Tag: Gibson Report 10-29-19

THE GIBSON REPORT – 10-29-19 – Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

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

THE GIBSON REPORT – 10-29-19 – Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

 

TOP UPDATES

 

USCIS Updates Fee Waiver Requirements

USCIS has issued a new fee waiver form eliminating the means-tested benefits section. Any submission postmarked on or after December 2 must use the new form. The new form instructions include detailed documentation instructions, requiring tax transcripts or proof that tax transcripts are unavailable for most scenarios. For information on obtaining federal income tax transcripts without a fee, see www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript. You may also use IRS Form 4506-T to request income tax transcripts, or Form 1099 Certain Government Payments from the IRS.

 

Two CrimImm Decisions from the AG

  • THOMAS and THOMPSON, 27 I&N Dec. 674 (A.G 2019):(1) The tests set forth in Matter of Cota-Vargas, Matter of Song, and Matter of Estrada will no longer govern the effect of state-court orders that modify, clarify, or otherwise alter a criminal alien’s sentence. (2) Such state-court orders will be given effect for immigration purposes only if based on a procedural or substantive defect in the underlying criminal proceeding; these orders will have no effect for immigration purposes if based on reasons unrelated to the merits of the underlying criminal proceeding, such as rehabilitation or the avoidance of immigration consequences.
  • CASTILLO-PEREZ, 27 I&N Dec. 664 (A.G. 2019): Evidence of two or more convictions for driving under the influence during the relevant period establishes a presumption that an alien lacks good moral character under INA § 101(f), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(f)…Because only aliens who possessed good moral character for a 10-year period are eligible for cancellation of removal under section 240A(b) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b), such evidence also presumptively establishes that the alien’s application for that discretionary relief should be denied.

 

TRAC Reports Increasing IJ Caseloads and Lengthening Hearing Wait Times

TRAC reports that IJ caseloads have grown substantially under the Trump administration. By 9/30/19, 1,023,767 “active” cases were pending compared to 542,411 at the start of the administration. At some locations, immigrants now wait an average of four years before their hearing is scheduled. AILA Doc. No. 19102532

 

‘Secret and unaccountable’: Where some immigrant teens are being taken by ICE

CNN: For more than a decade, ICE has been taking a small number of immigrant teens it deems to be dangerous far from their families and detaining them for months at a time…The places these youth are held don’t appear on ICE’s online map of detention centers. The agency doesn’t make its reports about the conditions of the facilities available like it does for others. And family members can’t find their loved ones using the federal government’s official detainee locator since it only provides information on adults.

 

Most States Not Giving Driver’s License Data to Washington

AP: At least 13 states have refused to share the driver’s license data, 17 are still deciding what to do, and 17 haven’t yet received a request, according to the AP survey. Three states didn’t respond to multiple AP queries…Two of the biggest states, California and New York, haven’t received requests yet. See also Lawsuit over voting rights in Rensselaer County in hands of judge.

 

In north Louisiana, sheriff and private prison operator trade prisoners for ICE detainees

NOLA: As the number of immigrants held behind bars nationwide has grown under President Donald Trump, ICE has turned to Louisiana sheriffs and private prison operators. Louisiana is now the No. 2 jailer of immigration detainees, behind Texas.

 

The Trump administration is still separating children from their family members at the border. Inside a hidden crisis

Guardian: A federal judge in San Diego ordered the Trump administration in the summer of 2018 to reunite families and stop separating most parents and children. But the court order does not apply to non-parents, and the administration keeps separating people like Alexa – aunts, grandparents or older siblings who commonly step in as guardians without formal paperwork – from the children they’re traveling with, without any procedure to reunite them. (The government also continues splitting up some children from their parents, citing reasons such as the parents’ criminal history.)

 

Children Die at Record Speed on U.S. Border While Coyotes Get Rich

Bloomberg: Nineteen children died during attempted crossings in the first nine months of 2019, by drowning, dehydration or illness, according to the UN’s “Missing Migrants” research project. That’s up from four reported through September 2018 and by far the most since the project began gathering data in 2014, when two died that entire year. Women are dying in greater numbers, too—44 in the year through September, versus 14 last year.

 

Criminal misconduct by US border officers has reached a 5-year high

Quartz: The number of arrests of CBP officers and Border Patrol agents, according to the report, had been on a half-decade decline before leaping 11% between fiscal years 2017 and 2018. (Arrests of officers and agents increased annually starting in 2007 and hit a high of 348 in 2012 before going down again.)

 

ICE Deleted Surveillance Video Of A Transgender Asylum-Seeker Who Died In Its Custody

Buzzfeed: “The requested video is no longer available,” said a supervisory detention and deportation officer in an Aug. 28, 2018, email. “The footage is held in memory up to around 90 days. They attempted to locate and was negative.”

 

Mexico flies 300 Indian migrants to New Delhi in ‘unprecedented’ mass deportation

Reuters: The move follows a deal Mexico struck with the United States in June, vowing to significantly curb U.S.-bound migration in exchange for averting U.S. tariffs on Mexican exports…Most of the deportees were from India’s northern Punjab state, an Indian official said. Police will run checks if any of them had criminal history, another official said.

 

Children of Poor Immigrants Rise, Regardless of Where They Come From

NYT: A pattern that has persisted for a century: They tend to outperform children of similarly poor native-born Americans.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

IJ Terminates Removal Proceedings After Finding DHS Inappropriately Subjected Respondents to MPP Program

The Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings after finding that DHS inappropriately subjected respondents to the MPP program since they were not arriving aliens. In the Matter of , 9/17/19 AILA Doc. No. 19102440

 

Trump Asks Top Court to Toss California Immigrant Sanctuary Law

Bloomberg: President Donald Trump’s administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out a California immigrant-sanctuary law that restricts local police from helping federal authorities round up and deport people who are in the country illegally. In an appeal filed this week, the administration said the 2017 measure undermines federal immigration enforcement efforts.

 

AG Vacates Decisions and Remands to Assess State-Court Alternations in Light of the Pickering Test

The AG vacated two decisions as they were based on earlier precedents that were overruled and remanded for the Board to assess the state-court alteration in light of the Pickering test. Matter of Thomas and Matter of Thompson, 27 I&N Dec. 674 (A.G. 2019) AILA Doc. No. 19102801

 

Attorney General Affirms BIA’s Order in Matter of Castillo-Perez on Multiple DUIs and the Good Moral Character Standard

The AG affirmed the BIA’s order vacating the IJ’s decision to grant cancellation of removal, holding that two or more DUI convictions during the relevant period establish a presumption of lack of good moral character during that time. Matter of Castillo-Perez, 27 I&N Dec. 664 (A.G. 2019) AILA Doc. No. 19102800

 

Chasing Down the Rumors: EOIR Asylum Clock Glitch (Updated 10/24/19)

AILA members have reported a nationwide EOIR glitch that has caused some clients’ asylum clocks to stop in error. If a client should have already reached the 150 days and is ready to file for an EAD, attorneys should call the local court directly to manually resolve this issue. AILA Doc. No. 16112144

 

BIA Vacates Denial of Continuance for U Visa Applicant

Unpublished BIA decision holds that IJ erred in denying continuance to await adjudication of U visa application solely because it was not a form of relief that could be granted by the court. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of De La Cruz, 3/25/19) AILA Doc. No. 19102102

 

BIA Vacates Finding That Respondent Was Ineligible for 212(h) Waiver

Unpublished BIA decision holds that IJ should have considered respondent’s testimony that bag contained only marijuana residue before finding that he was ineligible for waiver under INA 212(h). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Zavala, 4/1/19) AILA Doc. No. 19102305

 

BIA Vacates Finding That Respondent Engaged in Polygamy

Unpublished BIA decision finds that respondent did not necessarily engage in polygamy by marrying second wife before being officially divorced from first wife. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Cisse, 4/1/19) AILA Doc. No. 19102306

 

BIA Holds Findings Made Pursuant to Sex Offender Registration Do Not Qualify as “Elements”

Unpublished BIA decision holds that findings made by West Virginia trial judge in requiring respondent to register as a sex offender do not qualify as “elements” that can be considered under the categorical approach. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Leguia Chuquichaico, 3/29/19) AILA Doc. No. 19102404

 

BIA Finds California Assault Statute Not a CIMT

Unpublished BIA decision holds that assault against cohabitant under Cal. Penal Code 273.5(a) is not a CIMT. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ramirez-Cortez, 3/19/19) AILA Doc. No. 19102101

 

BIA Reopens and Terminates Proceedings Following Vacatur of Marijuana Conviction

Unpublished BIA decision reopens and terminates proceedings following vacatur of one of respondent’s two convictions for possession of 20 grams or less of marijuana, leaving the remaining conviction subject to the personal use exception. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Herrera, 3/27/19) AILA Doc. No. 19102103

 

CA9 Declines to Rehear Dai v. Sessions En Banc

The court issued an order denying the rehearing en banc of Dai v. Sessions, in which the court held that, in the absence of an explicit adverse credibility determination by the IJ or the BIA, the court must accept as true the testimony of an asylum applicant. (Dai v. Barr, 10/22/19) AILA Doc. No. 19102435

 

CA10 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Salvadoran Threatened Due to Political Graffiti Painted on His House

The court upheld the BIA’s conclusions that the assault petitioner suffered was based on a personal disagreement rather than on account of his political opinion, and that the threat of future harm made to him was not due to his imputed political opinion. (Escobar-Hernandez v. Barr, 10/18/19) AILA Doc. No. 19102436

 

Afghans and Iraqis File Class Action Challenge Alleging Long Processing Delays of Special Immigrant Visa Applications

A district court issued a memo stating that the government’s delays in the processing and adjudication of the SIV applications and members of the class are unreasonable and ordered that the government submit a plan for promptly processing and adjudicating the applications of current class members. AILA Doc. No. 19102230

 

USCIS Issues Policy Alert on Defining “Residence” in Statutory Provisions Related to Citizenship

USCIS issued policy guidance to address requirements for “residence” in statutory provisions related to citizenship, and to rescind previous guidance regarding children of U.S. government employees and members of U.S. armed forces outside the United States. This policy is effective 10/29/19. AILA Doc. No. 19082800

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

   

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, October 28, 2019

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Friday, October 25, 2019

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Monday, October 21, 2019

 

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Thanks, Elizabeth, for your dedication to the “New Due Process Army.”

 

PWS

 

10-31-19

 

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