United States of America

United States of America

Immigrants and Labor Unions are 'Natural Allies,' According to Cornell Union Leadership Institute Co-Director

Immigrants and Labor Unions are ‘Natural Allies,’ According to Cornell Union Leadership Institute Co-Director

Patricia Campos-Medina spoke barely a word of English when she arrived from El Salvador at the age of 14—but within four years, she had won a full scholarship to Cornell, where, after stints as the assistant national political director for the Service Employees International Union, director for the New Jersey State… Read More

Nashville Councilman Recounts His Immigrant Past and Shows Just How Much Determination Can Make a Difference

Nashville Councilman Recounts His Immigrant Past and Shows Just How Much Determination Can Make a Difference

It was a fire in his house that finally convinced Fabian Bedne, now a Nashville councilman and part-owner of an architectural firm that generates up to a quarter of a million dollars in annual business, to become a U.S. citizen. Afterward, he says, “everyone in the community was so… Read More

Adjustment of Status Under § 245(i) for Noncitizens Previously Removed

Adjustment of Status Under § 245(i) for Noncitizens Previously Removed

Duran Gonzalez is a Ninth Circuit-wide class action challenging DHS’ refusal to follow Perez-Gonzalez v. Ashcroft, 379 F.3d 783 (9th Cir. 2004). In Perez-Gonzalez, the Ninth Circuit had said that individuals who had been removed or deported could apply for adjustment of status (under INA § 245(i)) along with an accompanying I-212 waiver application. In Duran Gonzales v. DHS, 508 F.3d 1227 (9th Cir. 2007), the Ninth Circuit overturned Perez-Gonzalez, deferring to the BIA’s holding that individuals who have previously been removed or deported are not eligible to apply for adjustment of status. See Matter of Torres-Garcia, 23 I&N Dec. 866 (BIA 2006). The Court subsequently said, however, that some plaintiffs may be able to establish that the new rule should not apply retroactively. Read More

People Underestimate How Much Immigrants Contribute, Says Advocate

People Underestimate How Much Immigrants Contribute, Says Advocate

For Sarai Portillo, executive director of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ACIJ),  immigration reform is not only pertinent to our nation’s economic prosperity, it’s also a matter of public safety. When the state’s undocumented population feels high anxiety and stress, and lives in a constant state of fear of… Read More

Send Mexicans Back? ‘That’s Going To Be Difficult on Them and Us,’ Says Texas Real Estate Developer

Send Mexicans Back? ‘That’s Going To Be Difficult on Them and Us,’ Says Texas Real Estate Developer

As the CEO/Principal of Villa Realty Group in The Woodlands, an upscale master-planned community in Houston, longtime Republican Roy Villarreal, Jr. makes his living developing commercial properties with partners — and most of those partners are Mexicans, to whom he has sold a number of million-dollar homes. “These guys enjoy… Read More

Plaintiff's Motion for Prelimary Injunction

Plaintiff’s Motion for Prelimary Injunction

Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction asks the Court to order Defendants to stop their unlawful detention practices while the lawsuit is ongoing. The expert declarations and fifteen photos posted below are exhibits filed in support of this motion. The Court has not yet ruled on this motion.

Photo and Video Evidence of Unconstitutional Immigration Detention Conditions from <em>Doe v. Wolf</em>

Photo and Video Evidence of Unconstitutional Immigration Detention Conditions from Doe v. Wolf

Photo and Video Evidence Unsealed in 2020 The following images show that inhumane conditions at Customs and Border Protection short-term detention facilities in Tucson, Arizona persist— despite an earlier court order in Doe v. Wolf. These images from early 2019 show: Overcrowding so severe that a person must crawl over… Read More

Pastor Says There's No Way 'a Person Could Call Themselves a Follower of Jesus and Turn Their Back On an Immigrant'

Pastor Says There’s No Way ‘a Person Could Call Themselves a Follower of Jesus and Turn Their Back On an Immigrant’

For the last 27 years, Pastor Bob Hake’s diverse congregation at Orangewood Church of the Nazarene has ministered to one of Phoenix’s most underserved communities. There, he applies a holistic approach to lifting up his hundreds of followers, including immigration services. Certified by the Bureau of Immigration Appeals, the church… Read More

America Needs to Know: Immigrant Businesses Add $780 Billion to U.S. Economy, Says Hispanic Chamber CEO

America Needs to Know: Immigrant Businesses Add $780 Billion to U.S. Economy, Says Hispanic Chamber CEO

Javier Palomarez is the president and CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The chamber represents 4.2 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States, which collectively contribute $668 billion to the national economy. “We represent 271 major corporations and work with a network of 200 local… Read More

Beth Werlin Named Executive Director of the American Immigration Council

Beth Werlin Named Executive Director of the American Immigration Council

The Board of the American Immigration Council (Council) announced that Beth Werlin, Esq., will take the reigns as the new leader of the organization. Beth follows Ben Johnson, who left in January to become the Executive Director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Read More

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