Federal Courts/Jurisdiction
Supreme Court Rules Parents of Slain Teenager Can’t Sue Border Patrol Agent Responsible for His Death
The Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit seeking damages from a U.S. Border Patrol agent who shot and killed a teenager across the U.S.-Mexico border. With this latest decision in the Hernandez v. Mesa case, the Court removed an important check on an agency… Read More
Judge Stops DHS From Arresting US Citizens’ Foreign Spouses During Marriage Interviews in Maryland
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been targeting U.S. citizens’ foreign spouses when they apply for legal immigration status. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Maryland put a halt to this practice. For the past few years, couples attending interviews about their marriages sometimes faced a terrible… Read More
How Will Conditions in Border Patrol Facilities Change Now That a Judge Has Ruled Them Unconstitutional?
A federal court found on Wednesday that U.S. Border Patrol may not detain migrants held in its facilities in Arizona’s Tucson Sector longer than 48 hours without providing for their “basic human needs.” This includes providing beds, blankets, food, water, personal hygiene, and medical care. Federal Judge Bury determined the… Read More
These Humanitarian Aid Workers’ Convictions Were Overturned. Here’s How It Sets Precedent for Future Protection.
A federal judge in Arizona reversed convictions of four volunteers of the humanitarian aid group No More Deaths last week. No More Deaths is an Arizona-based group that works to end death and suffering for people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. In the summer of 2017, the… Read More
USCIS’ Change to How ‘Unlawful Presence’ Is Calculated Is Defeated in Court
A federal district court stopped U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from drastically changing how the agency determines when a foreign student or exchange visitor is “unlawfully present” in the United States. “Unlawful presence” is defined by law as any time a foreign national spends in the United States after… Read More
Judge Allows Certain Family Separations at the Border to Continue
The Trump administration received an unfortunate victory in the case against their family separation policy. On January 13, 2020, Federal Judge Dana Sabraw sided with the government in a lawsuit challenging continued separations at the border. Although the judge ordered an end to most family separations in 2018, he has… Read More
Immigration Agencies’ Intrusive Searches of Cell Phones, Laptops Are Ruled Unconstitutional
A federal court ruled this week that sweeping policies permitting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to search personal cell phones, laptops, and other electronic devices without reasonable suspicion are unconstitutional. The policies that the court rejected authorized CBP… Read More
In Historic Ruling, Thousands of Immigrants Waiting for Their Immigration Records Can Now Challenge Agency Delay
A federal court in San Francisco certified two nationwide classes of immigrants and attorneys challenging extreme agency delays in producing immigration case files. Plaintiffs allege that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have a system-wide practice of failing to… Read More
Which Immigration Cases Will the Supreme Court Rule on This Session?
The Supreme Court began a new session this October, and in the coming months, the justices will hear several high-profile immigration cases. These cases involve the attempted termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative, the highly-criticized killing of a young boy in Mexico… Read More
Agency Delay Litigation: Opposing a Motion to Dismiss
This practice advisory summarizes the most common grounds raised by the government in motions to dismiss federal court agency adjudication delay lawsuits and outlines arguments that can be made in response. Read More
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