Immigration at the Border
ICE Deported More Than 46,000 Immigrants with U.S. Citizen Children Last Year, Report Finds
Immigration enforcement and deportation have a particularly devastating impact on mixed status families, that is, families who have one or more direct members who are undocumented. When parents are deported, families face impossible decisions about whether their family will be separated or whether U.S. citizen kids will be de facto deported along with their parents. New numbers released in a report by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) show the extent of the issue. The new report finds that, between January and June 2011, ICE deported over 46,000 immigrants who claimed to have at least one U.S. citizen child. Read More
Proportionality in Immigration Law: Does the Punishment Fit the Crime in Immigration Court?
Proportionality is the notion that the severity of a sanction should not be excessive in relation to the gravity of an offense. The principle is ancient and nearly uncontestable, and its operation pursuant to diverse constitutional provisions is well-established in numerous areas of criminal and civil law, in the United States and abroad. Immigration law, however, which is formally termed “civil” but is functionally quasi-criminal, has not previously been subject to judicial or administrative review for conformity to constitutional proportionality principles. Yet it is undisputed that the Due Process Clause—one of the sources of the proportionality principle in American law—applies to immigration proceedings. This Perpsectives suggests that understanding the use of proportionality in criminal and civil law offers immigration practitioners a new way to challenge the status quo, particularly in cases where the underlying basis for the removal order and the resulting consequences of removal are so disparate. Applying established proportionality principles, attorneys and policymakers can both argue for a more sane and balanced approach to immigration enforcement, one that measures the relative nature of an immigration offense against the severity of the current removal system, while securing judicial review of individual removal orders for consistency with constitutional proportionality requirements. Listen to Michael Wishnie discuss this paper: Read More
DHS Review of Immigration Cases Expands to Half Dozen New Cities
The Washington Post and Huffington Post are reporting that ICE’s ongoing review of existing deportation cases will expand to six new cities in the coming months. Initially launched in Baltimore and Denver in 2011, the initiative will soon expand to Seattle, Detroit, New Orleans and Orlando, followed by Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. The idea behind the initiative is to clear historic backlogs in the immigration courts by administratively closing cases that ICE considers to be low priority. Read More
New Legislation to Boost Tourism Would Bring Jobs, Revenue to U.S. Economy
When it comes to the global tourism market, the U.S. is missing out in a big way. So much so, in fact, that the Obama administration has issued two executive orders to address the drop in international tourism revenue. Over the last ten years, America’s share of the travel market fell from 17% in 2000 to 12% in 2010—a drop that translates into 467,000 lost jobs, $606 billion in lost spending by visitors, and $37 billion in lost tax revenue. Experts blame the dip on unnecessary visa processing delays and restrictions. But a new bipartisan tourism bill introduced this week seeks to remedy the U.S. tourism slump by reforming some visa processes, making it easier foreign nationals to visit and spend money in the U.S. Read More
New Legislation to Boost Tourism Would Bring Jobs, Revenue to U.S. Economy
When it comes to the global tourism market, the U.S. is missing out in a big way. So much so, in fact, that the Obama administration has issued two executive orders to address the drop in international tourism revenue. Over the last ten years, America’s share of the travel market fell from 17% in 2000 to 12% in 2010—a drop that translates into 467,000 lost jobs, $606 billion in lost spending by visitors, and $37 billion in lost tax revenue. Experts blame the dip on unnecessary visa processing delays and restrictions. But a new bipartisan tourism bill introduced this week seeks to remedy the U.S. tourism slump by reforming some visa processes, making it easier foreign nationals to visit and spend money in the U.S. Read More
Mississippi Farming, Law Enforcement Groups Urge Lawmakers to Oppose State Immigration Law
Economists aren’t the only ones who think a patchwork of costly state immigration laws is a terrible idea. This week, Mississippi farming and law enforcement groups each sent separate letters urging state lawmakers to reconsider moving forward with Mississippi’s extreme immigration law, HB 488. The groups call the law an “unfunded mandate” and cite the burdensome costs to taxpayers, the discriminatory nature of the law, and the potential loss of tourism, foreign investment and economic development for the state. The Mississippi House passed the bill, which prohibits undocumented immigrants from entering business transactions with the state and allows law enforcement to determine the immigration status of individuals whom they “reasonably suspect” is in the country without documents during an arrest, earlier this month. The Mississippi Senate has until April 3 to consider the bill before it dies. Read More
Mocking Humane Immigration Detention Standards
Washington D.C. – Today, the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on new immigration detention standards recently issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Cynically entitled “Holiday on ICE,” the hearing reflects Chairman Lamar Smith’s allegation that the new standards—which set minimum requirements for medical care, access to counsel,… Read More
More Evidence that Hostile Immigration Enforcement Compromises Public Safety
The priorities of immigration enforcement authorities, such as ICE and the Border Patrol, often do not align with those of local law enforcement agents. When local law enforcement officials are charged with enforcing federal immigration laws, unauthorized immigrants tend to lose trust in, cease interacting with, and often do not report crimes to law enforcement officials when they have reason to fear detainment or deportation in any encounter. So concludes a new report by the Center for American Progress entitled, “Life as an Undocumented Immigrant: How Restrictive Local Immigration Policies Affect Daily Life.” Read More
Court Upholds Ban on Restrictive Immigration Law in Farmers Branch, Texas
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld a lower court’s ruling this week enjoining a law enacted in Farmers Branch, Texas, that bars undocumented immigrants from renting housing in the city and revokes the licenses of landlords who knowingly rent to them. The restrictive law, which passed in 2008, was struck down two years ago by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle, who found the law to be unconstitutional. In its ruling this week, the appeals court found the Farmers Branch law to be discriminatory since it “excludes” undocumented immigrants, “particularly Latinos, under the guides of policing housing.” The court opined: "Because the sole purpose and effect of this ordinance is to target the presence of illegal aliens within the City of Farmers Branch and to cause their removal, it contravenes the federal government's exclusive authority over the regulation of immigration and the conditions of residence in this country.” Read More
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