Attorney, NY Legal Assistance Group
Publisher of “The Gibson Report”
COVID-19
Note: Policies are rapidly changing, so please verify information on the relevant government websites and with colleagues on listservs as best you can.
EOIR Status Overview & EOIR Court Status Map/List: Hearings in non-detained cases at courts without an announced date are postponed through, and including, November 6, 2020. [Note: Despite the standing order about practices upon reopening, an opening date has not been announced for NYC non-detained at this time.]
TOP NEWS
Justices take up border-wall, “remain in Mexico” cases
SCOTUSblog: The Supreme Court announced on Monday morning that it would take up two cases arising out of the Trump administration’s effort to stem immigration through the United States’ border with Mexico. The justices granted review to weigh in on the long-running dispute over the funding for President Donald Trump’s border wall, as well as the legality of the Trump administration’s “remain in Mexico” policy, which allows the Department of Homeland Security to return immigrants seeking asylum to Mexico while they wait for an asylum hearing in U.S. immigration court. See also Endless Waits At An Immigrant Camp On The Mexico Border Are Pushing Desperate People To Make Tough Choices.
ICE campaign targeting ‘sanctuary cities’ yields 170 arrests, and amplifies Trump campaign theme
WaPo: ICE officers made the arrests in Denver, Seattle, New York, Baltimore, Washington and in Philadelphia, where authorities chose to announce the results and where officials said 26 immigrants were taken into custody. The agency has averaged about 40,000 “at-large” arrests per year, so the numbers announced Friday did not appear to be a significant increase in enforcement activity. See also Mayor de Blasio calls on ICE agents to stop suggesting they are NYPD.
Boston Immigration Court Set To Resume Large-Scale Hearings With Little Guidance From Feds
WBUR: On Tuesday, the Boston immigration court will resume what are known as “master calendar hearings.” Even though the court has remained open throughout the pandemic, these proceedings, which bring large crowds of people to court, have been on hold — until now.
Los Angeles County votes to pay $14 million to former immigrant detainees
WaPo: The five-member Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize the payment, mostly to undocumented immigrants arrested on criminal charges and then held after a judge ordered them released so that federal agents could attempt to deport them. The settlement still must be approved by the judge overseeing the case, lawyers for the plaintiffs said.
Immigrant rights’ coalition seeks to quash broad search warrant on Facebook page
WaPo: After someone painted a slogan on the sidewalk outside the home of Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring during a September protest, Leesburg police launched a criminal investigation into the immigrant rights coalition that organized it, court records state…Authorities asked for virtually all of the Facebook page’s content over a five-day period, a move the group says would give law enforcement access to sensitive information about undocumented immigrants and their families, confidential health reports, and complaints by name about specific law enforcement and immigration officers.
Refugees Who Assisted the U.S. Military Find the Door to America Slammed Shut
NYT: President Trump has reduced the flow of refugees into the country to a trickle, and even Iraqis and Afghans who risked their lives for American service members have been cut off.
As jobs vanished, immigrants left California. The question is how many
LA Times: California’s immigrant population of 10.3 million in 2019 fell by 642,200, or 6.2%, during the first five months of the pandemic, the analysis found. That figure eclipses both the number of residents in Sacramento and the combined decrease in the nation’s other states, which saw immigrant populations decline by 531,000, or 1.5%, during the same March-through-July period.
Despite public outcry, many Cameroonians and Congolese deported on a flight
SD Union Trib: Not all of the more than 200 Cameroonians and Congolese that detainees said were transferred to a detention facility in Texas to be deported were on the flight. Some of the group remained at Prairieland Detention Center, according to Rebekah Entralgo of Freedom For Immigrants, and a few were pulled from the flight due to individual legal actions taken on their behalf. See also Cameroonian asylum seekers pulled off deportation plane amid allegations of ICE abuse.
Immigrants to the U.S. Create More Jobs than They Take
Kellogg: A new study finds that immigrants are far more likely to found companies—both large and small—than native-born Americans.
LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS
DOJ and DHS Release Report on Incarceration and Immigration Status
DHS and DOJ released the FY2019 Alien Incarceration Report, providing data on the immigration status of known or suspected immigrants incarcerated under the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals Service, and in state prisons and local detention centers throughout the U.S. AILA Doc. No. 20101607
CBP Provides Data on Migrant Protection Protocols
CBP provided data on Migrant Protection Protocols from 2020, including southwest border enrollments, cases referred to USCIS, data from EOIR related to the outcome of MPP cases, and individuals apprehended entering the U.S. without inspection subsequent to being returned to Mexico through MPP. AILA Doc. No. 20081231
CBP Provides Custody and Transfer Statistics
CBP provided custody and transfer statistics from 2020, including data on in-custody information by location, dispositions for apprehended individuals and those considered inadmissible, and transfer destinations for individuals leaving CBP custody. AILA Doc. No. 20081232
Announcements of ICE Enforcement Actions
DHS and ICE announced the arrests of more than 170 individuals from 10/3 to 10/9 as part of an immigration enforcement action in sanctuary jurisdictions, including Seattle, Denver, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.
Notice of CDC Order Suspending the Introduction of Certain Persons Through Canada and Mexico
Notice of a CDC order suspending the introduction of certain persons traveling from Canada and Mexico through land ports of entry and Border Patrol stations due to COVID-19. This order is substantially the same as the order issued on 3/20/20. AILA Doc. No. 20101402
In a nonprecedent decision, the AAO sustained an appeal of a Form I-212, finding that the denial did not fully consider evidence of significant positive equities in the record, including that the applicant had lived in the U.S. for 30 years. Courtesy of Alan Lee. In Re: 9072079 (AAO 9/24/20) AILA Doc. No. 20101330
RESOURCES
- Temple Law Asylum Project: new set of Annotated Tables of Contents on indigenous people from Guatemala and Honduras
- ICE: Legal Access in Detention: Communicating with Your Client or Prospective Client
- CLINIC: Practice Advisory: Motions to Reopen for DACA Recipients With Removal Orders
- ILRC: DACA Workers’ Rights Guide
- ILRC: Immigrant-Origin Students in U.S. Higher Education: A Data Profile
- ILRC: Special Report: USCIS Could Prevent Hundreds of Thousands of Would-Be Citizens from Voting in November’s Elections
- MPI: Mexican Immigrants in the United States
- MPI: Denying the Right to Vote: Politicization of the Naturalization Process as a Novel Form of Voter Suppression
- AILA: Practice Pointer: Employment Verification During the COVID-19 Outbreak
- AILA: Ten Ethics Issues Raised by the October Visa Bulletin
- AILA: Practice Alert: Implementation of Expedited Removal Expansion
- AILA: Bite-Sized Ethics: Who Can Sign on the Dotted Line?
- AILA: Practice Alert: CSPA Beneficiaries Not Included in Exceptions to Proclamations 10014 and 10052 Suspending Entry of Certain Immigrants
- CRS: Immigration Parole
- CRS: Ninth Circuit Decision Allows Termination of Temporary Protected Statusfor Sudan, Nicaragua, and El Salvador to Go Forward
- ASISTA: Updated Practice Advisory: Status of USCIS Fee Rule
- Pro Se Clinics Webinar Handout
EVENTS
- 10/19/20 NYC v. ICE, a virtual training for New Yorkers interested in organizing their communities against ICE raids and creating rapid response networks
- 10/20/20 Immigration in the 2020 Election
- 10/20/20 Fee Rule Implementation: Effects on Survivor Relief
- 10/20/20 DVAM Webinar Special: A Closer look at VAWA Relief
- 10/21/20 Advising TPS Clients in Light of Recent Developments
- 10/21/20 Rule of Law Forum – Preserving the Rule of Law in an Age of Disruption
- 10/21/20-10/23/20 Case Management Skills & Database Functions
- 10/21/20 Migrations and One Health: Human, Animal, and Environmental Interactions and Emerging Diseases
- 10/22/20 Non-LPR Cancellation: Overview of Eligibility & Proving Continuous Presence
- 10/23/20-10/24/20 Conference on Racial Justice & Immigration
- 10/23/20 Migration as Resistance: The Underground Railroad
- 10/27/20 Seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile Status in Removal Proceedings
- 10/27/20 Immigration, COVID-19, and the 2020 Election
- 10/28/20 Advanced U Visa Hot Topics
- 10/28/20 The Ecology of State-Building: Moving Capitals in Indonesia
- 10/28/20 Roundtable: Navigating Detention Conditions
- 10/29/20-10/30/20 2020 Crimes & Immigration Seminar
- 10/29/20 Presenting the Case
- 10/29/20 Marijuana: Bridging the Divide Between State and Federal Law
- 11/4/20 Program Strategies for Removal Defense Practice
- 11/10/20 Pursuing Immigration Pro Bono Opportunities in Private Practice
- 11/11/20 Climate Change and Oceanic Migrations
- 11/12/20 Defying Non-Reviewability: How to Proceed After a Consular Denial
- 11/17/20 Make the Government Pay! Attorney fees in Immigration
- 11/17/20 Employment-Based Immigration Opportunities for Immigrant Youth
- 11/18/20 Applying for Asylum and Related Relief for Clients with Convictions
- 11/24/20 VAWA Self-Petitioning Fundamentals
- 11/30/20 Perfecting a Winning Strategy for Asylum Applications
- 12/2/20 Migration, Climate Change, and Human Adaptation
- 12/2/20 An Overview of Naturalization
- 12/3/20 Representing Permanent Residents in LPR Cancellation Cases
- 12/3/20 2020 AILA Crimes and Immigration Virtual Conference
- 12/3/20-12/4/20 53rd Annual Immigration and Naturalization Institute
- 12/8/20 Litigating Your Way Out of Delay
- 12/9/20 Public Charge in Consular Processing
- 12/15/20 Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude
- 12/16/20 LPRs and Public Charge
- 12/16/20 Program Strategies for Removal Defense Practice
- 2/4/21 Basic Immigration Law 2021: Business, Family, Naturalization and Related Areas
- 2/5/21 Asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, Crime Victim, and Other Immigration Relief 2021
ImmProf
Monday, October 19, 2020
- Supreme Court Takes Up Border Wall Funding, Migration Protection Protocols Cases
- Immigrant of the Day: Julio Urias, pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers
- Celebrating the History of ICE 2003-2020
- Commentary: Racism in immigration asylum decisions
- Special Report: USCIS Could Prevent Hundreds of Thousands of Would-Be Citizens from Voting in November’s Elections
Sunday, October 18, 2020
- America’s Forgotten: An “Illegal Immigration” Film Generating Controversy
- Trump’s and Biden’s Plans on Immigration
- Ramped-up ICE arrests amid Covid outbreaks show ‘irresponsible disregard,’ Hispanic Caucus says
- Endless Waits At An Immigrant Camp On The Mexico Border Are Pushing Desperate People To Make Tough Choices
Saturday, October 17, 2020
- A Story of Two Lawyers
- Second Presidential Debate Topics Announced, but Health Care and Immigration Aren’t Among Them
- Mexican Immigrants in the United States
- James H. Binger Center Annual Immigration Law Forum
- Immigration Article of the Day: Distancing Refugees by Geoffrey Heeren
Friday, October 16, 2020
- Breaking News: SCOTUS To Consider Whether Undocumented Can Be Left Out Of Census Count
- Immigration Article of the Day: Legally White, Socially Brown: Racialization of Middle Eastern Americans by Sahar Aziz
Thursday, October 15, 2020
- Holiday Gift Idea
- Immigration Policy as the Power of Oppression
- Nobel-Prize Winning Immigrants Exemplify the American Dream
- Border Wall Construction Continues Round the Clock
- Immigrant-Origin Students in U.S. Higher Education: A Data Profile
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
- Cyprus Exiting Business of Selling EU Membership
- Webinar on Beth Caldwell’s Deported Americans: Life After Deportation to Mexico.
- Immigrant Advocates Demand Release Of Black Migrants From Prairieland Detention Center
- Supreme Court Allows Trump Administration to Wrap Up Census 2020
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
- L.A. County Settles Immigrant Detention Suit for $14 Million
- How Trump’s suspension of Diversity Training for federal employees will affect asylum seekers
- How COVID-19 Affects Immigration Detention Centers
- Undocumented Migrant Facing the Death Penalty in the Era of COVID
- Migrant Children Can No Longer Be Secretly Held in Hotels, But Advocates Continue to Worry Children May Still Be Expeditiously Expelled Without Any Due Process
- The ICE Detention Industrial Complex Must Be Abolished
- One of the Faces Behind Trafficked Domestic Workers: Lola Eudocia Tomas Pulido
- The Act of Immigration: Children, Trauma, and Limited Studies
- Case preview: Harsh immigration consequences from ambiguous state criminal convictions
- Tne Top 10 Most Accepting Nations for Migrants
- Citizenship in the Enforcement Era: A Policy Discussion
Monday, October 12, 2020
- Immigration Article of the Day: Effect of Border Policy on Exposure and Vulnerability to Climate Change
- The History of Hysterectomies: A Tale of the U.S. Practice of Eugenics
- The program allowing CBP Officers to conduct “credible fear” interviews was about more than just “efficiency.”
- Expression Beyond Language: Immigrant Art in a Global Pandemic & U.S. Political Turmoil
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Wow, talk about fraud, waste, and abuse! Not only do DHS’s illegal, misdirected, politically-motivated “enforcement” efforts cost taxpayers big bucks, their racism-driven suppression of legal immigration actually reduces job opportunities for Americans!
While the particular illegal detentions on behalf of ICE resulting in the $14 million payout by LA County occurred under the Obama Administration, it’s no secret that Trump’s ICE has “doubled down” on efforts to coerce localities into complying with such “illegal detainers” NOT issued by “neutral and detached magistrates.” Obviously, an independent Article I Immigration Court with “neutral and detached” judges could be authorized to issue detainers where legally appropriate and justified, thus solving the problems in a way that actually complies with the Constitution and common sense.
DHS, a morass of seedy political corruption and gross mismanagement, is now engaged in a full-bore effort to aid Trump’s re-election in derogation of law and of real duties that might protect us all. In particular, they have done a poor job of messaging on the coronavirus threat. They have also separated families and endangered the lives of non-criminal “prisoners” unnecessarily jailed in unsafe conditions in their “New American Gulag.”
It’s a “rogue agency” that needs to be “reorganized, reformed, and repurposed” by a future Administration. In it’s current form, DHS is actually a threat to our national security and welfare, as it continues, under “illegal leadership” to operate as essentially “Trump’s Internal Security Police.”
Here’s an article by Maria Sacchetti from today’s Post that highlights the misdirection of DHS under Wolf’s illegal, and often immoral and unethical “leadership.”
PWS
10-21-20