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Why Are Immigration Court Hearings Being Set Into 2019?
The immigration court system in the United States is being stretched to the breaking point. Immigration courts have long been expected to do more and more work without the additional funding or personnel needed to do the job effectively. But now, the courts are struggling to handle newer cases involving Central American children and families […]
Read MoreSenate Shoots Down House’s Bad Homeland Security Funding Bill
The House-passed bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security—and the anti-executive action amendments that were added—failed to advance in the Senate on a procedural vote. Senators voted 48 to 51, with Republican Dean Heller (NV) joining with the Democrats to vote against the measure. Because it was a procedural vote, the bill needed more […]
Read MoreEarly Legislative Action in States Shows Mixed Bag of Immigration Proposals
While some state attorneys general are suing to stop President Obama’s immigration executive actions, many state lawmakers are working to address immigration issues within their own states. New York, for example, is trying to pass new reforms to help young immigrants afford college while Colorado legislators try to limit additional funding to the state agency […]
Read MoreA Compelling Case Study in Family Detention and Pro Bono Counsel
When the family detention center in Artesia, New Mexico, was hastily propped up by the U.S. government in order to detain and rapidly process women and children for deportation, immigration rights advocates raised alarms. Over the course of several months, as an uptick in families and unaccompanied minors appeared at the U.S. border, the media-fueled […]
Read MoreHouse Bill to Seal the Border is Unrealistic, Congressional Budget Office Finds
Last week, the House Homeland Security Committee sent to the House floor H.R. 399, the “Secure our Borders First” Act. The measure would mandate 100 percent “operational control”—defined as “the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States”—of high traffic areas within two years, and the entire Southern border within five. DHS Secretary Jeh […]
Read MoreDozens of Mayors File Brief in Support of Immigration Executive Action
Mayors from 33 cities, along with the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities, filed an amicus brief on Monday in the Texas v. United States lawsuit that challenges President Obama’s executive action on immigration. Interestingly, a number of cities that have signed on to the brief supporting the administration’s action are […]
Read MoreDiversity extends to business as immigrants open up shop
“People complain about this country, but there are so many (business) opportunities here you don’t even have time to get to them all.” So says Jose Brito, a native of the Dominican Republic who came to the United States 20 years ago. The 40-year-old is the founder and CEO of Cherry Hill’s We Care Home […]
Read MoreHouse to Vote on Bill to Further Militarize the U.S. Border
With the start of the 114th Republican-controlled Congress, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, introduced H.R. 399, the “Secure Our Borders First” Act. McCaul introduced the new bill exclusively with Republican co-sponsors unlike his 2013 bill, the Border Security Results Act, that had four Democratic co-sponsors. But examining the bill’s […]
Read MoreObama, Immigration and Silicon Valley
The U.S. technology industry might finally get the immigration reform that it wants. Bipartisan Senate groups introduced two tech-focused bills this month. The Immigration Innovation Act – which increases the cap on H-1B Visas from 65,000 to 115,000, eliminates per-country limits on visa petitioners and lets spouses of H-1B visa holders work – came out of conversations […]
Read MoreImmigrant Founders Need Policy Reform To Keep Creating Tech Jobs
President Obama took executive action last November to further ease policies around skilled tech labor. However, our laws haven’t done much to help the foreign startup founders who create quite a few tech jobs here. A 2008 Kaufman Foundation study concluded that between 1995 and 2005, more than half of all Silicon Valley tech companies were created by immigrant founders, employing 560,000 workers and generating […]
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