Articles Posted in US Immigration

On Wednesday, July 24, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia declined to impose a temporary restraining order which would pause the Trump administration's new rule limiting asylum requests from migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. The new rule requires that migrants and refugees passing through a third country en route to the United States must seek asylum from said third country in order to apply for asylum in the United States. Under the new rule, migrant and refugee Hondurans and Salvadorans must be denied asylum in Guatemala or Mexico before seeking asylum in the United States, and Guatemalans must be denied asylum in Mexico in order to apply for asylum in the United States.

On Tuesday, April 16, 2019, Attorney General William Barr released an immigration decision applying to migrants who have established "a credible fear of persecution or torture" in their home country. The decision orders immigration judges to prevent migrant asylum seekers from posting bond while awaiting trial. President Donald Trump has criticized the former immigration policy allowing the posting of bond as a "catch and release" system. The American Civil Liberties Union's Immigrants' Rights Project claims that "this decision will result in the unlawful jailing of thousands of people who should not be behind bars."

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held on Thursday that the constitutional guarantee of habeas corpus precludes US immigration authorities from deporting asylum seekers who had failed an initial screening. This ruling sets up a circuit split (with the Third Circuit, which came to the opposite conclusion in 2016), which makes review by the US Supreme Court likely.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeal has ruled against President Trump's Executive Order punishing sanctuary cities. Read the full opinion on Justia.

In October, Canada is set to legalize the recreational use of marijuana nationwide. Legalization theoretically could mean that American consumers could cross the border to consume marijuana in Canada and possibly bring it back to the U.S., but in reality this is unlikely to happen, at least for now. While some states…

On July 2, 2018 a federal judge issued an order blocking the blanket detention of asylum seekers at five office locations of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Offices (ICE). Read the order on Justia.

A group of 18 attorneys general has filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration regarding the separation of families at the border. The Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy has been under strict scrutiny by Democrats as it has resulted in the separation of children and parents. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington and argues that the separation of children and parents is discriminatory and violates equal protection under the Constitution. The complaint also states that the act of separating families is the Trump Administration's means of deterring immigrants from entering the United States.

On Tuesday, June 26, 2018, United States District Judge Dana M. Sabraw of the Southern District of California granted the American Civil Liberties Union's request for a preliminary injunction seeking to reunite children affected by the Trump Administration's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy.

The zero tolerance immigration policy that has led to separating refugee parents from children at the U.S.-Mexico border faces its first legal challenge from a Guatemalan asylee.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a decision on Thursday, May 17, 2018, in which he ruled that immigration judges do not have the authority to indefinitely suspend cases before them.