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Kafka Revisited: Ninth Circuit Decision Protects Due Process Rights for Noncitizens
The basic tenet that you can’t be sued without knowing the charges against you and having a meaningful opportunity to defend yourself is a cornerstone of the U.S. judicial system. This concept of fundamental fairness ensures that people in courtrooms across the country have access to a discovery process that enables them to see the […]
Read MoreHow Much Conservative Muscle Will It Take To Lift the DREAM Act?
While some would have you believe that immigration reform is a liberal issue championed only by Democrats, past debates and prior attempts to pass immigration reform have shown us that Republicans and conservatives are champions as well. Granted some of the most stalwart Republican supporters have recently turned their back on reasonable debate (think John […]
Read MoreSpin Control: Putting Myths about the DREAM Act Out to Pasture
As the DREAM Act continues to gather momentum during lame-duck, some conservative Congressional members are scrambling to brand the legislation as “amnesty” in an attempt to scare the American public. Among the myths is the idea that the DREAM Act’s passage would somehow cheat native born students out of opportunities. This tired effort to pit […]
Read MoreWho Will Pass the DREAM Act Test?
After Senator Harry Reid’s announcement Wednesday that he will bring the DREAM Act to the Senate floor in the lame duck as a stand-alone bill, DREAM supporters gathered in Washington yesterday to plead their case. Yesterday’s events signaled the beginning of yet another intense campaign to pass the DREAM Act—a bill that would offer a […]
Read MoreMormon Church, Business Leaders Endorse Utah Compact for Immigration Reform
Utah state Rep. Stephen Sandstrom’s argument that there is “popular support for Arizona’s controversial legislation [SB 1070]” just got a little thinner. A number of state and local governments, corporations, businesses, community and faith groups recently signed the Utah Compact—a declaration of five principles created “to guide Utah’s immigration discussion.” The guidelines are a far […]
Read MoreICE’S Enforcement Priorities and the Factors that Undermine Them
As part of its strategy to gain support for comprehensive immigration reform, the administration has continually touted its enforcement accomplishments. In fact, over the last two years, the Obama administration has committed itself to a full-court press to demonstrate how committed the administration is to removing criminals and others who remain in the country without proper documentation. They have continued to use the enforcement programs of the previous administration, including partnering with state and local law enforcement agencies to identify, detain, and deport immigrants. However, in doing so, they have lost the ability to fully control their own enforcement priorities and enforcement outcomes, and the results have demonstrated that the state and local partners are not necessarily committed to the same priorities.
At an October 6, 2010, press conference, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had removed more than 392,000 individuals in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, and presented other “record-breaking immigration enforcement statistics achieved under the Obama administration.” In addition to record-breaking overall numbers, Napolitano also announced the “unprecedented numbers of convicted criminal alien removals” in FY 2010. Of the 392,000 removals in FY 2010, more than 195,000 were classified as “convicted criminal aliens,” which was 81,000 more criminal removals than in FY 2008.
Georgia Board of Regents Attempts to Ban Undocumented Immigrants from University System
Last week, the Georgia Board of Regents decided to effectively ban undocumented students from attending 5 of the 61 Universities and Technical College Systems of Georgia starting in the fall of 2011 through a series of admissions provisions. Georgia becomes the second state (after South Carolina) to attempt to prevent undocumented students from attending its […]
Read MoreNativist Group Unhinged Over GOP’s “Pledge to America”
The nativist Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is apoplectic over the Republican Party’s recently released “Pledge to America.” Apparently, the GOP’s professed commitment to “establish operational control of the border,” “strengthen visa security,” and “work with state and local officials to enforce our immigration laws” isn’t tough enough—or unrealistic enough—to meet FAIR’s high standards. […]
Read MoreThe American Immigration Council Addresses Problems with Draft Immigration Detainer Policy
Washington D.C. – The American Immigration Council has joined a number of organizations in formally commenting on a proposed detainer policy issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Detainers are requests from ICE to local law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to hold people – whom they suspect may be in the country illegally or who may […]
Read MoreSen. Menendez Aims for Lame Duck, Urges Advocates to Focus on Policy of CIR 2010
There can be advantages to going it alone. Despite two years of repeated attempts to get a bipartisan immigration reform bill in the Senate, Senators Menendez (D-NJ) and Leahy (D-VT) finally said “enough” and introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010 (CIR 2010) last week. Plenty of people have pointed out that the bill […]
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