ImmigrationProf Blog

From The Bookshelves: The Asylumist by Jason Dzubow

Jason Dzubow is the author of The Asylumist blog and, now, a book by the same name.

The full title of the book is The Asylumist: How to Seek Asylum in the United States and Keep Your Sanity. As Dzubow writes:

the book is meant to serve as a companion for asylum seekers and their advocates. It is designed to support you as you navigate the asylum bureaucracy. It answers a number of common questions and aspires to help asylum seekers better understand the process. Further, and not least of all, the book aims to provide some comfort to those working their way through a difficult, confusing, demoralizing, and often unjust system. Perhaps by learning more about the process, asylum seekers will feel more empowered and more hopeful.

This sounds like a serious winner for you asylum clinics out there.

Ayuda is holding a fundraiser book talk about The Asylumist on September 9 at Immigrant Food for you DC-immprofs. For those of us a bit farther afield, the talk will be live-streamed on Facebook.

Commendably, Dzubow plans to donate profits from his book to a variety of asylum-related charities!

-KitJ

Biden’s Asylum Process Proposal Could Cut Wait Times By Years

Ediberto Roman is a fan of the Biden administration's recent asylum proposal.  Check out his commentary in Bloomberg Law.

KJ

 

A serious immigration problem you probably haven't heard about

Official White House Photo

 

Nolan Rappaport on the Hill looks at an immigration problem that to Biden administration should address.  He observes that "an unintended consequence of what appears to be a hasty decision on immigration policy could render U.S. science subpar, slow and uncompetitive, not only on COVID, but on a host of fronts with potentially serious impacts for U.S. competitiveness and leadership for years to come. 

On Aug. 3, more than a thousand foreign postdoctoral research assistants — known as `postdocs' — who are affiliated with academic and non-academic institutions in the United States posted an open letter to the U.S. government asking for an exception to President Biden’s Jan. 25 COVID-19 travel restriction proclamation because it is making it difficult for them to enter the United States with their J-1 student visas or their H-1B Specialty Occupation visas."

KJ

 

Resistance to Afghan refugee resettlement in US

Immigprof blog has been writing about the impact of the Biden Administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan on military interpreters and others fleeing persecution and violence at the hands of the Taliban. Since Aug. 14, the U.S. has helped more than 114,400 people evacuate Afghanistan -- many of them people who have assisted the U.S. during their 20-years in the country -- on Special Immigrant Visas and humanitarian parole. The news media has shown horrifying images of people trying to flee. This article by Anita Kumar in Politico describes the state resistance to refugee resettlement that awaits those who make it out of their embattled country to the US.

Refugee resettlement is an operation that requires state cooperation with the federal government. It is a case study for immigration federalism (as Stella Burch Elias has written about). The State Department has identified 19 “welcoming” communities where Afghans could settle based on local support, resources, including house, and cost of living.

Only one of those communities has a Republican leader. Indeed, a vocal group of Republican state leaders oppose the resettlement of Afghan refugees in the U.S., claiming the refugees could be dangerous or that admitting them will change the country in ways that are culturally or politically threatening. 

For example, Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana says the chaos in Afghanistan should not be “an excuse to flood” the U.S. with refugees and plans to urge the Montana Governor to reject refugees from resettling in Montana without adequate vetting.

“We have to make sure that the people that enter into our country want to support our country, not want to attack our country.”

The Biden Administration is aware of a parrallel resistance to settling Syrian refugees during the Obama administration. At that time, thirty governors (29 of them Republicans) tried to ban Syrian refugees from entering their states. An executive order during the Trump administration permitted states to oppose refugee resettlement, but it was less successful with nearly all states opting to remain open to refugees who bring resources to revitalize communities struggling with population loss and workforce transitions.

MHC

World on the Move: ASA International Migration e-Newsletter

The American Sociological Association issues a bi-annual e-newsletter titled World on the Move. The spring 2021 issue is out and will be added to the ASA section website. Among other items, it includes notes from a workshop on writing a migration monograph (from dissertation to published book).

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

From the Section Chair 1-3

Current Section Officers 4

Incoming Section Officers 5

IM Communications Team 5

IM Mentoring & Professionalization Committee 6

Reflections on Anti-Asian Racism during COVID-19 7-9

Council Member Spotlight: Hana Brown 10-12

ASA 2021 IM Section Award Winners 12-14

Associate Editor Spotlight: Ulrike Bialas 15-16

ASA 2021 IM Section Sessions 17-20

Writing a Migration Monograph: From the Dissertation to Published Book 22-33

Member News 35-36

Recent Publications 37-42

Recent Books 42-49

MHC

EU to recommend reinstating Covid-related travel restrictions on US, reports say

Forget about that trip to Europe.  CNN reports that the European Union is expected to recommend today that member states reinstate Covid-related travel restrictions and halt nonessential travel from the United States and five other countries, a diplomatic source told CNN. The EU would reestablish coronavirus travel restrictions such as quarantine and testing requirements for unvaccinated travelers from those countries, according to the source. Other countries to be removed from the safe travel list would be Kosovo, Israel, Montenegro, Lebanon and North Macedonia, the diplomat said.

KJ

Podcast: Rethinking immigration on The Weeds

Here is a podcast that might be worth sharing with immigration law students:

Podcast: Rethinking immigration The Weeds  Weeds is a podcast of Vox.  (The latest podcast is on Afghan refugees).

Listen on Apple Podcasts 

 

Immigration advocate Ali Noorani of the National Immigration Forum joins Matt to discuss the future of immigration in America, including the oncoming "grey tsunami," the consequences of Trump's border and asylum policies, and the effects of the way we speak about immigration on immigration policy.

Guest:

Ali Noorani (@anoorani), President & CEO, National Immigration Forum

Host:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

KJ

Naturalized Citizen of the Day: Sandra Ok, Actress (Canada)

 

Born in Canada to Korean immigrant parents, actress Sandra Oh, perhaps best known for playing Cristina Yang on the hit television show Grey's Anatomy and currently starring in the dramatic thriller Killing Eve, is a naturalized U.S. citizen. 

As repoirted by NBC News in 2019, Oh marked her one-year anniversary of becoming a U.S. by hosting Saturday Night Live. In her monologue, Oh announced the special occasion, saying, "I love Americans. You are confident and direct. And now that I am an Asian-Canadian-American, I'm trying to learn a thing or two about tooting my own horn."

Oh stars in the recent Netflix series, which I found most enjoyable and surprisingly accurate.  The Chair  Here is the gist as described on the Netflix website:

"At a major university, the first woman of color to become chair tries to meet the dizzying demands and high expectations of a failing English department.

Starring:  Sandra Oh, Jay Duplass, Holland Taylor

Creators:  Amanda Peet, Annie Julia Wyman"

 

KJ

Poetry Break: Things We Carry on the Sea by Wang Ping

Poet Wang Ping was born and raised in China. She moved to the U.S. in 1985 to pursue her education and now lives (and teaches English) in Minnesota. Her poem, Things We Carry on the Sea, was originally published in New American Poetry (2018). You can listen to Wang Ping read her poem in the video below starting at 1:40.

Things We Carry on the Sea

We carry tears in our eyes: good-bye father, good-bye mother

We carry soil in small bags: may home never fade in our hearts

We carry names, stories, memories of our villages, fields, boats

We carry scars from proxy wars of greed

We carry carnage of mining, droughts, floods, genocides

We carry dust of our families and neighbors incinerated in mushroom clouds

We carry our islands sinking under the sea

We carry our hands, feet, bones, hearts and best minds for a new life

We carry diplomas: medicine, engineer, nurse, education, math, poetry, even if they mean nothing to the other shore

We carry railroads, plantations, laundromats, bodegas, taco trucks, farms, factories, nursing homes, hospitals, schools, temples…built on our ancestors’ backs

We carry old homes along the spine, new dreams in our chests

We carry yesterday, today and tomorrow

We’re orphans of the wars forced upon us

We’re refugees of the sea rising from industrial wastes

And we carry our mother tongues
爱(ai)，حب (hubb), ליבע (libe), amor, love
平安 (ping’an), سلام ( salaam), shalom, paz, peace
希望 (xi’wang), أمل (’amal), hofenung, esperanza, hope, hope, hope

As we drift…in our rubber boats…from shore…to shore…to shore…

-KitJ

58th Anniversary of "I Have a Dream"

Fifty-eight years ago today, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C.

While Dr. King was talking about civil rights, with a focus on the experience of Black America, his words echo in my head as I think about immigration.

Take Afghanistan. I've written a number of posts about America's shameful treatment of its Afghani interpreters. Dr. King's exhortations seem so on point: "We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy." We owe that to our Afghani partners.

And when I hear, once more, Dr. King's impassioned "We can never be satisfied as long as..." lines, I think of all the things that must change with regard to our nation's treatment of immigrants: Title 42, MPP, the separation of families, prosecutions under 18 U.S.C. § 1325, the detention of children and families, black-box terrorism vetting, and more.

Still, Dr. King ends with hope. The hope of a dream "deeply rooted in the American dream," that "this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"

We continue to hope. And dream.

-KitJ

Trump Aide Stephen Miller Laid Groundwork For Disastrous Afghan Evacuation

There have been many news reports on the challenges facing Afghans, including interpreters who assisted the U.S. military, seeking to flee Afghanistan.  CNN reports that the Department of Homeland Security is now allowing Afghans temporary entry into the United States:  "To accommodate the fleeing Afghans, who are vetted both before they arrive in the United States and again once they land, the Biden administration is granting some temporary admission."

Refugee resettlement efforts are in the works in many states.

S.V. Date for the Huffington Post analyzes the U.S. response to Afghans seeking refugee and concludes that, "[a]s the United States potentially abandons tens of thousands of Afghans who helped two decades of military and diplomatic efforts there to the mercies of the Taliban, a single person may deserve more credit than any other: top Trump White House aide and immigration foe Stephen Miller."  Miller, senior advisor to former President Donald Trump, pushed to slow down the processing of Special Immigrant Visas  for Afghan interpreters, embassy staff and others who are now targets of the Taliban assassination

`The seeds of the insanity that we’re seeing right now were planted in Stephen Miller‘s brain,; said Matt Zeller, a former Army officer who served in Afghanistan and co-founded the group No One Left Behind, adding that Miller is as much to blame for the deaths of interpreters and others as the Taliban. `He’s complicit in their murders ... He’s brilliant at how evil he is.'”

KJ

From The Bookshelves: Clamouring for Legal Protection--What the Great Books Teach Us About People Fleeing from Persecution

Clamouring for Legal Protection: What the Great Books Teach Us About People Fleeing from Persecution is a new law-and-literature book by Robert F. Barsky (Vanderbilt). (FYI: It's printed by UK outfit Hart publishing, which explains the "ou" in clamoring).

Anyhoo.

Here's the pitch:

In this novel approach to law and literature, Robert Barsky delves into the canon of so-called Great Books, and discovers that many beloved characters therein encounter obstacles similar to those faced by contemporary refugees and undocumented persons.

The struggles of Odysseus, Moses, Aeneas, Dante, Satan, Dracula and Alice in Wonderland, among many others, provide surprising insights into current discussions about those who have left untenable situations in their home countries in search of legal protection.

Law students, lawyers, social scientists, literary scholars and general readers who are interested in learning about international refugee law and immigration regulations in home and host countries will find herein a plethora of details about border crossings, including those undertaken to flee pandemics, civil unrest, racism, intolerance, war, forced marriage, or limited opportunities in their home countries.

I've always wanted to write an article about Odysseus and migration. Looks like the perfect book to launch my research.

-KitJ

Jennifer Chacon | Our History of Policing Migration Through the Criminal Justice System

UC Berkeley School of Law Professor (and former ImmigrationProf blogger) Jennifer Chacon appears on the podcast Immigration Nerds. She discusses:

• The legislative history of policing immigrants through the criminal justice system
• A more humane alternative to manage migration
• Confronting explicit bias in the legal system
• Ways to provide adequate deterrents to unlawful immigration policing practices.

Professor Chacon's casebook, Immigration and Social Justice (2d edition 2021) (with Bill Hing and me) should be out.

KJ

 

Vigil for Haitian Immigrant Fighting Detention and Removal

 

Thank you @GovernorVA for pardoning Jean Montrevil, a father of four and beloved leader in the immigrant rights movement. Clemency is a powerful tool for justice. Now it’s time for @SecMayorkas @DHSgov to #BringJeanHome. (Thread) https://t.co/sMxllUtuIi

— Alina Das (@Das_Alina) August 24, 2021

Deanna Garcia for Documented writes that

" Judson Memorial Church, the Judson Immigration Task Force and the NYU Immigrant Rights Clinic are fighting to reunite Jean Montrevil — a leader of Families for Freedom, the New Sanctuary Coalition and Judson Memorial Church — with his family. The groups announced a vigil for Sunday, August 29 at 1 p.m. at the Judson Memorial Church to protest and pray for Montrevil’s safe return to Haiti. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) pardoned Montrevil, giving him a new path to regain a permanent U.S. resident status. Alina Das, professor of clinic law and co-director of NYU Law School Immigrant Rights Clinic, tweeted that `Jean opened our eyes to the impact of immigration detention & deportation on Black immigrants, and spoke out for all people — especially children like his own — affected by this horrible system.'"

KJ

Female Afghani Robotics Team Makes it to Mexico

This video from the New York Times, showing the members of the all-female Afghani robotics team arriving by plane in Mexico is everything.

First off, not familiar with the team? Check out this NPR article from 2020 about their work to create a ventilator with car parts.

Okay, now back to the video. The whole clip is only 45 seconds long. But can we talk about what you see at 16 seconds in? Yup, that's a group of newly arrived refugees being handed Mexican passports. Way to step the hell up in this time of crisis, Mexico, showing the rest of us how to get. it. done.

-KitJ

Circuit Judge Appointed by Ronald Reagan Finds that IJ and BIA "Nitpicked" in Adverse Credibility Determination in Asylum Case

Lauren Berg of Law360 reports on an interesting asylum case.  In Munyuh v. Garland, Judge Danny J. Boggs,  sitting by designation from the Sixth Circuit (and a 1986 appointee of President Ronald Reagan), joined by Judges A. Wallace Tashima and Marsha S. Berzon, found that the vacated the denial of an asylum claim of a rape survivor from Cameroon.  The court granted Munyuh’s petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals denying asylum and related relief on adverse credibility grounds, vacated the order of removal, and remanded for further proceedings.  The panel held that the immigration judge erred by failing to give specific, cogent reasons for rejecting Munyuh’s reasonable, plausible explanations for the discrepancies tied to her declaration concerning the distance she traveled in a police truck before escaping on foot after officers raped her and being rescued by her husband. The panel held that the immigration judge further erred by discounting Munyuh’s supporting documentation without giving her adequate notice and opportunity to provide corroborative evidence

Judge Boggs concludes the opinion as follows:

"Ms. Munyuh’s case concerns us. From our reading of the record, the IJ seemed determined to pick every nit she could find. Besides erring procedurally, the IJ discounted probative evidence on flimsy grounds and displayed a dubious understanding of how rape survivors ought to act. Although we give great deference to the IJ as factfinder, substantial-evidence review does not require us to credit the credibility finding of an IJ who cherry-picks from—or misconstrues—the record to reach it. The IJ must consider the `totality of the circumstances, and all relevant factors.' 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii) (emphasis added).  

At the very least, the two legal errors we have identified warrant remand. The IJ erred by failing to give specific, cogent reasons for rejecting Ms. Munyuh’s reasonable, plausible explanations for the discrepancies tied to her declaration that the police truck broke down after only four or five kilometers. And she further erred by discounting the supporting documentation without giving Ms. Munyuh adequate notice and opportunity to provide corroborative evidence. We therefore vacate the removal order and remand the case to the Board for further proceedings consistent with this opinion."

KJ

From the Bookshelves: Our Grandfathers Were Braceros And We Too...

Our Grandfathers Were Braceros And We Too... by Abel Astorga Morales (Author), Rosa Martha Zarate Macias (Author), Madeline Newman Rios (Translator)

Here is the publisher's description of the book:

“OUR GRANDFATHERS WERE BRACEROS AND WE TOO,” is an excellent work of tremendous relevancy for our times, given its focus on the issue of migration and, above all, for keeping the struggle alive against the violations of labor and human rights seen in temporary worker programs. Authors Abel Astorga Morales and Rosa Martha Zárate Macías share an intense, painful chronical with us, but one that is also full of the lessons handed down by peasants and indigenous peoples who participated in the Bracero Program between 1942 and 1964. This book faithfully compiles the historic memory and testimonies of Braceros living in the United States, setting a momentous precedent that the Mexican population in the country to the North will have in the twenty-first century.

The majority of protagonists of this history have now departed, without recovering the fruits of so many years of their labor, while a few survivors and family members still wait for justice to be done. As a people, they have grown and developed in the North, and have real possibilities for making a social, political, economic, spiritual, and cultural impact.

KJ

More on Supreme Court's Order Keeping MPP in Place

Official Supreme Court Photo

Late yesterday, Kit Johnson posted on the Supreme Court's order refusing to stay the injunction of the rescission of the Migrant Protection Protocols, the "Remain in Mexico" policy.  Last Friday, Justice Alito had stayed the lower court injunction while the Court considered the stay application.  For background on the MPP and the litigation over it, see Amy Howe's analysis on SCOTUSBlog.

In denying the stay, the Court offered more of an explanation than was necessary.  Rather than simply denying the stay without comment, the Court explained that "[t]he applicants have failed to show a likelihood of success on the claim that the memorandum rescinding the Migrant Protection Protocols was not arbitrary and capricious. See Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of Univ. of Cal., 591 U. S. ___ (2020) (slip op., at 9- 12, 17-26)." (bold added).  By suggesting that the rescission was in fact arbitrary and capricious, the statement is likely to shape the court of appeals' review of the case, with which the Court said it was not intending to interfere.   

The Regents decision cited by the Court order, of course, famously rejected the Trump administration's attempted rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy as "arbitrary and capricious" in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.  Chief Justice Roberts wrote the DACA decision and joined the majority in denying the stay here.  Will the victory in the DACA case may come back to haunt Democrats as they seek to reverse Trump administration immigration policies? Justice Breyer, Justice Sotomayor, and Justice Kagan would have granted the stay application.

I received the following statement on the ruling by e-mail from Kate Melloy Goettel, Legal Director of Litigation at the American Immigration Council: 

"Thousands of people have suffered the horrible consequences of the Migrant Protection Protocols. The Supreme Court has now upheld the Texas court's decision and, instead of keeping MPP a stain in the history books, it will continue to be a present-day disaster. 

“Forcing vulnerable families and children to wait in provisional camps in Mexico puts their lives at risk, while also making it nearly impossible for them to access the asylum process. The Biden administration can and must work to terminate the policy again immediately. Rather than turning away people fleeing harm, we should ensure people have a fair day in court.”

KJ

Breaking News: SCOTUS Declines to Stay Injunction Preventing Rescission of MPP

SCOTUS issued a very brief order on the pending MPP litigation today (Biden v. Texas):

The application for a stay presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the Court is denied. The applicants have failed to show a likelihood of success on the claim that the memorandum rescinding the Migrant Protection Protocols was not arbitrary and capricious. See Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of Univ. of Cal., 591 U. S. ___ (2020) (slip op., at 9- 12, 17-26). Our order denying the Government’s request for a stay of the District Court injunction should not be read as affecting the construction of that injunction by the Court of Appeals.

Justice Breyer, Justice Sotomayor, and Justice Kagan would grant the application.

-KitJ

Airbnb Offers to Host Afghan Refguees

The hotel-alternative housing site Arbnb has announced that it will provide temporary housing for 20,000 Afghan refugees in order to help those fleeing their nation to resettle in new countries. The housing is offered to refugees at no cost. The expense will be paid for by donations from the company, it's CEO Brian Chesky, and contributions  to the Airbnb.org Refugee Fund.

Chesky stated that he hopes the provided Airbnb housing will give Afghan refugees "not only a safe place to rest and start over, but also a warm welcome home.”

-KitJ