In the News

How COVID-19 Has Impacted the Search for Separated Families  

Michelle Wiley & Adriana Morga, KQED (September 21, 2020) 

Despite the halting of the “zero tolerance” policy that separated families, poor recordkeeping has resulted in an ongoing search to reunite families. This task has been only further exacerbated during the coronavirus pandemic. The migrant rights organization Justice in Motion has made it a part of their mission to locate parents in this continually challenging climate where “every minute counts.”

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USCIS Averts Furlough of Nearly 70% of Workforce

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (August 25, 2020)

USCIS announces that it will no longer furlough the majority of its employees. As a result, the agency will greatly decrease operating costs, and, this will likely cause longer processing and wait times.

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CARES Act Leaves Out U.S. Citizens Married to Immigrants

Tim Padgett, NPR (August 23, 2020)

More than 2,000,000 U.S. Citizens have been excluded from receiving CARES Act stimulus checks due to a new rule imposed by Trump that restricts any citizen married to someone with immigrant status. Marco Rubio has proposed to overturn this rule and establish a new one specifying all U.S. citizens may receive funding regardless of to whom they are married.

Who Gets Asylum? Even Before Trump, System was Riddled with Bias and Disparities

Katie Morrissey & Lauryn Schroeder, San Diego Union Tribune (August 23, 2020)

While Trump has diligently endeavored to dismantle the asylum system within the United States, Morrissey and Schroeder point out the inherent flaws in the system long before Trump was elected. Notably, issues of location greatly influence someone’s access to legal representation and chance of gaining asylum based on a judge’s past record. Furthermore, issues of bias against countries and widely diverse interpretations of ‘special groups’ greatly affect someone’s chance of getting asylum. Only about 19% of asylum applicants have achieved asylum.

Trump Cabinet Officials Voted in 2018 White House Meeting to Separate Migrant Children, Say Officials

Julia Ainsley & Jacob Soboroff, NBC News (August 20, 2020)

California Picks Up Fight Over DACA Restrictions Again

Vanessa Romo, NPR (August 18, 2020)

Attorney General Xavier Becerra will challenge Trump’s latest attempts to dismantle DACA. While a judge in June required DHS to begin processing DACA applications as they were before September 2017, Trump laid out a new set of rules that limits the relief option for young people. The new plans prevent any new DACA applications and decreases its duration to one year from two.

ICE Isn’t Freeing Migrant Kids Despite Order, Flores Attys Say

Lauren Berg, Law 360 (August 17, 2020)

Attorneys representing children in ICE detention centers petitioned Judge Gee to enforce ICE to release children. Advocates claim that ICE has not explained rights to parents about releasing their children to a relative’s custody outside of detention. Gee admonished ICE as she granted them another month to abide by her order for the immediate release of children in detention centers under Flores Settlement guidelines.

A Private Security Company Is Detaining Migrant Children at Hotels

Caitlin Dickerson, New York Times (August 16, 2020)

Trump’s COVID-era policy to immediately expel families and children crossing the border have led to immigration agencies contracting transportation companies such as MVM to detain people at hotels while they wait their expulsion. This policy and practice raises concerns over proper legal protection for children in custody.

A Year After Mississippi ICE Raids, Chicken Plants Face Few Penalties as Families Suffer

Alissa Zhu & Maria Clark,USA Today  (August 7, 2020)

In August 2019, ICE raided a chicken plant and arrested over 680 employees. At the time, U.S. attorney, Mike Hurst, made clear that employers would not escape charges for illegal hiring practices of immigrants without proper authorization. However, more than a year later, charges have only been linked to two managers while hundreds of family members face grave consequences such as deportation.

Court sides with Trump administration effort to impose ‘public charge’ rule

Ann E. Marimow, Washington Post (August 6, 2020)

The most recent ruling from a federal appeals court decided Trump’s ‘public charge’ policy was legal. This reverses the previous ruling from a lower-court that established an injunction against Trump’s order. Another appeals court, however, did not approve of the policy. Trump’s ‘public charge’ rule will remain blocked throughout the duration of the national health emergency in place due to the pandemic as it currently stands.