Author: Aaron Reichlin-Melnick

Making Sense of the Rising Number of Families Arriving at the Border

Over the past few months, a new trend has emerged at the U.S.-Mexico border: more families are crossing and presenting themselves to U.S. officials to ask for asylum. But even though the number of people crossing the border are still at historically low levels, the Trump administration alleges it is overwhelmed by the arrival of […]

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Calls to Reform ‘Irredeemably Dysfunctional’ Immigration Court System Grow Louder

In an exhaustive report  on the immigration court system, the American Bar Association (ABA) called on Congress to make sweeping changes in order to fix a system “on the brink of collapse.” According to the ABA, the immigration courts—which currently face backlogs of over 855,000 cases—are so “irredeemably dysfunctional” that the only solution is for […]

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After Shutdown Loss, Trump Doubles Down on Immigration in His New Budget

After weeks of tense negotiations, Congress averted a second government shutdown last month by reaching a bipartisan agreement on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 budget—a budget which gave President Trump very little of his border demands. Undeterred, the president made a budget request for the next fiscal year on Monday. He called for $8.6 billion […]

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DHS Secretary Denies Responsibility for Family Separation, Asks Congress to Limit Asylum Protections

In a combative hearing before Congress on Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen testified for the first time since Democrats became the majority in the House of Representatives. During the House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Nielsen refused to admit culpability in family separation, denied reports that asylum seekers are being turned away […]

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Government Officials Deflect Responsibility for Family Separation at Congressional Hearing

At an oversight hearing on family separation in front of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, government officials from four different agencies dug in against criticisms and denied any accountability for the Trump administration’s family separation policy. All but one of the officials admitted under questioning that they had not raised any objection to family […]

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