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Lamar Smith’s HALT Act Would Limit Administration’s Ability to Administer Humanitarian Relief
Today, the House Judiciary Subcommittee held a hearing on the “Hinder the Administration’s Legalization Temptation Act” (HALT Act), introduced by House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX). The bill, which some are calling a political response to recent ICE memos, would suspend the Administration’s ability to exercise certain discretionary forms of immigration protections and relief until […]
Read MorePress Release: Leaders from the Partnership for a New American Economy to Testify During Senate Immigration Hearing
With the Senate Committee on the Judiciary scheduled to hold a hearing on “The Economic Imperative for Enacting Immigration Reform” on Tuesday, July 26, 2011, members of the Partnership for a New American Economy will be among the select business executives and elected leaders testifying on the need for sensible immigration reform to improve the […]
Read MorePresident Obama Promises to Keep Promising Immigration Reform at Latino Conference
Amid frustrated shouts of “Yes, You Can!” from advocates in the audience, President Obama again deferred the power to fix our broken immigration system to Congress today during a speech at the National Council of La Raza’s (NCLR) annual conference. After highlighting his administration’s bona fides on issues important to the Latino community—appointing Justice Sonia […]
Read MoreDissecting the HALT Act: The Impact of Eliminating Discretion from Our Immigration System
Immigration restrictionists on Capitol Hill are attempting to move legislation through Congress that would prevent the Obama Administration from exercising the executive branch’s long-held power of prosecutorial discretion. The “Hinder the Administration’s Legalization Temptation Act” (HALT Act) is a bill introduced by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) that would suspend certain discretionary forms of immigration protections and relief until January 21, 2013—the day after the first Obama administration comes to an end. The bill would also revoke any of the specified protections and relief that are granted between the date of the bill’s introduction (July 12, 2011) and the date of its enactment. According to a letter circulated by Rep. Smith to solicit support for the HALT Act, its purpose is to “remind the Obama Administration that the founding fathers put Congress in charge of setting the nation’s immigration policy.” What Rep. Smith seems to forget is that the American system of justice has long granted the executive branch of government the discretion to decide how, and against whom, to enforce federal immigration laws.
Read MoreReport Reveals Basic Misunderstanding of Deportation Process
As readers of this blog know, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) often issues studies that make us cringe. Earlier this week, however, the DC-based restrictionist organization issued a report that made us laugh. Pseudonymously written by a retired government employee, the report purports to explain the “basics” of the deportation process. At more than […]
Read MoreU.S. Commerce Secretaries Highlight Economic Benefits of Immigration Reform
As the American economy continues to level out post-recession, some experts are looking at immigration reform as a way to help start new businesses and aid job creation. A recent letter from U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez outlined the economic benefits of reforming our immigration system and, consequently, the […]
Read MoreProsecutorial Discretion and the Legacy of John Lennon
BY LEON WILDES AND SHOBA SIVAPRASA WADHIA Most remember John Lennon as a former Beatle, a brilliant musician, husband to artist Yoko Ono and target for deportation by the Nixon Administration. Less known is the story of how Lennon’s immigration saga enabled the first public discussion on prosecutorial discretion in immigration law.
Read MoreThe Morton Memo and Prosecutorial Discretion: An Overview
On June 17, 2011, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton issued two significant memoranda on the use of prosecutorial discretion in immigration matters. Prosecutorial discretion refers to the agency’s authority to not enforce immigration laws against certain individuals and groups. The primary memo (the Morton Memo on Prosecutorial Discretion) calls on ICE attorneys and employees to refrain from pursuing noncitizens with close family, educational, military, or other ties in the U.S. and instead spend the agency’s limited resources on persons who pose a serious threat to public safety or national security. Morton’s second memo focuses on exercising discretion in cases involving victims, witnesses to crimes, and plaintiffs in good faith civil rights lawsuits. The memo instructs “[a]bsent special circumstances or aggravating factors, it is against ICE policy to initiate removal proceedings against an individual known to be the immediate victim or witness to a crime.”
A closer look at the Morton Memo on Prosecutorial Discretion reveals that it reaffirms many of the principles and policies of previous guidance on this subject. The memo, however, takes a further step in articulating the expectations for and responsibilities of ICE personnel when exercising their discretion.
U.S-Mexico Border Residents Not Surprised by Falling Crime Stats
Listening to politicians, one would think that the border is rife with murder, arson, theft, kidnapping, and every other type of violent crime imaginable. Unfortunately, those who spread these images often conflate the violence associated with drugs and arms trafficking with immigration, unfairly painting immigrants as the perpetrators. This image of a violence-ridden, out-of-control border […]
Read MoreBoston Mayor Threatens to Withdraw from ICE’s Secure Communities Program
The saga surrounding ICE’s Secure Communities program continues this month as Boston Mayor Thomas Menino threatened to withdrawal Boston from the federal program unless the agency agreed to target serious criminals only. Not surprisingly, Boston is just the latest in a series of cities and states—including New York, Illinois, Colorado, DC, and parts of California—that […]
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