Senate

Supreme Court Allows Biden Administration to Reinstitute Its Immigration Enforcement Priorities
Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in U.S. v. Texas, which allows the Biden administration to resume its implementation of guidelines for immigration enforcement within the interior of the United States, otherwise known as enforcement priorities. The Court held that the states challenging the legality of… Read More

DACA Is Facing a Crisis That the Senate Can No Longer Ignore
Written by Jorge Loweree and Raul Pinto of the American Immigration Council More than a decade after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) first created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to shield certain undocumented youth from deportation, it remains the subject of ongoing litigation. This has… Read More

New Memo to Immigration Judges Reaffirms Availability of Administrative Closure
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) issued a memorandum last month providing guidance to immigration judges about administrative closure—a critical tool for docket management and addressing an ever-growing immigration court backlog. EOIR Director David Neal issued the memo in response to the recent Attorney General decision in Matter… Read More

Reconciliation and Immigration: What You Need to Know
On the day that President Biden took office, he promised to send a bill to Congress to create a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants. Unfortunately, that bill, the U.S. Citizenship Act, has made little progress since it was introduced in February. Even the passage in the… Read More

The Senate Fails to Find a Way Forward for Dreamers
The United States Senate had a golden opportunity this week to legislate a permanent solution for Dreamers—however a week that began full of hope ended as a dud, with no bill passing and the president’s immigration proposal receiving a strong rebuke from Democrats and Republicans alike. The week began with… Read More

What the Government Reopening Means for Dream Act Legislation
The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Monday to reopen the federal government after assurances by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that there will be an open debate and vote in the Senate on a legislative solution for Dreamers by February 8, when this most recent continuing resolution runs out. Unfortunately, this inaction… Read More

Where Doug Jones Stands on Immigration Policy
Doug Jones, a former Democratic prosecutor once considered a longshot in Republican-majority Alabama, narrowly won the state’s Senate race Tuesday evening in what may ultimately prove to be a needed boost for immigrants’ rights on Capitol Hill. Jones’ stance on immigration was largely captured during the contentious Senate race,… Read More

Judge Grants Temporary Reprieve From Deportation to Indonesians Fearing Religious Persecution
After being lured to participate in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiative that promised a reprieve from deportation, 51 Indonesian nationals suddenly were at risk for removal once again when the government agency decided to abruptly terminate the program. But on Monday, a federal district court judge in Boston… Read More

Trump’s Nominee for DHS Secretary Commits to Continuing Kelly’s Legacy on Immigration Enforcement
The nominee to be the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Kirstjen Nielsen, had her confirmation hearing before senators on Wednesday, during which she promised to largely carry on the legacy of her predecessor, General John Kelly. This included limiting President Trump’s plans to build a… Read More

A Variety of Legislation Has Been Introduced in Congress to Protect Dreamers
The announcement of the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative has hit home for many. The public has demonstrated a strong distaste for taking away young, undocumented immigrants’ work permits and targeting them for deportation. Thus the clock is now ticking and pressure is on… Read More
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