Immigration Law

9th Circuit orders government to stop detaining immigrant minors without court hearings

A unanimous panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that minors may not be held in immigration detention without a hearing on whether they can be released, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Jul 5, 2017 5:42 PM CDT

10 Questions: Along the Texas-Mexico border, immigration lawyer Kimi Jackson deals with life and death

The ABA-sponsored South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project helps asylum-seekers and other detained immigrants in South Texas detention facilities. Kimi Jackson is ProBAR’s director.

Jul 1, 2017 1:55 AM CDT

Federal judge finds immigration officials are mistreating unaccompanied minors

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is again violating a 20-year-old settlement intended to protect the rights of detained immigrant juveniles, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. According to Law360 (sub. req.), Los Angeles federal district judge Dolly Gee found that some CBP facilities do not meet the standards of the 1997…

Jun 30, 2017 3:37 PM CDT

Proposed ‘18 budget would cut LSC by 24%, increase funds for law enforcement and immigration court

The U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee responsible for appropriating money for the Department of Justice has released its proposed budget for fiscal year 2018.

Jun 30, 2017 2:49 PM CDT

Republicans call on Ginsburg to recuse herself in travel ban case

Corrected: Fifty-eight Republican lawmakers are calling on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to recuse herself in the travel ban case that will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jun 29, 2017 2:44 PM CDT

US reportedly defines ‘close family’ ties that will exempt immigrants from travel ban

The U.S. State Department has reportedly adopted guidelines to define which immigrants are exempt from the revised ban on travel to the United States by people from six Muslim-majority countries.

Jun 29, 2017 8:32 AM CDT

Ex-lawyer for Joe Arpaio testifies in the former sheriff’s contempt trial

A former lawyer for Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio was forced to testify Monday in Arpaio’s criminal contempt trial for allegedly violating a judge’s order. Arpaio, who lost his bid for re-election, is accused of violating a court order that barred him from detaining people only because he believed…

Jun 27, 2017 1:34 PM CDT

Case of teen shot on Mexican side of border by US agent is returned to federal appeals court

The U.S. Supreme Court has returned to a federal appeals court a case that claims constitutional protections for a Mexican teen shot and killed by a U.S. border patrol agent. The teen was on the Mexican side of the border when he was shot by the agent, who was standing…

Jun 26, 2017 9:45 AM CDT

Supreme Court to hear challenges to Trump’s travel ban; partly lifts injunction

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider challenges to President Donald Trump’s revised, temporary ban on travel to the United States by people from six Muslim-majority countries.

Jun 26, 2017 9:42 AM CDT

Immigrant who got bad legal advice is entitled to vacate his conviction, Supreme Court rules

An immigrant whose lawyer wrongly told him he would not be deported as a result of a guilty plea is entitled to vacate his conviction, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 6-2 decision. The court ruled for Jae Lee, who argued he would not have accepted the plea…

Jun 23, 2017 9:44 AM CDT

Lying to immigration officials doesn’t necessarily justify revoking citizenship, Supreme Court rules

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the government can’t revoke citizenship for lying to immigration authorities unless the actual facts would have led to a denial of citizenship. The court ruled on behalf of Divna Maslenjak, a Serbian immigrant who lied to immigration officials about her husband’s service…

Jun 22, 2017 11:18 AM CDT

Trump keeps Obama’s ‘Dreamer’ program intact, but their parents face deportation

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has extended the Obama administration’s protections for “Dreamer” immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children. The department announced on Thursday that immigrants enrolled in the program, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA, would be eligible to seek extensions allowing…

Jun 16, 2017 10:50 AM CDT

Protection of Children Act would harm immigrant children, ABA tells House Judiciary Committee

The recently proposed Protection of Children Act of 2017 would place some children in harm’s way, the ABA argued Wednesday in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee. The bill, H.R. 495, is sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Carter, a Texas Republican. It pertains to unaccompanied immigrant minors, and would…

Jun 14, 2017 12:14 PM CDT

9th Circuit rules against Trump’s revised travel ban, avoids establishment clause claim

Updated:The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld an injunction blocking President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban.

Jun 12, 2017 12:29 PM CDT

SCOTUS strikes down citizenship law because of different treatment based on parent’s gender

Corrected: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday struck down a law that makes it easier, in some cases, for children born overseas to an unwed U.S. citizen mother to acquire citizenship at birth than children born to an unwed U.S. citizen father.

Jun 12, 2017 9:35 AM CDT