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The consequences of record-breaking workplace immigration raids are still overwhelming the legal system in southern Mississippi. After the Trump administration repeatedly threatened mass raids last summer, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) entered seven Mississippi food processing plants in August, detaining 687 workers. In the following days, about half of those detained were released on […]

The post Prosecutions from Workplace Immigration Raids Overwhelm Mississippi Legal System appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The ideology of President Trump is about more than limiting how many immigrants enter the United States each year; it’s about turning back the clock on U.S. social history. A recent analysis by law professor Robert Tsai explores how President Trump’s ideology—labeled “Trumpism”—is the latest installment in a long-standing conservative movement to dismantle the legacy […]

The post The Trump Administration Wants to Return to a Pre-Civil Rights Immigration System appeared first on Immigration Impact.

On September 26th, 2019 – students, faculty and community members gathered in the Rosen Family Screening Room within the USC Tutor Campus Center for a timely discussion about refugees at the U.

President Trump has made the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border a cornerstone of his presidency. To date, not a single mile of new barriers has been erected. But the Trump administration continues to aggressively pursue new avenues to fund this project outside of the traditional federal appropriations process, including the president’s declaration […]

The post What Is Happening with Trump’s Border Wall? Here’s Everything You Need to Know So Far appeared first on Immigration Impact.

A federal court in San Francisco certified two nationwide classes of immigrants and attorneys challenging extreme agency delays in producing immigration case files. Plaintiffs allege that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have a system-wide practice of failing to provide access to immigration case records—called A-Files—within deadlines set […]

The post In Historic Ruling, Thousands of Immigrants Waiting for Their Immigration Records Can Now Challenge Agency Delay appeared first on Immigration Impact.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law on Friday that will phase out private prisons—including federal immigration detention centers—throughout the state. The new law, AB 32, prohibits the state government and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from creating, modifying, or renewing prison contracts with private companies beginning on January 1, 2020. The […]

The post California Bans Private Prisons, Eliminating Immigration Detention Centers That Incarcerate 4,000 People appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The Supreme Court began a new session this October, and in the coming months, the justices will hear several high-profile immigration cases. These cases involve the attempted termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative, the highly-criticized killing of a young boy in Mexico by a Border Patrol agent, and the criminal prosecution […]

The post Which Immigration Cases Will the Supreme Court Rule on This Session? appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The Trump administration suffered another immigration blow in court last Friday. The new “public charge” rule set to go into effect Tuesday, October 15, was blocked in three separate rulings by judges around the country. Courts in New York, San Francisco, and Seattle all issued rulings halting the implementation of the rule. This was largely […]

The post “Public Charge” Rule Blocked Days Before Going Into Effect appeared first on Immigration Impact.

In this blog post, AILA Media Advocacy Committee member Fiona McEntee describes her plans to use the new 2020 presidential election guide from AILA now, and during the upcoming debates; she also highlights some specific responses garnered from candidates regarding USCIS accountability.

People in immigration detention who are represented by an attorney are more likely to receive a positive outcome in immigration court than those that face judges alone. Unfortunately, people who arrive in the U.S. from other countries are not guaranteed representation even though having one can be the difference between being allowed to stay or […]

The post Pennsylvania Should Widen Access to Justice for People in Immigration Detention appeared first on Immigration Impact.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested millions of people based on unreliable electronic databases. In a recent court decision with nationwide impact, a federal judge in California ruled that parts of this mass deportation program—called Secure Communities—are unconstitutional. Through Secure Communities, anyone arrested and fingerprinted for any reason has their fingerprints sent to […]

The post Federal Court Blocks Error-Prone ICE Deportation Program appeared first on Immigration Impact.

President Trump invoked the same legal authority used for the Travel Ban to impose a sweeping new ban on legal immigration last week. Under the new ban, which analysis suggests could block as much as two thirds of all immigrants from coming to the United States, immigrants will be banned from entering unless they can […]

The post How Trump’s New Healthcare Ban Threatens the Legal Immigration System appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—a law enforcement agency with a history of misconduct and abuse—are reportedly conducting screenings of asylum seekers pursuing protection in the United States. A new lawsuit aims to find out more about this secretive practice. For decades, these screenings—called credible fear interviews (CFI)—have been under the jurisdiction of […]

The post CBP Officers Take on Role of Asylum Officers – This Lawsuit Demands to Know Why appeared first on Immigration Impact.

AILA Member Andrea Martinez recently participated in a Netflix Docuseries “Living Undocumented” and in this blog post she shares the key takeaways from conversations with viewers, namely that audiences feel that the work of immigration attorneys is important, difficult, necessary, and yes, heroic.

Nebane Abienwi, a 37-year-old man who had recently fled war-torn Cameroon, died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on Tuesday. His passing—the first of the new fiscal year that began on October 1—follows a string of tragic and unnecessary deaths in ICE detention that illustrate just how poorly the agency operates its facilities. […]

The post Cameroonian’s Death in ICE Custody Underscores Problems with Immigration Detention appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The Trump administration announced last week that it had signed an “Asylum Cooperative Agreement” with Honduras, following two similar agreements signed with El Salvador and Guatemala. If any of these agreements go into effect, the United States could rapidly deport asylum seekers to a third country, without ever permitting them to apply for protections in […]

The post What the Safe Third Country Deals Mean for The Future of Asylum in the United States appeared first on Immigration Impact.

For many small towns and rural communities, opening their doors to refugees is part of a local strategy to reverse population decline, stimulate their workforce, and build diverse communities. There are countless examples. Clarkston, Georgia—once a Southern town struggling to keep up with rapid population decline—has accepted over 40,000 refugees in the last four decades. […]

The post American Communities Benefit From Welcoming Refugees – The White House Wants to Stop That appeared first on Immigration Impact.

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to significantly undo the Flores Settlement Agreement, which mandates certain protections for children held in immigration detention. The changes to the settlement would have allowed the administration to hold immigrant children and their parents indefinitely in jail-like settings. Federal Judge Dolly Gee repeated that the […]

The post Federal Judge Says DHS Must Keep Its Promise to Protect Children in Immigration Detention appeared first on Immigration Impact.

In this blog post, AILA Amicus Committee member Sabrina Damast highlights the impact of amicus efforts, describing them in the context of a case affecting in-state tuition in Virginia for someone in the asylum backlog.

Newly released documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reveal that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rolled out a major policy change impacting petitions for H-1B workers without sufficient training to officers deciding the petitions. The records reveal troubling insights into what likely contributed to substantial increases in requests for evidence (RFEs) […]

The post USCIS Implemented New H-1B Wage Level Policy Without Providing Sufficient Guidance to Its Staff appeared first on Immigration Impact.