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Runaway Costs for Immigration Detention Do Not Add Up to Sensible Policies
BY JOSH BREISBLATT, IMMIGRATION POLICY FELLOW AT THE NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM At a time when we should be looking for ways to curb costs, some in Congress are actually attempting to spend more by expanding immigration enforcement programs. In May, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced H.R. 1932 titled, “Keep Our Communities […]
Read MoreLatino Leaders Defend DHS’s Announcement to Focus on High Priority Immigration Cases
Clarissa Martinez, Director of Immigration and National Campaigns at NCLR. As the dust continues to settle around the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) announcement last week that it will review some 300,000 pending deportation cases on a case-by-case basis as well as issue agency-wide guidance on using discretion to focus resources on high priority cases, […]
Read MoreHow Will DHS’s Prosecutorial Discretion Guidelines Impact Gay and Lesbian Bi-National Couples?
Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that they would take concrete steps to implement existing guidance on prosecutorial discretion in an attempt to provide relief for low priority immigration cases. DHS also announced that a new committee will review 300,000 immigration cases currently in removal proceedings to determine which cases are low priority […]
Read MoreNew Report Shows DHS Way Off Target, Going After Harmless Individuals
BY GREG CHEN, DIRECTOR OF ADVOCACY, AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ASSOCIATION For the last two years, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been spinning a good yarn—that it’s keeping Americans more safe by pursuing those who are truly dangerous. Today, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton was quoted in the New York Times […]
Read MoreNation’s Highest Immigration Court Says Government Can Ask Questions First, Explain Right to Silence Later
As any Law & Order enthusiast knows, when a criminal suspect is placed under arrest, no interrogation can begin until police recite the famous “Miranda” warnings required by the Supreme Court: You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you. You have a right to have an attorney present. […]
Read MoreBoard of Immigration Appeals Guts Legal Protections for Immigrants Under Arrest
Washington, D.C.—The American Immigration Council strongly condemns last week’s ruling from the Board of Immigration Appeals holding that immigrants arrested without a warrant are not entitled to certain Miranda-like warnings prior to questioning by immigration officers. In a precedent decision, the Board held that noncitizens need not be informed of their right to counsel or […]
Read MoreWhat’s the Value of Keeping Undocumented Youth in the Shadows?
The real life psychological ramifications of young immigrants struggling with their unauthorized status are often glossed over in the larger immigration debate. In a recent journal article, Learning to Be Illegal: Undocumented Youth and Shifting Legal Contexts in the Transition to Adulthood, University of Chicago professor Roberto G. Gonzales uses 150 interviews with young Latino […]
Read MoreDHS Terminates Secure Communities Agreements with States, Continues to Implement Program
Late Friday afternoon, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provoked outrage from immigration groups when it announced the termination of Secure Communities Memorandum of Agreements (MOAs) with state and local governments. DHS initially entered into MOAs with state officials as a way to encourage voluntary participation in Secure Communities, an enforcement program which runs the […]
Read MoreDepartment of Justice Seeks Injunction Against Alabama’s Anti-Immigrant Law
Yesterday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed yet another lawsuit against extreme state-level immigration laws—this time against Alabama’s HB 56. Already the subject of a class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU and other immigrants’ rights groups, Alabama’s HB 56 would require local law enforcement to verify the immigration status of those stopped for traffic […]
Read MoreImmigration Case Backlog Reaches All-Time High, Report Shows
As the U.S. continues to pour money into immigration enforcement and detention, the resources necessary for the immigration court system to keep up with enforcement have not been appropriated. In fact, a record number of immigration cases—275,316 as of May 2011—are in the Immigration Court backlog according to a recent report by the Transactional Records […]
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