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Colorado Sheriffs Refuse Collectively To Enforce Immigration Holds

, Posted in Immigration Law

Sheriffs from across the state of Colorado have announced that they no longer intend to honor ICE detainers placed on county inmates when such individuals are otherwise eligible for release from their jails or penitentiaries. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency issues these detainers against individuals held in custody by county sheriffs all over the country. Until recently, these sheriffs in Colorado routinely kept these detainees incarcerated beyond the duration of whatever local or state…

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Permanent Residence For Family Members

, Posted in Immigration Law

According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the immigration system seeks to foster family ties by allowing certain family members of those already in the country as citizens to achieve the status of permanent residence. The law provides multiple ways by which these family members can obtain a green card. Eligible immediate relatives include the U.S. citizen’s: Spouse Unmarried child under the age of 21 Parent (if the U.S. citizen is over the…

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Knowing Falsification Of Asylum Bars Subsequent Relief For Removal

, Posted in Immigration Law

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a denial of relief for a petitioner who was claimed to have falsified material information on his petition seeking asylum in the United States.  The petitioner Gade Niang, a native and citizen of Senegal, had claimed he was from the Ivory Coast where he had been persecuted on account of his ethnicity and his political opinion in his application for asylum filed in 2005.  At the time of filing,…

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Attempt In Congress To Block Potential Future Executive Action Fails

, Posted in Immigration Law

For three months the White House telegraphed messages that the President intended to unilaterally take executive action to address some of the nation’s immigration problems. At the beginning of the summer President Obama himself proclaimed that, if Congress did not pass a comprehensive immigration reform package by the end of the summer, he would have no choice but to use his own powers to stem deportations, enhance border security and expand the issuance of temporary work…

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Congress Passes Spending Bill Limiting Appropriations For Refugee Children

, Posted in Immigration Law

Last month Congress included – as part of a continuing resolution to extend funding for the federal government – measures aimed at addressing the presence of children from the countries of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala where persistent violence persuaded parents there to send their kids on a dangerous and grueling trek through Central America and Mexico to the southern border of the United States.  But the solutions sought by the Obama administration to bolster the…

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Parishes In Louisiana Taking In Central American Minor Refugees

, Posted in Immigration Law

Many children who took the harrowing trip across Mexico to the southern border of the United States have now found a temporary place to reside in Louisiana. Five parishes – the equivalent of counties in other states – have agreed to provide shelter for many of these children. From January to July, the Federal Office of Refugee and Resettlement placed 173 children in East Baton Rouge Parish, 533 children in Jefferson Parish, 51 children in Lafayette…

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Legal Scope Of President’s Authority On Deportations And Work Permits

, Posted in Immigration Law

While a great deal of media attention focuses on the political considerations involved in the contemporary debate over comprehensive immigration reform, the legal questions over whether the President can act to address  these pressing issues unilaterally generally gets less discussion. However, a group of legal experts on these issues just released a letter contending the President has broad, expansive authority to provide some temporary relief for immigrants facing removal or deportation. The document issued by the American…

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DHS Extends Temporary Protected Status For Sudanese Citizens

, Posted in Immigration Law

The Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a foreign country for temporary protected status (TPS) due to conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country's nationals from returning safely, or in certain circumstances, where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately.  USCIS may grant TPS to eligible nationals of certain countries (or parts of countries), who are already in the United States. Eligible individuals without nationality who last resided in…

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Uncertainty Over Executive Action For Immigration Reform

, Posted in Immigration Law

Earlier this summer President Obama indicated that, if Congress fails to act on immigration reform as they had one year earlier, he would be forced to use his executive powers to provide some relief for immigrant families fearful of potential deportation and exasperated by the weight of constantly living “in the shadows.  At the time it was viewed as a final plea to the majority caucus in the House of Representatives to craft a bill which…

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Domestic Violence Recognized As Basis For Asylum For First Time

, Posted in Immigration Law

The Board of Immigration Appeals broke new ground last week as it recognized for the first time that the fear of domestic violence can serve as a basis for granting asylum to a foreign national seeking to stay in the United States.  The case of Aminta Cifuentes from Guatemala provided a compelling, yet tragic, basis for the Board of Immigration Appeals to find that a foreign national facing potential deportation could assert that her fear of…

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