Indefinitely detained immigrants facing possible deportation lost ground in their fight for the right to a bond hearing following a Supreme Court decision on Tuesday. Their sole remaining weapon is the U.S. Constitution. The ruling by Justice Samuel Alito in Jennings v. Rodriguez reverses a decision that had required the government to give certain immigrants […]
The Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s request to hear an emergency appeal of a lower court’s January decision that prevents the government from fully ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. Now that the Supreme Court has rejected their request, the government must continue to process DACA renewals while it fights the lower […]
Francis Cissna, Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), unveiled a new mission statement for the agency last week, notably deleting the words “a nation of immigrants” as well as other key principles central to the agency’s work. Given the sweeping changes underway in the enforcement and adjudication of immigration laws, changing […]
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) made abrupt and sweeping changes to how the agency will schedule interviews for affirmative asylum applications. Rather than interviewing those who have been waiting months or years for their interview, asylum offices will now prioritize brand new filings ahead of all others waiting in the queue. While scheduling asylum […]
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is an important humanitarian protection for people who are in the United States when certain natural disasters or civil conflict strike their home countries, making it unsafe for them to return. Despite the fact that conditions in many of these countries have not improved since their nationals received TPS, the Trump […]
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) claims that a significant expansion of immigration detention is required to meet “operational needs” in light of the agency’s shifting policies and ramped up immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.
In a rare move, Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently referred an immigration case to himself, utilizing a regulation that gives attorney generals the power to reconsider cases previously decided by the Board of Immigration Appeals. But Sessions’ hostile anti-immigrant public statements, made over the course of his entire career, make him unfit to rule in […]
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 Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) […]
The scapegoating of immigrants for crime in the United States was on full display at a February 15 hearing of the House Judiciary Committee. The hearing was devoted to exploring the ways in which “sanctuary” jurisdictions allegedly impede law-enforcement efforts to control the opioid epidemic. That argument is a bit of a stretch, to say […]
The U.S. Senate failed again to provide a permanent solution for Dreamers on Thursday when it rejected multiple bipartisan bills. The Senate voted on three different proposals that would have provided a permanent solution for Dreamers. One proposal was an attempt to pass the White House immigration framework, which only secured 39 votes. While it […]
