Due Process & the Courts
Refugee Children Don’t Need More Immigration Enforcement
A humanitarian crisis requires a humanitarian response. In the case of the unaccompanied children from Central America who are arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, this would include decent food, shelter, and medical attention while in U.S. custody. Even more crucial, it would include careful screening of each child’s case… Read More
Why We Are Suing the Government on Behalf of All Children Facing Deportation
The thousands of children fleeing violence and persecution and seeking refuge in the United States have brought to the forefront the issue of how our immigration system deals with children. The current system subjects kids to the same deportation laws as adults. They are ordered to appear in… Read More
Shake up at Customs and Border Protection Continues
News outlets are reporting the removal of Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) head of internal affairs, James Tomscheck—who has been temporarily replaced by a director of inspections from the Federal Bureau of Investigations. This was a follow-up to last week’s release of the enforcement agency’s new use-of-force… Read More
Study: Providing Representation for Indigent Immigrants Could Pay for Itself
U.S. immigration laws provide only minimal due process protections for even the most vulnerable immigrants facing deportation, and in 59 percent of cases, immigrants are forced to navigate the byzantine immigration court system without representation, including many unaccompanied children. Many do not… Read More
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
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
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
Ongoing Government Shutdown Disrupts Immigration Processing
With the shutdown of the government in its second week, many immigration-related agencies continue to be closed, affecting availability of services and information necessary for applications for immigration benefits and litigation of immigration cases. Because multiple federal agencies play a role in contributing to the functioning of the immigration system, the impact of the shutdown varies from case to case and issue to issue, but the cumulative impact is placing additional strain on an already over-burdened system. Read More
Fear Mongering via Mexican Asylum Cases
Here’s how an immigration rumor gets started. Take one local Fox news station, mix in a bunch of undisclosed sources complaining about asylum seekers at the Otay border crossing, add in some inflammatory comments from the chairman of the board of the Center for Immigration Studies, and just wait for the story to get blown up and out of proportion by anti-immigrant-fed media sources. For added zest, make sure the story airs shortly after a highly publicized event, like the detention and release of the DREAM9 at the Mexican border, which can be easily mixed up and conflated into some kind of threat to the country’s integrity and security. Read More
Will Due Process Protections Be Preserved in Senate Mark-Up?
On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee began its mark-up of Title III of S.744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. When the mark-up continues on Monday, Senators are likely to vote on amendments addressing immigration courts. These amendments will be crucial in determining whether the full Senate receives a bill that provides due process protections to immigrants in removal proceedings. Read More
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