On September 30, 1996, crimmigration law became firmly embedded in the modern United States. That day, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) took effect. Adopted by a Republican Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton, IIRIRA stands as an example of bipartisan willingness to ratchet up the severity of violating immigration law. With Friday’s twentieth anniversary on my mind, I thought it worthwhile to revisit IIRIRA’s specific provisions and contextualize it within a larger string of strong-armed legislation that launched the crimmigration era. First [...]
Obama’s new DHS budget reflects security focus
President Obama released the final budget request he will make to Congress earlier this month and the pitch for DHS is peppered with costly security measures that fall in line with the department’s existing operations centered on security concerns. At almost $41 billion, the DHS budget request covers everything from FEMA operations to the nation’s principal immigration law enforcement bodies, ICE and CBP. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Security, Budget-in-Brief: Fiscal Year 2017, at 1 (2016). Combined, the budgets for ICE and CBP comprise almost one-third (30.3 percent) of DHS’ total budget, including [...]
Migrants, detainers, & sanctuary cities
The unfortunate death of thirty-two year old Kathryn Steinle in San Francisco allegedly at the hands of a man lacking permission to be in the United States has reignited old refrains about migrant illegality and border insecurity. Coming on the heels of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s infamous claims that many Mexican migrants are rapists or drug dealers, this sad affair has thrown political commentators and politicians into a tizzy about migrant criminality. As could be expected, Republicans have jumped on this event, the facts of which remain very unclear, to repeat their [...]
PEP vs. Secure Communities
Last November, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson announced the end of the Secure Communities program. Beloved by the Obama Administration, Secure Communities (often described simply as S-Comm) came under heavy criticism by advocates, state and local lawmakers, and police officials. Whatever victory advocates could celebrate was short lived. In the same memo in which Johnson announced S-Comm’s demise, he added that DHS would replace it with a new initiative called the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP). Since then advocates and scholars have been trying to figure out how PEP differs [...]
7 Cir: Time in immigration detention can lead to reduced criminal sentence; cites me
In an interesting twist to the old story of civil and criminal immigration law enforcement overlap, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently concluded that time spent in civil immigration detention can be considered when determining a sentence for a federal immigration crime. United States v. Estrada-Mederos, No. 14-2417, slip op. (7th Cir. April 29, 2015). The Seventh Circuit held that a sentencing judge could view the time spent under ICE’s custody as the basis for granting a convicted migrant a downward departure from the sentencing range for illegal reentry. This case [...]
Immigration detainer workshop
Immigration detainers are a key feature of current-day crimmigration law enforcement. They enable ICE to identify and apprehend potentially removable individuals who come into contact with local law enforcement agencies across the United States. In recent years, ICE has used detainers quite vigorously. From October 2011 to August 2013, the agency issued 436,478 detainers. Immigration detainers essentially ask local law enforcement agencies such as sheriffs’ offices to hold a potentially removable migrant for up to 48 hours after the end of the criminal matter. For example, 48 hours after a [...]
Oregon federal court: Detainer led to Fourth Amendment violation
A federal magistrate judge in Oregon concluded that county officials violated a woman’s Fourth Amendment rights when they kept her in custody solely on the basis of an immigration detainer. Miranda-Olivares v. Clackamas County, No. 3:12-cv-02317-ST, slip op. (D. Or. April 11, 2014) (Stewart, Magistrate Judge). This case involved a woman who was arrested for violating a restraining order. Though county jail officials did not ask her about her immigration status, they somehow learned that she was born outside the United States. Pursuant to a jail policy, they then notified ICE. The next [...]
Unflattering picture of ICE’s use of detainers
A report released this week by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University casts serious doubt on ICE's claim that it uses detainers to target noncitizens who pose a danger to the public. TRAC, Few ICE Detainers Target Serious Criminals (September 17, 2013). According to ICE data that TRAC obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, just under half (47.7% or 165,769) of detainers were issued against people with no criminal conviction whatsoever. Between October 1, 2011 and January 31, 2013, ICE issued 347,691 detainers. Of the individuals against whom a detainer [...]