A federal judge on Thursday August 6, 2020 ordered coronavirus testing of everyone held at a California immigration detention center, saying authorities had shown “deliberate indifference to the risk of an outbreak.” U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has “lost the right to be trusted” that the agency will take safety measures at the Mesa Verde Detention Center. The judge said evidence shows that officials “have avoided widespread testing of staff and detainees at the facility, not for lack of tests, but for fear that positive test results would require them to implement safety measures...
Last Friday (July 31, 2020) in a late-afternoon ruling by the U.S. District Court of Oregon, the Honorable Karin Immergut denied the government’s motion to dismiss the case in Las Americas v Trump . The lawsuit, which was filed in December 2019, alleges that the Administration has failed to establish an impartial immigration court as required under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and the Take Care Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The complaint outlines pervasive dysfunction and bias within the immigration court system. The lawsuit also claims that the Attorney General has grossly mismanaged the immigration court system and weaponized...
On August 3, 2020, USCIS published a Final Rule that significantly alters the USCIS fee schedule by adjusting fees by a weighted average increase of 20 percent, adding new fees, establishing multiple fees for nonimmigrant worker petitions, and limiting the number of beneficiaries for certain forms. The rule also removes certain fee exemptions, changes fee waiver requirements, alters premium processing time limits, and modifies certain intercountry adoption processing. Key Aspects of the Rule: Increases fees by a weighted average of 20 percent Adds a $50 fee for asylum applications Removes the proposal to transfer money to ICE Retains some fee...
On July 29, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) enjoined the government from enforcing, applying, implementing, or treating as effective, the USCIS Final Rule on Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds (84 FR 41292, 8/14/19) for any period during which there is a declared national health emergency in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The court also issued a separate order enjoining the Department of State (DOS) from implementing, or taking any actions to enforce or apply, the 2018 FAM Revisions, the DOS Interim Final Rule on Visa Ineligibility on Public Charge Grounds (84 FR 54996, 10/11/19), or the President’s...
On Tuesday , July 28, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security has decided to immediately make the following changes to DACA: • Reject all initial requests for DACA and associated applications for Employment Authorization Documents (EAD); • Reject new and pending requests for advanced parole absent exceptional circumstances; and, • Limit the period of renewed deferred action granted pursuant to the DACA policy after the issuance of this memorandum to one (1) year. Acting DHS Secretary Chad F. Wolf claims that “ the Department of Homeland Security will take action to thoughtfully consider the future of the DACA policy, including...
The European Union will keep its external borders shut to travelers from most countries including the U.S. for at least two more weeks. The EU’s travel “white” list who have the green light to visit the bloc includes Algeria, Australia, Canada, China, Georgia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. The external-border recommendation covers 30 European countries: all EU member states except Ireland plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland because they are part of the bloc’s passport-free travel area.
President Trump issued a memorandum today, July 21, 2020, ordering the US Census to exclude undocumented immigrants from the population totals. The position of the Trump administration is in conflict with the U.S. Constitution which requires that that the “ whole number of persons” be counted in each state. The ACLU announced that it will immediately file a lawsuit.
The Trump administration has granted ICE’s request to be designated a “security/sensitive” agency when it comes to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).The designation limits the public’s ability to obtain vital information about ICE. The move further shields ICE from public accountability, allowing them to withhold even more information. This is a blow to government transparency and now the agency and its personnel will be less accountable to the public. The designation places ICE on the same level as officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and Secret Service. But unlike ICE, these agencies arguably need some level of...
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston announced on Tuesday, July 14, 2020 that the ICE policy that would have forced international students to leave the U.S. amid the coronavirus pandemic has been rescinded after an agreement was reached by the federal government and several Massachusetts universities, including Harvard and MIT. Immigration and Customs Enforcement initiated a policy last Monday on July 6, 2020 that said international students can’t live in the U.S. and take all of their classes online during the pandemic. The federal government will “return to the status quo as established by the March 9, 2020 policy...
The Trump Administration is expected to move once again and refile paperwork this week to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The new filing has been widely expected after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the administration failed in 2017 to provide adequate justification for terminating the Obama-era program. But the Supreme Court ruling, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, left the door open for the Trump administration to try again to rescind the program.White House chief of staff Mark Meadows hinted in a media interview earlier Monday, July 6, 2020 that the president was readying executive...
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