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President Lays Out His Vision For Immigration Reform
After eight Republican and Democratic senators yesterday released their framework for comprehensive immigration reform, President Obama laid out his administration’s vision today of what he thinks should be included in the bill to overhaul the nation’s immigration system. He praised the bipartisan principles, which mirror the White House’s 2011 blueprint for immigration reform. “At this […]
Read MoreSenators Unveil Framework for Effective Immigration Reform
Eight Senators today released a “Bipartisan Framework for Comprehensive Immigration Reform” which proposes an overhaul of our legal immigration system while expanding border security measures and hardening current employment verification procedures. Most notably, the proposal would give unauthorized immigrants already in the country a chance to earn U.S. citizenship. Although the framework is only a […]
Read MoreSenate’s Symbolic Bill Rings Opening Bell on Immigration Reform
This week, the White House revealed that President Obama will lay out a proposal for immigration reform at a speech in Nevada next week. The visit to the home state of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may reflect the strong support Reid and Nevada Latinos have given to Obama. It also follows Senator Reid’s clear […]
Read MoreWill USCIS Develop Fair, Humane Travel Policies for DACA Recipients?
For many young immigrants who are now lawfully present under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative—which grants them the right to work and live in the United States for at least two years—the next question may be, when will they be able to travel outside of the United States? Depending on what guidance […]
Read MoreWhy Immigrants Should Have Access to Legal Counsel
U. S. immigration laws are incredibly complex, yet they provide only minimal due process protections for even the most vulnerable noncitizens. In criminal courts, defendants who cannot afford an attorney are provided one for free, but in immigration court, noncitizens do not receive the same protections. As a result, many immigrants facing deportation are forced […]
Read MoreRemovals Remain the Starkest Measure of Immigration Enforcement
For more than a decade, the general thrust of U.S. immigration policy has been aimed at expanding the grounds of removal and the tools for facilitating deportations from the country. Not surprisingly, this has come at an enormous cost. Although the figure has been disputed by restrictionists, a report from the Migration Policy Institute recently […]
Read MoreA Decade of Rising Immigration Enforcement
With roughly 11 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States, some question whether the nation’s immigration laws are being seriously enforced. In truth, due to legal and policy changes in recent years, the immigration laws are enforced more strictly now than ever before. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reported record numbers of removals during the Obama administration, especially of noncitizens with criminal convictions. Meanwhile, fewer noncitizens are trying to enter the country illegally, and those caught by the Border Patrol are now regularly charged with federal crimes. Together, these trends reflect a sweeping and punitive transformation in U.S. immigration enforcement.
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“Removals” & “Returns”
When noncitizens who violate the immigration laws are forced to leave the United States, their departure is classified as a “removal” or a “return.” (See the glossary for definitions of these terms.) DHS reported 391,953 “removals” during the 2011 fiscal year, slightly below the record set in 2009. Meanwhile, DHS reported 323,542 “returns” in 2011, the lowest number since 1970 {Figure 1}.
Figure 1: DHS “removals” & “returns” FY 2002-2011
Reasons for Cautious Optimism on Immigration Reform
There is considerable debate at the moment over the prospects for immigration reform this year. On the one hand, an electorally chastened Republican Party seems to be reevaluating its long-standing support for deportation-only immigration policies. On the other hand, it looks as though the White House and Congress are embarking upon lengthy debates over gun […]
Read MoreNew ICE Detainer Guidance Too Little, Too Late
On the Friday before Christmas, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released new guidance on immigration “detainers,” the lynchpin of agency enforcement programs involving cooperation with local police. In the new guidance, ICE Director John Morton instructed agency employees to only file detainers against immigrants who represent agency “priorities.” Unfortunately, as with prior agency memos […]
Read MoreDHS Publishes New Provisional Waiver to Help Some Families Stay Together
Some families facing long separations from their loved ones because of U.S. immigration laws will have an easier time of it in 2013. Thanks to a new regulation from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), immediate relatives of U.S. citizens will be able to complete part of the processing of their immigration cases without leaving […]
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