Judge Andrew Hanen, a federal district judge in Texas, ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was unlawful on Friday. While the decision will not immediately affect current DACA recipients, it will temporarily prevent new applicants from being admitted to the program. Former President Obama created the DACA program in 2012 by executive […]
DACA Application Backlog Puts Thousands of Recipients at Risk of Losing Work Permits
As a result of a paperwork backlog caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) application and renewal process has been significantly delayed, preventing undocumented people from receiving DACA benefits and existing DACA recipients from being able to work due to expired permits. Over 62,000 first-time DACA applications had been […]
Biden Administration Directs ICE to Stop Detaining Most Pregnant, Postpartum, and Nursing People
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a new guidance that says ICE will no longer arrest or detain individuals who are pregnant, postpartum, or nursing unless there are special circumstances. “Generally ICE should not detain, arrest, or take into custody for an administrative violation of the immigration laws individuals known to be pregnant, postpartum or […]
Biden Signs Series of Executive Orders Reversing Trump Era Immigration Policies
On Tuesday, President Biden signed three executive orders aimed at reversing the “zero tolerance” immigration policies of the Trump administration. Biden said during the signing that “I’m not making new law. I’m eliminating bad policy.” One of the orders establishes a task force that will work to reunite migrant families that were separated at the […]
President Biden Issued 17 Executive Orders and Directives on His First Day in Office
Yesterday, within a few hours of his inauguration, President Joe Biden signed 17 directives and executive orders, many of which were aimed at undoing the harm left behind by the Trump administration. At the top of his priority list was racial justice and LGBTQ+ equality actions. Importantly, Biden will end the Trump administration’s 1776 Commission, […]
President-Elect Joe Biden Promises Progressive Policies on Day One
Since Joe Biden announced his bid for the Presidency almost two years ago, he has spoken about his plans for his early days in office, many of them being plans to reverse regressive Trump policies. As tomorrow is Biden’s first day as President, he has announced a specific list of promises that he will enact […]
Los Angeles County Agrees to Pay $14 Million to Settle Immigration Suit
Yesterday, Los Angeles County voted to pay out $14 million to settle a class action suit that claimed that the Sheriff’s Department illegally held more than 18,500 people in jail beyond their release dates. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to settle, so the only thing left is a judge’s approval. This lawsuit […]
Trump Administration Will Stop Blocking Pregnant Minors in Custody from Accessing Abortion
According to a judge-approved agreement from Wednesday, the Trump administration will cease blocking immigrant teens in federal custody from accessing abortion care. The policy follows an ACLU lawsuit from 2017 on behalf of a 17-year-old from Central America seeking an abortion, referred to as “Jane Doe”. The ACLU claimed that the government’s abortion ban has […]
Death Count in ICE Facilities Is the Highest It Has Been in the Last 15 Years
According to data released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 21 people died in ICE custody in the fiscal year 2020, which ended on Wednesday. This is the highest death toll since 2005, and is more than double the amount of deaths that occurred in the fiscal year 2019. More than a third of these people […]
Federal Judge Blocks Increase in Citizenship & Immigration Application Fees
Yesterday, a San Francisco federal judge temporarily blocked an increase in the cost of citizenship and other immigration application fees, an upsurge initiated by the Trump administration. These increases were scheduled to go into effect on Friday, October 2nd, and would raise the citizenship application cost from $640 to $1,160– an 81% increase. The proposal […]
Whistleblower Reveals ICE Facility Practiced Forced Hysterectomies
On Monday, Dawn Wooton, a whistleblower who formerly worked as a nurse at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Georgia filed a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general, detailing medical neglect and a high rate of hysterectomies in the facility. The facility is Irwin Detention Center, run by private corporation […]
Federal Court Blocks Trump Order Prohibiting Census from Counting Undocumented Immigrants
Yesterday, a three-judge panel in New York ruled unanimously that President Trump’s executive order to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census count was unlawful. The President’s July memo stated that undocumented immigrants should not count for purposes of deciding the reapportionment of the House. The court’s decision mandates that his order violates the 14th Amendment […]
ICE Expels Immigrant Children Even After Negative COVID-19 Tests
The Trump Administration is expelling immigrant children citing COVID-19 concerns, despite the children testing negative for the coronavirus before they are put on planes to their home countries. An article published Monday by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica reveals that the Trump administration had implemented a testing program in which every child is tested for […]
Acting Director of ICE Announces Retirement
On Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting director Matt Albence announced his retirement from the agency, after serving in his position for just over a year. Albence began his work in federal immigration enforcement in 1994 and has moved positions over the years. He had briefly led ICE before, between Ronald Vitiello’s departure and […]
Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s Immigration Wealth Test
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s wealth test that denied people permanent residency if they used or were deemed likely to use public services such as Medicaid or food assistance. The decision, from U.S. District Judge George Daniels, comes after New York and other states challenged the rule in light of the coronavirus pandemic, […]
Trump Administration Places Further Limitations on DACA in Defiance of Court Order
On Tuesday the Trump administration took further action to limit the scope of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), announced in a memo that the Trump administration would not accept new applications for DACA and would force those currently enrolled in […]
Parents in ICE Detention Must Keep Their Children in Detention or Release Them to Sponsors
Hundreds of parents in ICE custody are being forced to decide whether to release their children to sponsors or waive their children’s right to be released. Two court orders from separate human rights lawsuits have forced this choice. In the first decision, Federal Judge Dolly Gee in California demanded that ICE release all of the […]
Federal Judge Rejects Release of Detained Immigrant Families
On Wednesday, a federal judge rejected a plea to release immigrant families from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in response to growing concern over the spread of COVID-19. Judge James Boasberg, U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Columbia, denied the blanket release of all families, believing that other options need to be […]
Trump Signs Memo to Exclude Undocumented Immigrants from Census Numbers
President Donald Trump signed a presidential memo Tuesday aiming to exclude the number of undocumented immigrant populations when redistributing congressional seats following the 2020 census. The unprecedented move, which civil rights advocates say is unconstitutional, comes a year after the Trump administration tried and failed to include a citizenship question in the census. If implemented, […]
New Applications Rejected Despite Supreme Court DACA Ruling
Although the Supreme Court voted to uphold the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program nearly a month ago, the Trump Administration is still not accepting new applications. Renewals are being accepted and processed, but hundreds of thousands of first-time applicants are left fearful of their future in the United States. The DACA program protects […]
