Immigration Law

TOO LITTLE TOO LATE?

Posted on August 31, 2008
ICE now is telling immigrants they won't conduct enforcement operations during evacuations. Shouldn't they have announced this two or three days ago when people still had a chance to flee?

PREGNANT DETAINEES WILL NO LONGER BE SHACKLED IN NASHVILLE

Posted on August 29, 2008
I blogged on this subject earlier this summer and am pleased my friend Elliot Ozment has made some good progress on this issue.

GUSTAV AND IMMIGRATION

Posted on August 29, 2008
USCIS has issued its standard closure notices regarding locations in areas withing the projected path of the storm. DHS is not saying anything, of course, about the 600 immigrants just arrested last week in Laurel, Mississippi who are now being detained in Gena, Louisiana and how the storm will affect their proceedings and detention.

ACLU INVESTIGATING ICE CONDUCT IN MISSISSIPPI RAID

Posted on August 27, 2008
The nation's major civil liberty protection organization has announced it is conducting an investigation into allegations of discrimination, blocking access to legal counsel and other serious accusations. Here is the press release: ACLU Investigating Largest Immigration Raid In The Country Reports Of Government Discrimination And Secrecy Trigger Scrutiny FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 27, 2008 CONTACT: Rachel Myers, (212) 549-2666; media@aclu...

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CANADA UPS THE ANTE ON COMPETITION FOR BRIGHTEST STUDENTS

Posted on August 26, 2008
Following Europe's lead, Canada is instituting a fast track policy to make it easier and faster for foreign students to get permanent status. Congress, are you awake?

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: MAYA SOETORO-NG - SPEAKER AT DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

Posted on August 26, 2008
Indonesian-born Maya Soetoro-Ng may not have a familiar name. But you may have heard of her half-brother Barack Obama. Last night Ms. Soetoro-Ng introduced herself to a national television audience at the Democratic National Convention in Denver and talked about growing up with her older brother...

CONGRATS TO IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY MEDALISTS

Posted on August 26, 2008
Congrats to the many athletes and their coaches for a sensational Olympics. In particular, I wanted to note the following previously named Immigrants of the Day: Hugh McCutcheon - Coach of gold medal US men's volleyball teamNastia Liukin - Winner of all around gold medal in women's gymnasticsKirsty Coventry - Gold medal winner and new world record holder in 100m backstrokeAlexander Artemev - Bronze medal in men's gymnasticsTony Azevedo - Member of silver medal winning men's water polo teamAnna Tunnicliffe - Gold medal in sailingSusan Francia - Gold medal in rowingPhil Dalhausser - Winner of gold in beach volleyballLiang Chow...

IT'S NOW 595

Posted on August 26, 2008
Holy smokes! The ICE raid in Mississippi yesterday now counts as the largest work site raid in American history. Unlike Postville, the previous record holder, so far only eight criminal cases are being tracked for criminal prosecution. According to ICE, Howard Industries was searched yesterday for evidence of aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and other crimes...

DEMOCRATS TO EMBRACE IMMIGRATION REFORM AT DENVER CONVENTION

Posted on August 25, 2008
The Democratic and GOP national conventions will likely treat immigration in very different ways. The Democrats will seek to convince Hispanic voters that they are the party that will be able to deliver immigration reform. The Republicans - well, not so much...

HUGH MCCUTCHEON - US MEN'S OLYMPIC VOLLEYBALL COACH

Posted on August 25, 2008
The final medal for the US was one of the sweetest and most emotional for Team USA. Our men's team beat a legendary Brazilian team and produced the first gold medal for the US in 20 years. The match was tight and some of the volleys were absolutely amazing...

MASSIVE ICE RAID HAPPENING NOW IN SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI

Posted on August 25, 2008
I have been getting reports throughout the morning from immigration advocates in Mississippi that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been staging a massive series of raids on employers and in apartment complexes in the southern part of the state with a large number of arrests...

350

Posted on August 25, 2008
That's how many people were arrested in Laurel, Mississippi at one of the largest worksite raids in American history today. The question now is whether ICE and the Justice Department will blow it and do a re-run of Postville, Iowa or they will provide due process, humane treatment, and, most importantly since the workers are likely to be charged criminally, adequate access to attorneys.

SCANDAL JUDGES DENY ASYLUM CASES AT A HIGHER RATE

Posted on August 24, 2008
In July I reported on 37 judges that are the center of the Justice Department scandal involving immigration judges being appointed based on political loyalty rather than competency. This morning the NY Times reports on an analysis of denial rates in asylum cases for these same judges...

MCCAIN STILL TRAILING WITH HISPANIC VOTERS

Posted on August 24, 2008
New polls showing that Hispanic voters have been abandoning the GOP and withholding their support for John McCain, despite his past support for comprehensive immigration reform.

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: WANG CHEN - OLYMPIC TABLE TENNIS PLAYER

Posted on August 22, 2008
Congratulations to Chinese-born Wang Chen has just finished her Olympic tournament and has taken the US to the quarter finals for the first time ever. The Beijing native previously played on the Chinese national team before retiring and moving to the US in the 90s.

DALHAUSSER AND ROGERS WIN GOLD IN MEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Posted on August 22, 2008
Congrats to Immigrant of the Day Phil Dalhausser who dominated in the third set in tonight's gold medal match against the Brazilian team of Fabio and Marcio (I love the spunk of the Brazilian Olympic team athletes who play under just their first names).

I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS WASN'T A HIT

Posted on August 22, 2008
The self-deportation program goes bye-bye. I heard the same people who brought you that program also brought you this one.

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: LIANG CHOW - OLYMPIC COACH

Posted on August 20, 2008
A h earty congratulations to Chinese-born Liang Chow who coached American Shawn Johnson on to Olympic Gold on the balance beam. This has been a homecoming as well. Chow has not been home in 14 years and he had not seen his grandparents in all that time...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: DAVID ZHUANG - OLYMPIC TABLE TENNIS PLAYER

Posted on August 19, 2008
Don't dare call it ping pong. Chinese-born David Zhuang is the only American to qualify to compete in table tennis at the Olympics. The 44 year old is much older than most of his competitors, but his nearly four decades of experience will serve him well...

THIS IS NOT MAKING US SAFER

Posted on August 19, 2008
The surliness just drips from this narrative by Emily Feder, a US citizen, who was detained for hours at JFK Airport in NY. Denying people access to the bathroom, food, water? Collectively punishing people? Is this airport inspection or a warzone? The lack of professionalism exhibited by the officers in this story is, unfortunately, quite common...

9TH CIRCUIT HOLDS THAT NO MATCH LETTERS DON'T EQUATE TO CONSTRUCTIVE KNOWLEDGE

Posted on August 19, 2008
The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, one notch below the Supreme Court, has ruled that the mere receipt of a no match letter by an employer does not equate to the employer having constructive knowledge that a worker is unauthorized to work. For those of you not familiar with no match letters, these are letters the SSA sends employers when they determine that a worker's social security number and their names don't match...

CHILD OF ILLEGALLY PRESENT IMMIGRANTS WINS GOLD FOR US

Posted on August 19, 2008
Congratulations to Henry Cejudo, the child of illegally present Mexican immigrants, who won a gold medal for his country in freestyle wrestling. I saw one of Henry's matches yesterday and he really was outstanding. Henry's mother raised six children on her own with the wages of low-paying jobs...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: BERNARD LAGAT - OLYMPIC TRACK ATHLETE

Posted on August 18, 2008
Kenyan-born Bernard Lagat had a tough night this evening in the 1500 meter race. He was a favorite to win the gold, but struggled in the semifinal heat and did not qualify for the finals. Lagat had won bronze and silver medals in the event in the last two Olympics, but this was the first he would be running as a naturalized American citizen.

OOPS

Posted on August 18, 2008
Bet no one thought about this.

NEW YORK TIMES COMPARES ICE DETENTION CENTERS TO GULAGS

Posted on August 17, 2008
The comparison is harsh, but in light of the Ng case and similar recent incidents, it is fair to say that entering an ICE detention facility could mean putting your life at risk. The articles concluding words will hopefully get the attention of policymakers: Immigration officials keep insisting that detention care is adequate and getting better...

ONE MILLION NEW CITIZENS COULD VOTE IN NOVEMBER

Posted on August 17, 2008
Could jacking up the naturalization fee last year inadvertently cost the Republicans the White House? Last July, the White House nearly doubled the fees to naturalize. The unexpected consequence of this was causing a massive surge in applications from people who filed before the fee increase became effective...

PHELPS HONORS IMMIGRANTS

Posted on August 16, 2008
Maybe Michael Phelps is not an immigrant, but I did want to take note that the greatest Olympian in history is doing something good for his country beyond bringing Olympic glory. He's lent his name to We Are Ellis Island, a charity that is helping to restore a cornerstone in the nation's immigration history...

NASTIA GETS THE GOLD!

Posted on August 15, 2008
Congratulations to Immigrant of the Day Nastia Liukin who joins Mary Lou Retton and Carly Patterson as the only American women ever to win the all around gymnastics gold medal at the Olympics! This is a spectacular accomplishment given the tough competition she faced from the Chinese gymnasts...

WHERE ARE ALL THOSE US FARM WORKERS, MR. DOBBS?

Posted on August 15, 2008
As the recession in the US drags on, the unemployment rate is creeping up. There should be thousands and thousands of Americans looking for jobs. Yet the labor shortage on America's farms remains severe and at a time when Americans are facing dramatic inflation in the cost of food due to rising fuel costs, we're shooting ourselves in our collective feet when we make costs go even higher by scaring off workers...

CONVEYOR BELT JUSTICE

Posted on August 15, 2008
The New York Times reports this morning that a supervisor at the Agriprocessors meat processing plant in Postville, Iowa who has been criminally charged in the massive immigration raid, has filed a motion to have Judge Lynda Reade removed from the case...

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