Feb
01
The federal government’s current approach to border security is dangerously misguided. Border-enforcement resources are directed at what gets smuggled across the border—people, drugs, guns, money—rather than who is doing the smuggling; namely, the transnational criminal organizations based in Mexico which are commonly referred to as the “cartels.” If the U.S. government wants to get serious …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/02/01/new-report-analyzes-fatal-flaws-of-u-s-border-enforcement-strategy/
Jan
20
Signs that ICE is invested in the “Morton Memo” and subsequent guidance on prosecutorial discretion are beginning to show up at both ends of the legal spectrum. At one end, the New York Times reported yesterday that approximately one in six cases reviewed in a pilot program at the Denver immigration court may be indefinitely …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/01/20/holding-the-obama-administration-to-its-word-on-prosecutorial-discretion/
Jan
13
An October 2010 ICE memo from ICE Deputy Legal Advisor Riah Ramlogan to ICE Assistant Deputy Director Beth Gibson has finally been made public after a protracted legal battle. The nine page memo, obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation, presents ICE’s legal arguments for making the Secure Communities Program mandatory for all jurisdictions …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/01/13/ice-releases-memo-outlining-justification-for-making-secure-communities-mandatory/
Jan
10
Despite the ongoing controversy surrounding ICE’s Secure Communities program, there have been some recent positive developments on the issue of immigration detainers—a tool used by ICE and other DHS officials to identify potentially deportable individuals who are housed in jails or prisons nationwide. Local governments in New York, Illinois, California and now Washington D.C. have …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/01/10/ice-local-governments-make-important-changes-to-immigration-detainer-policies/
Nov
30
Congressman Steve King (R-IA), Subcommittee on Immigration Policy & Enforcement. Today, the House Immigration Subcommittee held a hearing on the Secure Communities program (S-Comm)—an enforcement program that has been rife with controversy since its inception in 2008. Today’s hearing featured statements from a variety of witnesses and members of Congress which further underscored the problems …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2011/11/30/house-subcommittee-hearing-underscores-problems-with-secure-communities-program/
Nov
17
Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) directed ICE attorneys to begin a review process of current immigration cases pending before immigration courts in order to close or dismiss those cases warranting prosecutorial discretion. The attorneys also received additional guidance on how to apply discretion in certain low priority cases. At the same time, DHS announced …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2011/11/17/dhs-begins-review-of-deportation-cases-issues-additional-prosecutorial-discretion-guidelines/
Nov
14
It’s been almost six months since ICE Director John Morton issued new guidelines on prosecutorial discretion to help ICE agents, attorneys and other officials distinguish between high priority cases (national security threats and serious criminals) and low priority cases (DREAM Act students). A recent survey released by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2011/11/14/prosecutorial-discretion-survey-demonstrates-need-for-more-training-consistency-across-ice-field-offices/
Nov
02
New data on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) controversial Secure Communities reveals the program’s devastating impact on immigrants, Latinos and U.S. citizens. Released by the Warren Institute at Berkeley Law School, the report, “Secure Communities by the Numbers,” examines the profile of individuals who have been apprehended through the program and funneled through the …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2011/11/02/new-data-highlights-devastating-impact-of-secure-communities-on-immigrant-and-latino-communities/
Oct
25
Reports of abuse from immigration detention facilities are nothing new. In fact, due to private contractors’ lax attitude and lack of federal oversight, many experts are finding that cases of abuse are vastly underreported. Last week, the ACLU reported on 185 allegations of sexual abuse of undocumented female detainees held in federal detention facilities. While …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2011/10/25/aclu-brings-cases-of-immigration-detention-abuse-to-light/
Oct
19
It was another record breaking year for deportations, with DHS logging 396,906 removals during Fiscal Year 2011. While the raw number is not in doubt, its meaning is far from clear. According to DHS, 55% of those removed (approximately 218,000) were “criminal aliens,” but the definition of “criminal” is overly broad. While DHS may tout …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2011/10/19/redefining-criminality-untangling-dhs%e2%80%99s-record-high-deportation-numbers/
Immigration Impact is a project of the American Immigration Council.
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