Last week, the Department of Homeland Security took a (possibly) dramatic step in relieving the ever growing backlog of deportation cases in the immigration court system. The Department indicated that it would terminate proceedings against many of the 300,000 individuals who are currently in removal proceedings. Put simply – they want to terminate action against [...]
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Individuals who are in removal or deportation proceedings, or who are seeking asylum, must attend all immigration hearings or risk losing out on any possible removal defenses. However, given the complexity of the system, individuals often find it difficult to keep track of their immigration court dates and other important immigration information. To help [...] For many years, immigrants facing the prospect of long imprisonment have been told by criminal attorneys to accept a plea deal that would result in a lower period of imprisonment. The criminal attorneys have long thought that it is better to fight possible deportation in immigration court then to risk the possibility of a long [...] The Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review has released its statistics from fiscal year 2010 for immigration courts, the BIA (Board of Immigration Appeal) and OCAHO (Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer). The full report is available on the DOJ website. Here are some of the highlights: Immigration Court receipts increased by [...] The number of immigrants who are being deported from the United States is at a record high this year. Last year, 392,862 immigrants were deported. Over half (195,772) of those immigrants were convicted criminals. Both of these numbers are record highs. If you are an immigrant who gets caught up with the possibility of deportation [...] As previously mentioned, earlier this year Gov. Paterson created the immigration pardon board for noncitizens who have been convicted of a crime and now face the possibility of immigration consequences. Gov. Paterson introduced this board by highlighting that New York State believes in renewal and rehabilitation. Gov. Paterson also mentions that immigration law is sometimes [...] The U.S. Supreme Court has recently reached a 9-0 decision determining that an immigrant need not be automatically deported from the United States following a minor drug conviction. In the reviewed case the immigrant had been sentenced to 20 days in jail for having 2 ounces of marijuana and a pill of Xanax. Despite being [...] The pending deportation of a Harvard Student is causing quite a controversy on Harvard’s campus. The student, was picked up when he tried to board a plane from San Antonio and Boston. He came to the United States when he was four and now faces removal to Mexico. His possible removal has stirred the pot [...] On Monday, Governor Paterson announced that New York State would create a five member panel that would review and pardon immigrants who had minor or old convictions. This step is great news and may potentially help many immigrants who fear they may be removed from the United States because of relatively minor criminal offenses that [...] The United States Supreme Court issued an important decision last week for foreign nationals living in the United States. In Padilla v. Kentucky, the Court ruled that attorneys representing foreign nationals in criminal proceedings must inform them of the immigration consequences of any plea agreements or convictions that may arise. This is an important decision [...] According to ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency “definitively do[es] not set quotas.” Mr. Morton’s statement is difficult to reconcile with recently uncovered ICE documents that clearly indicate that ICE has set goals for the number of removals it will reach this year. In fact, the subject line in an [...] The New York Times is reporting that government officials tried to downplay the death of immigrants at detention centers. America’s detention system has already been highly criticized and is set for reshuffling under the Obama Administration. This report, and its fall out, will certainly add fuel to the fire for drastically reforming the detention center [...] Homeland Security Officials have announced that foreign nationals who are in detention in the United States may soon be separated based on their risk. Additionally, detainees may be housed in places other than jails, including motels and nursing homes. These changes are deeply needed given the many instances of detainee abuse and neglect that have [...] Yesterday I blogged about the recent resignation of the would-be leader of the federal government’s effort to reform the immigration detention center system. Today, i simple point to a New York Times’ article that demonstrates why the detention center system needs to be reformed. Unexpected and disheartening to many immigration advocates, Dr. Dora Schriro has stepped down from her position as the leading federal government official responsible for reforming the nation’s immigration detention centers. Dr. Schriro was selected for this position merely a month ago when the administration announced that it was seeking to reform the hodgepodge of immigrant [...] |
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