Due Process and the Courts
Drop in Court-Ordered Deportations Means Little to Overall Deportation Numbers
Last week, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)—the division within the Department of Justice that runs that immigration court system—released its FY2013 Statistics Yearbook detailing the number of deportation cases begun and completed in the immigration courts nationwide. The Yearbook showed a decrease in the number of… Read More
Nuevo Informe Examina Peso de Casos de Inmigración en Tribunales Federales
Mientras que el gobierno de Obama afirma que sus esfuerzos en la aplicación de las leyes de inmigración se centran en la aprehensión de delincuentes y terroristas peligrosos, las estadísticas federales indican que una gran cantidad de tiempo, esfuerzo y dinero se dedica a detener y deportar inmigrantes… Read More
New Report Analyzes Immigration Cases Clogging Federal Courts
While the Obama administration claims that its immigration-enforcement efforts are focused on the apprehension of dangerous criminals and terrorists, federal statistics indicate that a great deal of time, effort, and money are devoted to locking up and deporting immigrants who aren’t a threat to anyone. In fact, a… Read More
Circuit Court Ruling Affirms Detainers Not Mandatory
As communities continue to debate the harmful impact of large scale immigration enforcement programs such as Secure Communities, the 287(g) Program and the Criminal Alien Program, much of the discussion has centered on the use of “detainers… Read More
Local Anti-Immigrant Laws Die as More States and Municipalities Pursue Pro-Immigrant Policies
The Supreme Court announced this week that it would not review the appeals of lower-court decisions finding that local anti-immigrant ordinances passed by Farmers Branch, Texas and Hazleton, Pennsylvania were unconstitutional infringements on federal immigration law. The laws would have required private landlords to verify the immigration status… Read More
Recent Report on Deportation Misses the Big Picture
The Obama administration has deported nearly 2 million people so far, and it still has two years left to go. This would seem to indicate that the U.S. immigration enforcement machine is running at top speed. However, a report from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC)—as well… Read More
The Washington Post Exposes Sorry State of Immigration Courts
This week, the Washington Post ran a front page article drawing attention to the fact that our nation’s immigration courts are operating in crisis mode. The immigration courts are so overcrowded that judges are forced to make split-second decisions regarding complex legal issues, calling into question whether the court system is fairly administering justice. The article featured a morning in the life of one immigration judge who had 26 cases to hear before lunchtime. That equates to an average of just seven minutes per case. Given the high stakes involved in deportation cases—which can range from permanent separation from family in the United States to being returned to a country where a person fears for his or her life—a system that is overburdened and under-resourced is simply unacceptable. Read More
Miranda-like Warning for Immigrants Argued in Ninth Circuit
Courts have long recognized that the Constitution requires police officers to inform arrested suspects of their rights—called Miranda warnings in criminal cases—before questioning them about crimes they are accused of committing. The risk is too great that a suspect who is not free to leave and is unaware… Read More
California Court Rules Undocumented Immigrant Can Be a Licensed Attorney
The California Supreme Court ruled last week that Sergio Garcia, a Mexican undocumented immigrant who has spent more than 17 years living in the U.S., should be licensed to practice law in the state of California. In the unanimous decision, California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye wrote it is “extremely unlikely” that Garcia would be deported under current immigration policy. "Under these circumstances, we conclude that the fact that an undocumented immigrant's presence in this country violates federal statutes is not itself a sufficient or persuasive basis for denying undocumented immigrants, as a class, admission to the State Bar," she wrote. Read More
Top Five Immigration Stories from 2013
From the beginning, it was clear that 2013 was going to be a big year for immigration. The results of the 2012 Presidential Election were widely interpreted as a rebuke to Mitt Romney’s enforcement-only “self-deportation” policy, and President Obama’s huge victory among minority communities was seen as a… Read More
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