Tag: Gibson Report 10-04-21

THE GIBSON REPORT — 10-04-21 — Compiled by Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group — Biden Administration’s Failure To Heed Warnings, Re-Establish Asylum System @ Border, Bring In Progressive Experts, Leads To Cruelty, Chaos!

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

NEWS

 

New Enforcement Priorities Show Some Improvement, Maintain Old Framework

AIC: On September 30, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued the long-awaited new set of enforcement priorities, entitled “Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Laws”. The guidelines, which will go into effect on November 29, 2021, will replace the February 18 interim enforcement priorities memo issued to U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as Initial interim guidelines issued on January 20, 2021. See also IDP Statement: DHS’s Deportation Memo Reinforces Flawed Policies of the Past.

 

Federal appeals court preserves administration’s ability to use Title 42 to expel migrant families

Politico: A federal court has moved to preserve the Biden administration’s ability to use a Trump-era public health order to expel migrant families arriving at the southern border.

 

U.S. DHS plans to issue new memo ending Trump-era immigration policy

Reuters: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said on Wednesday it intends to issue a new memo in the coming weeks ending the “remain in Mexico” immigration program.

 

U.S. Border Authorities Failed to Prepare for Influx of Haitian Migrants Despite Weeks of Warnings

Intercept: [T]he arrival of Haitians was anticipated, and much of the chaos that ensued seemed preventable with basic planning and logistics. But in the scramble to contain the media crisis, the U.S. employed tactics that set off a cascade of repression and violence on both sides of the border. By allowing the situation to reach critical levels, federal officials created conditions that made a militarized crackdown seem inevitable, making criminals out of people asserting their right to seek asylum. See also Most of the migrants in Del Rio, Tex., camp have been sent to Haiti or turned back to Mexico, DHS figures show.

 

Migrants arrested by Texas in border crackdown are being imprisoned for weeks without legal help or formal charges

Texas Tribune: Defense attorneys have started asking courts to set migrants free because local justice systems, overwhelmed by arrests under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security push, are routinely violating state law and constitutional due process rights.

 

Forming a new group, N.J.’s immigrant advocates fight for release of migrant detainees

NJ Monitor: Now the coalition of faith leaders, advocates, formerly incarcerated people, and their family members have formed the Interfaith Campaign for Just Closures. The group aims to push New Jersey’s congressional delegation to support HR 536, which would revamp the immigration detention system.

 

Greyhound Agrees to Pay $2.2 Million Over Immigration Sweeps on Buses

NYT: The settlement will provide restitution to passengers who were detained, arrested or deported after immigration agents conducted warrantless searches on buses, Washington State’s attorney general said.

 

The Biden Administration Is Providing Legal Representation For Certain Immigrant Children In Eight US Cities

BuzzFeed: The new initiative will provide government-funded legal representation to certain children in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland. The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs the nation’s immigration courts, is also updating training for attorneys who want to handle immigration cases.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

Immigration Cases in the Supreme Court: The 2021 Term

Immprof: The Court currently has three new immigration cases on the docket for the 2021 Term.

 

BIA Clarifies When a NTA Constitutes a “Charging Document”

AILA: The BIA dismissed the respondent’s appeal after finding that a Notice to Appear that lacks the time and place of an initial removal hearing constitutes a “charging document.” Matter of Arambula-Bravo, 28 I&N Dec. 388 (BIA 2021)

 

CA3 Reverses Denial of Asylum to Petitioner Who Fled Yemen to Avoid Persecution on Account of Political Opinion

AILA: Where the Yemeni petitioner had been kidnapped and tortured before being convicted and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for political opposition to the Houthi regime, the court concluded that the BIA erred in determining that he was ineligible for asylum. (Ghanem v. Att’y Gen., 9/22/21)

 

3rd Circ. Says Simple Assault Is Grounds For Deportation

Law360: The Third Circuit refused to undo deportation orders against a Peruvian national who had a simple assault conviction, ruling that the offense amounted to a removable crime of violence.

 

CA5 Finds BIA Abused Its Discretion by Entirely Failing to Address Libyan Petitioner’s CAT Claim

AILA: The court held that the BIA abused its discretion by entirely failing to address the Libyan petitioner’s Convention Against Torture (CAT) claim, where the petitioner had raised his CAT claim several times in his briefing before the BIA. (Abushagif v. Garland, 9/24/21)

 

CA8 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Guatemalan Petitioner Whose Family Refused to Give Money to Gangs

AILA: The court upheld BIA’s denial of asylum, finding petitioner’s proposed particular social group of “family unaffiliated with any gangs who refuse to provide any support to transnational criminal gangs in Guatemala” lacked particularity and social distinction. (Osorio Tino v. Garland, 9/20/21)

 

CA9 Says BIA Did Not Abuse Its Discretion in Finding Petitioner’s 2016 Motion Was Untimely or in Declining to Sua Sponte Reopen

AILA: The court concluded that the BIA did not abuse its discretion in determining that the petitioner’s 2016 motion to reopen was untimely, nor did it commit legal error in declining to sua sponte reopen her case. (Cui v. Garland, 9/23/21)

 

CA9 Finds Inconsistencies in Petitioner’s Asylum and Visa Applications Were Sufficient to Support Adverse Credibility Determination

AILA: Where the petitioner claimed she was persecuted because of her membership in a house church that was not registered with the Chinese government, the court held that the BIA appropriately relied on two inconsistencies in making its adverse credibility determination. (Li v. Garland, 9/21/21)

 

CA9 Finds Convictions in Washington for Robbery and Attempted Robbery in the Second Degree Are Not Aggravated Felonies

AILA: Granting the petition for review, the court held that the petitioner’s convictions in Washington for robbery in the second degree and attempted robbery in the second degree did not qualify as aggravated felony theft offenses under INA §101(a)(43)(G), (U). (Alfred v. Garland, 9/22/21)

 

CA10 Holds That BIA Erred in Declining to Reopen Sua Sponte Based on Incorrect Legal Premise

AILA: Granting the petition for review and remanding, the court found that the BIA at least partly relied on a legally erroneous—and thus invalid—rationale for declining to exercise its sua sponte reopening authority. (Berdiev v. Garland, 9/21/21)

 

DC Circ. Lets Biden Proceed With Title 42 Migrant Expulsions

Law360: The D.C. Circuit on Thursday granted the Biden administration’s bid to stay a district court order that blocked the administration from expelling migrant families, providing it time to pursue an appeal of the ruling, which was slated to go into effect on Friday at midnight.

 

US Marshals Ordered To Stop Immigration Arrests

Law360: A D.C. federal judge banned U.S. Marshals in the nation’s capital from detaining criminal defendants based on suspicion related to their immigration status Thursday, ending a class action over the agency’s practice of holding individuals despite release orders.

 

District Court Finds TPS Parolee Is Eligible to Apply to USCIS for Adjustment of Status

AILA: Where USCIS had refused to adjudicate the adjustment of status application of the plaintiff, a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipient with advance parole, the court held that the plaintiff was an “arriving alien” who had executed his deportation order. (C-E-M- v. Wolf, et al., 9/29/21)

 

District Court Orders USCIS to Approve Plaintiffs’ Adjustment of Status Applications from Employment-Based Visa Allocations for FY2021

AILA: A federal district court in Mississippi held that plaintiffs had established unreasonable delay by USCIS in the adjudication of their adjustment of status applications, and ordered USCIS to adjudicate their applications before the end of FY2021. (Parcharne, et al. v. DHS, et al., 9/30/21)

 

District Court Reserves 6,914 DVs for Goodluck-Related Plaintiffs and 481 DVs for Goh Plaintiffs

AILA: The federal district court in D.C. ordered DOS to reserve 6,914 diversity visas (DVs) for adjudication pending final judgment for Goodluck-related plaintiffs, and to reserve 481 DVs for Goh plaintiffs to be issued by the end of FY2022. (Goh, et al. v. DOS, et al., 9/30/21)

 

Texas Migrant Detention Program Sees Courtroom Setbacks

Law260: A border-focused law enforcement initiative launched by Texas earlier this year suffered setbacks in a state court on Tuesday, with prosecutors agreeing to release dozens of immigrants being held in state custody and to completely drop charges against two of them.

 

Feds To Pay $1.2M Atty Fees After Migrant Kids Release Order

Law360: The Biden administration agreed to pay $1.15 million to attorneys who successfully advocated for the safe custody of migrant children held in border detention facilities, while the attorneys continued to push for additional fees for an appeal the administration abandoned.

 

EOIR Launches “Access EOIR” Initiative

AILA: EOIR announced its “Access EOIR” initiative, which attempts to raise representation for individuals appearing before immigration courts. New trainings under the Model Hearing Program are available, and recent EOIR efforts include the development of the Counsel for Children Initiative.

 

DHS Issues Updated Guidance on the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law

AILA: DHS issued updated guidance on the enforcement of civil immigration law. Guidance is effective on 11/29/21 and will rescind prior civil immigration guidance.

 

DHS Announces Intention to Issue New Memo Terminating MPP

AILA: DHS issued a statement announcing that it “intends to issue in the coming weeks a new memorandum terminating the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP).” However, DHS is moving forward with plans to restart the program pursuant to a district court order.

 

USCIS Provides Additional Guidance on Afghan Special Immigrant Conditional Permanent Residents and Non-SI Parolees

AILA: SAVE announced that DHS will admit Afghans as special immigrant (SI) conditional permanent resident status and CBP will admit Afghans as non-SI parolees. The memo describes both categories, the qualifications for either, the ways their status will be documented, and more.

 

DHS Automatically Extends TPS for Certain Syria EADs Through March 2022

AILA: DHS automatically extended the validity of certain EADs with a category code of A12 or C19 issued under TPS for Syria through 3/28/22. For Form I-9, TPS Syria beneficiaries may present qualifying EADs along with an individual notice issued by USCIS that indicates extension of EAD.

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

 

ImmProf

Monday, October 4, 2021

Sunday, October 3, 2021

Saturday, October 2, 2021

Friday, October 1, 2021

Thursday, September 30, 2021

Thursday, September 30, 2021

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Monday, September 27, 2021

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

Thanks, Elizabeth! 

I’d go even further than the article in The Intercept. The Biden Administration was told by experts during the early Transition Period to make restoring order and the rule of law to the asylum system at our borders one of their highest priorities. That included reviving and expanding the USCIS Asylum Office, reopening legal ports of entry, replacing the BIA with qualified progressive expert Appellate Judges who understood asylum law and would establish practical humane precedents, bringing in progressive, dynamic progressive asylum leadership at both the DHS and DOJ, reopening legal border ports of entry, and instituting a robust refugee programs for the Northern Triangle and the rest of the Americas. 

With a 10 week “head start,” these were neither rocket science nor unachievable. Instead the Administration dawdled and fumbled, treating asylum reform as an issue that would “just go away.” Once in office, Mayorkas, Garland, and Harris aggravated the problem by not making the obvious progressive personnel and structural changes necessary to restore the asylum and refugee systems.

Now, we have the worst of all worlds! Disorder at the border, cruelty and abuse of migrants, and folks like Harold Koh, who have the expertise, backbone, and creative solutions that Mayorkas and Garland so stunningly lack fleeing the Administration and speaking out against its inane and inhumane policies.

All so stupid! All so unnecessary! All so damaging to America and humanity!

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

10-06-21

 

 

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