Legalization

National Wave of Complaints Highlights Rampant Abuse by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Dire Need for Reform

Released on Wed, Mar 13, 2013

Washington, D.C. – Over the past week, an alliance of immigration groups, private attorneys and a law school clinic joined forces in filing complaints targeting abuses by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) across the country. Ten damages cases have been filed alleging unlawful CBP conduct in northern and southern border states. These cases are the latest illustrations of an ongoing pattern of rampant misconduct against both immigrants and U.S. citizens in these states.

This effort, which was coordinated by the American Immigration Council, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, highlights CBP agents’ unlawful use of their enforcement authority. Border Patrol agents routinely exceed their statutory mandate by conducting enforcement activities outside border regions, making racially motivated arrests, employing derogatory and coercive interrogation tactics, and imprisoning arrestees under inhumane conditions. The cases include claims for unlawful search and seizure, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, and battery.

Among the cases filed: Read more...

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Scripture’s Role in the Immigration Debate

Published on Fri, Oct 16, 2009

For many years now, religious leaders and diverse faith groups have contributed much to the ongoing immigration debate. Grounded in faith and good works, the faith community has been and continues to be steadfast in their outreach to immigrants through a myriad of support and service programs, faith rallies, and support of those in need. That being said, there are restrictionist groups who would rather sully the debate by co-opting faith-based terminology and tease anti-immigrant agendas out of scripture.

Published in the Sojourners

First Circuit Holds That Immigrants Can Pursue Cases From Outside the United States

Released on Tue, Oct 01, 2013

Washington, D.C. - Last week, the First Circuit Court of Appeals held that individuals who have been deported must have the opportunity to pursue motions to reopen their cases from outside the United States. A motion to reopen is an important procedural safeguard that helps ensure noncitizens are afforded a fair immigration hearing. The American Immigration Council and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG), which filed an amicus brief in the First Circuit and argued before the court, welcome the court’s ruling in Perez Santana v. Holder.

Despite having lost in nine other circuits, the government continued to vigorously defend a regulation – the so called “departure bar” – barring individuals from pursuing their cases from outside the United States. This most recent decision means that all but one circuit court of appeals has rejected the government’s arguments and concluded that the regulation is unlawful. Only the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has yet to rule on the legality of the departure bar. The American Immigration Council and NIPNLG renew their call for the agency to strike this unlawful regulation.Read more...

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Legalization would bring economic benefits

Published on Fri, Jan 08, 2010

Based on the experience of immigration reform in 1986, a change in the law to legalize the undocumented would bring great benefits to the U.S. economy, adding to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) around 1.5 trillion dollars over the next 10 years.

Published in the La Opinión

Local business leaders call on Sen. Durbin to lead immigration reform

Published on Thu, Mar 11, 2010

A group of business owners from the Northwest suburbs has called on Sen. Dick Durbin to lead Congress in reforming the country's immigration system, which they said could be the "recipe" needed to stimulate the country's struggling economy.

About half dozen business people spoke during a news conference Thursday at the La Quebrada Banquet Hall in Elgin, sponsored by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

"We thank Sen. Durbin for being a supporter of immigration reform, but we want him to be a leader," said Jose Figueroa of Vista Insurance Agency in Rolling Meadows.

Published in the The Daily Herald

Will Solis Step Into the Immigration Spotlight?

Published on Wed, Apr 21, 2010

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is the first Latina to sit in the Presidential cabinet. She is the daughter of immigrants. As a four-term Congresswoman, she pushed for a law that would make it easier for non-U.S. citizens serving in the U.S. military to get American citizenship.

But when it comes to the Obama administration’s messaging on immigration, Solis has been strangely sidelined, and advocates who focus on the issue are beginning to ask why.

Published in the The Cabinet Room

Immigration reform needed for U.S. economy and for Haiti

Published on Sun, May 09, 2010

Marie, a Haitian mother, couldn't have been more grateful. "Thank you God for TPS," she recently told an attorney helping her fill out forms that will protect her from deportation. She was referring to temporary protected status, which will allow her to work legally, help Haiti and support her two young children. It's the sentiment that we hear most these days.

As longtime advocates, we at Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center were gratified when the Department of Homeland Security granted temporary protected status to unauthorized Haitian immigrants after the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti. Temporary protected status will allow perhaps 100,000 Haitians to legalize their status for the next 18 months.

Published in the CNN

Health Care System Relies on Immigrants as Providers at All Levels

Published on Mon, Jun 07, 2010

Walter Ewing, a senior researcher at the Immigration Policy Center in Washington, D.C., had read the headlines, listened to the television commentators, and witnessed the ongoing, thorny and evolving health care debate that polarized elected officials and much of America over the last years.

Published in the Hispanic Outlook Magazine

Obama on Immigration: Faking Right?

Published on Tue, Jul 27, 2010

You don't have to be an evangelical Christian to realize that immigration reform is in the U.S.'s self-interest. According to a report earlier this year from the Campaign for American Progress and the American Immigration Council, an amnesty program affecting the more than 11 million undocumented people in the United States would add $1.5 trillion to the GDP over a decade. That's a lot more folks generating government revenue and keeping U.S. businesses afloat.

Published in the Huffington Post

Whom to Sue and Whom to Serve

This Practice Advisory addresses who is the proper respondent-defendant and recipient for service of process in immigration-related litigation in district court. The advisory covers whom to sue in specific types of immigration-related actions, including mandamus, Federal Tort Claims Acts (and administrative claims), Bivens, and habeas actions.

Published On: Thursday, May 13, 2010 | Download File