Mar
08
Immigration hardliners never hesitate to claim the mantle of “states’ rights” when defending laws like Arizona SB 1070. But those wanting local cops to double as federal immigration agents were conspicuously silent at a congressional hearing on Wednesday on the Scott Gardner Act, a bill that (among other things) would require police to run extra …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/03/08/why-the-scott-gardner-act-is-unconstitutionaland-a-bad-idea/
Mar
01
February was an important month in the debate over immigration “detainers,” the controversial tool used to strong-arm local jails into holding immigrants on the federal government’s behalf. In Connecticut, a class-action lawsuit was filed attacking detainers’ many legal vulnerabilities, and the Governor announced that state jails will not honor them in all cases. In Illinois, …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/03/01/ice-distorts-facts-in-debate-over-immigration-detainers/
Feb
21
This month, President Obama released his FY2013 budget proposal, estimating $3.8 trillion in total spending in 2013. This budget proposal signals the beginning of the annual federal budget process. Congressional budget and appropriations committees will now spend months deliberating over the appropriations bills, which are unlikely to look anything like the president’s budget proposal. However, …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/02/21/what-the-presidents-2013-budget-means-for-the-administrations-immigration-priorities/
Feb
15
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently announced creation of its first Public Advocate’s office, designed to serve as a point of contact for people trying to cut through the bureaucracy to get questions answered and concerns heard. While immigration hardliner Rep. Lamar Smith was quick to call the new office a “lobbying firm for illegal …
Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/02/15/ices-new-public-advocate-office-a-step-in-the-right-direction/
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/
Immigration Impact is a project of the American Immigration Council.
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