Immigration Law

Justice Department takes step to decertify union for immigration judges

The U.S. Department of Justice took a step Friday to decertify the union for immigration judges by filing a petition with the Federal Labor Relations Authority. The petition asks the authority to determine whether the union should have its certification revoked because its members are management employees who aren’t allowed…

Aug 12, 2019 10:31 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: First Step Act frees crack cocaine offender; judge vacates port-of-entry asylum rule

• A San Antonio man sentenced to life in prison for dealing crack cocaine has been freed under the First Step Act, the criminal justice reform measure that reduces the sentencing disparity for crack and powder cocaine offenses. Alta Lee Kemper, 62, had served 27 years in prison. (My San…

Aug 5, 2019 4:00 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Bail reform ‘as big as Brown v. Board of Education;’ how some rich kids get college aid

• Commissioners in Harris County, Texas, have agreed to reform a cash bail system that had kept many indigent misdemeanor defendants in jail pending trial. A federal appeals court had ruled last year that the bail system was unconstitutional because it mostly relied on set amounts. As a result of…

Jul 31, 2019 4:33 PM CDT

US uses loophole to split up immigrant families after judge’s order to halt separations, ACLU says

The U.S. government has taken more than 900 immigrant children from their families since a federal judge ordered a halt to family separations more than a year ago, according to a court filing by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU is asking U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw to clarify…

Jul 31, 2019 11:41 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: AG Barr restricts asylum in family-ties cases; prosecutors allege ‘perversion of justice’

• U.S. Attorney General William Barr has issued a decision that will make it tougher for immigrants to seek asylum based on persecution of immediate family members. Barr reversed a ruling by the Board of Immigration Appeals that allowed an immigrant to seek asylum because his father was targeted by…

Jul 29, 2019 4:30 PM CDT

Trump announces deal allowing ouster of asylum-seekers to Guatemala

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he had reached an agreement with Guatemala to allow asylum-seekers who passed through the country to be returned there to seek asylum. Asylum-seekers can’t ask the United State for asylum if they passed through Guatemala unless they applied there first, report the New York…

Jul 29, 2019 10:29 AM CDT

Supreme Court lifts injunction that had blocked military funding for border wall

U.S. Supreme Court

Jul 29, 2019 9:54 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: US to resume federal executions; immigration lawyer accused of paying bribes for roster lists

• The U.S. Department of Justice plans to resume executions after a 16-year hiatus. Attorney General William Barr adopted a new lethal-injection protocol that replaces a three-drug cocktail with a single drug—pentobarbital. Executions have been scheduled for five death-row inmates. (The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, U.S. Department of…

Jul 25, 2019 4:53 PM CDT

Lawyers can search for unaccompanied immigrant children’s cases through new ABA project

Asylum-seekers who have legal representation have a five times greater chance of winning their case. That’s the motivation behind Pro Bono Matters for Children Facing Deportation, an online platform launched Thursday that connects volunteer lawyers across the country with unaccompanied immigrant children who have been detained by the federal government…

Jul 25, 2019 2:48 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Mueller testifies before Congress; Gorsuch advises 2L

• In congressional testimony Wednesday, former special counsel Robert Mueller denied that his investigation was a “witch hunt” and said it did not exonerate President Donald Trump on allegations of obstruction of justice. Asked whether it was fair to say some of Trump’s written answers had been inadequate and showed…

Jul 24, 2019 4:39 PM CDT

New ABA pro bono program gives Mary Ryan a firsthand look at immigration at the border

“Part of the whole point, I think, in the ABA making this opportunity available is so that people can talk about it to people who care what’s happening on the border but can’t go themselves,” says Mary Ryan, an environmental litigator at Nutter McClennen & Fish in Boston. “It will make you a better advocate.”

Jul 24, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

Strangers in a strange land: ‘Metering’ makes asylum rights meaningless, immigrant advocates say

Metering has created further barriers of all kinds in the legal process, including barriers to finding a pro bono lawyer, to those lawyers’ ability to provide effective representation and even to notifying the immigrants of their hearings. Most concerning to immigrant rights advocates, it leaves immigrants so unsafe that they may be deterred from claiming asylum in the first place.

Jul 24, 2019 6:00 AM CDT

Trump administration expands fast-track deportations; legal challenges planned

The Trump administration announced in a draft notice Monday that it would expand fast-track deportations. People targeted for the procedure are those who illegally crossed the border and don’t have a pending asylum case or immigration court proceeding.

Jul 23, 2019 9:51 AM CDT

Controversial Penn law prof is under fire for remarks about third-world immigration

Updated: Controversial University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax is back in the news for recent remarks about the dangers of “cultural-distance” immigration.

Jul 22, 2019 11:55 AM CDT

Debut author wins 2019 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction with refugees’ story

Sharon Bala’s debut novel The Boat People has won the 2019 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction.

Jul 18, 2019 3:10 PM CDT