Immigration Sr Editor @KQED. The Wind Doesn't Need a Passport: Stories from the US-Mexico Borderlands @ucpress. Alum @ucbsoj, @sfchronicle, @IWMF. Mama, stepmom
Bay Area cyclists donned white safety gear and wrapped flowers around their bikes before riding in silence from San Francisco’s Panhandle park to City Hall, as part of an international ride to memorialize bikers killed in traffic violence. https://t.co/w55fAxqpse
This outrageous move is Trump’s broadest attack yet on legal immigration. Many of these immigrants are seeking green cards legally as spouses or close relatives of American citizens. This will separate families on an even more vast scale. #legalimmigration#familyseparation
In February, 1,897 people registered for the #AfghanEvac global briefing, 781 of them joining from inside Afghanistan. 49 congressional offices were on the call. The practical advice to Afghan allies, delivered plainly: make a life somewhere else.
///BREAKING/// The feds are DISMISSING all remaining counts in the politically charged "Broadview Six" case days before trial, marking the final collapse of what had been one of the marquee criminal cases to come out of Operation Midway Blitz.
Background: https://t.co/Wba4B5kW1u
Can USCIS eliminate the ability of noncitizens to adjust status to permanent resident in the US, requiring them to return home and consular process at the American Embassy in their home country before returning to obtain green card status? Nope.
Because _Congress_ said adjustment of status is available. In 1960. And since then has amended the adjustment of status law 20 times, setting new restrictions. This is not a “loophole.”
Is USCIS establishing a new standard in its May 21st Policy Memo that any noncitizen must prove “extraordinary circumstances” in order to be eligible for adjustment of status to permanent resident here in the US?
Well, nowhere in the Policy Memo does the agency use the term “extraordinary circumstances” - Crtl-F, it’s not there.
USCIS has binding regulations that set out the requirements for adjustment of status, and if it wants to change those rules, it must comply with the Administrative Procedure Act and propose a new regulation.
A Policy Memorandum cannot conflict with a law that has been on the books for 65 years.
Does USCIS have discretion when it reviews applications to adjust status? Yes!
Can it do through the back door what it cannot do through the front door? Nope.
Holy shit! Someone posted this RFE in a pending immediate relative Adjustment of Status under yesterday's #AOSmemo:
"In order to establish your eligibility for adjustment of status, you must demonstrate that there are positive factors in your case, such that your Form I-485 warrants a favorable exercise of discretion. These positive factors may include, but are not limited to, any of the following:
*Family ties within the United States;
*Residence of long duration in this country (particularly when residence began at a young age);
*Hardship to the applicant or applicant's family if relief is not granted;
*Education;
*Fluency or proficiency in English;
*Service in the U.S. armed forces;
*A history of employment;
*The existence of business or property ties;
*Evidence of value and service to the community (ex: religious organizations, volunteer organizations; etc.);
*Paying taxes;
*Proof of rehabilitation if a criminal record exists;
and
*Any other evidence demonstrating that a favorable exercise of discretion is warranted in your case.
This claim is a LIE. Congress created adjustment of status in 1960. It's not a loophole. In fact, @USCIS's OWN WEBSITE says that getting a green card from inside the United States was expressly intended by Congress!
Just wait; give it 24 hours and they'll erase that history.
An ICE Air flight (OAE2149) is currently en route from Harlingen, TX to Puerto Rico - a common fuel stop before deportation stops in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is likely the flight carrying third country nationals to Sierra Leone, which is expected to land on May 20, per @Reuters
NEW A lawyer who vowed to “fight exclusively for the rights of men.” An attorney who championed ICE in Minneapolis. And a judge who denied humanitarian protection to a man because he didn’t look “overtly gay.”
All three are among the new "deportation judges." -->
BREAKING: major, major victory by @curtismorrison and team!!!
MD federal judge has granted their preliminary injunction against the indenfinite adjudication pause for immigration benefits for nationals of the 75 countries (PM-602-0192 and PM-602-0194). The applications for adjustment of status (I-485s) for the named 89 plaintiffs are ordered to be adjudicated under pre-#travelban adjudication policies but declined to force adjudication within 30 days.
DoJ's national security division has lost nearly 38% of its staff, internal records show, leading to “unprecedented personnel constraints” in the unit that handles cases involving espionage and the export of sensitive military technology. https://t.co/4sbT89CClb
New Board of Immigrant Appeals proclamation today saying DHS does not even need to show up at hearings to prosecute cases anymore, & the immigration judge is essentially there to prosecute the case for them.
Meanwhile if respondent does not show up, it’s automatic removal.
ICE accidentally published a watchlist of immigration attorneys. We need to know why ICE is tracking them and how it’s going to use that info.
We sent FOIA requests for records on how the list was created, criteria for adding people to it, and related communications.
Scoop: immigrants can now be denied a green card for expressing political opinions, such as participating in pro-Palestinian campus protests, posting criticism of Israel on social media and desecrating the American flag, according to internal documents.
w/ @NickNehamas
DHS and the State of Texas appear to have imprisoned a US citizen until he accepted deportation to Mexico (where his family lives). Prior cases of US citizen deportations have also involved coercive efforts to force citizens to accept deportations while imprisoned
A BIA order says valid DACA is not a reason for an immigration judge to prevent deportation. DHS said DACA doesn’t confer legal status + can still be removed. The order, on Catalina “Xochitl” Santiago’s case, is precedent for immigration judges to follow.
https://t.co/cHco55doyr
The Board of Immigration Appeals was purged of EVERY liberal member in Trump’s first few months. Since that point, it’s been pumping out precedent after precedent to make mass deportations easier for Trump.
Post-purge, they have ruled in favor of immigrants less than 3 times.
After 10 months at the controversial Dilley facility, where the El Gamals were along the longest held, they have been released & on way to Colorado following federal judges' rulings. This comes after @TexasTribune illustrated the kids' growing desperation
https://t.co/X0iuMMjdN2