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

New asylum rule is quickly challenged in two lawsuits

Updated: Two lawsuits filed Tuesday on behalf of immigrant aid organizations seek to block a new asylum rule that would prevent most immigrants at the southern border from applying for asylum.

Jul 17, 2019 11:00 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Unlicensed PD’s clients stick with plea deals; lawyer a no-show at sentencing

• Defendants whose plea bargains were handled by an unlicensed public defender in Madison County, Illinois, apparently aren’t interested in a do-over. All but one of the defendants whose cases involved jail time stuck with the same deal they received when the cases were handled by unlicensed law grad Kelcie…

Jul 15, 2019 4:45 PM CDT

New rule would make applying for US asylum impossible for most immigrants at the southern border

Updated: Most immigrants at the southern border won’t be eligible to apply for asylum under an interim final rule published Monday by the Trump administration. Under the new rule, immigrants at the southern border must apply for asylum in at least one country they enter while on their way to…

Jul 15, 2019 3:30 PM CDT

ABA joins other legal organizations in calling for independent immigration courts

A letter sent by the ABA and three other legal organizations Thursday urges Congress to establish an immigration court system outside the control of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Jul 11, 2019 2:57 PM CDT

ACLU sues state police, alleging they’re acting as immigration authorities

Pennsylvania State Police troopers have routinely violated the law by stopping and holding people based solely on their Latino appearance, terrifying drivers and passengers while usurping federal authority to investigate supposed immigration violations, the ACLU claims in a federal lawsuit filed recently.

Jul 9, 2019 1:29 PM CDT

Federal judge blocks policy ending bond hearings for asylum-seekers

Updated: A ruling by a federal judge has blocked the enforcement of a new policy that would require immigrants awaiting asylum determinations to be detained during their review. Judge Marsha Pechman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington said in her opinion, filed Tuesday, that immigration…

Jul 3, 2019 11:21 AM CDT

Are you an attorney who wants to get involved at the border? The ABA offers ways to do it

Jul 3, 2019 10:14 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: A look back at the Supreme Court’s October 2018 term

There was much that was unusual about the U.S. Supreme Court’s October 2018 term, writes Erwin Chemerinsky, law dean at the University of California at Berkeley. What should be gleaned?

Jul 2, 2019 2:18 PM CDT