prosecutorial discretion

USCIS Issues New Memo Expanding Power to Initiate Removal Proceedings

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new policy on June 28, 2018, expanding the reasons that they will issue an I-862 “Notice to Appear” (NTA) to individuals to initiate removal proceedings against them. The new memo is available here and lists every instance in which individuals will be placed into removal proceedings. It supersedes an Obama-era memo governing the issuance of an NTA by the same...

Jeff Sessions Ends Administrative Closure Leaving 355,000 In Limbo

In an unprecedented move, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has quietly moved to terminate the authority of Immigration Judges to close cases in removal proceedings. In Re Matter of Castro-Tum, an Immigration Judge closed proceedings against a Guatemalan citizen after he did not appear for removal proceedings because the judge was unconvinced that ICE had properly served him with notice of the hearing. Rather than deport him inabsentia, the Immigration...

Prerna Lal Debates Jon Feere on The Heat

After winning Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) in 2012, Prerna Lal, Esq. worked with policy-makers in Washington D.C. to push President Obama’s Administration to expand prosecutorial discretion policies. This work was rewarded when the President announced the DAPA and expanded DACA programs in November 2014. Due to their critical work on expanding prosecutorial discretion, Lal was called on “The Heat” to debate Jon Feere, now Senior Advisor at...