to present strong and consistent arguments in court against the issuance of nationwide injunctions and to reaffirm the existing constitutional and practical limitations on the authority of judges.”AILA Doc. No. 18091439
Matter of VALENZUELA GALLARDO, 27 I&N Dec. 449
BIA: (1) An “offense relating to obstruction of justice” under section 101(a)(43)(S) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(S) (2012), encompasses offenses covered by chapter 73 of the Federal criminal code, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1501–1521 (2012), or any other Federal or State offense that involves (1) an affirmative and intentional attempt (2) that is motivated by a specific intent (3) to interfere either in an investigation or proceeding that is ongoing, pending, or reasonably foreseeable by the defendant, or in another’s punishment resulting from a completed proceeding. Matter of Valenzuela Gallardo, 25 I&N Dec. 838 (BIA 2012), clarified. (2) A conviction for accessory to a felony under section 32 of the California Penal Code that results in a term of imprisonment of at least 1 year is a conviction for an aggravated felony offense relating to obstruction of justice under section 101(a)(43)(S) of the Act.
USCIS Announces Filing Location Change for Form I-751
USCIS announced that on 9/10/18, it changed the filing location for Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. This form was previously filed at the CSC and VSC. Now, petitioners must send Form I-751 to a USCIS Lockbox facility. The service centers will be the adjudicating offices. AILA Doc. No. 18091002
ACTIONS
- Call for Information: TPS Late Re-Registration
- Take Action: Sign Letter Expressing Concern Over Recent USCIS Policy Memos
- Call for Examples: Absurd and Confusing RFEs
RESOURCES
- Strategies and Considerations in the Wake of Pereira v. Sessions and Matter of Bermudez-Cota
- Highlights from CIS Ombudsman Teleconference on USCIS’s Policy Update on RFEs and NOIDs
- The Council Provides Practice Advisory on Motions for a Continuance
EVENTS
- 9/20-21/18 2018 Federal Court Litigation Conferences: Join Us in Washington, D.C. or Remotely via Webcast
- 9/20/18Consequences of War: A Refugee and Immigrant Mental Health Crisis in the Middle East
- 9/20/18Standby Guardianship Training (see attached)
- 9/21/18AILA Removal Litigation
- 9/25/18Reviving I-130 Petitions with Consular Processing and INA §204(l)
- 9/26/18 On the Frontlines Defending Immigrant Families: A Conversation with Lee Gelernt, Lead ACLU Attorney Challenging Trump’s Family Separation Policy
- 9/26/18Strategies and Considerations in the Wake of Pereira v. Sessions and Matter of Bermudez-Cota
- 9/26/18Representing Children in Immigration Matters 2018: Effective Advocacy and Best Practices
- 10/1/18 MPI: Immigration Law & Policy Conference
- 10/4/18 Department of Justice Recognition and Accreditation & Immigration Legal Services for Abused Immigrants
- 10/2/18-11/13/18 Introduction to Immigration Law Practice: A Course for New Practitioners
- 10/9/18 Citizenship in an Era of Record Migration and Growing Nationalism
- 10/10/18 National Context: The Legal Fights over Sanctuary Policies
- 10/10/18 Immigrant Women, Labor, and the Quest for Gender Justice
- 10/13/18 The Economics and Ethics of Immigration
- 10/26/18 A Nation of Immigrants? 50 Years of the New Immigration
- 11/26-28/18 CLINIC & NITA “Advocacy in Immigration Matters”
- 2/8/19 Asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, Crime Victim, and Other Immigration Relief 2019
ImmProf
Friday, September 14, 2018
- As Florence Hits Coastline, North Carolina Residents Fear Immigration Enforcement
- Remove references to John Boalt — Advocate of Chinese Exclusion — from UC Berkeley Law, school committee says
Thursday, September 13, 2018
- Tempest Tossed: Conversations on Migration and Mobility
- Trump Administration Funneled $10 Million from FEMA to ICE Detention Program
- Justice in America: Crimmigration
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
- HONY: Falun Gong Asylee
- 9/11 and the Transformation of U.S. Immigration Law and Policy
- Hispanic Share of US Labor Force up 8-Fold 1950-2016
- Immigration Article of the Day: Judicial Review of Disproportionate (or Retaliatory) Deportation by Jason A. Cade
Monday, September 10, 2018
- Deported for Racism?
- Attorney General Sessions Delivers Remarks to the Largest Class of Immigration Judges in History
- Brett Kavanaugh’s Record on Immigration
- Immigration Article of the Day: Equity in Contemporary Immigration Enforcement: Defining Contributions and Countering Criminalization by Alia Al-Khatib and Jayesh Rathod
AILA NEWS UPDATE
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Thanks, Elizabeth, for being such an exemplary member of the NDPA!
PWS
09i-20-18