Immigration Law

ABE’s annual grant program sends $300K to 12 innovative projects

Low-income clients overburdened by debt, transgender and nonbinary people who need help changing their names, and youths experiencing homelessness are among the groups supported this year by the American Bar Endowment’s Opportunity Grant Program.

Apr 26, 2023 11:50 AM CDT

How can lawyers use AI to improve their practice?

As cool as it is that artificial intelligence can generate text, that’s not what will matter most to the practice of law in the coming months and years, said Pablo Arredondo, co-founder and chief innovation officer at Casetext, a legal technology company that aims to improve access to legal research.

Mar 3, 2023 12:37 PM CST

Legal advocates compare proposed asylum rules to Trump-era restrictions

President Joe Biden proposed new asylum restrictions Tuesday that some legal advocates are condemning for being too similar to measures imposed under the former Trump administration.

Feb 23, 2023 10:57 AM CST

Weekly Briefs: SCOTUS nixes immigration arguments; decapitation defendant attacks her lawyer

SCOTUS drops arguments in immigration case The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday removed a case from its argument calendar in which 19 states sought to keep in place an immigrant expulsion policy. The policy, based on Title 42 of the U.S. Code, quickly expelled asylum seekers on the ground they…

Feb 17, 2023 3:45 PM CST

Chemerinsky: When can state governments sue the United States?

A recurring issue before the Supreme Court this term, including in two cases to be argued in the next month, concerns when state governments have standing to sue the United States. Over the last decade, there has been an explosion of such suits.

Feb 1, 2023 11:49 AM CST

Legal community supports Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s war against Ukraine

The Ukrainian Mothers and Children Transport initiative, or UMACT, is a collaboration of lawyers, professors and law students that helps Ukrainian families secure travel visas. Its name aims to evoke the Kindertransport, which brought 10,000 Jewish children to the United Kingdom as World War II loomed, says law professor Michael Bazyler, a former refugee from Poland of Ukrainian descent.

Feb 1, 2023 1:10 AM CST

Asylum-seekers entering US illegally would be subject to rebuttable presumption under Biden border proposal

President Joe Biden announced a new border policy Thursday that will admit up to 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Jan 6, 2023 10:33 AM CST

Why did Gorsuch join liberal justices who wanted to lift Trump-era Title 42 immigration policy?

Four justices dissented when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a Dec. 27 order that keeps in place a Trump-era immigration policy pending further litigation by 19 Republican-led states.

Jan 4, 2023 12:03 PM CST

Chief justice temporarily continues Title 42 policy that expelled asylum-seekers based on COVID-19 dangers

Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday temporarily kept in place a policy that quickly turned back asylum-seekers on the ground that they could contribute to the spread of COVID-19.

Dec 20, 2022 10:08 AM CST

Texas AG seeks records from immigration nonprofits, seeks funding sources for ‘border invasion’ aid

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking information from three immigration and legal nonprofits to determine whether they are receiving funds from the Texas Bar Foundation and using the money to “support the border invasion.”

Dec 15, 2022 2:45 PM CST

Meet 12 ABA members who inspired us in 2022

In this year’s Members Who Inspire series, the ABA Journal featured 12 extraordinary ABA members who go to great lengths to embolden their clients, colleagues and members of the communities around them. Their work includes helping immigrants with tax issues, advocating for individuals living with HIV/AIDS and addressing racial injustice and inequality.

Dec 14, 2022 8:38 AM CST

Supreme Court will consider ban on encouraging illegal immigration in case of ‘adult adoption’ promoter

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider the constitutionality of a law making it a crime to encourage or induce illegal immigration for commercial advantage or private financial gain.

Dec 12, 2022 2:18 PM CST

Meet the two Texas attorneys behind the Children’s Immigration Law Academy

Dalia Castillo-Granados had just begun her fellowship with the St. Frances Cabrini Center for Immigrant Legal Assistance, a program of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, when she met Yasmin Yavar in 2008.

Nov 23, 2022 1:24 PM CST

Lawyers struggle to make headway with growing immigrant backlog

The virtual courtroom of immigration Judge Thomas Mulligan of New York City’s Varick Street court was not exactly a well-oiled machine on a recent August morning. The judge was occupied with master calendar hearings, the docket where respondents—they would be called “defendants” in other settings—acknowledged and answered the government’s charges.

Nov 23, 2022 11:29 AM CST

Texas governor invokes obscure constitutional provision to repel ‘border invasion;’ judge strikes down Title 42 next day

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday he is invoking the U.S. Constitution’s invasion clause and taking “unprecedented measures” to repel a “border invasion.”

Nov 16, 2022 10:22 AM CST