Immigration Law

Defending the huddled masses

The ABA quickly mobilized to focus attention on the Legal Orientation Program, which provides critical legal information to adults in immigration detention centers. The decision to “pause” the program was rescinded just 10 days after it was announced. The Justice Department will look at the program, and the ABA will watch closely to ensure the study is conducted fairly.

Jun 1, 2018 1:10 AM CDT

Forcibly separating families ‘violates basic standards of human decency,’ ABA president says

Separating immigrant children from their parents at the southern border is "unnecessarily cruel" and the ABA "strongly opposes" the policy, ABA President Hilarie Bass said in a statement Wednesday. “Separating children from their parents not only violates due process, it is antithetical to the very human values on which this country was founded and sets a terrible example for the rest of the world,” the statement says. “It should be stopped immediately.”

May 30, 2018 3:13 PM CDT

Trump questions need for immigration trials, says system is ‘corrupt’ and will be changed

President Donald Trump said the immigration system is “corrupt” and questioned the need for trials. In an interview with Fox News that aired Thursday,” Trump said the United States has “the worst immigration laws in the whole world” and he wanted to get rid of the system of “catch and…

May 24, 2018 4:30 PM CDT

‘I am not a racist,’ lawyer says after viral rant about Spanish-speakers

A New York lawyer who ranted about Spanish-speaking employees on a viral video says in a Twitter apology he is “deeply sorry” for his behavior. Aaron Schlossberg said seeing himself online made him realize that “the manner in which I expressed myself is unacceptable and is not the person I…

May 23, 2018 11:59 AM CDT

Supreme Court justices relist abortion case multiple times

U.S. Supreme Court justices have been considering whether to hear a case involving an immigrants teen’s abortion—multiple times.

May 21, 2018 7:05 AM CDT

Sessions rules immigration judges have no authority to indefinitely suspend cases

Attorney General Jeff Sessions ruled on Thursday that immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals do not have the general authority to indefinitely suspend cases through administrative closures.

May 18, 2018 11:10 AM CDT

Officials resigned reportedly after pressure to cancel temporary protected status for immigrants

President Donald Trump's administration ignored advice from its own diplomatic experts when it pressured reluctant Department of Homeland Security officials to end Temporary Protected Status for Honduran nationals, the Washington Post reported.

May 14, 2018 3:59 PM CDT

Sessions’ promise to prosecute all illegal entry raises concerns about court resources

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Monday that federal prosecutors will start bringing illegal entry charges against everyone caught crossing the border without authorization, “as many of those cases as humanly possible until we get to 100 percent.”

May 10, 2018 8:00 AM CDT

Lawsuit alleges government unlawfully drugs unaccompanied minor immigrants

Advocates for immigrant minors have recently alleged in federal court that the government is giving powerful psychiatric medications to immigrant minors without the permission of parents, guardians or a court.

May 9, 2018 7:30 AM CDT

Sessions says parents will likely be separated from children after crossing the border illegally

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Monday that he is implementing a zero-tolerance policy for illegal crossings at the Southwest border and aims to prosecute “as many of those cases as humanly possible until we get to 100 percent.”

May 8, 2018 12:12 PM CDT

Sessions sends more prosecutors, supervisory judges to border to handle immigration cases

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Wednesday he is responding to the “crisis at the Southwest border” with additional prosecutors and the use of supervisory immigration judges. Sessions said in a press release that 35 new assistant U.S. attorney positions have been allocated to U.S. attorney’s offices along the Southwest border.…

May 3, 2018 3:38 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: What Sessions v. Dimaya means for immigration law

Sessions v. Dimaya, decided April 17, will be most remembered for being the first time that Justice Neil Gorsuch joined with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to create the majority in a 5-4 decision. But beyond the unusual composition of the majority, it is a notable decision that will have important implications for immigration law and other areas of law as well.

May 3, 2018 8:30 AM CDT

2 Center for Constitutional Rights officials are denied entry into Israel

Two officials with the Center for Constitutional Rights say that on Sunday they were interrogated and denied entry into Israel for a fact-finding tour with U.S. human rights leaders. Israel denied entry to executive director Vincent Warren and board chair Katherine Franke, a Columbia University law professor on the executive…

May 2, 2018 11:07 AM CDT

7 states file suit claiming Obama violated take care clause by creating DACA

Texas and six other states have filed a lawsuit claiming former President Barack Obama violated the Constitution’s take care clause when he created the program protecting immigrants brought to the country illegally as minors.

May 2, 2018 8:34 AM CDT

Increased enforcement of immigration laws has raised the risk of scams

Fraud targeting immigrants did not begin with the Trump administration; advocates say it’s constant and pervasive. But the administration’s aggressive approach to immigration law enforcement is driving up interest in legal services, they say. And some subset of those immigrants looking for help will end up trusting the wrong people.

May 1, 2018 12:30 AM CDT