ImmigrationProf Blog

Position Opening -- Stanford Law Clinical Supervising Attorney, Immigrants’ Rights Clinic

The Mills Legal Clinic of Stanford Law School invites applicants for a Clinical Supervising Attorney position with its Immigrants’ Rights Clinic (IRC). The Clinical Supervising Attorney will join the thriving clinical community at Stanford Law School, where, together with the clinical faculty and staff, they will train law students to work on immigrants’ rights litigation and advocacy. We seek candidates with a demonstrated commitment to collaborative work, intentional lawyering, and a growth mindset.  Click here for details.

KJ

ACLU Report -- Unchecked Growth: Private Prison Corporations and Immigration Detention, Three Years Into the Biden Administration

Revenues of private prison corporations GEO Group and CoreCivic have soared in the last three years, a new analysis from the American Civil Liberties Union illustrates.

In 2022, GEO Group’s revenue was $2.4 billion. Approximately 44% of this amount, or $1.05 billion, came from ICE contracts. That includes contracts for ICE programs involving electronic monitoring of immigrants, which alone account for 17%, or $408 million, of GEO’s total revenue.

CoreCivic’s revenue was $1.8 billion in 2022. Of this amount, $552.2 million was revenue from ICE detention contracts, accounting for 30% of its total revenue.

Private prison corporations such as GEO and CoreCivic held the majority — 81% — of ICE detainees during the Trump administration, data from 2020 shows.

That figure remained relatively the same in 2021, during the first year of the Biden administration. But that number has increased, as 91% of ICE detainees are in private prison facilities as of last month. 

Of the total 30,438 individuals detained by ICE as of July 30, 2023, 61% have no criminal record. Many others have only committed minor offenses, such as traffic violations. 

Read the ACLU’s full report about private prison corporations and immigration detention 

KJ

Reflection from Hofstra Law’s Border Program

Filza Siddiqui, photo via Linkedin

Guest post by Filza Siddiqui, law student at The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University

Growing up in Queens, New York, surrounded by a vast immigrant community, it has always been important to me to learn about U.S immigration laws and policies because of the direct impact it has on the people in my community. This led me to participate in my school’s one week Immigration Law and Border Enforcement Program at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. Despite growing up having seen the impact of immigration laws and policies, nothing prepared me for what I was to learn at the U.S- Mexico border.

The Immigration Law and Border Enforcement program was an immersive trip in which my peers and I met with various expert attorneys, immigration judges, and activists. We visited government agencies including Border Patrol, the U.S Consulate in Tijuana, U.S Coast Guard, EOIR Otay Mesa Immigration Court and Detention Center, and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Through the field trips and guest speakers, I learned how the U.S immigration system is flawed in ways that leave a lasting and heartbreaking impact on migrants who are already incredibly vulnerable.

Professor Alexander Holtzman selected a diverse array of experts; each of whom worked in a different part of the U.S immigration system. Taylor Levy, an expert attorney who directly worked with migrants at the U.S-Mexico border, gave an engaging presentation where she clarified misconceptions people have about crossing the U.S-Mexico border. She also provided an incredibly detailed explanation of Title 42, the PACR 2.0 program, other recent policy changes and described the grave impact these policies have on migrants seeking asylum. Another informative speaker was former Border Patrol agent turned whistleblower, Jenn Budd, who shared how she witnessed the dehumanization and inhumane conditions of migrants in Border Patrol custody. She explained how Border Patrol trains its agents to treat migrants, especially migrants of color, as “sub-human.” Jenn’s presentation highlighted the pervasive systemic discrimination migrants suffered at the hands of agents; an aspect of the immigration system I was troubled to learn about.

Another issue that some of the speakers discussed was the CBP One app. Guest speaker Austin Kocher explained the app had several issues such as: the Haitian Creole translations were of poor quality, the appointment scheduling feature of the app is only functional at the U.S-Mexico border, it is inaccessible for indigent people who do not have a smartphone to use the app, and the app has difficulty in its facial recognition feature for darker skinned people. In contrast, Jett Thomason, who works in the political and economic section of the U.S Consulate in Tijuana, praised the functionality of the CBP One app and dismissed the striking issue of the app being unable to recognize darker skinned people. This was concerning because one of his primary roles is to understand migration patterns, which will be impacted by this disparate treatment.

Nicole Ramos was a particularly inspiring speaker; she is an attorney and the Border Rights Project Director at Al Otro Lado. She shared heartbreaking stories of how she witnessed the humanitarian crisis at the border worsen throughout her career. She explained that even the location we were at, Friendship Park, had changed significantly. The park is divided by the border wall and was once a safe haven for families to see and embrace one another through the gaps in the wall. But just a few years ago, a mesh fence was added which limited families to only partially see one another or only touch pinkies, if that. Nicole took us to a migrant shelter in Tijuana to meet with activists who provide various resources to migrants at the border. The shelter faced several challenges such as a lack of funding from the Mexican government, lack of resources and medical care, being understaffed, and being harassed by the police. It was inspiring to hear about the important work Nicole and the staff at the shelter do to provide support for migrants, and as much as I admired their resilience through the various hurdles they face, it was heartbreaking to know that the situation at the border was a result of both the U.S and Mexican governments turning a blind eye to the humanitarian crisis at the border through their actions and inactions.

Participating in the Immigration Law and Border Enforcement program was the most impactful experience in my legal career. The program helped me understand the legal, political, and social issues surrounding the crisis at the U.S-Mexico border. I learned and observed things that I will never forget. I am incredibly inspired by Professor Holtzman and my peers who have chosen to dedicate their legal careers to serving immigrant and migrant populations, and to dismantling some of the very issues I observed on this trip.

-posted by KitJ on behalf of Filza Siddiqui

Blue Massachusetts Seeks Federal Support for Migrants

 

Official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Photo

The governors of Florida and Texas have been in the news for tough immigration enforcement measures.  But concerns with the number of migrants also have been expressed by political leaders in so-called Blue states.  Last week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams has dec;ared that the city had "run out of room" for migrants.  

Yesterday, Governor Maura T. Healey today declared that a state of emergency exists in Massachusetts due to the

"rapidly rising numbers of migrant families arriving in Massachusetts in need of shelter and services and a severe lack of shelter availability in the state. The declaration serves as a notice to the federal government and the Commonwealth that the state’s shelter system is rapidly expanding capacity in an unsustainable manner, and that further assistance is urgently needed. There are currently nearly 5,600 families or more than 20,000 individuals in state shelter, including children and pregnant women. 

In a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Governor Healey pointed to work authorizations as a primary driver of the crisis. She called on the federal government to take urgent action to streamline and expedite work authorizations and increase funding to states to assist in providing shelter and services to families. She called on bipartisan leaders in Congress to address outdated and punitive immigration laws. She also called on the cities and towns, charities, advocates, faith organizations and providers to continue to partner with the administration to meet the need for shelter and work." (bold added).

Asylum applicants are not eligible for work authorization for six months after applying.  Unable to work lawfully makes life especially difficult for migrants of modest means.

KJ

KJ

Migration Policy Institute: In the Twilight Zone: Record Number of U.S. Immigrants Are in Limbo Statuses

Muzaffar Chishti and Kathleen Bush-Joseph for the Migrtaion Policy Institute review data showing that the Biden administration’s use of executive authority to afford immigration protections has "resulted in a growing number of individuals living in the United States with temporary statuses. A record 1.9 million migrants have entered the United States, received authorization to do so, or are present via a twilight immigration status that does not automatically confer any path to permanent residence but temporarily shields recipients from deportation for at least one year, and in many cases offers permission to work legally. Additionally, more than 700,000 other migrants have been allowed to enter the United States through even shorter-term immigration parole to undergo removal proceedings."

KJ

Podcast: Missing Kids and The Media: The Story of Sofia Juarez

Here is a description of a podcast that blog readers may find of interest:

"Today's episode is about the disappearance of Sofia Juarez the day before her 5th birthday and the TikTok video 18 years later that reignited the search for her. This narrative-style story will slightly differ from Immigrantly’s usual content, but it’s for a good reason. Sofia Juarez’s case is related to `Missing White Girl Syndrome,'—a term used to describe the overrepresentation of missing white women and girls in the media. Join me in this episode as I unravel Sofia Juarez’s story, and then tune in next week to hear how Missing White Girl Syndrome can harm the well-being of thousands just like Sofia.

If you want to know more about Sofia Juarez's Case, you can listen to the episode of the Washed Away podcast here."

KJ

Texas Border Town Questions Governor's Tough Immigration Enforcement

 

Logo from Eagle Pass, Texas website

 

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has taken aggressive border enforcement measures, including placing razor wired buoys on the Rio Grande to deter migrants.  The U.S. government has sued to remove the buoys.  Residents in Texas border town Eagle Pass have been deeply affected by the measures and are torn about the policies. Uriel Garcia for the Texas Tribune reports on the community's response.  He writes:

"When Magali Urbina and her husband, Hugo, bought a nearly 400-acre pecan farm along the Rio Grande in April 2021, it was supposed to be a fun retirement project. . . . But as Gov. Greg Abbott geared up his efforts to stem illegal immigration at the border, state troopers began patrolling the riverbank and National Guard members sped through their property to reach the river. Then came the rolls of concertina wire that cut off their access to the river altogether.

Urbina, a Republican who said she voted for Abbott for reelection, said the day it became too much came on a late-July afternoon when she spotted a pregnant woman cross the Rio Grande and push her way through the concertina wire. The woman’s arms were cut and bloodied. Urbina said she called nearby Border Patrol agents, who cut through the state’s fence to reach the woman." (bold added).

KJ

Advocates denounce Biden administration’s deportation ‘perp walks’

Official White House Photo

Rafael Bernal for the Hill reports on a fascinating story that reveals much about the politics of immigration.  Immigration advocacy groups are asking the Biden administration to stop sharing videos of migrant families boarding deportation flights.  It is evidently part of an effort to show that the administration is tough on immigration enforcement.

At the end of last week, 11 groups in this letter called on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to stop distributing the footage — sent to media outlets as “B-roll for removal flights” — and called on outlets to avoid using it.

“The use of this footage is shocking and dehumanizing, and ICE should immediately discontinue it,” read the release, led by the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC). 

“Entirely missing from these frames is the complexity of the human story behind each family, including the love, devotion, and courage that led that family to leave their homes in search of safety and the trauma of being forced back to danger. The blurred faces, militarized surroundings, and police pat downs of parents clinging to their children dehumanizes these families and portrays them as threats.”

KJ

Emergency Room doctor: I see the cruelty of US immigration policy up close

 

Death on the U.S./Mexico border is a fact of life, especially in the hot summer months.  In CNN commentary, an emergency room doctor in El Paso, Texas discusses the human tragedy resulting from U.S. policy along the U.S./Mexico border: " [T]he border has served as a macabre experiment in the ways that failed US immigration policy can maim and mangle men, women and children hoping to make a better life in America. Over the past several decades, politicians on both sides of the aisle have each left their own marks on the border, often surpassing each other in cruelty."

He closes:

"No person would make the treacherous journey to our border without firmly believing in the promise of America. At a time when many Americans are increasingly polarized and many seem to be losing faith in our ideals and values, it is encouraging to see hope and promise in the eyes of the migrants I treat.

In fact, this hope is contagious. It’s part of the reason why I continue to serve and treat migrants on both sides of the border. I want to work to live up to the America that my migrant patients believe in."

KJ

KJ

Republican Presidential Candidate Tim Scott Admits that President Cannot End Birthright Citizenship by Fiat

 

CBS News reports that. on the campaign trial for the Republican nomination for President, Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) questioned the legality of campaign promises by former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants.

Asked whether he would join Trump and DeSantis in pledging to revoke birthright citizenship through an executive action if elected president, Scott said that he does not believe presidents can do so unilaterally.  Scott's position is consistent with more than a century of recognition of birthright citizenship by the U.S. Supreme Court and the position of a vast majority of legal scholars (with President Trump's attorney on January 6 John Eastman an outlier).

KJ

Will Florida Immigration Law Lead to Latina/o Exodus from Florida? Was that the Intent?

 

Governor Ron DeSantis championed Florida's immigration enforcement law, which requires businesses to verify new employees' immigration status through the federal E-Verify database. The law has fueled fears of a "Latino exodus" from the state. Some Republicans are worried that the Florida law might hurt their party's political fortunes.  This NPR story identifies the challenge facing the Republican Party in embracing a coherent posiytion on immigration.

KJ

Report: Abuses at the U.S.- Mexico Border: How To Address Failures and Protect Rights

 

The Guardian (United Kingdom) highlights a new report (Abuses at the U.S.- Mexico Border: How to Address Failures and Protect Rights) documenting human rights abuses at the US-Mexico border by U,S. Customs and Border Protection officers.  The Washington Office on Latin America  and the Kino Border Initiative authored the report, which details a pattern of misuse of lethal force, intimidation, sexual harassment and falsifying documents.  It notes that: “The lack of accountability is so widespread that it helps cement in place a culture that enables human rights violations. The abuses keep coming because impunity is so likely.”

Here are a few nuggets from the Executive Summary of the report:

• • "Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the federal government’s largest civilian law enforcement agency, has a persistent problem of human rights abuse without accountability. Many, if not most, CBP officers, and agents in CBP’s Border Patrol agency are professionals who seek to follow best practices. However, the frequency and severity of abuse allegations indicate that a substantial number of officers and agents don’t meet that standard. Further, the record suggests that existing investigations are flawed and incomplete, while disciplinary procedures are not credible enough to change their behavior.

• • This report gives numerous examples of alleged abuse, as well as insubordinate or politicized behavior since 2020. Some of the cases are severe, involving misuse of force or even loss of life. Many other examples of cruelty and victimization take place on a daily basis, such as unprovoked violence during arrests, abusive language, denial of food or medical attention, family separations, non-return of documents and valuables, dangerous deportations, racial profiling, and falsifying migration paperwork. The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) keeps a regularly updated database documenting these abuses.

• • The investigations of many of these allegations would not take place without the work of outside actors like human rights defenders, journalists, whistleblowers and the victims themselves. Investigations can begin in two ways. Some—often, the most serious cases—start at U.S. government investigators’ own initiative, especially if the site of the abuse is a crime scene. Many others require outside actors to take the first step. Without their initiative, most such cases would never be investigated at all—and, as this report shows, many still don’t get investigated.

• • For a victim or advocate seeking to make a complaint and achieve redress, the accountability process is bewildering, opaque, and slow-moving. Right now, outside efforts to gain accountability for abuse must go through a convoluted system that has been cobbled together in the 20 years since the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) founding. Four agencies with overlapping responsibilities handle complaints and pass cases between each other. All suffer from personnel and other capacity shortfalls, and some have insufficient power to make their recommendations stick.

• • There are several frequent “failure points” where cases commonly lead nowhere,” leaving victims without justice and harming the credibility of the DHS accountability process. In its accompaniment of migrant victims who come from CBP custody to its shelter in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, the Kino Border Initiative (KBI) often sees complaints go nowhere. Cases get entered into a database without further action. They get closed because of ongoing litigation, even about general topics, or because “policy was not violated.” Cases get forwarded to other agencies, then nothing happens. Sometimes, there is no response at all. This report’s second section documents painful examples of abuses suffered and what this inability to get past “failure points” looks like, including to victims—some of whom are deported without ever speaking to an investigator."

Thanks to Professor Lenni Benson for sharing the Guardian story on the report on the ImmProf listserve.  Few U.S. news outlets seem to have picked up on the report.  That is a shame but unfortunately abuses by border enforcement officers may not be news.

KJ

Ninth Circuit Stays Injunction Barring Biden Asylum Rule from Going Into Effect

 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stayed the injunction entered by Judge Jon Tigar barring the Biden administration's proposed asylum rule.  Judge Willie Fletcher and Richard Paez agreed on the stay.  Judge Lawrence VanDyke, a Trump appointee, dissented, not because he agreed with the lower court ruling but because the Ninth Circuit, in his view, had allowed injunctions barring some of similar President Trump's immigration policies to go into effect.  See the Associated Press report here.

KJ

From The Bookshelves: Conversations From Calais

Conversations From Calais started as a "global art movement," aiming

to re-humanise those affected by the refugee crisis by using public space to share conversations volunteers have had with migrants met in Calais. It is a way of bearing witness for the thousands of displaced people stuck in Calais and trying to reach the UK, whose voices are so often silenced or ignored. This ever-growing collection of conversations focuses on capturing the diversity of experiences and avoids creating new stereotypes of refugees as villains, heroic figures or hopeless victims. By pasting these posters on walls all around the world, we are taking over public space, commemorating these voices and inspiring social change.

Now many of those art installations have been reproduced in a book edited by Mathilda Della Torre--Conversations from Calais: Sharing Refugee Stories.

Beyond moving.

-KitJ

Immigrants Barred from Legal Practice in Florida

Weeks after the attorney bar exam, Florida has decided to disqualify certain immigrants from becoming attorneys.  According to the Tampa Bay Times, Governor Rick DeSantis is repealing a 2014 state law that granted permission for to practice law within the state to immigrants with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The bill originally passed with bipartisan support and was signed by Republican Rick Scott, who is now a U.S. senator and was the former Governor of Florida. The repeal takes effect in November. 

While state practices vary (the most comprehensive list may be from the late Michael Olivas, here), California and New York are two states with a high proportion of immigrants that do not make citizenship status a requirement to take the bar exam. The Florida law change comes at a time when other jurisdictions are expanding opportunities for immigrants to hold public employment, such as Illinois permitting police officers and California, Nevada, and Wisconsin considering it. (ImmigrationProf blogger Kevin Johnson previously cited Allison Brownell Tirres for her op/ed arguing that lawful immigrants should be able to work as police officer, school teacher, or probation officer because laws to the contrary "have their roots in the early 20th century, when state legislatures and nativist organizations pushed for restrictive laws to prevent immigrants from accessing various trades, professions.")

MHC

Florida's Anti-Immigrant Law: SB 1718

Earlier this year, Florida passed SB 1718, a new and aggressive anti-immigrant law, that criminalizes people as human smugglers who "knowingly and willfully " cross the line into Florida with people who they know or should know are undocumented. The law also purports to invalidate out of state licenses issued to undocumented immigrants, requires hospitals to ask about immigration status, and a host of other provisions.

The ACLU of Florida has a helpful discussion here of what is included in SB 1718.

We have previously posted about Florida's SB 1718 here.

The law is already being challenged in court, including in this lawsuit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU, American Immigration Council, and Americans for Immigrant Justice.

Yesterday Claudia Grisales of Morning Edition on NPR produced this story featuring how the new immigration law is harming the local economy in Florida.

IE

Deadly Migration: Comparative Tales

It is safe to say that most of our students are aware that migration is dangerous. American news outlets routinely cover the dangers facing migrants in Mexican border cities. Some are even aware that migrants who travel via "la bestia" face unique threats--if you need a movie on this point, Which Way Home is particularly haunting. Others know about the dangers of falling from the U.S.-Mexico border wall, crossing the desert, and/or drowning in the Rio Grande. Fewer know about the crossing Darién Gap--this video news coverage from 2019 is still really good on that point.

I didn't set out to list all the ways in which migrants can die on their journey to the United States. This Reuters article from 2022 tries to do that, if you're interested.

Rather, a pair of news articles from BBC this week had me thinking about bringing to the classroom the idea of deadly migration as a comparative issue. Having students see that desperate people world over are willing to face shockingly high risks in a gamble to obtain a demonstrably better future. To that end, check out these articles from just this week:

• BBC coverage of the record number of migrants attempting to cross the Darién Gap: "At least 36 people are known to have died attempting the crossing last year, according to the International Organization of Migration. It says that the real figure is likely to be much higher as the remains of many victims are never recovered." The piece includes a shorter video about the trek (about 2 min 30 sec). (The 2019 video I mentioned already is a bit longer at 11 mins but packs more emotional punch.)
• BBC coverage of the the dangerous route Pakistanis are taking from Libya to Europe. The article discusses the  300+ Pakistani migrants who died off the coast of Greece when their ship sank in mid-June. It includes maps (always a plus for the geographically challenged) and details about pricing: $8,725-10,470.

-KitJ

Advocates accuse New York City of using migrants as "props" in bid for federal money

 

 

Migrants in New York City have been in the news.  The Associated Press reports that immigrants have waited night and day outside New York City's Roosevelt Hotel, sleeping on the sidewalk in hopes of a bed in the city's homeless shelter. Mayor Eric Adams repeatedly has said the city is out of room and sought to dissuade more migrants from coming.

The scene outside the migrant shelter and intake center underscores the overcrowding in a homeless housing system.  "But some critics accuse New York City officials of exploiting the lines outside the Roosevelt as part of a campaign to pressure state and federal officials to come up with more money to tackle the crisis and discourage more migrants from entering the U.S. from Mexico."

KJ

Texas Separating Migrant Families at the Border?

 

News from the border.  For the CNN report, click here.  

The reports have shed light on how migrant families are being separated by the Texas Department of Public Safety.  Texas battles other allegations of abuse and misconduct at the border as a part of the state's border enforcement efforts.

Of course, the Trump administration stirred controversy with using family separation as a means of deterring migration.  A public uproar led to an end of the Trump policy.

According to a report from the Houston Chronicle, migrant families are now being separated by DPS officials.

Travis Considine, a spokesperson for DPS, told KVUE:

"There have been instances in which DPS has arrested male migrants on state charges who were with their family when the alleged crime occurred. Children and their mothers were never separated, but instead turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol together."

KJ

Communities of faith welcome migrants caught in polarized immigration debate

Earlier this summer, the state of Florida transported several groups of migrants were transported from the U.S./Mexico border to Sacramento, California.  Florida's actions made the news but not much has been said about the Sacramento community's efforts to assist the migrants.  

This NPR story looks at the responses of a diverse group of faith-based communities to the migrants transported and left in Sacramento.  A coalition of congregations — Jewish, Christian and Muslim — has come together to help migrants settle in. "It has meant shouldering unplanned costs of time, energy and money for the coalition — all the result of the country's polarization over immigration."  One community leader, who organized some 30 congregations to help the migrants, noted that "[w]hatever the intention was of why they were sent here to our community, . . . the community has responded overwhelmingly with love and support."

KJ