Legalization

Why immigrant, GLBT and good-government groups were behind the defense bill

Published on Tue, Sep 21, 2010

Here's a question for you: Why are immigration advocates, GLBT groups and good-government types crestfallen that the defense-spending authorization bill failed to beat a Republican filibuster? "The political gridlock that has immobilized the Senate has resulted once again in a lost opportunity for the American people," said Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Immigration Policy Center. Why did she even care?

Published in the Washington Post

"Arriving Aliens" in Removal and Adjustment of Status

In 1997, the former INS adopted a regulation that barred all "arriving aliens" who were in removal proceedings from adjusting status. See former 8 C.F.R. § 245.1(c)(8) (1997). At the same time, INS adopted a regulation broadly defining the term "arriving alien." As a result, almost all parolees in removal proceedings were barred from adjustment of status. This regulation was withdrawn by the government in 2006 following litigation spearheaded by the LAC and was replaced by a regulation that gives USCIS jurisdiction over these adjustment applications.

CASES | ADVOCACY | RESOURCES

CASES

Challenges to the 1997 Regulation

The LAC filed amicus briefs in nine courts of appeals in which we challenged the regulatory bar to adjustment of status for “arriving aliens” in removal proceedings. Ultimately, three courts accepted our arguments that the regulation violated the statute. Succar v. Ashcroft, 394 F.3d 8 (1st Cir. 2005); Zheng v. Gonzales, 422 F.3d 98 (3d Cir. 2005); Bona v. Gonzales, 425 F.3d 663 (9th Cir. 2005). A fourth court followed the lead of these three courts. Scheerer v. U.S. Attorney General, 445 F.3d 1311 (11th Cir. 2006). Two other courts rejected our arguments and upheld the regulation. Mouelle v. Gonzales, 416 F.3d 923 (8th Cir. 2005); Momin v. Gonzales, 447 F.3d 447 (5th Cir. 2006). In response to this litigation, the government withdrew the challenged regulation and adopted an interim regulation that provides USCIS with jurisdiction to adjudicate an adjustment application of an “arriving alien” who is in removal proceedings. 71 Fed. Reg. 27585 (2006).

Challenges Brought Under the Interim RegulationRead more...

Cesar Chavez and the Mexican-American Field Worker Experience

Cesar Chavez and the Mexican-American Field Worker Experiences is designed to teach students about the life and work of Cesar Chavez and to document the experiences of contemporary agricultural field workers. After learning about the work of Cesar Chavez, students will design and conduct original research about the conditions and needs of today's field workers. The end product of this project will be a booklet reporting on the research and findings of the students. This booklet will be printed and made available as a resource for the local school district and the community at large.

View File

The DREAM Act, justice and economics

Published on Sat, Nov 06, 2010

According to Roberto Gonzales of the Immigration Policy Center, the 10 states that allow undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition at public institutions show no evidence of U. S. citizen-student displacement or systemic financial drain. Interestingly, the states with the greatest number of undocumented immigrants are the most likely to allow the undocumented to pay in-state tuition because of the societal benefit of decreased crime and increased future revenue. This is true on both sides of the political aisle. Both Texas and New York allow these individuals to pay in-state tuition rates.

Published in the South Coast Today

Habeas Corpus

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241, noncitizens may file habeas actions if they are held in immigration “custody” by the federal government in violation of the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. Noncitizens face many practical hurdles in filing habeas petitions, including detention in remote locations and the government’s practice of transferring detainees between facilities. These problems are exacerbated when courts adopt the inflexible “immediate custodian” rule—which requires naming the person with immediate, day-to-day control over the petitioner as the respondent—since the case always must be filed where the person is detained. The LAC has appeared as amicus curiae in cases before the federal courts of appeals to urge the adoption of a more flexible approach allowing either the Attorney General or the Secretary of DHS to be named as the proper custodian in habeas petitions.

CASES | RESOURCES

CASES

Bell v. Ashcroft, Nos. 03-2737, 03-2977 (2d Cir. amicus brief filed May 7, 2004) (case settled without a decision from the court).

Roman v. Ashcroft, No. 02-3253 (6th Cir. amicus brief filed Oct. 10, 2003) (court issued a precedent decision finding that the Attorney General was not the proper custodian in this case, but noting that the Attorney General may be a proper custodian where the detainee would not otherwise have a “realistic opportunity for judicial review of his executive detention”). Roman v. Ashcroft, 340 F.3d 314 (6th Cir. 2003).Read more...

American Immigration Council: The Immigrant Experience

The Immigrant Experience-- For more information, visit our website at www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org.

Innocent Until Proven Immigrant" - Wisconsin Joins Secure Communities

Published on Sat, Feb 05, 2011

According to an Immigration Policy Center report, around 30% of those deported through the program between Oct. 2009 - Sept. 2010 were non-criminals. Other Immigration and Customs Enforcement sources have placed the number at almost half of those arrested. Previous efforts to focus on high-level criminals have seen Immigration and Customs Enforcement arresting and likely deporting up to 83% of folks convicted of minor traffic violations or no crime at all, says IPC.

Published in the Change.Org

Litigation Clearinghouse Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 5

This issue covers a new suit seeking detention standards, update on religious workers class action, class action certification in a naturalization delay suit, limitations on the categorical approach, and litigation resources on the web.

Published On: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 | Download File

Border Challenges

What Thousands of Interviews with Undocumented Migrants Tell Us about Achieving Effective Enforcement

Washington D.C. - While the immigration issue remains the subject of countless hearings, speeches, and speculation on Capitol Hill, for the last 3 years researchers at U.C.-San Diego have been documenting and assessing the impact and effectiveness of the U.S. border-enforcement strategy through interviews with over 3,000 migrants and potential migrants. The U.C.-San Diego research team has conducted interviews in Mexicans' hometowns in the states of Jalisco, Zacatecas, Oaxaca, and Yucatán, as well as in the U.S. cities that are their primary destinations. Their most recent study was conducted in Oaxaca and San Diego County, from December 2007 to February 2008. The research team's data, gathered from the people whose behavior has been targeted by the U.S. enforcement strategy, is the most direct and up-to-date evidence of whether border-enforcement efforts are actually keeping undocumented migrants out of the United States, and reveals the border strategy's significant unintended consequences. Read more...

Is immigration policy killing the American Dream?

Published on Fri, Apr 01, 2011

It's a story repeated throughout American culture, in theatre, film and novels: the penniless immigrant arrives on American shores seeking a new life and, through hard work and determination, prospers and thrives.

Such tales are a quintessential part of the "American Dream", the idea that anyone willing to work hard and think big can come to the US and "make it".

But, at a time when immigration is a divisive, hot-button political issue, is that dream still possible?

The dream itself is alive and well, says Ben Johnson, the executive director of the American Immigration Council.

"The spirit of the people who have the drive to uproot themselves and pursue this dream across the world is powerful. It continues to shine through," Mr Johnson told the BBC.

But the spirit is not sufficient if the system won't allow it. And America's immigration system does not make it particularly easy to start a new life on its shores.

Quotas reached

American immigration policy is largely family based, meaning residency is most commonly granted to the immediate family of existing residents or citizens.

For others, visas are granted mostly based on skill levels, with highly skilled immigrants having a much easier time getting work permits than unskilled labourers.

So-called skilled workers - usually people with a university education or professional training - have a range of visa options. The most common visa, the H1B class, currently has a ceiling of 65,000 each year.

That quota is easily filled every year. Before the recession, it was filled in the same month the visas were released.

At the moment, Mr Johnson says, it gets filled in eight or nine months, meaning that for several months of the year, H1B visas simply are not available regardless of the demand for them.

For unskilled labourers, the US grants just 5,000 work visas each year to people employed in fields other than agriculture.Read more...

Published in the BBC News