Jan 08
Anti-immigrant activists often say that we must first enforce current U.S. immigration laws before even considering any reforms that might grant legal status to unauthorized immigrants already living in the country. However, as the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) documents in a comprehensive new report (and a more condensed Report in Brief), that is what we …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2013/01/08/the-u-s-has-been-implementing-an-enforcement-first-immigration-policy-for-more-than-a-decade/
Jan 03
On the Friday before Christmas, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released new guidance on immigration “detainers,” the lynchpin of agency enforcement programs involving cooperation with local police. In the new guidance, ICE Director John Morton instructed agency employees to only file detainers against immigrants who represent agency “priorities.” Unfortunately, as with prior agency memos …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2013/01/03/new-ice-detainer-guidance-too-little-too-late/
Dec 18
Last week, the Boston Globe ran an important series of articles on a topic that receives far too little attention: the vast network of civil detention centers that last year held more than 400,000 immigrants in the United States. The product of a year-long investigation, the series shines a spotlight on a system in which …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/12/18/boston-globe-series-exposes-pitfalls-of-immigration-detention/
Dec 17
By Lisa Graybill, Visiting Lecturer in Law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. In a welcome if overdue move last Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued new guidance to Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) personnel, directing them not to respond to requests for translation assistance from other law enforcement organizations. The …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/12/17/border-patrol-tightens-up-their-policy-on-providing-interpretation-services/
Nov 15
The elections have produced nothing short of an immigration epiphany among some conservative commentators and politicians. Spurred by the electoral beating that Republican candidates suffered at the hands of Latino voters, pundits and lawmakers who once advocated an enforcement-only solution to the problem of unauthorized immigration are now talking about a pathway to legalization. While …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/11/15/conservatives-who-support-immigration-reform-also-need-to-rethink-border-security/
Oct 30
Update (11/2): USCIS has posted this reminder of special services and temporary relief that may be available to individuals affected by Hurricane Sandy, including expedited processing of employment authorization documents and extensions of certain non-immigrant status designations. In its discretion, USCIS will also take it into account requests from individuals who were unable submit evidence …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/10/30/tracking-the-immigration-agencies-actions-amidst-hurricane-sandy/
Sep 25
Most people are aware of increasing collaboration between state and local police and federal immigration officers. Programs like 287(g) and the Secure Communities program, as well as state laws like SB1070, create a new role for local police, who are now put in the position of identifying immigrants for possible deportation. It has meant that …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/09/25/the-harmful-effects-of-using-border-patrol-as-interpreters-along-the-northern-border/
Sep 10
It is by now well-known that more immigrants have been deported on an annual basis since President Obama took office than at any time in U.S. history. Late last month, however, Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) issued a statement seeking to cast doubt on this widely accepted fact by alleging that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/09/10/clearing-up-the-controversy-over-the-number-of-ice-removals/
Sep 05
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released results of their investigation into the US-VISIT program. US-VISIT was created after 9/11 to track noncitizens’ entries into and exits from the U.S. to identify national security threats, individuals entering with fraudulent identities, and visa overstays. Through US-VISIT, fingerprints and digital photographs …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/09/05/inspector-general-finds-serious-problems-with-us-visit-program/
Aug 29
By Dan Gordon, Communications Associate, National Immigration Forum Congress will return to Washington after Labor Day amid talk of a “fiscal cliff,” yet loath to address the steep price American taxpayers shoulder to detain immigrants.
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/08/29/doing-the-math-immigration-detention-costs-a-pretty-penny/
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Immigration Impact is a project of the American Immigration Council.
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