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While Congress Recesses, Activists Organize for Immigration Reform
While Congress is on recess and members travel home to their districts to hear from their constituents on the issues that matter to them, immigration advocates are turning up the heat through a series of grassroots and netroots organizing events. Today, the Alliance for Citizenship is organizing a national digital day of action, encouraging supporters […]
Read MorePresident Calls for Review of U.S. Deportation System
As the number of deportations under President Obama near the 2 million mark and Congress stalls on immigration reform legislation, President Obama said Friday that administration officials are reviewing what could be done to make the immigration enforcement system more humane. The announcement follows votes in the House of Representatives last week attempting to limit […]
Read MoreHouse Passes ENFORCE Act
The House of Representatives today passed HR 4138, the ENFORCE Act, by a vote of 233 to 181. This bill would give either chamber of Congress standing to bring a civil action in U.S. district court alleging that “President, the head of any department or agency of the United States, or any other officer or […]
Read MoreCircuit Court Ruling Affirms Detainers Not Mandatory
As communities continue to debate the harmful impact of large scale immigration enforcement programs such as Secure Communities, the 287(g) Program and the Criminal Alien Program, much of the discussion has centered on the use of “detainers.” – Detainers are requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to state and local jailers and officials asking […]
Read MoreNew Directive Clarifies Existing Use of Force Policy at CBP
In the wake of a leaked report exposing Border Patrol agents’ use of excessive force, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a new directive last Friday attempting, indirectly, to address some of the allegations. The report, authored by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), stemmed from its review of CBP shooting incidents from January […]
Read MoreThe Growth of the U.S. Deportation Machine and Its Misplaced Priorities
No one can say with certainty when the Obama administration will reach the grim milestone of having deported two million people since the President took office in 2008. Regardless of the exact date this symbolic threshold is reached, however, it is important to keep in mind a much more important fact: most of the people […]
Read MoreCustoms and Border Protection Conceals Scathing Audit of Border Patrol’s Use of Force Policy
In response to mounting allegations of unwarranted violence by U.S. Border Patrol agents, including culpability in over 40 border-related deaths, Congress ordered an investigation of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) use of force policies and practices. This investigation included an internal assessment by CBP, a review by the Office of Inspector General (OIG), and […]
Read MoreHouse Members Question and Criticize Rather Than Act to Change Immigration Policies
Two hearings in the House of Representatives today were unfortunate examples of how the chamber is looking back rather than forward on immigration. In his first House hearing before the Homeland Security committee, Secretary Jeh Johnson laid out his vision for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees immigration enforcement among the many agencies […]
Read MoreAn Unnecessary Pre-Emptive Strike Against Young Undocumented Immigrants
This week, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) issued a criticism of the Kids Act, a bill not yet released by House leadership. The thrust of their argument is that any legalization program the bill could propose would be an “amnesty,” no matter what the requirements, and that even young, educated immigrants who came to […]
Read MoreRecent Report on Deportation Misses the Big Picture
The Obama administration has deported nearly 2 million people so far, and it still has two years left to go. This would seem to indicate that the U.S. immigration enforcement machine is running at top speed. However, a report from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC)—as well as the press stories which flowed from […]
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