Arizona measles outbreak attributed to vaccine-refusing guards at immigration detention center

Arizona authorities say private prison guards who refused vaccinations are the locus of a measles outbreak, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. Health authorities say all 22 cases of measles in the outbreak can be traced to the Eloy Detention Center in rural Arizona, at which adult immigrants are detained…

Jul 11, 2016 5:09 PM CDT

Obama can use pardon powers to stop deportations, law prof says in op-ed

President Barack Obama could use his pardon power to partly implement his deferred deportation program, according to a law professor’s op-ed. Writing in the New York Times, Benjamin Cardozo School of Law professor Peter Markowitz says the president’s pardon power extends to “all offenses against the United States,” which could…

Jul 8, 2016 7:30 AM CDT

US must release immigrant kids who cross the border with a parent, 9th Circuit says

A 1997 settlement regarding the treatment of immigrant children who are picked up at the border applies to children traveling with a parent, a federal appeals court has ruled. The decision by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals requires immigration officials to quickly release such children to…

Jul 7, 2016 2:12 PM CDT

Supreme Court splits 4-4 in challenge to Obama’s deferred-deportation program; injunction remains

The U.S. Supreme Court has split 4-4 in a challenge to President Barack Obama’s power to implement a deferred deportation program, leaving in place a nationwide injunction blocking the initiative. The New York Times calls the tie vote “a sharp blow” to Obama’s program and “a rebuke to his go-it-alone…

Jun 23, 2016 9:42 AM CDT

Amidst claims ICE should do more to ID lawful residents, detained citizen wins $20K award

Complex U.S. immigration laws and relatively minimal standards for detaining those suspected of violating them cause hundreds of American citizens and thousands of legal residents to be held without appropriate basis, advocates say. Some of those held don’t even know themselves that they are American citizens, making it difficult for…

Jun 13, 2016 6:00 AM CDT

Judge who required ethics training for possibly 3,000 DOJ lawyers stays his order

A federal judge in Texas who required ethics training for as many as 3,000 Justice Department lawyers has stayed his May 19 order and invited the department to propose its own sanction for alleged misrepresentations. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of Brownsville agreed on Tuesday to stay the sanction until…

Jun 8, 2016 8:58 AM CDT

Asylum decisions for Central American children may depend on where they live

Central American minors seeking asylum in the United States undergo the same interview process in all parts of the country. But an Associated Press analysis of asylum decisions suggests that whether they’re granted asylum is influenced by what part of the country they end up in. The AP analyzed data…

Jun 2, 2016 7:15 AM CDT

Federal judge imposes sweeping sanctions on DOJ, requires ethics classes for litigators in 26 states

Blasting the U.S. Department of Justice for its earlier conduct in a major immigration case that is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court, a federal judge in Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday imposed sweeping sanctions on the department’s litigators and demanded a remedial response from U.S. attorney general Loretta Lynch. “[T]he…

May 20, 2016 9:35 AM CDT

Immigration lawyer convicted of helping clients concoct tales of persecution

A suburban Chicago immigration lawyer was criminally convicted of four perjury and immigration fraud charges by a federal court jury Monday, but was acquitted on a fifth fraud count. Robert DeKelaita, 53, helped immigrants make false claims of oppression and persecution on documents submitted to the Citizenship and Immigration Service…

May 10, 2016 1:15 PM CDT

Immigration lawyer admits breaking law to help client, gets 2 years of probation

An award-winning Georgia immigration lawyer who was facing felony charges for allegedly facilitating a client’s visa fraud has taken a misdemeanor plea. Attorney Bonnie Youn, 46, was sentenced Tuesday to two years of probation and a $5,245 fine. She also will not practice law during that period, the Daily Report…

May 5, 2016 12:10 PM CDT

Midyear meeting tour provides an up-close look at immigration issues

May 1, 2016 1:00 AM CDT

Homeland Security lawyer admits forging documents that could have led to Mexican man’s deportation

A government lawyer who admitted to forging a document making it appear that a Mexican man was ineligible for deportation relief received a one-month federal sentence Wednesday. Jonathan Love, a former assistant chief counsel with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, pleaded guilty to deprivation of rights under the color…

Apr 21, 2016 4:45 PM CDT

Supreme Court appears divided in challenge to Obama’s deferred deportations

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday appeared divided in a challenge to President Barack Obama’s authority to defer deportation for millions of immigrants. The court appeared split, with four liberals indicating support for Obama’s executive action and conservatives seeming to side with 26 states that say the president overstepped his…

Apr 18, 2016 12:04 PM CDT

Feds set up fake university, charge 21 brokers, recruiters and employers in visa-fraud sting

In what is being billed as a first-of-a-kind sting operation, a fake university set up by the feds resulted in criminal charges against 21 brokers, recruiters and employers in an alleged student and foreign worker visa fraud conspiracy. The University of Northern New Jersey purportedly operated out of an office…

Apr 6, 2016 3:20 PM CDT

ABA asks DHS to consider less restrictive measures than ankle monitors for asylum seekers

Wearing an ankle monitor is less restrictive than being detained by U.S. authorities. However, even less restrictive alternatives are available to use on Central American immigrant families fleeing extraordinary violence in their native countries, and they should be considered, the American Bar Association says. In a Friday letter (PDF) to…

Mar 22, 2016 12:30 PM CDT