Immigration Law

Motor Voter Law a Fast Track to Crime

Proudly proceeding on a fast track toward legal residency and eventual U.S. citizenship, Beth Keathley was so excited about having had a chance to vote in her first American election that she mentioned the milestone to her immigration officer. The next thing she knew, she had been charged with a…

Dec 3, 2007 9:45 PM CST

Mali Woman Presses Asylum Request Based on Genital Mutilation

A Mali woman is asking the Board of Immigration Appeals to reconsider a ruling denying her asylum even though she had been subjected to female genital mutilation and would likely be forced to marry her first cousin if she returned home. The board said the concerns of petitioner Alima Traore…

Nov 5, 2007 3:17 PM CST

States Enforce Federal Immigration Laws

Although enforcing the nation’s immigration laws has traditionally been the federal government’s job, states increasingly are doing it. They are motivated by a perception that the feds aren’t getting it done—and that illegal immigrants cost states money. This year, as Congress failed to agree on omnibus immigration legislation, 43 states…

Nov 1, 2007 5:48 PM CDT

FL Family in Publicized Case Deported

Two teenage brothers in a high-profile immigration case said goodbye to their parents and 85-year-old grandmother at Miami International Airport today, as the older family members were deported to their native Colombia. The brothers, Juan and Alex Gomez, aged 18 and 19, respectively, also are here as illegal immigrants, having…

Oct 30, 2007 7:57 PM CDT

Fire Fear for Illegal Residents: Deportation

As residents throughout many areas of Southern California worry about potential damage from the wildfires that have been burning for the past week, illegal immigrants have had a particular cause for concern. Although authorities say they are not using emergency shelters as an opportunity to check the residency status of…

Oct 29, 2007 3:50 PM CDT

Immigrant Graduate Bill Loses in Test Vote

A bill criticized by conservatives for providing “backdoor amnesty” to illegal immigrants has failed in a test vote. The bill to give legal status to high school grads failed to get the 60 votes needed for debate, the New York Times reports. To be eligible, students must arrive here before…

Oct 25, 2007 11:43 AM CDT

Little-Known US Citizenship Option

The word is out in Israel about a little-known provision of U.S. immigration law that allows some foreign-born children to obtain citizenship via their American grandparents. The provision offers an alternative to the usual rule that U.S. citizen parents of foreign-born children must have lived in this country for five…

Oct 16, 2007 10:26 PM CDT

9th Circuit Bars Deportation for Sex With Minor

A federal appeals court has ruled that an immigrant should not be deported for having sex with a minor. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 decision (PDF) that the offense was not one of “moral turpitude,” the kind of crime that requires deportation,…

Oct 11, 2007 11:52 AM CDT

Judge Stops Planned SS# Match Program

In a blow to the Bush administration, a federal judge has granted a temporary injunction halting a planned program to crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants. It would have required employers to confirm with the government that workers’ social security numbers are valid, but is fraught with problems,…

Oct 10, 2007 10:00 PM CDT

US: Immigrant Goes, $49 K in Savings Stays

After nearly a decade of washing dishes in a Florida restaurant, Pedro Zapeta had saved $62,000. He reportedly lived a frugal life, bicycling everywhere and denying himself all luxuries once he paid for his rent and electricity. No one questions that his savings come from his own hard-earned wages. However,…

Oct 10, 2007 6:32 PM CDT

ACLU: Feds’ Drugging of Immigrants Torture?

In a motion filed yesterday in an asylum case, the American Civil Liberties Union calls for a halt to an admitted federal policy of forcibly injecting some immigrants with psychotropic medication and putting them aboard commercial airlines for deportation. It says the practice violates federal law and the Bill of…

Oct 10, 2007 4:10 PM CDT

1,300 Arrested in Gang Crackdown

Federal and local law enforcement agencies have reportedly arrested more than 1,300 suspected gang members in 23 cities throughout the country over the past three months, as part of a “summer surge” crackdown on illegal immigrants. Those taken into custody are either prosecuted in federal court or deported, CNN said.…

Oct 9, 2007 5:24 PM CDT

Towns Reconsider Anti-Immigrant Laws

Faced with lawsuits and failing businesses, some municipalities are rethinking laws designed to crack down on illegal immigrants. The town of Riverside, N.J., is among those that have reconsidered, the New York Times reports. Its law had punished landlords who rent to illegal immigrants or employers who hire them. But…

Sep 26, 2007 6:23 PM CDT

Feds Sue IL Over New Immigration Law

In an action that puts the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution at issue, the federal government is suing the state of Illinois over a new law that bans employer participation in a new voluntary federal program that verifies the identity of legal immigrants. Filed in federal court in Springfield,…

Sep 25, 2007 6:11 PM CDT

Suit: Feds’ Raids Violate Constitution

Warrantless searches allegedly are being conducted by armed U.S. immigration authorities on Latino-occupied homes in the New York City area where they have no good reason to believe immigrant fugitives are living. A federal class action lawsuit filed in Manhattan yesterday by 15 plaintiffs contends the feds are conducting such…

Sep 21, 2007 11:26 PM CDT