In a much anticipated case, the Connecticut Supreme Court held this week that Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 (2010), does not apply retroactively to state convictions. Thiersaint v. Commissioner of Correction, No. SC 19134, slip op. (Conn. April 14, 2015). In Padilla, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel requires criminal defense attorneys to advise noncitizen clients about the immigration consequences of conviction. This week’s Connecticut decision makes it less likely that migrants who were denied such advice prior to March 31, [...]
Race, immigration, & imprisonment in the United States
The United States’ sordid history with race-based policing is too well known to need recounting. Often forgotten, though, is that race-based policing continues to receive the Supreme Court’s blessing when it comes to immigration law. In a pair of decisions from the mid-1970s, the Court allowed immigration officials to explicitly consider whether someone looks Mexican in gauging their legality (see here). Today, almost everyone confined due to a suspected or confirmed immigration law violation is a person of color—overwhelmingly Latino. In a lecture I have about two weeks ago, I explained [...]
BIA Broadens Mental State Analysis for Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude
By Alex Sheppard In January, the Board of Immigration Appeals found the offense of “deadly conduct” in violation of section 22.05(a) of the Texas Penal Code to be categorically a crime involving moral turpitude. Matter of Hernandez, 26 I&N Dec. 464 (BIA 2015). Under § 22.05(a), the BIA in Matter of Hernandez found a mens rea requirement of recklessness coupled with an actus reus of no actual physical harm to categorically constitute a CIMT. Id. at 467. Hernandez is a native and citizen of Mexico who entered the United States at an unknown date and place. On June 11, 2002, he was [...]
Worrying immigration court statistics about detention & representation in FY 2014
Last week, the Justice Department released statistics about the workload of the nation’s immigration court system in fiscal year 2014. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review, FY 2014 Statistical Yearbook (March 2015). There’s a wealth of interesting data to mine in this report, released annually, but I’m going to highlight a few strands of particular relevance to crimmigrationistas: the role of detention and representation in immigration court proceedings. Reflecting its role in immigration law enforcement generally, detention played a significant role in the [...]
10 Cir: Expands mandatory immigration detention
Earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit expanded the broad powers that immigration officials have to force migrants into mandatory immigration detention. Olmos v. Holder, No. 14-1085, slip op. (10th Cir. March 24, 2015). The court both endorsed and independently validated the Board of Immigration Appeals’ position that mandatory detention under INA § 236(c) is required even if the migrant is taken into ICE custody days after being released from criminal custody. This case involved a migrant convicted of state identity theft and two related crimes. After completing [...]
Crimmigration talks in Denver, Columbus, and Chicago
This week and next will be busy for me with talks in Denver, Columbus, and Chicago. All three talks will focus on immigration imprisonment, though each will take a different perspective. Details about these events are below. It would be great to see crImmigration.com readers in any of these cities. I’ll begin at noon tomorrow, March 25, with a public lecture at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Here I’ll be discussing the important role that race has and continues to play in the creation and enforcement of immigration law in the United States. It’s hard to deny the explicit [...]
Connect to crImmigration.com
As a field, crImmigration law is evolving every day. Legislatures enact statutes, law enforcement agencies adopt new policing tactics, and courts issue binding interpretations. If you’re new to crimmigration law or crImmigration.com, I invite you to keep in close touch with the developments I analyze twice a week year-round by doing as more than 550 people have done and subscribing to the blog. Subscribing is easy and free. Just enter your email address in the “subscribe” box on the right side of every page. That will ensure that you receive all new posts in your inbox automatically so you can [...]
DHS Inspector General assesses ICE alternatives to detention
A recent report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General provides much needed insight into the inner workings of ICE’s alternatives to detention (ATDs). U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Alternatives to Detention (Revised) (Feb. 4, 2015). At the same time, the report hints at a major risk inherent in ATD expansions: that throwing more people into some form of government supervision will eventually mean more people in detention. Until November 2014, the government ran a single ATD program, called [...]
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