By Kim Langona In Matter of Velasquez-Rios, issued on October 4, 2018, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA or the Board) concluded that federal law, rather than state law, must be used to determine the immigration consequences of a state conviction. 27 I&N Dec. 470, 474 (BIA 2018). Thus, a 2014 California legislative enactment that “retroactively lowered the maximum possible sentence” for a state conviction “from 365 days to 364 days, does not affect the applicability of section 237(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) of [the Immigration and Nationality Act] to a past conviction for a crime involving [...]
Oregon lawsuit challenges state, local participation in immigration enforcement
By Christopher N. Lasch and Mark Fleming On Thursday, a state trial court judge in Wasco County, Oregon (of Wild, Wild Country renown) will hear summary judgment arguments in Stovall, et. al. v. Northern Oregon Corrections dba NORCOR, No. 17-CV-31082 (Or. Cir. Ct.). At the heart of the lawsuit is a contract known as an “Intergovernmental Services Agreement” (IGSA) between NORCOR, a four-county public prison system, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. Under the IGSA, NORCOR jails people for ICE who are in civil immigration proceedings. The question for the trial court [...]
Risk assessment technology in migration control: tools for more objective decision-making?
By Tim Dekkers, Maartje van der Woude & Robert Koulish Migration control has seen an influx of information technologies in order to control mobilities. The traditional means of securing borders with walls, gates and border guards are not considered to be sufficient anymore or, as is the case at the internal borders of the European Union, legislation prevents the implementation of such measures. This poses a problem. Migration is increasingly viewed as a security issue and migrants as security threats, but freedom of movement benefits trade and tourism resulting in economic growth. EU [...]
Under Trump, ICE No Longer Recommends Release for Immigrants in Detention
Kate Evans & Robert Koulish In summer 2018, the Trump administration ratcheted up its immigration enforcement and detention practices with new family separation and forced detention, as part of its “zero tolerance” strategy aimed at deterring asylum applicants from exercising their asylum rights under the 1980 Refugee Act. Part of its effort was to manipulate the immigration risk detention tool, known as the risk classification assessment, or RCA. The risk tool was designed during the Obama administration to reduce the arbitrary detention of immigrants by tailoring it to risk. A new [...]
Undercutting Naturalization
By Patricia M. Corrales I joined the INS, then part of the Department of Justice, in March of 1995. Within weeks of becoming a trial attorney, my boss and mentor, assigned me a very unique case representing the agency in a federal case involving the naturalization of Filipino war veterans. Some Filipino nationals, during World War II, had shown their loyalty to this country by serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, and were promised naturalization. When some of these Filipino war veterans filed petitions for naturalization, INS denied their petitions claiming their names could [...]
Family Separation and Reunification
By Anita Ortiz Maddali There has been widespread public outcry following the administration’s “Zero Tolerance” policy, which called for criminal prosecution of parents crossing the border without proper documentation and forced separation from their children. The President recently issued an Executive Order ending the separation policy. Now, parents will be detained with their children. But what about the 2000 plus children who have already been separated because of the zero tolerance policy? How will they be reunited with their parents? Initially, and, understandably, from an [...]
The School to Deportation Pipeline
By Laila L. Hlass Last month, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told Congress that local schools should have the freedom to decide whether to report undocumented students to immigration authorities. Although she has since stepped back her remarks, this sentiment is in line with President Trump’s pervasive attacks on immigrants. Trump has called immigrants rapists, gang members, and “animals.” Regarding migrant children, he said “they look so innocent. They’re not innocent.” Like DeVos, Trump’s high-ranking appointees have sounded much the same theme: Attorney General Sessions called [...]
The Perversity of External Immigration Enforcement
Alexander Sager On March 25, 2018, Palm Sunday, the Viacrucis del Migrante [The Migrants’ Way of the Cross] set out from Tapachula, Chiapas toward Tijuana. The approximately 1,000 Central American migrants traveled together for safety, as well as to draw attention to Mexican and U.S. policies that undermine the right to asylum. The 2018 Caravan drew significantly more attention than had previous years’ efforts. Sadly, much of the attention was from the Trump administration and right-wing media. President Trump (predictably) voiced his ire through a tweet: “Mexico is doing very little, if [...]
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