ImmigrationProf Blog

More Haitian Misery: Deportations From The DR

Relations between Haiti and its island neighbor the Dominican Republic have been pretty bad for some time now. A few reminders about just the past ten years:

• In 2013, the Dominican Republic revoked birthright citizenship (retroactively) leaving Haitian migrants who had been living in the D.R. for generations suddenly stateless.
• This legal change lead to massive refugee camps and deportations through 2015 and 2016.

Meanwhile, things haven't been going swimmingly in Haiti itself. There has been massive internal displacement of individuals in response to widespread violence in the country.

With this backdrop comes the latest move by the DR: a plan to deport 10,000 Haitians per week. The DR has already deported 60K Haitians this year. It would like to raise that figure to nearer 500,000.

-KitJ

Attack Ad Hits Kamala Harris on Border, Safety, Gender Surgery

I'm in Pennsylvania for a few days and, I've gotta tell you, it's weird. Living in Oklahoma, I am exposed to precisely zero political advertisements. In this swing state, the ads are nonstop.

This one in particular really caught my attention.

"Under liberal border czar Kamala Harris, illegal aliens are pouring into our country including murderers, rapists, and even terrorists. Instead of paying for their crimes and receiving justice, Kamala will give criminal illegal aliens taxpayer-funded transgender surgeries... Crazy liberal Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you."

Whoo boy. That right there is a message with a lot of concepts rolled into one. Border and safety? Old news. Border, safety, and gender surgery? Cutting edge.

Wowzahs.

-KitJ

Trump Continues Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric in Aurora, CO Campaign Stop

Donald Trump spoke in Aurora, Colorado earlier this evening where, no surprise, he continued his anti-immigrant rhetoric. The full speech is below. If you look just at the freeze frame you can see the delightful signage that formed his backdrop: "Deport Illegals Now" and "End Migrant Crime."

At his rally, Trump laid out plans for "Operation Aurora," to commence upon his election, which would address “illegal migrant criminal networks." The title of the operation comes from Trump's allegations that Venezuelan gangs have taken over the Colorado city, an assertion the city's Republican mayor has declared false

At a different rally in Wisconsin, Trump told his crowd of supporters: "Today I make you this promise: I will liberate Wisconsin and our entire nation from this mass migration invasion of murderers, child predators, drug dealers, gang members and thugs." That particular comment made me remember this 2022 graphic from DHS:

Immigration crimes are and have been the leading basis for criminal removals for some time, including when Trump himself was in office.

-KitJ

AILA unveils ethics guide for immigration lawyers

The American Immigration Lawyer Association has unveiled an ethics guide for immigration lawyers.

"The AILA Ethics Compendium is an essential tool for any attorney practicing immigration law, offering guidance on ethical dilemmas that are unique to the field," said Cyrus Mehta, past chair of the AILA National Ethics Committee. "We hope this resource will, help those practicing immigration, and supporting immigration lawyers navigate the complexities of legal ethics with confidence."

KJ

 

212(a)(2), 237(a)(2) flowchart

This semester, I've had several students interested in creating flow charts to help understand how portions of our crimmigration course fit together. Flow charts are something I've been working to develop charts for Civil Procedure, but, before today, I hadn't undertaken the same in either immigration or crimmigration.

Anyhoo -- I flew from OKC to PIT today. And on the plane, I tried my hand at a flowchart looking at the 212(a)(2) and 237(a)(2) provisions that we cover in crimmigration.

How did I do?

-KitJ

National Immigration Forum Action Fund: Voter Guide on Immigration

A new resource from the National Immigration Forum Action Fund provides voters with guidance on immigration. 

The new voter guide offers an in-depth comparison of the candidates on immigration.   On the presidential candidates, the preface to the guide states the following:

"Donald Trump’s immigration policy proposals are designed to sow division and stoke fear, rather than benefit American workers and their families. From ending birthright citizenship to mass deportation, these extreme policies would hinder American prosperity for decades to come. 

Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris administration has made some promising steps toward a better immigration system – but their plan to `shut down' the border is a reactionary response to political fearmongering. Shortsighted, extreme measures like these will only create further chaos while failing to make Americans safer or address the root causes of migration."

KJ

Migration Policy Institute: Who Are Immigrants in the United States?

Students often request basic facts about immigration and the immigrant population in the United States. This Migration Policy Institute "short explainer" provides basic statistics on the foreign-born population in the United States, including its size, origins, places of U.S. settlement, and pathways of arrival. The United States is the world’s top immigrant destination, with more than three-quarters of the nearly 48 million immigrants in the country as of 2023 here legally.

The explainer, Who Are Immigrants in the United States?, shares a number of data points, including:

• The foreign-born share of the U.S. population, which stood at 14.3 percent in 2023, is near the historical high of 14.8 percent recorded in 1890.
• Immigrants and their U.S.-born children account for 27 percent of the total U.S. civilian population.
• The national origins of immigrants have significantly diversified. While Mexico remains the largest single source country, immigration from South America, Africa, and Asia has grown rapidly since 2010. Even as the overall immigrant population in the United States grew by 20 percent between 2010 and 2023, immigration from Africa increased by 74 percent and from South America by 61 percent.

KJ

Brennan Center for Justice: "Latino Immigrants Are Not ‘Alien Enemies’"

The Brennan Center for Justice analyzes critically a legal theory pushed by Donald Trump and others that undocumented immigrants are "invaders" subject to extreme measures:

Trump has promised to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, which can be invoked only during times of war, invasion, or predatory incursion to justify mass deportations.  "As a new Brennan Center report makes clear, this power is already perilously overbroad and blatantly discriminatory. And using it during peacetime would be a staggering abuse. It should be eliminated."

Check out the Brennan Center report.

KJ

Florida's Immigrant Population Battered by Hurricane Milton

 

Hurricane Milton battered Florida.  Gisela Salomon for the Associated Press reminds us that immigrants are especially vulnerable in mass disasters and were in the crosshairs of Hurrican Milton.  Among those in the hurricane's path were "hundreds of thousands of immigrants who don’t speak English, most of them Latin Americans harvesting oranges and tomatoes in the fields . . . , washing dishes in restaurants, cleaning hotel rooms and working construction. . . . For the Spanish speakers and a smaller number of African refugees , new lives in the U.S. were already a daily struggle because of the language barrier and lack of resources."

early five million immigrants live in Florida, with many from Mexico and Venezuela living in Orlando and Tampa,  "aRound 250,000 Mexicans live in the area where Hurricane Milton . . . hit hard and many fear[ed] leaving their trailer homes, or facing deportation."

Florida passed a tough immigration enforcement law in 2023.

KJ

The Atlantic on America's Dramatic Shift Right on Immigration

Rogé Karma is the author of this new piece from The Atlantic: The Most Dramatic Shift in U.S. Public Opinion. It is all about America's substantial and recent shift right on immigration.

Karma notes that: "In 2020, 28 percent of Americans told Gallup that immigration should decrease. Just four years later, that number had risen to 55 percent—the highest level since 2001." He continues: "Although public opinion is known to ebb and flow, a reversal this big, and this fast, is nearly unheard-of."

Karma identifies something called the “'chaos theory'" of immigration sentiment. The basic idea, grounded in both survey data and political-science research, is that when the immigration process is perceived as fair and orderly, voters are more likely to tolerate it. When it is perceived as out of control and unfair—perhaps due to an uncommonly large surge of migrants—then the public quickly turns against it."

-KitJ

Pew Research Center: How Asian Americans see the U.S. immigration system By Ziyao Tian , Carolyne Im , Sahana Mukherjee and Abby Budiman

Pew Research Center: How Asian Americans see the U.S. immigration system By Ziyao Tian , Carolyne Im , Sahana Mukherjee and Abby Budiman

This report has many interesting facts about the views of Asian Americans on immigration. 

With more than half of Asian Americans born outside the United States, a share that rises to 67% among Asian American adults, engagement with the U.S. immigration system is a common experience.  And many see the immigration systems as needing change.

Asian American immigrants interact with the nation’s immigration system in different ways. Some Asian immigrants came to the U.S. under differing visa categories, including student visas and temporary work visas. Others obtained permanent residencies through family sponsorship, employment-based preferences, and diversity and refugee categories, among others.

KJ

Black Migrants and #Black Lives Matter

Friends

Below is a link to my forthcoming article. Here's the abstract:

Black Migrants and Black Lives Matter: Voices of Tension, Racism, Pan-Africanism, and Prospects for Collaboration

Bill Ong Hing

[forthcoming, UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice (2024)]

The main question that this article addresses is: where do Black migrants view themselves in the racial justice movement in the United States? As we will see, some Black migrants chose to disassociate themselves from African Americans, and African Americans know that. Some white Americans favor Black migrants over African Americans, and African Americans know that as well. Most Black migrants have a sense of identity based on their ethnic background, while the identity for most African Americans has evolved from the evil history of slavery and discrimination in the United States. Those facts contribute to the challenge of incorporating Black migrants into the Black Lives Matter movement.

Black migration to the United States has received increased attention in the last several years—from the Border Patrol assault of Haitians at the Rio Grande River to the double-barreled targeting of Black migrants through their victimization by racist local police and their disproportionate detention by ICE.

In the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the strengthening of BLM, a question has surfaced over the level of involvement of Black migrants in the racial justice movement in the United States. That question is at the center of this article. Where do Black migrants see themselves vis a vis BLM? What are the factors that determine their involvement in the racial justice movement? How do African Americans regard Black migrants in the context of racial justice? What are the challenges to cohesion between these groups in the fight for racial justice? As this article reveals, the answers to these questions are complicated. Although there are commonalities, tension and misunderstanding between the groups are apparent. Black migrants are not monolithic, and their identities evolve in different ways in response to their experiences in the United States. Their numbers are growing: from 3.5 million in 2012 to 4.3 million in 2022—almost by 24 percent. Concepts of Pan-Africanism or Black unity are advanced by some advocates in the hopes of collaboration. These concepts register with some, but not all parties.

Through a review of the literature, social media, and voices that address Black migrants and BLM, Black migrant identity, African American views toward Black migrants, and Black migrant views toward African Americans are reviewed in this article. Many of the voices are those collected by a team of researchers that worked with me. In the process, the article explores tensions, misunderstandings, opposing viewpoints, evolving viewpoints, and challenges to collaboration. The prospects of vibrant participation in the racial justice movement by Black migrants are assessed along with the parallel prospect of Pan-African unification between the groups. A corresponding goal is to highlight the voices of Black migrants and African Americans on the issues of Black unity and racial justice collaboration.

Click here to download the entire draft.

bh

Ilya Somin: The Economic Impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act

Ilya Somin for the Volokh Conspiracy offers a novel economics impact approach to evaluating the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred most Chinese immigration. As Somin puts it, the Act "led to the Supreme Court's awful ruling in the 1889 Chinese Exclusion Case, which ruled that the federal government had a general power to restrict migration, despite the absence of any textual or originalist basis for it." Somin has argued that the Chinese Exclusion Case should be added to the "anti-canon" of constitutional law.

Somin highlights a new study for the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) assessing the economic impacts of the Chinese Exclusion Act. "One of the main rationales for its passage was to benefit white workers, who were supposedly victimized by competition from the Chinese. Did it achieve that goal? Turns out not."

Here is the abstract of the new study:

"This paper investigates the economic consequences of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned immigration from China to the United States. The Act reduced the number of Chinese workers of all skill levels residing in the U.S. It also reduced the labor supply and the quality of jobs held by white and U.S.-born workers, the intended beneficiaries of the Act, and reduced manufacturing output. The results suggest that the Chinese Exclusion Act slowed economic growth in western states until at least 1940." (bold added).

KJ

Republicans once championed immigration in the US

Prudence Flowers for The Conversation sketches the evolution of the Republican Party on immigration.  "It might seem surprising today in the era of Donald Trump, but Republicans in the United States once championed immigration and supported pathways to citizenship for undocumented Americans."

KJ

Immigration Article of the Day: The Postpandemic U.S. Immigration Surge: New Facts and Inflationary Implications by ANTON CHEREMUKHIN, SEWON HUR, RONALD MAU, KAREL MERTENS, ALEXANDER W. RICHTER, and XIAOQING ZHOU

The Postpandemic U.S. Immigration Surge: New Facts and Inflationary Implications by ANTON CHEREMUKHIN, SEWON HUR, RONALD MAU, KAREL MERTENS, ALEXANDER W. RICHTER, and XIAOQING ZHOU, all of Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, FRB of Dallas Working Paper No. 2407 

Abstract

The U.S. experienced an extraordinary postpandemic surge in unauthorized immigration. This paper combines administrative data on border encounters and immigration court records with household survey data to document two new facts about these immigrants: They tend to be hand-to-mouth consumers and low-skilled workers that complement the existing workforce. We build these features into a model with capital, household heterogeneity and population growth to study the inflationary effects of this episode. Contrary to the popular view, we find little effect on inflation, as the increase in supply was largely offset by an increase in demand.

KJ

Immigration Litigation and Advocacy Fellowship

James H. Binger Center for New Americans

The James H. Binger Center for New Americans at the University of Minnesota Law School is hiring a recent graduate for an Immigration Litigation and Advocacy Fellowship to start in July or August of 2025. The position is a two-year commitment based on annual, renewable appointment, with an optional third year. 

 

The Fellow will work primarily with me in the Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic, collaborating on clinical casework in federal courts, clinical case supervision, and other related litigation and advocacy projects. The Fellow will also have opportunities to collaborate with and be mentored by the larger Binger Center's wonderful faculty and staff. The position is intended to support the development of the Fellow for a career providing noncitizens with high-quality, comprehensive immigration representation, whether in a non-profit, academic, or private practice setting.

 

If you are interested or know someone who may be, the full position description and application can be found on the University of Minnesota Employment website, Job ID 365027. Here are direct links for External Applicants and Internal Applicants.

 

KJ

Stephen Miller, "Sexual Matador"

Pardon my French, but Jesus H. Christ. This clip from FOX News is B.O.N.K.E.R.S.

I've been trying to educate my immigration and crimmigration students about Stephen Miller for years. No one has ever heard of him. Now, apparently, FOX is "getting a lot of texts from women. About Miller. And his... appearance." Miller's response? "If you are a young man ... who's looking to impress the ladies... to be attractive... the best thing you can do is wear your Trump support on your sleeve. Show that you are a real man."

Ew.

Watters: We are getting a lot of texts from women about Stephen Miller. Our audience believes you are some sort of sexual matador.

Miller: Some advice to any young man out there. If you are a young man who's looking to impress the ladies, to be attractive.. the best thing you… pic.twitter.com/PMwMO3Voz1

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 9, 2024

In fairness, I may well play this clip the next time I introduce Stephen Miller. Because it's hilarious. What a doofus.

-KitJ

In the heart of Appalachia, a distant cousin of JD Vance leads an opposing 'authentic hillbilly' movement, he is a "shillbilly"

Mackenzie Mays for the Los Angeles Times reports on a fascinating angle to Trump running mate JD Vance's identity  and his extended family members' views about him.  

Terra and JD Vance are distant cousins but have never met. Their lineage intersected generations ago. "[A]s the U.S. senator from Ohio leans on his Appalachian roots in his campaign for the White House, Terra Vance has garnered a following as a fiery and knowledgeable critic."

Terra Vance considers JD Vance's 2016 book Hillbilly Elegy,, and how he's used his background to appeal to voters as a disservice to her hometown and last name. In her view, his story blames people who have been exploited — in some cases by the coal mining and pharmaceutical industries — . . . while painting himself as special for escaping the same fate."  To get a sense of Terra Vance as a person, listen to this podcast on her work serving neurodivergent persons.  She struck me as a thoughtful person and sophisticated thinker.

Terra Vance is founder of a disability rights nonprofit in West Virginia.  She views herself as the "authentic hillbilly Vance."  "He cosplayed a hillbilly and tokenized himself as the golden child who worked hard to overcome adversity," Terra Vance said.

Terra Vance's social media posts share facts about her Melungeon heritage — a mixed race of Black, white, and indigenous peoples, based in Appalachia — and raises awareness about her neighbors' lack of clean water.  Vance has shared that Appalachians "have called the vice presidential candidate a `shillbilly' [and] circulated a #heaintfromhere hashtag and joked that he's the kind of guy that puts his cast iron skillet in the dishwasher."

KJ

Harris talks immigration, Ukraine, Hurricane Helene misinformation in 60 Minutes interview

 

In an interview with 60 Minutes (here and here), Vice President Kamala Harris discussed immigration, whether she would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine, and her gun (a Glock). Former President Donald Trump declined to be interviewed.  

 

KJ

MALDEF to Hold Press Briefing Following Oral Argument in DACA Case, Texas v. United States

 

MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) will hold a press briefing to discuss the oral argument in a case in which Texas and seven other states challenge the legality of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals).

MALDEF attorneys and other counsel will present oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans on October 10, 2024. Following the hearing, MALDEF attorneys and others will hold a press briefing to discuss what happened in court.

DACA was initiated in 2012. In response to the 2018 Texas-led suit, MALDEF intervened on behalf of DACA recipients to defend the program. In 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen ruled that the Biden Administration’s DACA regulation is unlawful.

MALDEF appealed Judge Hanen’s ruling and argues that the plaintiff states failed to prove injury from DACA’s implementation and that the DACA regulation is a lawful exercise of presidential discretion.

What: Press briefing on upcoming federal hearing in Texas v. United States

 Who: MALDEF attorneys and co-counsel, and a representative of the DACA community.

 When: October 10, 2024, 10 a.m. PT/Noon CT/1 p.m. ET

Dial in: 800-225-9448 Primary or 203-518-9708 Alternate; Conference ID: MALDEF

Read more about the history of challenges to DACA here.

Read an FAQ about the case here.

 

The Center for American Progress shared this memorandum in advance of teh oral arguments:

TO: Interested Parties

FROM: Tom Jawetz, Debu Gandhi, and Rosa Barrientos-Ferrer, Center for American Progress

DATE: October 8, 2024

SUBJECT: What to know ahead of the DACA Case Before the 5th Circuit on Oct. 10

---

On Thursday, October 10, the Fifth Circuit will hear oral arguments in Texas v. United States, the lawsuit challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) authority to establish the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy through rulemaking. Until recently, the same Fifth Circuit panel also was scheduled to hear an appeal in Texas v. Department of Homeland Security, a separate lawsuit challenging DHS’s authority to establish the Keeping Families Together parole policy. Late Friday night, the Fifth Circuit in an unsigned opinion removed that case from the calendar after affirming the district court’s ruling denying the ability for potential beneficiaries of the policy to intervene in the case and appear as parties. Although the issues presented in these cases are different, two things are clear. First, Republican attorneys general led by Texas remain focused on undermining common sense, legal immigration solutions that keep families together and grow our economy. And second, the stakes are extremely high.

About the Case: Texas v. U.S.

In the 12 years since the creation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the policy has been a catalyst for positive change in the lives of recipients, helping them reach educational milestones, contribute to the economy, achieve financial stability, and improve their families’ overall well-being. Yet the future of DACA and the lives of DACA recipients remain uncertain, with DACA’s protections facing the threat of extinction due to ongoing litigation led by Republican attorneys general.

In September 2023, a federal district court in Texas concluded that the Biden administration’s regulation establishing DACA was unlawful and permanently enjoined the rule; the court partially stayed its order to allow current DACA recipients to continue renewing their protections. On October 10th, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana, will hold oral arguments on an appeal of that ruling. In addition to challenging the district court’s ruling on the merits, the appellants are also challenging the ability of Texas to establish that it has standing to challenge the rule in the first place. 

It is unclear when the Fifth Circuit might issue its decision and whether, in the event of a ruling against DACA, the court would lift the partial stay of the lower court’s ruling and prevent the Department of Homeland Security from granting further renewals to current DACA recipients. The elimination of DACA could force over 500,000 current DACA recipients to be stripped of their ability to work legally and expose them to the threat of deportation. A ripple effect that will reach far beyond the lives of DACA recipients, impacting their families and communities as well.

How DACA Improves the Lives of Recipients,  their Families, and their Communities

For the last nine years, Professor Tom K. Wong of the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at the University of California, San Diego, has partnered with United We Dream, the National Immigration Law Center, and the Center for American Progress to conduct a national survey to document and analyze the experiences of DACA recipients. The latest DACA survey findings reveal DACA’s role in empowering individuals and communities while strengthening the U.S. economy and highlighting the need for a pathway to citizenship. 

Accessing better opportunities 

• Our research shows that as a result of getting DACA, recipients are able toaccess better educational and employment opportunities. 

Financial independence and security 

• DACA has helped recipients and their families become more economically independent and financially secure.Survey respondents’ average hourly wage more than doubled from $11.92 to $31.52 per hour—an increase of 164.4 percent—after receiving DACA. According to the data, respondents’ average annual earnings total approximately $67,050, and their median annual earnings total $58,240. This is beneficial for recipients, their families, and the U.S. economy.
• With work authorization, DACA recipients have access to career advancement, better wages, benefits, and opportunities to find better career fits. Among respondents, 94.1 percent are currently employed. Since receiving DACA, recipients’ average hourly wage has more than doubled from $11.92 to $31.52 per hour. 

• DACA has provided opportunities for recipients to improve their lives as well as contribute more to the economy as consumers; 67.1 percent of survey respondents reported buying their first car after receiving DACA. Among respondents, 30.7 percent are first-time homeowners and pay mortgages, a percentage that has trended upwards over the past decade of surveying DACA recipients. 

• DACA harnesses recipients’ entrepreneurial spirit by empowering them tostart and grow their businesses; approximately 9.5 percent of DACA recipients are business owners.

• DACA continues to open educational opportunities to recipients. Among respondents, 22.9 percent indicated they are currently enrolled in school and 65 percent currently in school said that because of DACA, “[they] pursued educational opportunities that [they] previously could not.”

Potential loss of DACA

• Legal challenges to DACA have had a negative effect on recipients. For many DACA recipients, the United States is the only home they’ve ever known. CAP research has found that many are afraid for their and their families’ safety if DACA is rescinded. The possibility of DACA coming to an end is creating uncertainty and anxiety, because the wellbeing and security of DACA recipients and their families are on the line.
• As DACA recipients have begun building families and becoming parents and grandparents, concerns about family separation have intensified. Survey data revealed that 32.9 percent of respondents are parents. Among them, 70.7 percent reported that they think about being separated from their children because of deportation at least once per day, while 67.6 percent reported thinking about not being able to see their children grow up because of deportation at least once per day.

DACA Recipients Strengthen the U.S. Economy, Social Security and Medicare

DACA Recipients Bolster Social Security and Medicare

• In 2022, DACA recipients earned nearly $27.9 billion in annual wages as both employees and employers, and paid federal, state, and local taxes. They also contributed nearly $2.1 billion to Social Security and Medicare—despite not being eligible for these benefits under current law.
• DACA recipients are deeply embedded in the fabric of American society—as spouses and parents of U.S. citizens, active community members, and workers and entrepreneurs benefiting local and national economies. In fact, current DACA recipients have lived in the U.S. for an average of 24 years, sharing households with more than 1 million U.S. citizens.

A Path to Citizenship Would Further These Gains and Grow the U.S. Economy 

• A pathway to citizenship would provide permanent protections for DACA recipients and DACA-eligible immigrants to fully thrive in this country that is their home. Providing a path to citizenship for DACA recipients would honor their contributions to the country and grow our economy. CAP’s research has shown that enacting the bipartisan American Dream and Promise Act alone would increase the U.S. GDP by a cumulative total of $799 billion over 10 years and create 285,400 new jobs.

Keeping Families Together Parole is a Smart and Lawful Way to Strengthen American Families

Until late Friday night, the Fifth Circuit was also scheduled to hear oral arguments in Texas v. Department of Homeland Security, another case in which Republican officials from Texas and a handful of other states are challenging an immigration policy that offers a measure of protection to undocumented individuals who have resided in the United States for many years. This case pertains to the Biden-Harris Administration’s Keeping Families Together parole policy, which allows certain noncitizen spouses and noncitizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens to request parole in place under existing statutory authority.

The issue on appeal was whether the district court erred in refusing to allow 11 potential beneficiaries of the policy and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) to intervene in the case as defendants alongside the DHS. The federal government and potential intervenors also had asked the Fifth Circuit to lift its own order extending an “administrative stay” issued by the district court that was preventing DHS from granting individuals parole under the policy during the pendency of the litigation. 

In an unsigned, per curiam opinion, the Fifth Circuit panel summarily affirmed the district court’s order denying intervention, blocking the people whose lives would most directly be affected by the Keeping Families Together parole initiative an opportunity to appear in court as parties in the litigation challenging it. The Fifth Circuit additionally lifted its stay on further proceedings in the district court and also lifted its extension of the district court’s now-expired “administrative stay.” Within hours, the district court reimposed an “administrative stay” on parole grants for an additional period of more than one month even though it has yet to consider the four factors required for issuance of such an injunction (i.e., plaintiffs’ likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable harm to plaintiffs in the absence of an injunction, balance of the equities and hardships, and the public interest). 

The Keeping Families Together parole policy would ensure greater stability for families and employers and increase tax revenues, which will grow the economy. This policy would provide security to hundreds of thousands of families facing the fear of separation from their loved ones.

Parole processes–and parole in place–are legal 

• The Immigration and Nationality Act grants the Secretary of Homeland Security the discretionary authority to “parole into the United States temporarily under such conditions as he may prescribe only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit any [noncitizen] applying for admission to the United States.”
• In 2019, Congress “reaffirmed” the importance of the Secretary’s parole in place authority.
• Many past and current parole processes have recognized preserving family unity and reducing the fear and anxiety of separation as the types of significant public benefits that can be advanced through the use of parole.

CAP Resources on DACA: 

• 2023 Survey of DACA Recipients Highlights Economic Advancement, Continued Uncertainty Amid Legal Limbo
• DACA Recipients Bolster Social Security and Medicare
• Despite Barriers, DACA Entrepreneurs Contribute To Their Communities
• Why DACA Matters

CAP Resources on Parole Authority: 

• The Biden Administration’s Use of Immigration Parole Authority Is Both Lawful and Smart

For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Jasmine Razeghi at [email protected]

 

UPDATE (Oct.11):  The recording of the oral argument5s is here.

KJ