Federal Courts/Jurisdiction
“Immigration, Even for the President, Is Not a One-Person Show”: The Ninth Circuit Rejects Trump’s Travel Ban
Barely three weeks after the Fourth Circuit ruled that President Trump’s travel ban “drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination” and thus violated the First Amendment by discriminating against Muslims, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the travel ban also violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). In upholding… Read More
President’s Tweets Dim His Prospects for Supreme Court Review of The Travel Ban Case
President Trump reignited discussion around his controversial travel ban through a series of early morning tweets on Monday, in a move legal experts say could ultimately cripple his administration’s chances of restoring the ban through the Supreme Court. In these tweets, the president blew a giant hole in his legal case… Read More
Circuit Judge Says “Even the Good Hombres Are Not Safe”
A judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an important immigration opinion last month, blasting the administration’s immigration policy and the unfettered discretion it is exercising in deportation decisions. Judge Stephen Reinhardt, in a concurrence, concluded that instead of focusing on the “bad hombres,” the… Read More
Appeals Court Upholds Block on Trump’s Travel Ban
In a sweeping decision issued Thursday, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a nationwide preliminary injunction against President Trump’s second Executive Order, which restricts nationals of six Muslim-majority countries from being issued visas and entering the United States. In the case International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) v. Read More
Federal Court Blocks DOJ’s Attempt to Restrict Access to Legal Assistance
On Wednesday, a federal court in Seattle issued a nationwide temporary restraining order allowing nonprofits to continue to provide limited legal assistance to immigrants without being forced to formally represent them in immigration court. The order was issued in a lawsuit brought by the Northwest Immigrants… Read More
Supreme Court Rejects Asylum Seekers’ Petition for Federal Court Review
The Supreme Court denied review in Castro v. Department of Homeland Security on Monday, which involves dozens of asylum-seeking mothers and children at risk of deportation. The Central American plaintiffs in the case—28 mothers and their 33 children, many of whom have been detained for over a year—fled north to… Read More
Immigrants Could Get a Second Chance in Court If Their Lawyers Give Them Bad Advice
Immigrants rely heavily on the advice of their lawyers, often times entrusting their entire livelihood on the merits of the counsel. But what happens when a lawyer gives their client bad advice, and that advice becomes the catalyst for their deportation? This is the question the Supreme Court tackled on… Read More
Travel Ban 2.0 Halted by Two District Judges
The Trump administration has failed in its attempt to rewrite the executive order banning individuals from targeted Muslim-majority nations in order to pass legal muster. On the eve of the new order taking effect, two district judges have shut it down. The first nationwide order was issued by… Read More
Supreme Court Hears Case on Shooting of Sergio Hernandez by U.S. Border Patrol Agent
Officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—the federal agency which includes the Border Patrol—are rarely held accountable for their actions. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the case of Sergio Hernandez, a 15-year-old boy shot dead in 2010 in Mexico by a Border Patrol agent who fired… Read More
Five Important Points Made by the Court That Rejected the Muslim Ban
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sent some strong messages to the President: he cannot shield himself from court review by claiming “national security;” he may only set policies that are consistent with our Constitution; and key parts of the Executive Order banning refugees and noncitizens from seven Muslim-majority countries… Read More
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