crimmigration.com

On January 16, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would hear a case concerning the fraud or deceit offense definition of aggravated felony.  In Nijhawan v. Mukasey, the Supreme Court will consider what Congress meant when it made a conviction for an offense involving fraud or deceit in which the loss to the victim exceeds $10,000.  Can someone be deported under this provision even though the criminal conviction didn't require the prosecutor to prove the loss amount?  If so, what documents can the Immigration Judge look at to determine whether the amount lost exceeds $10,000? The Court [...]

With much fanfare, ICE has touted its efforts to round-up non-citizens with criminal records.  This is ICE's so-called "fugitive list" that justifies its middle of the night raids.  But in the process of searching for individuals with criminal records, ICE has also detained tens of thousands of people with no criminal history whatsoever--dubbed "collateral arrests." According to an article by Leslie Berestein of the San Diego Union Tribune, "Out of the 80,025 arrests made by ICE fugitive teams in fiscal years 2006 through 2008, nearly one-third were people not on the list." Increasingly, ICE's [...]

Beginning Friday, January 9, the federal government will gather DNA samples of all immigrants arrested for suspicion of any criminal violation, reports the Los Angeles Times. Previously, the federal government only collected DNA of individuals convicted of certain crimes. According to the L.A. Times, the FBI expects to expand its current DNA database by 1.3 million samples under the new policy. [...]

In the waning days of the Bush Administration, Attorney General Michael Mukasey revamped immigration proceedings this week when he ruled that individuals do not have a right to effective assistance of counsel in removal proceedings. Overturning existing precedent, Mukasey's 34-page decision in Matter of Compean explains that there is no right to counsel and therefore no right to effective assistance of counsel in removal proceedings. This ruling means that mistakes by lawyers--even mistakes that result solely from an attorney's carelessness or inattention to a case--can not serve as the basis [...]

A panel of police officers, lawyers, and criminal justice officials organized by the Colorado Department of Public Safety wants the federal government to allow state officials to access a federal government database of fingerprint records to help them locate immigrants who have committed crimes, reports Examiner.com. The panel also advocates adding 700 beds throughout Colorado and Wyoming to house suspected undocumented immigrants. [...]

Ken Blackwell, a candidate for chair of the Republican Party, told reporters that he opposes comprehensive immigration reform and supports "a program that basically says we will go after illegal immigrants, particularly those we suspect are engaged in criminal activity and we will prosecute and deport them." [...]

One month after launching a program under section 287(g) of the Immigration & Nationality Act, the Las Vegas police report that it has reported 114 individuals detained on various criminal charges to ICE and 28 of those have been deported, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal. [...]

The Houston Chronicle reports that in 2009 Texas legislators are expected to consider several immigration-related proposals including one that would "create a state criminal trespassing charge for illegal immigrants enforced by local police." Other bills expected to come before Texas lawmakers include efforts to prohibit judges from granting parole for undocumented people and a proposal to require public schools to track the immigration status of their students, reports the Chronicle's Anabelle Garay. [...]