The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), an agency within the Department of Justice (DOJ) that adjudicates immigration cases and oversees the country’s immigration court system, has announced its intention to halt the Vera Institute of Justice’s Legal Orientation Program (LOP) while it audits the program’s cost-effectiveness. Vera’s LOP program offers legal educational services to detained immigrants. During the audit, the Trump administration will also evaluate the Vera Institute’s information “help desk,” which provides tips to immigrants who are not detained but still facing deportation. This announcement comes as DOJ attempts to deal with the massive backlog of approximately 650,000 immigration court cases by 2020. Earlier this month, the DOJ announced case quotas for immigration judges.
Read moreVox: "March 5 is supposed to be the DACA 'deadline.' Here’s what that means for immigrants."
Last September, President Trump announced the termination of the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and gave March 5, 2018, as the deadline for Congress to find a legislative solution for the approximately 700,000 DACA recipients. This March 5 deadline arrived this week just after the Supreme Court declined to hear the administration’s appeal of a federal judge's injunction that halted Trump's decision to terminate the DACA program. Currently, because of the recent court injunctions and the actions of the Supreme Court and despite the March 5 deadline, USCIS is accepting DACA renewals only and operating the DACA program on the “terms in place before it was rescinded on Sept. 5, 2017, until further notice.”
Read moreMoral Test
The Hill: “Trump to establish National Vetting Center for immigrants, visitors”
President Trump signed a national security presidential memorandum last week that will establish a “National Vetting Center” to “identify potential threats to national security, border security, homeland security, and public safety.” The National Vetting Center will be run by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), together with the Justice Department, the State Department, and other intelligence agencies. These agencies must establish the center in six months, with no additional funding.
Read morePeople Are Dying
OPINION: Those in Immigration Court Should Be Provided Legal Assistance Regardless of Ability to Pay
It’s a common scene in any episode of Law & Order: the detective puts the suspect’s wrists in handcuffs while reciting: “You have the right to remain silent, anything you do or say can be used against you in a court of law; you have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided to you.” (Emphasis mine.) The recognizable “DUN DUN” then gongs as the show goes to a commercial break. It’d be natural to assume, then, that people in all kinds of legal proceedings should have an attorney provided to them, regardless of their ability to pay. In immigration court, however, this is not always the case, as a recent ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals made clear.
Read moreAP: “Immigration authorities detail plan for courthouse arrests”
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) formalized a policy last month that allows ICE officers to make arrests in state, local, and federal courthouses, despite complaints from judges and immigration advocacy groups that this tactic creates fear among victims of crime, witnesses, and family members. The ICE memo, signed off by Acting ICE Director Thomas D. Homan, says courthouse enforcement only targets immigrants with criminal convictions, gang members, threats to national or public safety, those who have been ordered removed but did not leave the US, and those who have re-entered illegally after being removed.
Read moreVulture: “Why You Could Be Seeing a Lot of Immigrant Stories on TV This Fall”
As immigration topics inspire heated debate across the country, Americans may see more storylines about the immigrant experience on television this upcoming fall. While some shows—including One Day at a Time, Jane the Virgin, and Ugly Betty—have all dealt with various aspects of the immigrant experience at one time or another, seven upcoming projects for the pilot season feature immigrants as lead characters dealing head-on with deportation, the DACA program, access to health care for immigrants, and the refugee experience. While these projects are still in the development stages and not guaranteed to be picked up for a full series by the networks, they demonstrate that the entertainment industry is realizing how important, powerful, and compelling these stories are.
Read moreDream Come True
OPINION: How the Immigration Landscape Changed in 2017
When Donald Trump won the election, many immigrants and their advocates feared the worst. Now that President Trump has been in office for over a year, I wish I could write that everyone’s fears were overblown, but that simply isn’t true. The administration’s actions have met and in some cases exceeded the worst fears of many immigrants and immigration practitioners.
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