Interior Enforcement
Los Angeles County Faces Sweeping Suit Over ICE Detainers
Under the Constitution, it has long been established that the government needs “probable cause” to hold an individual in custody, and that people granted bail must be released once it is paid. In a class-action lawsuit filed last Friday by numerous immigrants’ rights groups, Los Angeles County and Sheriff Lee Baca stand accused of flouting both principles by holding inmates for weeks at a time solely at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Read More
ICE Scaling Back 287(g) Program
The 287(g) program has been controversial and criticized for years, and immigrant advocates have demanded that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) terminate the program. Section 287(g) of the INA allows the Secretary of Homeland Security to enter into agreements that delegate immigration powers to local police, but only through negotiated agreements, documented in Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs). The task force model deputizes police to enforce immigration laws in the course of their regular activities on the streets, and the jail model places deputized police officers within jails. A recent development raises questions about the future of the program. Read More
California Passes Groundbreaking Legislation to Prevent “Shattered Families”
By Yali Lincroft, Policy Consultant, First Focus Campaign for Children. Late last month, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law two bills – AB2015 and SB1064 - which address the nightmare scenarios that can befall parents and their children caught up in the immigration system. The recent report Shattered Families: The Perilous Intersection of Immigrant Enforcement and the Child Welfare System describes the issue in detail including the “extent to which children in foster care are prevented from uniting with their detained or deported parents and the failures of the child welfare system to adequately work to reunify these families.” Read More
California Governor Vetoes TRUST Act
In a disheartening development for immigrants’ rights advocates, California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the TRUST Act on Sunday just hours before it was scheduled to take effect. The measure, which was intended to minimize the humanitarian impact of the federal Secure Communities program, would have largely prohibited state and local jails from detaining suspects on behalf of federal immigration authorities. Importantly, however, Gov. Brown rejected a central argument of the bill’s critics in his veto message and pledged to work with the California legislature to fix what he described as the flaws in the bill. Read More
The Harmful Effects of Using Border Patrol as Interpreters Along the Northern Border
Most people are aware of increasing collaboration between state and local police and federal immigration officers. Programs like 287(g) and the Secure Communities program, as well as state laws like SB1070, create a new role for local police, who are now put in the position of identifying immigrants for possible deportation. It has meant that a simple traffic stop can lead to removal from the United States. Read More
As Chicago Passes Anti-Detainer Ordinance, TRUST Act Awaits Signature in California
Lost amongst media coverage of the ongoing teachers’ strike was the passage in Chicago last week of a historic measure that largely prohibits local police from detaining individuals on behalf of federal immigration authorities. Dubbed the “Welcoming City Ordinance,” the measure makes Chicago the latest jurisdiction to push back against immigration “detainers,” the lynchpin of the controversial Secure Communities program. Read More
Inspector General Finds Serious Problems with US-VISIT Program
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released results of their investigation into the US-VISIT program. US-VISIT was created after 9/11 to track noncitizens’ entries into and exits from the U.S. to identify national security threats, individuals entering with fraudulent identities, and visa overstays. Through US-VISIT, fingerprints and digital photographs are taken of all noncitizens entering the U.S. and matched to biographical information. The exit portion of US-VISIT has never been fully implemented. Read More
Busting Myths About the California TRUST Act
As we reported last week, the TRUST Act—a bill that would prevent local law enforcement agencies from honoring all requests to detain immigrants on the federal government’s behalf—has cleared the California state legislature and is awaiting the signature of state Governor Jerry Brown. Meanwhile, restrictionists and other proponents of Arizona-style immigration laws have begun mounting a media campaign seeking to discredit the common-sense piece of legislation. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the primary claims of the TRUST Act’s opponents simply don’t stand up to scrutiny. Read More
California TRUST Act Awaits Governor’s Signature
The California TRUST Act (AB 1081) has now passed both houses of the state’s legislature and is awaiting Governor Jerry Brown’s signature. Passage of the TRUST Act would be an important step toward mitigating the harmful impact of the Secure Communities Program (S-Comm). Immigrant advocates from across the country are calling on Gov. Brown to sign the bill into law. Read More
What the Show Me State Shows Us About Immigration
According to data released by the Immigration Policy Center, there are approximately 6,500 young people in Missouri who may benefit from President Obama’s plan to grant deferred action to DREAM eligible youth. This isn’t a huge amount in the grand scheme of things, as Missouri ranks 31st in the country with respect to the number of youth eligible for this new program. And because these numbers roughly parallel distribution of undocumented people around the country, if you are going solely by the numbers, Missouri shouldn’t be a big player in the debate over immigration, especially unauthorized immigration. But the numbers don’t tell the full story when it comes to the importance of the issue to the people of a state, and the importance of a state to the way the immigration debate plays out nationally. Looking at it from other perspectives, Missouri matters a lot. Read More
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