ImmigrationProf Blog

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]

KJ

From the Bookshelves: The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers by Zeke Hernandez (2024).

The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers by Zeke Hernandez (2024).

Here is the publisher's pitch for the book:

 

"The go-to book on immigration: fact-based, comprehensive, and nonpartisan.

Immigration is one of the most controversial topics in the United States and everywhere else. Pundits, politicians, and the public usually depict immigrants as either villains or victims. The villain narrative is that immigrants pose a threat—to our economy because they steal our jobs; our way of life because they change our culture; and to our safety and laws because of their criminality. The victim argument tells us that immigrants are needy outsiders—the poor, huddled masses whom we must help at our own cost if necessary. But the data clearly debunks both narratives. From jobs, investment, and innovation to cultural vitality and national security, more immigration has an overwhelmingly positive impact on everything that makes a society successful.

In The Truth About Immigration, Wharton professor Zeke Hernandez draws from nearly 20 years of research to answer all the big questions about immigration. He combines moving personal stories with rigorous research to offer an accessible, apolitical, and evidence-based look at how newcomers affect our local communities and our nation. You'll learn about the overlooked impact of immigrants on investment and job creation; realize how much we take for granted the novel technologies, products, and businesses newcomers create; get the facts straight about perennial concerns like jobs, crime, and undocumented immigrants; and gain new perspectives on misunderstood issues such as the border, taxes, and assimilation.

Most books making a case for immigration tell you that immigration is good for immigrants. This book is all about how newcomers benefit you, your community, and your country. Skeptics fear that newcomers compete economically with locals because of their similarities and fail to socially assimilate because of their differences. You'll see that it's exactly the opposite: newcomers bring enduring economic benefits because of their differences and contribute positively to society because of their similarities. Destined to become the go-to book on one of the most important issues of our time, this book turns fear into hope by proving a simple truth: immigrants are essential for economically prosperous and socially vibrant nations."

 

KJ

Trump falsely claims that Hurricane Helene relief funds are going to immigrants

 

It is campaign season and at least one candidate is seeking to make political hay out of a natural disaster.

The View hosts skewered Donald Trump over false claims that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)  disaster funds had all been spent on immigrants instead of those affected by Hurricane Helene. 

“Okay, here are the facts: not a dime of disaster relief has gone to resettling migrants or anybody else. It’s a bald-faced lie,” Whoopi Goldberg explained. “FEMA has also set up a website so people can go and see, and it will debunk this insanity. Why people would want to put that out there to people who are suffering — people who have lost their homes, towns are gone — why would you get out there and tell them there’s no help for them?”

Check out FEMA's website FEMA Launches Web Page to Respond to Rumors and Confirm the Facts Related to Hurricane Helene Response and Recovery.  One rumor addressed on the website:

"Rumor: Funding for FEMA disaster response was diverted to support international efforts or border-related issues.

Fact: This is false. No money is being diverted from disaster response needs. FEMA’s disaster response efforts and individual assistance is funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts. Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other non-disaster related efforts. The funding for communities to support migrants is appropriated by Congress to Customs and Border Patrol – it has nothing to do with FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund. FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund has enough funding to support Hurricane Helene efforts and FEMA has what it needs for immediate response and recovery efforts. As FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has said, she has the full authority to spend against the President’s budget, but we’re not out of hurricane season yet so we need to keep a close eye on it."

 USA Today and other news outlets report that FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has said her agency has all the resources it needs to respond to Helene.  In numerous interviews,  Criswell defended FEMA's response and shot down Trump’s claims that the agency is short on disaster relief funds because money has been diverted to help undocumented immigrants and that help is being withheld from Republican areas

Trump has made a series of unfounded claims about Helene recovery at events. He said at a rally in Saginaw, Michigan, Thursday that “Kamala spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal immigrants.”

KJ

Mexican immigrant families plagued by grief, questions after plant workers swept away by Helene

 

Immigrants often suffer in mass disasters, such as in Hurrican Katina in 2005.  They also played a role in Katina's clean-up.

ABC News reports that immigrants have been affected by Hurricane Helene.  

Days after six workers at a plastics factory in Tennessee disappeared under floodwaters caused by Hurricane Helene, family members and supporters have been gathering for vigils in front of churches, a high school and a grocery store to honor them.

The storm, which claimed hundreds of lives, quickly overwhelmed Erwin, an Appalachian town of around 6,000, and resulted in more than 50 people being rescued by helicopter from the roof of a submerged hospital.

"The scar it left behind has been especially devastating within the small Latino community that makes up a disproportionate number of workers at the factory: Four of the six workers swept away were Mexican American."

KJ

"Trump’s Dangerous Immigration Obsession"

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Jonathan Blitzer in the New Yorker reminds us of the stark consequences of a victory of the Trump/Vance ticket in thr 2024 election:

"Donald Trump’s most outrageous pronouncements on immigration are rarely shocking for long; they’re usually eclipsed within days, if not hours, by even more grotesque claims. Last year, in what should have been an enduring political scandal, Trump blamed immigrants for `poisoning the blood of our country.' He has repeated his solution—mass deportation—so often that it’s become a campaign slogan. In a national Scripps News/Ipsos poll last month, fifty-four per cent of those asked agreed, either `strongly' or `somewhat,' with Trump’s call, including a quarter of Democrats. Maybe people can’t imagine what an action like that would entail; or, worse, maybe they can."

KJ

 

 

CNN: Trump suggests undocumented immigrants who commit murder have ‘bad genes’

Official White House Photo

The verbal attacks on immigrants just keep coming from the Trump/Vance campaign.  CNN reports on the latest.

Former President Donald Trump yesterday suggested that undocumented immigrants who commit murder have “bad genes.”  It is "the latest example of the former president using dehumanizing rhetoric as he tries to stoke fears about those in the country illegally."

In a radio interview on “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” Trump distorted statistics to attack Kamala Harris for "allowing people to come through an open border, 13,000 of which were murderers.”

“You know, now, a murderer, I believe this – it’s in their genes. And we got bad, a lot of bad genes in our country right now,” Trump said.

 

JUST NOW: @realDonaldTrump leans heavily into race science by telling @hughhewitt that you can tell whether migrants are predisposed to committing murder by "their genes."

"We got a lot of bad genes in our country right now," he adds. pic.twitter.com/t722iYq4Hm

— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) October 7, 2024

Previously, Trump echoed Hitler in saying that that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” He also falsely claimed that Haitian migrants were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.

Trump has promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants if he wins the election.

KJ

Podcast on Haitian Interdiction Litigation

The latest Criminal podcast (A Land Without Law) focuses on the Haitian interdiction litigation.  Professor Harold Koh is interviewed extensively about the conditions in Guantánamo Bay where Haitians were initially held and the litigation. 

Before Guantánamo Bay became the prison for alleged terrorists after September 11., 2001, Marie Genard spent more than a year of her life there. She was 14.  Marie was interviewed on the podcast.

The litigation is discussed in Brandt Goldstein’s book Storming the Court: How a Band of Law Students Fought the President—and Won (2006).

KJ

No Re-Parole for Migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and Nicaragua

In "No Re-Parole for Migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and Nicaragua," Hamed Aleaziz for the  New York Times reports that the Biden administration has announced that it would allow the temporary legal permission for migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and Nicaragua to lapse requiring hundreds of thousands of people to find other legal avenues for remaining in the country or face removal.

"The decision comes nearly two years after the Biden administration began a program allowing migrants from those four countries to apply to stay in the United States for two years, as long as they had a financial sponsor and passed background checks.

The program was designed to discourage people from sneaking into the country by giving them a legal way to enter the United States. Now, the administration said migrants cannot extend their stay under the program, according to an update on the Homeland Security Department’s website."

KJ

At the Movies: Separated (2024)

 

 

The film Separated in a nutshell focuses "on the Trump administration's policy of separating children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.  As Jada Yuan for the Washington Post describes the film,

"The Trump administration’s practice of separating children from their parents at America’s southern border began as early as July 2017, shortly after the inauguration — long before the general public learned of it and became outraged, and long before Trump officials even acknowledged it was happening, according to `Separated,' a new documentary from Errol Morris  that premiered at the Venice and Telluride film festivals [last summer]."

Democracy Now! interviewed the Oscar-winning maker of Separated, Errol Morris, about the documentary, which is based on NBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff’s book of the same name.  "The film details the horrors of the Trump `zero tolerance' immigration policy, under which thousands of immigrant children were forcibly separated from their parents after they crossed the southern U.S. border, part of the administration’s broader crackdown on immigration."

 

 

 Separated plays for a week in New York, before it gets wider theatrical distribution and airs on MSNBC this December.

KJ

U.S. Settled More than 100,000 Refugees in Fiscal Year 2024

 

We did it! Thanks to the international org and resettlement agency partners, welcoming American communities, and the @StatePRM team who made it possible to bring the most refugees out of harm’s way to 🇺🇸 since 1994. pic.twitter.com/69BdBCcy6m

— Julieta Valls Noyes (@PRMAsstSec) October 2, 2024

 

For the first time in 30 years, the U.S. resettled more than 100,000 refugees in a fiscal year.

Earlier this week, Julieta Valls Noyes, Assistant Secretary of the State Department’s Population, Refugees, and Migration Bureau (whose retirement was announced today), posted that the fiscal year 2024 resettlement total is 100,034 — a number that could change slightly when the official total is released.

The number represents a 67% increase from fiscal year 2023, when the U.S. resettled 60,014 refugees. And it’s an increase of more than 300% from 2019, the last pre-pandemic fiscal year during the Trump administration.

"The continued rebuilding of our refugee resettlement infrastructure is heartening," said Jennie Murray, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum. "Properly resourcing our system makes a difference in how we face the challenges of global migration.

"Refugee resettlement is an extremely well-vetted, legal pathway that takes pressure off our borders. The United States must continue to welcome people fleeing persecution.

"Although the total falls short of the 125,000 cap because of lingering operational and capacity challenges, it demonstrates continued progress in rebuilding the refugee resettlement system after COVID and years of underfunding."

KJ

Center for Migration Studies: The Untold Story: Migrant Deaths Along the US-Mexico Border and Beyond WEBINAR

The Untold Story: Migrant Deaths Along the US-Mexico Border and Beyond (Free Webinar) CMS: The Untold Story: Migrant Deaths Along the US-Mexico Border and Beyond October 16, 2024 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM (ET) The Journal on Migration and Human Security will soon release a special edition issue, “Forced Migration, Deterrence, and Solutions to the Non-Natural Disaster of Migrant Deaths Along the US-Mexico Border and Beyond.” Authors will discuss their articles and findings on migrant deaths along the US-Mexico border and beyond.   Click here to register!

KJ

NBC News: What economists say about JD Vance's claim that immigrants drive up housing costs

Photo from Senator Vance website

During the Vice Presidential debate earlier this week, JD Vance blamed immigrants for, among many things, the nation's high housing prices.  NBC News takes a look at Senator Vance's claim.    

“Look, in Springfield, Ohio, and in communities all across this country, you’ve got schools that are overwhelmed, you’ve got hospitals that are overwhelmed, you have got housing that is totally unaffordable because we brought in millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans for scarce homes,” Vance said. Along with zoning reform, Vance and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump have premised a mass-deportation plan that they argue would reduce competition for housing and prices.

As reported, 

"[m]any economists caution that connecting rising numbers of immigrants to housing costs is no simple thing. Some have said there is no way to examine existing data and surveys in real time to determine the extent of immigrants’ impact on individual housing markets — though a chart drawn up by Ernie Tedeschi, a former White House chief economist for President Joe Biden, showed no clear connection between foreign-born population growth and native-born home prices on a national scale."

 

Just from a cursory look at the data, there does not appear to be any relationship between metro areas that saw the greatest immigration during the pandemic and the greatest increase in housing prices among the native-born. pic.twitter.com/fA03bqkqv2

— Ernie Tedeschi (@ernietedeschi) October 2, 2024

KJ

First Binational Clinic in Mexico to Support LMU Loyola Law School’s Immigrant Justice Clinic

Marissa Montes, Director Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic

Good news at Loyola Los Angeles! 

 The Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic at LMU Law School has received a gift to establish the Binational Migrant Advocacy Project (BMAP), bringing students in the United States and students in Mexico to work collaboratively in an international setting. This important project is the first binational clinic of its kind based at a law school in the U.S. and will serve as both a model and laboratory for more effective immigration advocacy and training.

LIJC’s BMAP will extend LLS’ global impact, fostering cross-border partnerships that empower migrant communities, enhance legal education, and advance justice on an international scale. LIJC’s BMAP is a collaboration between LLS and ITESO, Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara (Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente), in the Western Mexican state of Jalisco.

KJ

Throwback Thursday: Aftermath by Daniel Kanstroom

It's Throwback Thursday and on deck for today is Aftermath: Deportation Law and the New American Diaspora by Daniel Kanstroom (BC). Published in 2012, here's the pitch for the book:

Since 1996, when new, harsher deportation laws went into effect, the United States has deported millions of noncitizens back to their countries of origin. While the rights of immigrants-with or without legal status--as well as the appropriate pathway to legal status are the subject of much debate, hardly any attention has been paid to what actually happens to deportees once they "pass beyond our aid." In fact, we have fostered a new diaspora of deportees, many of whom are alone and isolated, with strong ties to their former communities in the United States.

Daniel Kanstroom, author of the authoritative history of deportation, Deportation Nation, turns his attention here to the current deportation system of the United States and especially deportation's aftermath: the actual effects on individuals, families, U.S. communities, and the countries that must process and repatriate ever-increasing numbers of U.S. deportees. Few know that once deportees have been expelled to places like Guatemala, Cambodia, Haiti, and El Salvador, many face severe hardship, persecution and, in extreme instances, even death.

Addressing a wide range of political, social, and legal issues, Kanstroom considers whether our deportation system "works" in any meaningful sense. He also asks a number of under-examined legal and philosophical questions: What is the relationship between the "rule of law" and the border? Where do rights begin and end? Do (or should) deportees ever have a "right to return"? After demonstrating that deportation in the U.S. remains an anachronistic, ad hoc, legally questionable affair, the book concludes with specific reform proposals for a more humane and rational deportation system.

I've been thinking about this book since this summer. When I showed up to the housing for my week with the Rhizome program in Guadalajara (I think there's still room in the January program!), this was the only book left out for students to peruse. There were other reports and handouts, but just this one paperback. And it makes sense. Rhizome's mission focuses on deportees from the US rehomed in Mexico.

It also strikes me as relevant to the present political moment when candidate Trump is pledging to undertake "Mass Deportations Now!"

-KitJ

Cardinal: Immigrants are part of the solution, not the problem

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

On the heels of the Vice Presidential debate in which JD Vance blames immigrants for taking U.S. jobs, increasing housing prices, and more, Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles in his op-ed for The Hill writes that too many of our political leaders use immigrants as scapegoats in messaging that is "contrary to the facts":

"One thing you will not hear during this political season is how immigrants to the United States—recall we are all descendants of immigrants—have helped make this nation great through the sweat of their labor and the content of their character.

Immigrants have helped build our cities, our transportation systems and our national infrastructure. They contribute greatly to the country’s economic health by working in important industries that help fuel growth and create jobs.

****

 A modern immigration system which enhances legal avenues for migration, brings undocumented workers out of the shadows, upholds the rule of law, ensures our security and prepares us for the future is achievable.

In short, immigrants are part of the solution to, not the cause of, our country’s social and economic challenges. We forsake them at our own peril."

KJ

Immigration Article of the Day: Agency Entrenchment: Sociological Legitimacy in a Politically Contested Occupation by Dylan Farrell-Bryan

The Immigration Article of the Day is Agency Entrenchment: Sociological Legitimacy in a Politically Contested Occupation by Dylan Farrell-Bryan.

The Article was just published in Law & Social Inquiry, doi:10.1017/lsi.2024.29, and is available here.

Here is the abstract:

This study investigates how agents in contested occupations justify and legitimize their work. It examines Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attorneys who prosecute immigrant removal cases on behalf of the federal government, delving into the narrative strategies that attorneys use to attain self-legitimacy within the agency. While existing literature suggests that self-legitimacy stems from either public support or an intrinsic belief in one’s deservingness of power, this study introduces a third pathway to self-legitimacy, agency entrenchment, in which government prosecutors draw on a highly internalized sense of patriotism and a duty to their organizational role, in the face of heightened public protest and changing administrative priorities. Analyzing forty in-depth interviews with ICE attorneys, this study identifies two primary approaches to agency entrenchment. The first is a bureaucratic approach, in which attorneys derive an internalized sense of duty from the existing law. The second is an enforcement approach, in which attorneys derive moral authority from what they see as their protector status. By deploying these narratives of self-legitimacy, ICE prosecutors attempt to resolve perceived conflicts between their legally mandated responsibilities and the ethical and reputational criticisms they encounter. The findings contribute to the broader understanding of the occupational dynamics between political polarization and law enforcement prosecution.

IE

How Trump credits an immigration chart for saving his life — and what the chart is missing

 

Former President Donald Trump reportedly will be returning to Butler, Pennsylvania, where there was an  attempt on his life at a campaign rally in July.  Adriana Gomez Leon for the Associated Press reports on the immigration chart that Trump "credits for saving his life.

Trump was addressing the crowd in Butler about illegal immigration and reviewing a chart that detailed U.S.-Mexico border crossings during his administration and President Joe Biden’s term. He had his head turned to the right to review the graphic on a projection screen when the gunfire began. One bullet nicked his right ear, coming millimeters from maiming or killing him."

The report takes an in-depth look at the immigration chart, what it includes and omits (such as family separation), where Trump shows it, and more.

KJ