The Immigration News Blog

Alleged that Former director of an Athens nonprofit, The Athens Latino Center of Education and Services, took DREAMers money, "messed up" DACA applications, and ran.

2013-06-19T09:11:00.000-04:00

ICE Director John Morton Resigns

2013-06-18T14:16:00.002-04:00

It appears John Morton has tendered his resignation.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton announced his resignation Monday after more than four years at the head of the agency.

A senior Department of Homeland Security official familiar with the matter said that Morton’s departure was voluntary but acknowledged that the Obama administration was surprised by the timing as Congress is in the middle of debating a comprehensive overhaul of immigration laws.

Morton has been hired as Senior Vice President of Capital One Financial Corp. heading compliance starting this August.

I will always remember him as the man that was "pleased" to report that in a six month period in 2011 his office deported 46,486 parents of United States citizens.

More rats from a sinking ship.

House Judiciary Committee debates SAFE Act that would criminalize the act of being undocumented, which includes visa overstays

2013-06-14T09:35:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee had an open hearing where they debated the Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act (SAFE Act). The SAFE Act criminalizes the act of being undocumented, which includes visa overstays.

The legislation will also all increase Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers by 5,000 and permits State and local government to enforce federal immigration laws, as well as permitting the arrest and indefinite detention of immigrants in privately owned federal detention centers.

Click here for more information.

Operation Butterfly: Reunion at the Border

2013-06-12T12:24:00.002-04:00

Emily Ekins of The Cato Institute re: Public Opinion on Immigration and E-Verify and the Cost of Implementation

2013-06-12T11:44:00.000-04:00

Gutierrez condemns toxic King Amendment, opposes mass deportations

2013-06-06T18:29:00.001-04:00

Reid: Immigration debate starts tomorrow

2013-06-06T15:16:00.002-04:00

REPORT: from 2008 to 2012, DHS detained at least 1,366 children in adult detention facilities throughout the United States

2013-06-06T13:14:00.002-04:00

The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) has determined through a 2010 FOIA request that from 2008 to 2012 the Department of Homeland Security has maintained a practice of detaining children in adult detention facilities.

NIJC determined that from 2008-2010 children under the age of 18 were cumulatively held for a total of 36,598 days in 30 different adult detention centers. Four children were detained between 1,000 and 3,600 days, with one child being held for a decade after being detained at the age of 15.

It is believed this data has been under-reported, however, so there is no way of knowing how many undocumented children are actually being caged nationwide.

Click here for the report.

ACLU Exposes "Rampant" Border Abuse

2013-06-05T11:19:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, the ACLU and Cooley LLP filed a class-action law suit in California challenging what they characterize as "endemic abuses" stemming from Border Patrol and ICE officers employing "misinformation" and "deception" to coerce Mexican nationals to sign voluntary departure orders and forgo their right to a hearing before an immigration judge.

From the ACLU of Sandiego website:

The lawsuit, Lopez-Venegas v. Napolitano, alleges that as a matter of regular practice, Border Patrol agents and ICE officers pressure undocumented immigrants to sign what amounts to their own summary expulsion documents. The procedure is formally known as “voluntary departure,” but it regularly results in the involuntary waiver of core due process rights. An individual who signs for voluntary departure immediately surrenders his or her rights to a hearing before an immigration judge and is usually expelled to Mexico within a matter of hours.

The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU of California, the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, and Cooley LLP. It includes seven individual plaintiffs that claim that their constitutional rights violated.

Anthony Stiegler, partner at Cooley LLP, provided the following comment:

“The policy and practice of misrepresenting an individual’s legal rights to summarily deport them from this country is inconsistent with the fundamental notions of fairness and due process under our Constitution. The United States derives its core strength because we embrace these values and abide by the rule of law.”

I couldn't have said it better myself Mr. Stiegler.

Click here for more information.

San Francisco Giants Pitcher Sergio Romo Endorses The Dream is Now Campaign

2013-06-04T13:33:00.001-04:00

For Immediate Release

June 4, 2013

San Francisco, CA – World Champion San Francisco Giants pitcher Sergio Romo announced his support for The Dream is Now campaign today in a youtube video that has been posted to www.thedreamisnow.org. The Dream is Now Campaign is an effort of concerned citizens who believe America’s broken immigration system needs to be fixed, giving undocumented youth and their families the chance to earn their citizenship.

Romo, a first generation Mexican-America whose parents were born in Mexico, says in the video, “Today I am standing proud with the Dream is Now campaign because I strongly believe that there should be a pathway for the approximately 2 million undocumented students to earn their United States citizenship so that they can lead a productive life and give back to the only country they know as home. They deserve a chance to live their dream and we will all win if they do. I hope that you will log on to www.thedreamisnow.org and join me, in this movement.”

The Dream is Now recently released a 30-minute documentary by Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim (“Inconvenient Truth” and “Waiting for Superman”) that shares the stories of undocumented youth and their families who are desperate to earn their citizenship in the only country they've ever called home, the United States of America. The 30-minute film, which has been screened hundreds of times on college campuses and at community gatherings, was created to keep the focus on Congress to pass immigration reform. To view the trailer, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUx62UBoOoU.

For more information on the campaign visit:

www.thedreamisnow.org
twitter.com/TheDreamisNow
www.facebook.com/thedreamisnow

Press Contact: Lisa Cohen, 310-395-2544, lisa@lisacohen.org

Rubio: Majority of GOP Support Immigration Reform

2013-06-04T10:08:00.000-04:00

Arianna Huffington Calls Obama's Deportation Record a Scandal Democrats are Ignoring

2013-06-03T11:49:00.002-04:00

It appears that the establishment on the left is finally starting to take notice of President Obama's deportation record. On Sunday Arianna Huffington appeared on This Week with George Stephanopoulos where she called Obama's record deportations a "scandal" that nobody is talking about:

"More people have been deported over the Obama administration than over the whole two terms of George Bush. And we’ve had, for example, since 2010, 200,000 parents of American citizens being deported for minor offenses. This is a real tragedy. And if this were being done under George Bush, Democrats would have been up in arms.”

She goes on saying that there is no accountability in the White House for their own actions calling the deportation and detention system a real nightmare.

Any of this sound familiar?

Here is a clip from the segment. You need to go to the 6:45 minute mark to hear her comments, and the typical response from the Obama apologist David Plouffe that DREAMers aren't being deported, which we all know isn't true.

Thankfully, Ms. Huffington called him out on it.

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.

Immigration advocates make major social media push

2013-05-29T13:13:00.000-04:00

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

BREAKING: 12 Chicagoans Form Human Chain Calling on President to Suspend Deportations

2013-05-29T10:47:00.002-04:00

Live video by Ustream

Why Does is it take Immigration Reform to Protect Immigrants?

2013-05-29T09:20:00.000-04:00

I stumbled upon an article written by Laura Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislation Office. Ms. Murphy provides a summary of the "highlights and lowlights" of the recent immigration reform legislation that has made its way through the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In reading the summary it struck me that the proposed Senate immigration bill specifically includes protections against the hallmarks of the Obama administration's deportation and detention policy. Such protections include prompt bond hearings for detainees, alternatives to the for-profit privately run immigration detention system, bars to racial and ethnic profiling by federal law enforcement officials, restrictions on the use of solitary confinement, and restrictions on middle-of-the-night deportations.

So let me ask you this... Why does it take a new law to protect immigrants from the discriminatory and abusive practices of the current administration?

Section by Section Summary of House's SKILLS Visa Act (The Issa Bill) by Greg Siskind

2013-05-28T16:04:00.004-04:00

ISSA bill summary

WOMAN ARRESTED IN FRONT OF HER DAUGHTERS ON HER WAY TO A FAMILY BAPTISM STILL DETAINED 6 MONTHS LATER

2013-05-28T11:19:00.002-04:00

From notonemoredeportation.com:

"Six months ago, Bertha Alicia Avila Medrano (A# 076-257-333) was arrested while driving her three daughters to California to attend a family baptism. Jennifer (16), Rosaly (9), and Xitlaly (5) now wake up every morning with the image of their mom being taken away in handcuffs. Bertha has been detained in Eloy for 6 months, in the same detention center where two detainees committed suicide less than a month ago, far from their families and communities.

Bertha needs your help, so that she can get back home where she belongs. She is a dedicated volunteers at children’s schools and her church, known for her generous smile and how much she gives back to make her community a better place for everyone. Her two oldest children attend Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix, where they are in the top 1% of their classes, committed to becoming a doctor and an engineer with their mother’s loving support."

Click here to sign the petition to bring this woman home to her family.

REPORT: ICE takes 1,500 Immigrants into Custody Each Day

2013-05-28T10:35:00.003-04:00

Syracuse University's TRAC Immigration's latest report found that ICE takes 1,500 immigrants into custody in a typical work day, and of those taken into custody roughly 1,000 are ultimately deported. Only about 1/4 (360 immigrants) of all individuals taken into custody are released by ICE, and a very small percentage (20 immigrants) are released under electronic monitoring (ankle bracelet) or placed on enhanced supervision.

What is even more troubling is that many custody determinations are made directly by the agency that takes the individual into custody in the first place. A much smaller percentage of custody determinations are made by an immigration judge in the context of a court proceeding.

Click here to read the fully study.

How Do Low-Skilled Workers Fit Into Equation of Immigration Reform?

2013-05-28T09:42:00.003-04:00

Watch How Do Low-Skilled Workers Fit Into Immigration Reform? on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Senate Immigration Bill Markup Update

2013-05-28T09:16:00.001-04:00

Obama fine with Deporting Same Sex Spouses

2013-05-21T15:27:00.004-04:00

Pathway to Citizenship Mark-Up in Senate Bill

2013-05-21T14:20:00.004-04:00

Stephanie Pucheta, 10-Year-Old, On Dad's Deportation: 'Why Do They Have To Be So Cruel?'

2013-05-20T09:18:00.002-04:00

They Were Happily Married For 16 Years. Paid Taxes. Never Had A Parking Ticket. So We Deported Him.

2013-05-17T09:28:00.002-04:00

Current Status of Senate Immigration Bill 5/10/2013

2013-05-10T13:52:00.000-04:00