The U.S. Department of Justice is planning to ramp up performance evaluations of immigration judges, measuring their speed, fairness and uniformity in deciding cases, according to a memo issued by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The union for immigration judges is still negotiating details regarding the performance metrics with the department, according to Dana Leigh Marks, spokeswoman for the National Association of Immigration Judges. While Sessions believes such metrics will help eliminate a backlog of cases that has grown to nearly 650,000, the union of judges is worried that they could affect due process. “Together, we have made significant progress since the beginning of the Trump administration, but we want to build on this success to enshrine what the law contemplates and what the people desire — an end to unlawfulness in our immigration system,” Sessions said in the Dec. 5 memo. The case backlog is not new. Immigration judges and attorneys alike have talked … [Read more...] about Immigration judges getting new performance metrics
Immigration
Utah lawmaker’s plan would kick immigrant kids off insurance
Updated 4:20 pm, Monday, January 1, 2018 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah senator proposing to make new legal immigrants wait five years before receiving coverage through government health insurance programs said he's trying to promote self-reliance and discourage socialism. Critics of State Sen. Allen Christensen's plan argue that it's mean-spirited and will strip health care coverage from 475 legal immigrant children, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Thursday. His plan would reinstate a previous provision that required new legal immigrants, who are mostly Latinos, to wait five years before they could qualify for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program. Local Channel Now Playing: Now Playing Well-known San Antonio cook gunned down on his front porch, suspect at large mysa Man found dead in rollover wreck at busy S.A. intersection mysa Young ukeleleist writes songs of comfort premiummysa Woman killed in fiery rollover crash on U.S. 281 … [Read more...] about Utah lawmaker’s plan would kick immigrant kids off insurance
Let’s hope it’ll be a better year for immigrants after tough 2017
2017 was a tough year for immigrants with multiple "Muslim" travel bans and announcements of the end of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Nicaraguans. Next year will be worse, with some pockets of good news. Here are my predictions for immigration law and policy developments in 2018: Congress will pass legislation providing protection for undocumented youth. Dreamers are calling for a "clean" Dream Act — a standalone law that grants them a path to citizenship. A more likely outcome is a law that grants Dreamers relief but includes funds for increased border security and perhaps an end to the Green Card lottery. But President Trump won't get his wall or the limits he’s seeking on family immigration. The Supreme Court will rule that the Trump travel ban violates our constitution, at least as it applies to families petitioning for relatives abroad. The U.S. government has the right to carefully review immigrant visa … [Read more...] about Let’s hope it’ll be a better year for immigrants after tough 2017
Work hard, then work hard: Entrepreneur Latinos, immigrants
Updated 11:07 pm, Thursday, December 14, 2017 window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-5', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 5', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); Photo: Benjamin Zack, AP Image 1of/5 CaptionClose Image 1 of 5 From left, Gustavo, Alejandro, Ericka and Jose Ortega run Muebleria furniture store in downtown Ogden. The three brothers and Alejandro's wife, Ericka, have been operating the local furniture store for the last ten years. (Benjamin Zack/Standard-Examiner via AP) less From left, Gustavo, Alejandro, Ericka and Jose Ortega run Muebleria furniture store in downtown Ogden. The three brothers and Alejandro's wife, Ericka, have been operating the local furniture store for the last ... more Photo: … [Read more...] about Work hard, then work hard: Entrepreneur Latinos, immigrants
Op-ed: Trump delivers on his immigration enforcement platform
LM Otero, AP In this March 6, 2015, file photo, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents enter an apartment complex looking for a specific undocumented immigrant convicted of a felony during an early morning operation in Dallas. The federal government provided Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017, the most complete statistical snapshot of immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump, showing Border Patrol arrests plunged to a 45-year low while arrests by deportation officers soared. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File) Since President Trump’s election, dozens of conservative and liberal pundits have offered their opinions on why a Republican billionaire Beltway outsider beat a charter member of the entrenched Democratic elite. Invariably, analysts pointed to one issue that resounded with voters more intensely than any other: immigration. Candidate Trump campaigned on vigorous border and interior enforcement. Opponent Hillary Clinton indicated that her administration would … [Read more...] about Op-ed: Trump delivers on his immigration enforcement platform
New California laws cover immigration, marijuana, education, criminal justice
By The Associated Press | PUBLISHED: December 31, 2017 at 2:12 pm | UPDATED: January 1, 2018 at 10:59 pm By Don Thompson, Associated Press California state lawmakers in 2017 passed nearly 900 bills that Gov. Jerry Brown then signed into law. Most of them take effect Monday. The new laws cover topics ranging from the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, to the state’s new recreational cannabis market, to the price of a college education. Here are some of the laws taking effect with the new year: Immigration • Police are no longer be able to ask people about their immigration status or participate in federal immigration enforcement actions under a law making California a sanctuary state. The law also allows jail officials to transfer inmates to federal immigration authorities only if they have been convicted of certain crimes. • Immigration officials will need a warrant to access workplaces or employee records and landlords will be barred from … [Read more...] about New California laws cover immigration, marijuana, education, criminal justice
Thousands of immigrant detainees sue private prison firm over ‘forced’ labor
During part of her time in an immigrant detention center in Colorado, Grisel Xahuentitla spent six hours a day passing out trays before meals, scrubbing toilets and scouring showers. She was participating in a voluntary work program that allows detainees to earn $1 a day to help with the upkeep of the facility. “When you are in there, there’s not a lot of options for you,” said Xahuentitla, 33, recounting her four-month stay at the Aurora Detention Facility in 2014. “You’ve got to follow their rules; you got to do what they tell you.” Shortly after her release, she and eight other former detainees filed a lawsuit against the operator of the facility, GEO Group, alleging the company was unfairly enriched by the program. Now, Xahuentitla’s case could affect up to 60,000 immigrants who were held in the facility over the course of a decade. A federal judge ruled on Feb. 27 that the plaintiffs could move forward with a class-action lawsuit against … [Read more...] about Thousands of immigrant detainees sue private prison firm over ‘forced’ labor
Congress returns to Trump’s infrastructure plan, looming deadlines on spending, immigration
Congress returns next week facing several looming challenges leading with President Trump’s call to strike an infrastructure deal promptly, and agreeing to a temporary spending deal to avoid a government shutdown. Other key issues facing the GOP-controlled Congress include immigration reform and whether to fund Trump’s promised U.S.-Mexico border wall. Trump is scheduled to meet early next week with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to set legislative priorities on Capitol Hill. But few if any major initiatives are likely to pass without Democratic support, especially in the Senate where Republicans now have just a 51-49 majority. To be sure, Trump has made clear that he wants Congress to pass a … [Read more...] about Congress returns to Trump’s infrastructure plan, looming deadlines on spending, immigration
Hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants ride Mexico’s ‘train of death’ every year to get to America
Harrison Jacobs, provided by Published 11:30 am, Sunday, December 31, 2017 Michelle Frankfurter More than 400,000 immigrants tried to enter the US undocumented through the southwestern border in 2016. The vast majority were from Central America. Most Central American immigrants travel along the same dangerous route, known as El Tren de la Muerte ("The Train of Death"). Photographer Michelle Frankfurter spent years documenting immigrants traveling along the route. Photographer Michelle Frankfurter had spent years traveling to Mexico and Central America as a photojournalist and human-rights worker. During her travels, she heard about a particular route that immigrants take to reach the US undocumented. Local Channel Now Playing: Now Playing Well-known San Antonio cook gunned down on his front porch, suspect at large mysa Man found dead in rollover wreck at busy S.A. intersection mysa Young ukeleleist writes songs of comfort premiummysa Woman … [Read more...] about Hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants ride Mexico’s ‘train of death’ every year to get to America
Inland Catholics to pray for detained immigrants at annual Migration Mass
By Alejandra Molina | [email protected] | The Press-EnterpriseDecember 31, 2017 at 8:00 am Inland Catholics will be praying for immigrants being held in detention centers at the annual Migration Mass in January. The Mass, which in past years has focused on refugees and migrant laborers, is set for Sunday, Jan. 14, at Holy Innocents Church in Victorville. At first, the service was to be celebrated across the street from Adelanto Detention Facility — California’s largest immigration detention center. But the location was moved after the Diocese of San Bernardino could not get approval from the city of Adelanto and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in time to promote the Mass among parishes across Riverside and San Bernardino counties, Diocese spokesman John Andrews said. The church is about 10 miles away from the center. The Mass, to be celebrated by Bishop Gerald R. Barnes, will focus on migrants in detention “because there has … [Read more...] about Inland Catholics to pray for detained immigrants at annual Migration Mass