What to Watch for in Immigration - Week of November 18, 2013

By -
Are Democrats rooting for the failure of comprehensive immigration reform?  That's what some in the media have theorized.  Could it be that immigration reform will be for Democrats what abortion was for Republicans for so many years?  An issue the party never really takes many positive steps towards resolving, but just by talking about it guarantees support for certain sectors?  Who knows?  Let's just get this passed already.

Is immigration reform delayed or defeated?  With John Boehner's announcement this week that there would be no immigration reform in 2013, many have declare immigration reform dead for the time being.  It makes sense.  Many have felt that if reform didn't happen in 2013, it sure wouldn't happen in 2014, an election year.  Still, others aren't so sure and they have a few good historical examples to back them up.

Lawsuits.  On Friday, civil rights groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a failure to investigate the alleged rape of an immigration who was in the Department's custody.  Needless to say to anyone who has followed the immigration debate for any length of time, but allegations such as these are not uncommon.  Here's hoping they get things figured out soon.

If immigration reform is dead, how will the administration react?  Immigration advocates have long begged President Obama to use his executive powers to bring relief to immigrant communities.  Perhaps the most famous example in recent history is deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) announced in June 2012.  However, shortly following Boehner's announcement on immigration reform, the Obama administration struck back, directing the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services to extend parole-in-place immigrant spouses, children and parents of U.S. service members, reservists and parents.  While parole-in-place for family members of U.S. military service members has been around for a couple of years, it has only been available to active-duty service men and women.  The change is expected to impact thousands and could be a preview of things to come.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GETTING TO KNOW THE MEMPHIS IMMIGRATION COURT: 10 THINGS

By -
Image
The Memphis Immigration Court is not an independent, Article III, court of law. Rather, it is an administrative law court falling under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge , a component of the Executive Office forImmigration Review under the Department of Justice. The court in Memphis has jurisdiction over all non-detained removal proceedings originating in Arkansas, Tennessee and Northern Mississippi. As we're located in Arkansas, the vast majority of our clients facing removal end up in Memphis. Our cases involving detained immigrants will find themselves before one of the Louisiana courts and we sometimes have clients who find themselves before the Dallas or Kansas City immigration courts either because they are placed there by accident or they live in eastern Oklahoma or southwest Missouri. Regardless, Memphis is the general rule... 80 Monroe Avenue, Memphis, TN Photo courtesy of Google As such, it might be helpful to get to know the
Read more

New IJs in Memphis

By -
Image
Even though the non-detained immigration courts remain closed to hearings and other in-person services at this time, that does not mean the immigration courts are not making moves. For those following the Memphis Immigration Court in particular, it is common knowledge that a pair of retirements last year had been causing a considerable amount of confusion and delay well before COVID-19. The retirements were not totally unexpected as the immigration courts in general have struggled   to retain judges under this administration. Regardless, chaos and confusion are the natural consequences when a court that has been operating for several years with 4 immigration judges is suddenly reduced down to two. Recently, the Department of Justice has moved to re-staff and re-structure the Memphis court. The first change came shortly into the pandemic when Immigration Judge Renae M. Hansell was promoted to the position of Assistant Chief Immigration Judge (“ACIJ”) for the Memphis court. It
Read more

More New IJs in Memphis

By -
Image
The Memphis Immigration Court The Memphis Immigration Court has been busy during the pandemic. The court is in the process of expanding, adding additional space, more courtrooms, and new immigration judges. At the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the court only had four active IJs (two had recently retired, but two from Louisville were reassigned to Memphis). As of the writing of this post, the Memphis court's website lists eleven IJs. My court calendar confirms a twelfth IJ who I have included in this list. Rumors are there will be more. Here's who's new: Judge Alisha Campos : Judge Campos was appointed to the bench last October. She graduated with a B.A. from Arkansas State and a law degree from the University of Houston. Uniquely, Judge Campos has practiced both as a trial attorney for the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, and as a private immigration attorney. Now she's hit the trifecta when it comes to removal proceed
Read more