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When Immigrants Are Deported Without Their Belongings or IDs, They Are Placed in Even Greater Danger
26 Mexican nationals say the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deported them from the El Paso Border Patrol sector, which covers West Texas and all of New Mexico, without their identification, money, cell phones and other possessions, exposing them to greater danger in Mexico and making it nearly impossible to contact friends and family or get […]
Read MoreComments on Streamlining and Improving the U.S. Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Visa Systems
The Council submitted comments in response to a request by DHS and the Department of State (DOS) for input on streamlining and improving the U.S. immigrant and nonimmigrant visa systems. In the comments, the Council recommended that DHS amend 8 C.F.R. § 292.5(b) to ensure that individuals in secondary inspection are provided with a regulatory right to counsel during their examinations, and that DOS promulgate regulations in 22 C.F.R. Part 40 to provide for meaningful access to counsel during interviews at consular posts.
Read MoreBona v. Ashcroft – Ninth Circuit
The Council filed amicus briefs in numerous courts of appeals challenging the pre-2005 regulatory bar to adjustment of status for “arriving aliens” in removal proceedings. Several courts accepted our arguments that the regulation violated the adjustment of status statute. Succar v. Ashcroft, 394 F.3d 8 (1st Cir. 2005); Zheng v. Gonzales, 422 F.3d 98 (3d Cir. 2005); Bona v. Ashcroft, 425 F.3d 663 (9th Cir. 2005). Ultimately, DHS withdrew the challenged regulation and replaced it with one providing USCIS with jurisdiction to adjust the status of an “arriving alien” in removal proceedings. 71 Fed. Reg. 27585 (2006). The amicus brief filed in Bona v. Ashcroft is representative of the briefs filed in other circuits.
Read MoreMata v. Lynch – Supreme Court
By statute, noncitizens who have been ordered removed have the right to file one motion to reopen. 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(A). In most cases, these statutory motions to reopen are subject to strict filing deadlines. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1229a(c)(7)(C)(i), (b)(5)(C)(i). However, as nine courts of appeals have recognized, the deadlines are subject to equitable tolling, a long-recognized principle through which courts can waive the application of certain non-jurisdictional statutes of limitations where a plaintiff was diligent but nonetheless unable to comply with the filing deadline. Several courts have also recognized that the numerical limitation on motions to reopen is subject to tolling. The Council continues to advocate in the remaining courts of appeals for recognition that that the motion to reopen deadlines are subject to equitable tolling and, with the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers’ Guild (NIPNLG), has filed amicus briefs in the Fourth, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits.
Read MoreUnited States v. State of Texas, No. 15-674 (S.Ct., amicus brief filed November 30, 2015)
The American Immigration Council, in collaboration with the National Immigration Law Center, the Service Employees International Union, American Federal of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, Advancement Project, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, among others, filed an amicus brief on behalf of a coalition of 224 immigration, civil rights, labor and social service groups, urging the Supreme Court to review the case that has blocked expanded DACA and DAPA.
Read MoreHuman Rights Commission Holds Hearing on Refugee Children and Families Seeking Protection
Earlier this week the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights held a thematic hearing on the “Human Rights Situation of Migrant and Refugee Children and Families in the United States.” A broad national coalition of advocacy groups and legal service providers, led by the University of Pennsylvania’s Transnational Law Clinic, prepared and presented testimony and recommendations to […]
Read MorePolls Show Millennials More Likely to Reject Deportation and Support Path to Citizenship
In contrast to the virulent anti-immigrant rhetoric coming from several presidential candidates, new polling shows that the majority of Americans – 62 percent – support allowing undocumented immigrants to legalize and become U.S. citizens, while only 19 percent said they should be deported. Even in Arizona, a state known for its anti-immigrant legislation, more than […]
Read MoreIs It Time to Change the H-1B Visa Cap?
On April 1, employers will submit their petitions for H-1B visas for high-skilled temporary workers. The start of the H-1B season, when U.S. employers turn their attention toward hiring foreign talent, provides an opportunity for policymakers to consider whether it is time to change the cap on the number of visas available each year to […]
Read MoreGranting Legal Status Would Reduce Gang Crime and Help Economy, Says Prominent Houston Businessman
Stan Marek knows a thing or two about Houston. The long-time Republican is the CEO of the Marek Family of Companies, a group of construction businesses that stretch back nearly 80 years. “My grandparents built this business around developing a skilled labor force and working hard,” he says. Marek takes pride in his business’s ability […]
Read MoreMexican Immigrant Creates Jobs and Opportunity for American Workers in Greenville
When Mexican native Ruben Montalvo first came to the United States at age 24, he was so sure his visit was temporary that he kept an open return ticket home. As valedictorian from his university, where he had received an engineering degree, he’d been reluctant to leave his cushy job in Mexico City with General […]
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