Emily Creighton
Emily Creighton is a staff attorney at the Legal Action Center. She has represented amicus curiae before Board of Immigration Appeals and in various federal courts around the country. She also contributes to the work of the Legal Action Center's Litigation Clearinghouse. Ms. Creighton joined the Immigration Council in 2006. She graduated cum laude from American University Washington College of Law in 2006. Prior to law school, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine.
In a move to reduce the number of times immigration judges reschedule immigration hearings, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) recently issued guidance suggesting judges should change practices regarding “continuances.” A continuance, which only may be granted for “good cause,” is a critically important option for individuals who seek a level playing field in […]
A federal court in Tucson, Arizona held that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must answer allegations of horrific conditions experienced by individuals in Tucson Sector detention facilities (a.k.a. “hieleras”) along the southern border. In decisions handed down on January 11, the court decided that the case, Doe V. Johnson, may proceed as a class […]
Seven groups have filed amicus briefs in support of a petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court in United States v. Texas, requesting that the Court overturn the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to enjoin, or halt, the President’s 2014 deferred action initiatives. The briefs were filed on behalf of a diverse range of […]
In a decision issued last week, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) reversed course and decided that a subset of Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) who have been convicted of certain crimes may now have an opportunity to avoid deportation by proving to an immigration judge that their removal would cause extreme hardship to their U.S. […]
The misnamed Secure Communities program has been plagued with problems since its inception—most fundamentally, its failure to make communities more “secure.” Critics of the program have cited to its adverse impact on community policing, asserted that it encourages racial profiling, and highlighted the mounting evidence that many individuals encountered and subsequently removed through the program […]
In a strong condemnation of Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) treatment of refugees, several organizations submitted a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (OCRCL) detailing the pervasive failure of CBP officers to properly screen individuals who fear persecution. The complaint supplements media accounts, and recent reports by […]
The deplorable conditions in U.S. Border Patrol—an agency within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—detention facilities have been widely documented in numerous media accounts and NGO reports and challenged in federal lawsuits. Immigrant children and other immigrants detained in these facilities—often called “hieleras” or “iceboxes” because of their cold temperatures—consistently describe extremely crowded holding cells […]
As communities continue to debate the harmful impact of large scale immigration enforcement programs such as Secure Communities, the 287(g) Program and the Criminal Alien Program, much of the discussion has centered on the use of “detainers.” – Detainers are requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to state and local jailers and officials asking […]
A recent settlement agreement in a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of thousands of asylum seekers is removing obstacles they faced in obtaining work documents while they pursue their asylum claims. The inability to work for lengthy periods of time has had crippling effects on asylum applicants. Without proper work authorization, they have been […]
For many young immigrants who are now lawfully present under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative—which grants them the right to work and live in the United States for at least two years—the next question may be, when will they be able to travel outside of the United States? Depending on what guidance […]
