What President Obama Proposed on Immigration in His Final Budget
President Obama unveiled his proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 which begins on October 1, 2016. While this is the President’s final budget and is largely seen as a political document, it does...
View ArticleSenators Introduce Bill to Provide Children in Immigration Proceedings a Lawyer
Every day children, some as young as toddlers, are sent into immigration courts all around the country. They can be asked to make their own immigration cases before a judge, often while a government...
View ArticleFlawed U.S. Response to Central American Refugees Reiterated by DHS Officials
Top officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continue to believe that deporting families and children quickly deters others who are considering coming to the United States. This view was...
View ArticleNew U.S.-Mexico Repatriation Agreements Seek to Protect Returning Migrants
Mexican migrants no longer being deported back to Mexico in the middle of the night is one important feature in new Local Repatriation Agreements finalized between the Department of Homeland Security...
View ArticleObama Administration Files Brief in Immigration Case at Supreme Court
This week, the Obama Administration filed its brief with the Supreme Court in United States v. Texas, the case where Texas and 25 other states are challenging the President’s executive action on...
View ArticleNew Report Calls into Question CBP’s Use of Force Policy
Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) use-of-force policies are once again under a microscope after a new report written by former Baltimore police commissioner and Justice Department official Thomas...
View ArticleSteve King’s Committee Continues Attack on President’s Immigration Actions
This week, the newly created “Task Force on Executive Overreach” and its Chairman Steve King (R-IA) held a sparsely-attended hearing on President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, specifically...
View ArticleU.S. Sentencing Commission Proposes Further Criminalizing Migrants
At a time when there is a great deal of national attention being placed on criminal-justice reform, it is troubling that the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) is now proposing, new amendments to...
View ArticleTexas and Other 25 States File Misleading Brief at Supreme Court
This week, Texas and the 25 other states challenging the President’s executive actions on immigration filed their brief with the Supreme Court in United States v. Texas. The brief attempts to defend...
View ArticleOver 150 Groups Demand Obama Administration Stop Immigration Raids
Last month the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that since the end of January they have been conducting “Operation Border Guardian,” which has been focusing on the removal of individuals...
View ArticleWhen Immigrants Are Deported Without Their Belongings or IDs, They Are Placed...
26 Mexican nationals say the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deported them from the El Paso Border Patrol sector, which covers West Texas and all of New Mexico, without their identification,...
View ArticleCustom and Border Protection Use–of-Force Data Raises More Questions
Use-of-force by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 declined more than 26 percent compared with the previous year, according to statistics released last week by...
View ArticleNew U.S. Sentencing Commission Guidelines on Immigration Are a Mixed Bag
Earlier this month, the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) voted to change the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which in some cases will lead to increased sentences for those convicted of “Unlawfully...
View ArticleWhat the New Citizenship Fee Structure Means for Aspiring Americans
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is primarily a fee-funded agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Every two years they are required to review the fees they collect and...
View ArticleDespite Obstacles, A Majority of Child Migrants Appear in Immigration Court
Reuters reported last week that the Obama Administration would begin to round up Central American women and children, including “minors who have entered the country without a guardian and since turned...
View ArticleCBP Officers Accused of Abusive Behavior at Ports Of Entry
Residents along the U.S.-Mexico border in Western Texas and New Mexico face repeated abuse from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP’s) Office of Field Operations (OFO) officers at ports of entry,...
View ArticleJudge Hanen’s Recent Unwarranted Order in United States v. Texas
Last week, District Court Judge Andrew Hanen issued a highly extraordinary order telling the Department of Justice (DOJ) to turn over personal information of about 108,000 or so individuals who have...
View ArticleHouse Judiciary Marks Up Criticized Visa Security Act
This week, the House Judiciary Committee marked up and passed bill H.R. 5203, the Visa Integrity and Security Act of 2016 (VISA Act). The stated goal of the legislation introduced by Rep. Randy Forbes...
View ArticleWhat the Senate Proposed on Immigration in the Department of Homeland...
This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee unveiled and unanimously passed out of Committee their budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which begins on...
View ArticleAdministration Seeks to Protect DACA Recipients from Judge Hanen’s Unusual...
This week, the Obama administration filed a stay motion, a request to halt Judge Hanen’s highly extraordinary order in May telling the Department of Justice (DOJ) to turn over personal information of...
View Article