Immigration Blog

In a May 27 blog post, I detailed the affirmance (in part) by the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit of a district court judge's injunction barring enforcement of section 2(c) of Executive Order 13,780, "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States" (EO-2). On Monday, June 12, the Ninth Circuit took its chop at that order, reviewing a decision by the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, which had entered a temporary restraining order (TRO) prohibiting enforcement of sections 2 and 6 of EO-2 nation-wide.

A story on Monday's "Here and Now" program, which is presented on many public radio stations, provides an example of how subtle manipulations of language can color the discussion of immigration policy. The story, reported by Liz Jones of KUOW in Seattle, concerned an effort by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to establish relations and build trust with community-based organizations, including advocates of illegal immigrants. One advocate told Jones that he appreciated the opportunity to meet with ICE because, "It fights this notion of a bunch of thugs."

The U.S-Australia refugee resettlement deal I started researching in February is now well underway, as I wrote yesterday, with president Trump choosing to honor his predecessor's commitment to take in Australia's unwanted refugees. One thing overlooked in some of the news coverage of yesterday's report is the role of a group called the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in this resettlement process.

A new study published in the journal International Migration provides some insight into the motivations of Mexican emigrants and the impact their decisions have on the families they leave behind. Sociologist Heather Fuller conducted focus groups in an outlying township of Mexico City — an urbanizing area with a 43 percent poverty rate, high unemployment, and increasing out-migration — to examine the emotional toll on parents whose children have gone to the United States.

Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly made it clear at last week's House Homeland Security Committee hearing that he wants to focus on national security and not economics or labor. At several points during the hearing, the H-2B Visa was raised as an area of concern. The visas provide for temporary permitting of foreign workers for nonagricultural labor, typically for seasonal business, high workload periods, or for a one-time project.

In my last post, I detailed the results of a June 1, 2017, report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that exposed a massive increase in the immigration courts' case backlog between Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 and 2015. Understanding the reasons for these backlogs is critical to addressing them, and to putting the immigration courts in a position to handle their workflow.

Shortly after inauguration, I wrote about the Trump administration's decision to continue the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty. During the campaign, Trump (correctly) lambasted Obama's unilateral amnesty program as illegal and pledged to stop it on day one. But not only did he not stop it, DHS has continued to process renewals and even new applications, for illegal aliens who did not already have this two-year renewable work permit.

In yesterday's House Homeland Security Committee hearing that I mentioned in my previous post, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly used part of his opening statement to address government-issued identification cards as a measure to bolster national security. The hearing was on DHS reauthorization and the presidential budget request, but Kelly slipped in his own request for support for full implementation of the REAL ID Act. (His written statement did not mention it, but he did in his oral testimony.)

What do you do when so much bias is exhibited in a case that one of the parties becomes convinced it's unlikely to be treated impartially? If it's at the federal district court level, then a request for change of venue could be filed if the problem appears to be finding an unbiased jury. If the problem appears to be bias exhibited by the presiding judge, the party can ask the judge to recuse him- or herself, and if he or she refuses, then perhaps file a motion or interlocutory appeal requesting that someone above the judge take a look at the prejudicial statements or conduct to determine if the judge should be removed and substituted.

In a hearing yesterday before the House Homeland Security Committee, to discuss the reauthorization and budget of the Department of Homeland Security, DHS Secretary John Kelly left nothing to the imagination when he identified the porous southwest border as a national security concern. Discussing everything from human trafficking to drugs to gang activity, Kelly said, "everything that is bad in this regard comes from the southern border."