ICE

Weekly Immigration News: Border Blame and Other Pandemic Responses

Immigration woes continue at the border, compounding pre-existing problems with the US immigration system. According to Politico, Democratic Representative Jamaal Bowman blamed the recent arrivals at the border on the United States’ “personal capitalist interests,” which he claimed caused social, economic, and political instability in Central American countries. He stated that these disruptions, in turn, led to the rise of migration to the US. In his statement, Bowman also...

Weekly Immigration News: Dismantling the Trump-era

The Biden administration has ramped up its political agenda this week, with various new policies that aim to correct Trump-era institutions. After ending the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy, the Biden administration announced that the United States will start letting in asylum seekers stranded in Mexico. The shift will be starting its phase 1 today along the southern border, but only migrants currently affected by the “Remain in Mexico”...

Weekly Immigration News: Slow Shifts to Change

President Biden is not acting quickly on immigration issues – will his slow shifts help move us towards change? Alejandro Mayorkas, a former Obama administration immigration official and a Cuban immigrant, has been officially nominated to become DHS (Department of Homeland Security) secretary in a Tuesday Senate vote. Although some Republicans opposed Mayorkas’ nomination due to a 2015 internal investigation on his actions during his role as head of...

Weekly Immigration News: A Less Than Promising Start

During his campaign, President Joe Biden made many promises to the immigrant community. However, after his first two weeks in office, it appears that the Biden Administration will continue to face significant pushback at every turn and it will take time to undo the damage done by the former President: A Texas federal judge has stopped the recent 100-day deportation moratorium for 14 days while he examines the Texas...

Biden’s First 100 Days

It seems that Trump’s fight against immigration is finally over as President Biden sweeps in with hopeful promises of a less acrimonious four years. In a meeting with LatinX leaders, President Biden outlined his immigration plans, including establishing a 100-day deportation moratorium, extending “Dreamer” (DACA beneficiaries) protections, passing a broad immigration bill that could create a path to citizenship for non-legal immigrants living in the US, and removing barriers...

Immigration In Pandemic Times, Vol. 2, No. 1

As immigration has been impacted by health concerns surrounding COVID-19, many migrants have been stripped of their rights. The injustices are only continuing as application fees increase, the wall is deemed constitutional, migrant children are expelled without being able to see lawyers, and other cases. The Trump administration has increased many immigration application fees, especially on first-time asylum and naturalization applications. The increase has shifted the cost for naturalization...

How Is The Government Shutdown Impacting Immigration Services

Due to failure to pass a Congressional budget, the United States government has temporarily shut down with no end in sight. This is no doubt throwing many government functions such as immigration services into disarray, as only essential government services are operational during this time. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at airports and at port of entries continue to operate as usual, though without pay. The level of their...

ICE Ends Presumption of Release for All Pregnant Detainees

On March 30, 2018, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a directive entitled “Identification and Monitoring of Pregnant Detainees,” as well as the following FAQ: What is the new policy? ICE has ended the presumption of release for all pregnant detainees. Instead, as with all detainees, absent the requirements of mandatory detention, ICE will complete a case-by-case custody determination taking any special factors into account. ICE detention facilities will...

Supreme Court to Decide Whether “When Released” Means Immediately Released from Criminal Custody

In Nielsen v. Preap, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the government’s petition for a writ of certiorari, Kelly v. Preap, in which the question presented is, “Whether a criminal alien becomes exempt from mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. 1226(c) if, after the alien is released from criminal custody, the Department of Homeland Security does not take him into immigration custody immediately.” The statute in question provides that the Attorney...