Mass Migration Wave from Mexico Over
A Pew Research Center research published on November 19, 2015 illuminated a bright light on the scale of Mexican immigration in recent years. According to the Pew report, the so-called mass migration wave that has become the hallmark of the US-Mexico bilateral relations and much of political debate in the USA has not only subsided in recent years, it has also reversed the course, implying more Mexicans have headed back to their homeland than migrated to the USA. According to the Pew study, more than 1 million people, including American-born children of Mexican migrants, have returned to Mexico between 2009 and 2014, while about 870,000 people have crossed the borders to north during these five years, implying a net outflow of 140,000 people. By 2012, the so-called migration equilibrium has been achieved, implying by that time the net inflow of Mexicans to the USA being close to zero.
******************************* IMMIGRATION REFORM *************************
Senate Approves an Immigration Overhaul Measure
The US Senate on June 27, 2013 passed a far-fetched and forward-looking immigration overhaul bill, crafted by the so-called "Gang of Eight", by an overwhelming margin of 68-32. The measure will create a 13-year path for citizenship for approximately 11 million illegals who are in the US currently. In exchange, the measure includes a $40 billion a decade "enforcement" package that will almost double the Border Patrol agents by adding an additional 20,000 personnel and add nearly 700 miles of fencing along the southern borders. The enforcement amendment of the bill was sponsored by Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN. and Sen. John Hoeven, D-ND. The measure (SB 744) passed by the Senate is called the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act.
Border Crisis Overwhelms Government
A looming border crisis has already overwhelmed the federal government as tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors from three Central American nations--Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras--have flocked toward US borders. So far, 52,000 minors were caught by Border Patrols since October 2013, and were detained at various facilities. A 2008 law made it impossible for the administration to deport the minors to their native countries as the Bush-era law prohibits deportation of illegals other than Mexicans who flee oppression and torture without a hearing. Under the 2008 William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, unaccompanied children arriving illegally from Canada and Mexico are screened within 48 hours and deported unless they are victims of human trafficking or other dangers. However, for illegal entrants from non-contiguous nations, minors are to be handed over to the control under Health and Human Services Department. HHS will put the kids with families until hearings on their plight are to be arranged, a process that often may take years. Many of the undocumented minors fail to show up during hearing. There is chorus of demand from lawmakers, especially from Republican lawmakers, to reform the Bush-era act, 2008 William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama this week (July 6-12, 2014) sought $3.7 billion from Congress to deal with the surge of border crossings.
Talks on Expanding DACA Coverage to Include More Immigrants
Obama administration is currently mulling over the extension of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, that has given temporary right to stay and work for undocumented immigrants who have been brought into US as children to include more immigrants and decrease the number of deportations. Before the 2012 Presidential Elections, about 500,000 immigrants filed for DACA. Under active consideration by the administration is whether DACA may be extended to include parents or legal guardians of U.S.-born children (around 3.8 million people as of 2009, according to Pew Research's Hispanic Trend Project) and parents or legal guardians of DACA recipients (perhaps 500,000 to 1 million people)
Obama Issues Executive Orders to Put Deportation Hold on Millions
Energizing the immigration rights activists and infuriating the conservatives, President Barack Obama on November 20, 2014 issued an executive order that would allow about 5 million illegal immigrants to stay in the USA and seek work permit. More than 4 million people, who are the parents of American citizens or legal permanent residents, will be covered by the EO that offers three-year deportation deferral and work permit only to those without serious criminal records. The President also expanded the coverage of existing DACA to include those who had arrived before 2010 (current cutoff is 2007) and applicants irrespective of age (current cutoff is 31 years of age). The Citizenship and Immigration Services will seek applications from the parents starting from mid-May 2015 and for the youth program beginning February 2015. The part of the measure that will cover the parents of American citizens and legal permanent residents is called the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Permanent Residents, also known as DAPA.
President Visits the Same Las Vegas High School to Drum up Support for His Executive Order
President Barack Obama used his bully pulpit on November 21, 2014, a day after issuing an expansive and far-reaching Executive Order giving reprieve to 5 million illegal immigrants, by visiting Del Sol High School at Las Vegas, the same venue where the President had last visited after his re-election to urge for immigration overhaul, and giving a rallying cry to put pressure on Congress to act on immigration overhaul. However, Congressional Republicans described president's action as unilateral that was sure to "poison the well".
Abbott Sues Obama Administration over President's Executive Order on Immigration
Texas Governor-elect Gregg Abbott on December 3, 2014 filed his 31st lawsuit against the Obama administration, this time over the presidential executive issued on November 20, 2014 giving reprieve to about 5 million undocumented immigrants. Sixteen other states joined Texas in the lawsuit.
Federal Judge at Brownsville Temporarily Blocks President's Executive Order on Immigration
About 5 million undocumented immigrants were left in limbo by a federal judge's ruling just days before the government was to start accepting applications for temporary reprieve from deportation and work permit. The U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen of Brownsville issued his verdict on late February 16, 2015, putting a temporary hold on Obama's executive order issued on November 20, 2014. Responding to the lawsuit co-signed by 26 states, Judge Hanen invalidated Obama's executive order on the grounds that it had violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which calls for the White House to give more time prior to taking action, and had potential to hurt the states. The judge also said that the president had overstepped his authority when he issued the executive order. Obama administration vowed to push hard and fast to appeal Judge Hanen's ruling.
Appeals Court Rejects Obama Administration's Immigration Action
As Obama administration's appeal to overturn February 16, 2015, verdict by the U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of Brownsville waded through the legal process in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, activists, pundits and politicians on both sides of the immigration debate were glued to what the New Orleans-based appeals court had to say. On November 9, 2015, the three-judge panel ruled that Obama administration had in fact exceeded its authority when it had issued executive order on November 20, 2014 giving immunity from deportation to a larger group of people, including undocumented immigrants with the U.S. permanent resident or citizen children. The next step of the legal process is sure to land this case either to the full bench of the appeals court, or straight to the Supreme Court.
Administration Asks Apex Court to Uphold Obama's Executive Order on Immigration
Obama administration on November 20, 2015, a year to date of President Barack Obama's sweeping executive order of giving immunity of 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court against the April 9, 2015, verdict of a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that had tossed out Obama's immigration edict.
Supreme Court Agrees to Consider the Case
Infusing a new lease of life for the presidential decree to shield millions from deportation, the U.S. Supreme Court on January 19, 2016 agreed to take up the appeal filed by the Obama administration.
Body Blow by the Apex Court to Obama's Immigration EO
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 23, 2016 was deadlocked 4-4 on the Obama administration's appeal to lower court order that had put the president's November 20, 2014, executive order on hold. The tie dealt a temporary blow to President's executive order (EO) that would have shielded millions of undocumented children and parents of American citizens and legal residents from deportation as the lower court would hear the legal merit of the EO. The reaction was along the familiar lines and swift, with Republicans and Texas officials lauding the ruling as "affirmation of rule of law" while the President and his Democratic allies bemoaning the ruling. As the case goes back to Andrew Hanen's Brownsville federal court, the programs that would be
* UNAFFECTED: The current DACA program that covers 1.2 million undocumented immigrants who have entered the USA before their 16th birthday, stepped into their 31st birthday on, or after, June 15, 2012, and lived continuously in the USA since June 15, 2007.
* AFFECTED: (1) The DACA+ program that covers those who have lived in the USA continuously since January 1, 2010 and have been over 30 years old by June 15, 2012; and (2) DAPA program that covers undocumented immigrants who have lived in the USA since January 1, 2010 and have a child, who, as of November 20, 2014, is a legal permanent resident, or the citizen, of the USA.
******************************* IMMIGRATION REFORM *************************
***************************** DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY **********
Obama Reposes Trust on Besieged CIA Director, Admits of Torture by the Agency
President Barack Obama on August 1, 2014 conceded that CIA might have carried out torture against the detainees. However, he put his full trust on the chief of the agency, John Brennan.
***************************** DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY **********
***************************** TRUMP'S IMMIGRATION EO ***********************
Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting Seven Muslim Nations
Barely a week in the White House. President Donald Trump already made splash, nay waves, in the nation's political circle by signing some of the Executive Orders ranging from border walls, deregulation, withdrawing from TPP and others. On the first full working day in office, January 23, 2017, President Trump signed one of his earliest EO withdrawing from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). However, none of them came closer to his January 27, 2017, late afternoon signing the EO restricting travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries: Syria, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Libya. Under the EO, taking everyone by surprise, steps included:
* A moratorium on all incoming refugees for 120 days
* An indefinite suspension for Syrian refugees
* A 90-day travel ban on citizens from these seven nations
The EO created so much chaos and confusion that immigration officials and airport security had to scramble to comply with the eddict in a haphazard manner, leading to hundreds, if not thousands, of travelers getting stuck at various U.S. airports for hours. News began to emerge from nation's gateway airports of mothers and grandmothers in detention with toddlers, creating a backlash and strong condemnation. Protesters flocked to the nation's airports to show support for the refugess and condemn President Trump's discriminatory executive action. Scores of immigration lawyers worked pro bono for travelers, including dozens of Green Card holders, students, academics and doctors, stranded at the nation's airports.
Brooklyn Judge Puts Trump's EO on Hold; Outcries Get Louder
More than 24 hours after President Trump signed an executive order restricting travel from seven Muslim-majority nations, leading to a chaotic and confusing promulgation of the eddict at the nation's gateway airports and hours-long detention of many hundreds travelers, a federal judge, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly of Brooklyn, on January 28, 2017 ordered a temporary hold on the president's executive order, bringing relief to detained travelers and cheers to thousands of protesters who had shown up at the nation's airports to show support for refugees and condemn president's EO. Meanwhile, protests at nation's gateway airports during the day just got bigger and louder, and foreign leaders, U.S. corporate executives and academia joined a growing chorus of condemnation against the president's order. Among the corporate titans, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Sundar Pichai of Google, took a more direct and vocal stands against Trump's order while the French and German foreign ministers--Jean-Marc Ayrault and Sigmar Gabriel--at a Paris press conference during the day called Trump's executive order as against the values of "welcoming refugees who flee war and oppression".
Trump Fires Acting Attorney-General
Escalating a crisis stemming from the January 27, 2017, hashazard stroke of his executive pen, President Donald Trump on January 30, 2017 doubled down on the crisis, chaos and confusion by firing the acting A.G. Sally Yates hours after she refused to enforce president's EO targeting travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations. Later the administration appointed Dana Boente, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, as the acting AG. The defiance and the following firing of the acting AG was an unprecendented political earthquake for a nascent administration and an unparallel display of insubordination since the so-called "Saturday Night Massacre" in 1973, when President Richard Nixon had fired his Attorney-General and Deputy Attorney-General for disobeying his order to dismiss the then-Watergate Crisis special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Cox was later fired by the then-Solicitor-General Robert Bork.
***************************** TRUMP'S IMMIGRATION EO ***********************
************** TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S ZERO-TOLERANCE POLICY ***********
U.N. Asks U.S. to Stop Separating Children from Parents
After Attorney-General Jeff Sessions announced policy changes on April 6, 2018 to address the crisis that had "erupted in the southwest borders" and adopted so-called "Zero-Tolerance" policy, hundreds of migrant families had been torn apart with children being forcefully separated from parents, leading to an inhuman scenario that had drawn wide-spread condemnation. On June 5, 2018, U.N. stepped into the hot potato of this political issue, imploring the U.S. to stop the practice of separating families as deterrent to unlawful migration. A spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani, based in Geneva, issued a call during the day to stop the practice as separating children from parents amounted to "a serious violation of the rights of the child". U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley retorted that U.S. should not be told what to do by other nations.
Domestic, Gang Violence Ruled out for Asylum
In a seismic change to the asylum rule, Attorney-General Jeff Sessions took a stab on June 11, 2018 at two provisions of the widely applied category that most of the Central Americans used to seek asylum in the USA: gang violence and domestic violence. Out of five categories, this category--domestic violence and gang violence--is misused, according to Conservatives, in plenty of abundance. Sessions' action overturned the 2016 ruling of the Board of Immigration Appeals regarding an asylum petition by an El Salvadoran woman, who had fled her husband, and sent the case back to an immigration judge.
Former First Lady Laura Bush Steps in
In an article in The Dallas Morning News, former First Lady Laura Bush on June 18, 2018 called the separation of families "cruel" and "immoral". Between April 19, 2018 and May 31, 2018, DHS sent about 2,000 migrant children to mass detention centers or foster care.
President Trump Signs Executive Order to End Family Separation
Under bipartisan pressure and all-round outrage that stemmed from the so-called "Zero-Tolerance" policy, President Donald Trump on June 20, 2018 signed an Executive Order formally ending the separation of children from parents. Under the order, parents and children will be detained together. Under the four-page Executive Order, the U.S. will still prosecute people who cross the borders illegally, but the family separation will not be carried out. The EO also ordered the Justice Department to seek court approval to amend the 1997 Flores Settlement, a consent decree that required children to be limited to 20 days in federal immigration custody irrespective whether they were held with parents. It will the responsibility of HHS Secretary Alex Azar to initiate the family reunion process.
Airlines Oppose Family Separation
American Airlines led other airlines on June 20, 2018 to categorically oppose the family separation of immigrants who had entered the country illegally and flying those distressed children alone under federal contract on its plane. After American issued a statement, saying "we have no desire to be associated with separating families, or worse, to profit from them", other airlines, notably Southwest, United, Frontier, Spirit and Alaska issued their own statements opposing the family separation.
DOJ Files Petition asking Extension
Trump DOJ on June 21, 2018 filed a petition to the U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of Los Angeles, seeking to amend the 20-day maximum detention (for children) clause in the 1997 Flores. vs. Reno Settlement.
Demonstrations against Trump Administration's Zero-Tolerance Policy Get Boost
After winning a major battle after Trump administration caved in under increasing public pressure as President Donald Trump rescinded the policy of family separation by signing an executive order, progressive groups went full throttle on June 23, 2018 to bring hundreds-strong demonstration to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection station at McAllen to decry the practice of criminally prosecuting immigrants caught crossing the borders illegally and trying them at criminal justice system instead of immigration courts. At the Archer Park in McAllen, among the demonstrators were legend labor leader Dolores Huerta and Kerry Kennedy, daughter of RFK, who urged the crowd to stay strong and begin a 24-hour, 24-day relaying fast, each day for 100 of a total of approximately 2,400 migrant children separated from their parents after the so-called Zero-Tolerance policy had been instituted by Trump administration.
Bush Appointee Orders Trump Administration to Reunify Families
In a stinging rebuke, U.S District Court Judge Dana Sabraw of San Diego on June 26, 2018 ordered Trump administration to reunify children with legal guardians within 30 days and children under 5 within 14 days. Judge Sabraw, appointed by George W. Bush, also ordered to stop the practice of family separation. The verdict forced the administration to scramble for hastening the re-unification process.
Trump's Family Separation Policy Takes Its First Casualty
Trump administration's universally loathed family separation policy on June 29, 2018 cost the nomination of Trump administration's selection for a prestigious U.N. body, International Organization for Migration, or IOM, as Ken Isaacs was forced to withdraw after receiving the least votes in three-round balloting process. The election of Antonio Vitorino as the new executive director was a stunning blow to Donald Trump's already falling favor with international community and it came in the midst of worldwide denunciation since Isaacs' nomination had been announced by Trump administration in February 2018 because of Isaacs' past anti-Muslim tweets.
Judge Rejects Administration Request for an Extension
U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw of San Diego on July 6, 2018 rejected Trump administration's request for an extension of deadline for reuniting migrant children with parents, calling the government's rationale for extension request not an "articulable reason".
Judge Rejects Trump Administration's Petition to Amend Flores Settlement
U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of Los Angeles on July 9, 2018 rejected Trump administration's request to extend the length of detention of children--even with parents--beyond the current maximum of 20 days as dictated by a 1997 settlement, known as Reno vs. Flores Settlement. Ruling against Trump administration's petition, Judge Gee called the administration's effort "a cynical attempt" to shift immigration policymaking to the courts.
Judge Rebukes Trump Administration for Missing the Deadline
U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw of San Diego on July 11, 2018 chastised Trump administration for missing the deadline of reuniting all children younger than 5 years old with parents, and ordered the administration to give a status report later in the week, saying very clearly that "these are firm deadlines" and "not aspirational goals", regarding July 10, 2018, deadline for children younger than 5 years and July 26, 2018, deadline for other children. Of the 100 or so children younger than 5 years, government was able to reunite only 75 with a parent, or legal guardian as of July 10, 2018.
GAO Blames Fed for Keeping Key Agencies in Dark over "Zero-Tolerance Policy"
A scathing report issued October 24, 2018 by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office described a chaotic response by the Department of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to Trump administration's "Zero-Tolerance Policy" that led to separation of 3,000 migrant children from their parents. Leaders of DHS, which is responsible for enforcing the nation's immigration laws, and HHS, which is responsible for taking care of separated migrant children, have been caught off-guard by the April 6, 2018, announcement of the policy. They rushed to manage a chaotic situation that led to a politically disastrous situation for Trump and GOP. Under pressure, Trump was forced to withdraw the "Zero-Tolerance Policy" on June 20, 2018. Six days later, a federal court judge ordered Trump administration to reunite all children with parents within 30 days and children younger than 5 years within 14 days. However, none of HHS and DHS were ready by that time, according to GAO. It's not until July 6, 2018 that both agencies have come up with a mechanism to reunite the separated children with families. The GAO report is further evidence of an administration which takes frequent impulsive decisions and surprises even its insiders.
Judge Blocks Administration's Asylum Rule Changes
U.S. District Court Judge Emmett Sullivan of the District of Columbia on December 19, 2018, blocked part of the asylum rules issued by then-Attorney-General Jeff Session on June 11, 2018 that barred asylum seekers to cite domestic violence and gang violence to file for asylum request. In a blunt verdict, the federal judge said that it was not the "whims" of the executive branch, but the "will" of Congress that would set the asylum laws.
A Pew Research Center research published on November 19, 2015 illuminated a bright light on the scale of Mexican immigration in recent years. According to the Pew report, the so-called mass migration wave that has become the hallmark of the US-Mexico bilateral relations and much of political debate in the USA has not only subsided in recent years, it has also reversed the course, implying more Mexicans have headed back to their homeland than migrated to the USA. According to the Pew study, more than 1 million people, including American-born children of Mexican migrants, have returned to Mexico between 2009 and 2014, while about 870,000 people have crossed the borders to north during these five years, implying a net outflow of 140,000 people. By 2012, the so-called migration equilibrium has been achieved, implying by that time the net inflow of Mexicans to the USA being close to zero.
******************************* IMMIGRATION REFORM *************************
Senate Approves an Immigration Overhaul Measure
The US Senate on June 27, 2013 passed a far-fetched and forward-looking immigration overhaul bill, crafted by the so-called "Gang of Eight", by an overwhelming margin of 68-32. The measure will create a 13-year path for citizenship for approximately 11 million illegals who are in the US currently. In exchange, the measure includes a $40 billion a decade "enforcement" package that will almost double the Border Patrol agents by adding an additional 20,000 personnel and add nearly 700 miles of fencing along the southern borders. The enforcement amendment of the bill was sponsored by Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN. and Sen. John Hoeven, D-ND. The measure (SB 744) passed by the Senate is called the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act.
Border Crisis Overwhelms Government
A looming border crisis has already overwhelmed the federal government as tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors from three Central American nations--Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras--have flocked toward US borders. So far, 52,000 minors were caught by Border Patrols since October 2013, and were detained at various facilities. A 2008 law made it impossible for the administration to deport the minors to their native countries as the Bush-era law prohibits deportation of illegals other than Mexicans who flee oppression and torture without a hearing. Under the 2008 William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, unaccompanied children arriving illegally from Canada and Mexico are screened within 48 hours and deported unless they are victims of human trafficking or other dangers. However, for illegal entrants from non-contiguous nations, minors are to be handed over to the control under Health and Human Services Department. HHS will put the kids with families until hearings on their plight are to be arranged, a process that often may take years. Many of the undocumented minors fail to show up during hearing. There is chorus of demand from lawmakers, especially from Republican lawmakers, to reform the Bush-era act, 2008 William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama this week (July 6-12, 2014) sought $3.7 billion from Congress to deal with the surge of border crossings.
Talks on Expanding DACA Coverage to Include More Immigrants
Obama administration is currently mulling over the extension of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, that has given temporary right to stay and work for undocumented immigrants who have been brought into US as children to include more immigrants and decrease the number of deportations. Before the 2012 Presidential Elections, about 500,000 immigrants filed for DACA. Under active consideration by the administration is whether DACA may be extended to include parents or legal guardians of U.S.-born children (around 3.8 million people as of 2009, according to Pew Research's Hispanic Trend Project) and parents or legal guardians of DACA recipients (perhaps 500,000 to 1 million people)
Obama Issues Executive Orders to Put Deportation Hold on Millions
Energizing the immigration rights activists and infuriating the conservatives, President Barack Obama on November 20, 2014 issued an executive order that would allow about 5 million illegal immigrants to stay in the USA and seek work permit. More than 4 million people, who are the parents of American citizens or legal permanent residents, will be covered by the EO that offers three-year deportation deferral and work permit only to those without serious criminal records. The President also expanded the coverage of existing DACA to include those who had arrived before 2010 (current cutoff is 2007) and applicants irrespective of age (current cutoff is 31 years of age). The Citizenship and Immigration Services will seek applications from the parents starting from mid-May 2015 and for the youth program beginning February 2015. The part of the measure that will cover the parents of American citizens and legal permanent residents is called the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Permanent Residents, also known as DAPA.
President Visits the Same Las Vegas High School to Drum up Support for His Executive Order
President Barack Obama used his bully pulpit on November 21, 2014, a day after issuing an expansive and far-reaching Executive Order giving reprieve to 5 million illegal immigrants, by visiting Del Sol High School at Las Vegas, the same venue where the President had last visited after his re-election to urge for immigration overhaul, and giving a rallying cry to put pressure on Congress to act on immigration overhaul. However, Congressional Republicans described president's action as unilateral that was sure to "poison the well".
Abbott Sues Obama Administration over President's Executive Order on Immigration
Texas Governor-elect Gregg Abbott on December 3, 2014 filed his 31st lawsuit against the Obama administration, this time over the presidential executive issued on November 20, 2014 giving reprieve to about 5 million undocumented immigrants. Sixteen other states joined Texas in the lawsuit.
Federal Judge at Brownsville Temporarily Blocks President's Executive Order on Immigration
About 5 million undocumented immigrants were left in limbo by a federal judge's ruling just days before the government was to start accepting applications for temporary reprieve from deportation and work permit. The U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen of Brownsville issued his verdict on late February 16, 2015, putting a temporary hold on Obama's executive order issued on November 20, 2014. Responding to the lawsuit co-signed by 26 states, Judge Hanen invalidated Obama's executive order on the grounds that it had violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which calls for the White House to give more time prior to taking action, and had potential to hurt the states. The judge also said that the president had overstepped his authority when he issued the executive order. Obama administration vowed to push hard and fast to appeal Judge Hanen's ruling.
Appeals Court Rejects Obama Administration's Immigration Action
As Obama administration's appeal to overturn February 16, 2015, verdict by the U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of Brownsville waded through the legal process in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, activists, pundits and politicians on both sides of the immigration debate were glued to what the New Orleans-based appeals court had to say. On November 9, 2015, the three-judge panel ruled that Obama administration had in fact exceeded its authority when it had issued executive order on November 20, 2014 giving immunity from deportation to a larger group of people, including undocumented immigrants with the U.S. permanent resident or citizen children. The next step of the legal process is sure to land this case either to the full bench of the appeals court, or straight to the Supreme Court.
Administration Asks Apex Court to Uphold Obama's Executive Order on Immigration
Obama administration on November 20, 2015, a year to date of President Barack Obama's sweeping executive order of giving immunity of 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court against the April 9, 2015, verdict of a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that had tossed out Obama's immigration edict.
Supreme Court Agrees to Consider the Case
Infusing a new lease of life for the presidential decree to shield millions from deportation, the U.S. Supreme Court on January 19, 2016 agreed to take up the appeal filed by the Obama administration.
Body Blow by the Apex Court to Obama's Immigration EO
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 23, 2016 was deadlocked 4-4 on the Obama administration's appeal to lower court order that had put the president's November 20, 2014, executive order on hold. The tie dealt a temporary blow to President's executive order (EO) that would have shielded millions of undocumented children and parents of American citizens and legal residents from deportation as the lower court would hear the legal merit of the EO. The reaction was along the familiar lines and swift, with Republicans and Texas officials lauding the ruling as "affirmation of rule of law" while the President and his Democratic allies bemoaning the ruling. As the case goes back to Andrew Hanen's Brownsville federal court, the programs that would be
* UNAFFECTED: The current DACA program that covers 1.2 million undocumented immigrants who have entered the USA before their 16th birthday, stepped into their 31st birthday on, or after, June 15, 2012, and lived continuously in the USA since June 15, 2007.
* AFFECTED: (1) The DACA+ program that covers those who have lived in the USA continuously since January 1, 2010 and have been over 30 years old by June 15, 2012; and (2) DAPA program that covers undocumented immigrants who have lived in the USA since January 1, 2010 and have a child, who, as of November 20, 2014, is a legal permanent resident, or the citizen, of the USA.
******************************* IMMIGRATION REFORM *************************
***************************** DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY **********
Obama Reposes Trust on Besieged CIA Director, Admits of Torture by the Agency
President Barack Obama on August 1, 2014 conceded that CIA might have carried out torture against the detainees. However, he put his full trust on the chief of the agency, John Brennan.
***************************** DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY **********
********************************* DACA PROGRAM ******************************
Talks on Expanding DACA Coverage to Include More Immigrants
Obama administration is currently mulling over the extension of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, that has given temporary right to stay and work for undocumented immigrants who have been brought into US as children to include more immigrants and decrease the number of deportations. Before the 2012 Presidential Elections, about 500,000 immigrants filed for DACA. Under active consideration by the administration is whether DACA may be extended to include parents or legal guardians of U.S.-born children (around 3.8 million people as of 2009, according to Pew Research's Hispanic Trend Project) and parents or legal guardians of DACA recipients (perhaps 500,000 to 1 million people)
Obama Issues Executive Orders to Put Deportation Hold on Millions
Energizing the immigration rights activists and infuriating the conservatives, President Barack Obama on November 20, 2014 issued an executive order that would allow about 5 million illegal immigrants to stay in the USA and seek work permit. More than 4 million people, who are the parents of American citizens or legal permanent residents, will be covered by the EO that offers three-year deportation deferral and work permit only to those without serious criminal records. The President also expanded the coverage of existing DACA to include those who had arrived before 2010 (current cutoff is 2007) and applicants irrespective of age (current cutoff is 31 years of age). The Citizenship and Immigration Services will seek applications from the parents starting from mid-May 2015 and for the youth program beginning February 2015. The part of the measure that will cover the parents of American citizens and legal permanent residents is called the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Permanent Residents, also known as DAPA.
President Visits the Same Las Vegas High School to Drum up Support for His Executive Order
President Barack Obama used his bully pulpit on November 21, 2014, a day after issuing an expansive and far-reaching Executive Order giving reprieve to 5 million illegal immigrants, by visiting Del Sol High School at Las Vegas, the same venue where the President had last visited after his re-election to urge for immigration overhaul, and giving a rallying cry to put pressure on Congress to act on immigration overhaul. However, Congressional Republicans described president's action as unilateral that was sure to "poison the well".
Abbott Sues Obama Administration over President's Executive Order on Immigration
Texas Governor-elect Gregg Abbott on December 3, 2014 filed his 31st lawsuit against the Obama administration, this time over the presidential executive issued on November 20, 2014 giving reprieve to about 5 million undocumented immigrants. Sixteen other states joined Texas in the lawsuit.
Federal Judge at Brownsville Temporarily Blocks President's Executive Order on Immigration
About 5 million undocumented immigrants were left in limbo by a federal judge's ruling just days before the government was to start accepting applications for temporary reprieve from deportation and work permit. The U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen of Brownsville issued his verdict on late February 16, 2015, putting a temporary hold on Obama's executive order issued on November 20, 2014. Responding to the lawsuit co-signed by 26 states, Judge Hanen invalidated Obama's executive order on the grounds that it had violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which calls for the White House to give more time prior to taking action, and had potential to hurt the states. The judge also said that the president had overstepped his authority when he issued the executive order. Obama administration vowed to push hard and fast to appeal Judge Hanen's ruling.
Appeals Court Rejects Obama Administration's Immigration Action
As Obama administration's appeal to overturn February 16, 2015, verdict by the U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of Brownsville waded through the legal process in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, activists, pundits and politicians on both sides of the immigration debate were glued to what the New Orleans-based appeals court had to say. On November 9, 2015, the three-judge panel ruled that Obama administration had in fact exceeded its authority when it had issued executive order on November 20, 2014 giving immunity from deportation to a larger group of people, including undocumented immigrants with the U.S. permanent resident or citizen children. The next step of the legal process is sure to land this case either to the full bench of the appeals court, or straight to the Supreme Court.
Administration Asks Apex Court to Uphold Obama's Executive Order on Immigration
Obama administration on November 20, 2015, a year to date of President Barack Obama's sweeping executive order of giving immunity of 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court against the April 9, 2015, verdict of a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that had tossed out Obama's immigration edict.
Supreme Court Agrees to Consider the Case
Infusing a new lease of life for the presidential decree to shield millions from deportation, the U.S. Supreme Court on January 19, 2016 agreed to take up the appeal filed by the Obama administration.
Body Blow by the Apex Court to Obama's Immigration EO
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 23, 2016 was deadlocked 4-4 on the Obama administration's appeal to lower court order that had put the president's November 20, 2014, executive order on hold. The tie dealt a temporary blow to President's executive order (EO) that would have shielded millions of undocumented children and parents of American citizens and legal residents from deportation as the lower court would hear the legal merit of the EO. The reaction was along the familiar lines and swift, with Republicans and Texas officials lauding the ruling as "affirmation of rule of law" while the President and his Democratic allies bemoaning the ruling. As the case goes back to Andrew Hanen's Brownsville federal court, the programs that would be
* UNAFFECTED: The current DACA program that covers 1.2 million undocumented immigrants who have entered the USA before their 16th birthday, stepped into their 31st birthday on, or after, June 15, 2012, and lived continuously in the USA since June 15, 2007.
* AFFECTED: (1) The DACA+ program that covers those who have lived in the USA continuously since January 1, 2010 and have been over 30 years old by June 15, 2012; and (2) DAPA program that covers undocumented immigrants who have lived in the USA since January 1, 2010 and have a child, who, as of November 20, 2014, is a legal permanent resident, or the citizen, of the USA.
Texas, Nine Other States Threaten Trump Administration over DACA
Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton led a 10-state coalition to threaten the Trump administration on June 29, 2017 that they would file a lawsuit if DACA was not rescinded by September 2017. Other states included Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Trump Winds down DACA Program
Under legal threat from Texas and other Republican threat, President Donald Trump on September 5, 2017 scrapped the DACA program, and gave Congress six months to pass a measure to protect the "dreamers". Now, it's the turn of Congress, which has been in derelict for years, to take action on the fate of more than 800,000 undocumented immigrants.
Hundreds Storm Capitol
Frustrated over Congress' dilly-dallying tactics over the DACA program legislation, young "Dreamers", activists, students and youths took a day off on November 9, 2017 and poured in on the Capitol Hill to demand that Congress act now to protect the status of so-called "Dreamers", or DACA recipients, in the run-up of the beginning of the expiry of the DACA permits for an approximately 800,000 beneficiaries come March 2018.
Federal Judge Blocks Trump's DACA Order
A federal judge in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge William Alsup, ruled late January 9, 2018 to put a hold on implementation of president's September 5, 2017, order to wind down the DACA program as the case proceeded through judicial system.
U.S. Resumes DACA Renewal Applications
After a January 9, 2018, legal jolt by the U.S. District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco to President Donald Trump's September 5, 2017, order to wind down the DACA program, Citizenship and Immigration Services resumed accepting renewal applications, USCIS said on January 13, 2018.
Supreme Court Keeps DACA Program in Place for Now
The U.S. Supreme on February 26, 2018 rejected Trump administration's petition for a hearing on DACA program as it was being contested in the lower courts. As it stands now, 800,000 DACA beneficiaries are safe for the time being as a March 6, 2018, deadline to wind down the program fast approaches.
Federal Judge Calls Trump's DACA Rescission Plan "Unlawful"
A federal judge, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, on April 24, 2018 was unsparing to Trump administration's Department of Homeland Security to come up with better explanation within 90 days on the "arbitrary and capricious" order to wind down DACA program barring which DHS had to begin accepting new as well as renewal DACA applications.
Judge Bates' order is more consequential than the other two anti-administration rulings issued in January 2018 (by the U.S. District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco) and by a New York federal judge in February 2018 as the April 24, 2018, ruling not only restores the DACA renewal process just like the other two rulings, but also requires the government to begin accepting the new DACA application. The only setback that the Dreamers had received in court as of now came from a Maryland federal judge who had upheld Trump administration's right to wind down DACA.
************ TX Files Suit to End DACA
Texas and Six Other States Sue Fed over DACA
Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton on May 1, 2018 led his counterparts from six others states--Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia--to file a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas on May 1, 2018. Although the lawsuit was filed against the Trump administration, the target of the suit was the bona fide of the executive order by the Obama administration that had created the program at the first place.
Judge Rejects Petition to Toss out DACA Immediately
A Houston federal judge, Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas in Houston, on August 31, 2018 rejected Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton's lawsuit that asked the court to scrap DACA with immediate effect, but kept open the possibility of throwing away the Obama-era program eventually on the grounds of Administrative Procedure Act. The Houston judge's ruling, though gave temporary reprieve to DACA recipients, kept the future of the program in limbo. Both sides claimed their victory in the judge's verdict as Paxton believed that the court would at the end terminate the program while the civil rights groups, including Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, or MALDEF, saw the temporary relief as a positive outcome too.
************ TX Files Suit to End DACA
Appeals Court Upholds Lower Court Ruling against Trump's DACA Drawdown Order
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling on November 8, 2018 upholding a January 9, 2018, ruling by the U.S. District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco that had put a hold on President Donald Trump's September 2017 order to draw down DACA.
U.S. Supreme Court Gives a Temporary Lifeline to Dreamers
In a historic ruling on June 18, 2020, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the four liberal justices--Justice Stephen Breyer, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Elena Kagan--to uphold the Obama-era Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The majority called the way that Trump administration tried to end the program "arbitrary and capricious". The ruling was not an affirmative verdict on merits of DACA, instead it's a repudiation of how the rule had been formulated by Trump administration in 2017, violating the Administrative Procedure Act.
Federal Judge Orders to Accept New DACA Application
Nearly a month after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Trump administration's effort to rescind the DACA program, an Obama-era legacy, a federal judge in Maryland, U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm, issued an order on July 17, 2020, instructing Citizenship and Immigration Services to accept new applications from Dreamers. Judge Grimm returns the state of the DACA program to the pre-September 5, 2017, status, referring to the day when Trump announced the rescinding order.
Administration to Halve the DACA Program Length, Bar New Application
As Trump administration is mulling what to do with DACA program, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf has made public a memo on July 28, 2020 that will cut short the current work permit from two years to one year and continue to block processing the new application. It's estimated that about 800,000 children have been brought by their parents and are covered by the Obama-era order. At present, 640,000 are enrolled in the program.
Federal Judge Orders to Accept New DACA Application
Nearly a month after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Trump administration's effort to rescind the DACA program, an Obama-era legacy, a federal judge in Maryland, U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm, issued an order on July 17, 2020, instructing Citizenship and Immigration Services to accept new applications from Dreamers. Judge Grimm returns the state of the DACA program to the pre-September 5, 2017, status, referring to the day when Trump announced the rescinding order.
Administration to Halve the DACA Program Length, Bar New Application
As Trump administration is mulling what to do with DACA program, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf has made public a memo on July 28, 2020 that will cut short the current work permit from two years to one year and continue to block processing the new application. It's estimated that about 800,000 children have been brought by their parents and are covered by the Obama-era order. At present, 640,000 are enrolled in the program.
Federal
Judge Rules DACA MOU Signed by DHS Secretary Invalid
U.S.
District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of New York on November 14, 2020 ruled that a MOU signed by the Acting
Secretary of Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf on July 28, 2020 was
unlawful. A month after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Trump administration’s
effort to delegitimize DACA, Secretary Chad Wolf tried to do a workaround
through a July 28, 2020, MOU to make it difficult for “Dreamers” to get work
permits. Judge Nicholas Garaufis didn’t rule on the merit of MOU itself.
Rather, he ruled that appropriate processes had not been followed as Chad
Wolf had become the acting secretary of the department and, thus, any
memorandum that he had signed was also unlawful. In August 2020, the
bipartisan Government Accountability Office issued a critical report,
blasting the appointment of Chad Wolf and his deputy, Ken Cuccinelli, as
both these appointments, according to the accountability arm of Congress, didn’t
comply with Vacancies Reform Act.
Federal
Judge Orders Dreamers Measure for Full Restoration
A
New York judge, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis, on December 4, 2020
ordered the Department of Homeland Security to restore the status of Deferred
Action on Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program to the level that was
operational before President Donald Trump had initiated in September
2017 to end the program. The federal judge’s December 4, 2020, order
dictates clear terms of restoration, including DHS and related agencies to publish
on their websites beginning December 7, 2020 that new applications are
being accepted for DACA applicants and granting the work permit to a full
2-year term. Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf had limited the work permit
to one year in a July 2020 memo after the U.S. Supreme Court
scuttled Trump administration’s effort to end the program. Judge Nicholas
Garaufis vacated the July 2020 Chad Wolf memo on November 14,
2020 as Wolf’s ascension to the top job of the department didn’t follow
appropriate process and protocols as outlined by the Vacancies Reform Act,
thus deeming it “unlawful”. According to a left-leaning think-tank, Center
for American Progress, about 640,000 people are now enrolled in the DACA
program, another 65,800 have one-year work permits and an additional 300,000 new
applicants are waiting to receive their first work permits.
House Passes Measure to Accord Legal Status to Dreamers
House of Representatives on March 18, 2021 passed a measure that would give the work authorization and status to stay in the U.S. to migrants who had been brought to USA when they were 18 or younger. The bill will cover the DACA applicants. The Dream and Promise Act was passed by 227-198 votes.
Judge Issues Injunction against DACA
The tortuous path of Dreamers has taken another surprising turn on July 16, 2021 as a federal judge in Texas, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, ordered the end of DACA program, imposing permanent sanctions and barring any new application. 600,000 or so current DACA recipients are safe for the time being under Judge Hanen's order as the judge said: "it's not equitable for a government program that has engendered such significant reliance to terminate suddenly". Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton filed the suit in 2018.
More
than 90 CEOs Call for Congressional Action on Citizenship for Dreamers
In
response to a ruling from a federal judge in Texas that had made “it all the
more urgent that Congress take up and pass a legislative solution right away”,
CEOs from at least 90 companies wrote a letter to President Joe Biden and
Congressional leaders on July 29, 2021 to pass a law that would create a
path for citizenship for Dreamers who were of “a huge economic benefit to the
United States”. The authors of the joint letter included Apple CEO Tim Cook,
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon CEO Andy Sassy.
Biden Administration Publishes the New DACA Rules
In order to "preserve and fortify" the status of Dreamers, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on September 27, 2021 published a 205-page document of rules in the Federal Register for a 60-day period of commentaries and feedback . The new rules replicate the basic tenets of Obama-era rules such as injunction on deportation and allowing work permits to dreamers who have been brought to the U.S. between June 16, 1981 and June 15, 2012. The applicants must be at least 15 years old, free from any criminal conviction and have graduated or are enrolled in schools. Highlighting the value add-on to America's economy by the DACA recipients, DHS has said that Dreamers and their families pay $5.6 billion in federal taxes and $3.1 billion in state and local taxes annually. In July 2021, a federal judge in Texas ruled against the Obama-era DACA rules as those rules were not formulated by following appropriate official rulemaking process. Instead, Obama administration used agency memo to create those rules. The rulemaking effort this time through Public Register will address that concern, but in the broader legal perspective the case is far from over as the federal judge, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, has questioned even the authority of DHS to make such rules without Congress' explicit approval.
Appeals Court Rules against DACA
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on October 5, 2022 ruled that the Obama-era DACA rules were unconstitutional and had run counter to Congress' original intention of immigration laws. The panel returned the case to the lower court.
DACA Can Continue, though on a Scaled-down Basis, Judge Rules
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, who had ruled the DACA program unconstitutional last year, ruled on October 14, 2022 that the program for the time being could continue. However, the program can't take any new applicants, it can only renew the status of the existing DACA recipients. He ordered the government to share the proposed new rules with the court as soon as possible.
Biden Issues Executive Order, Empowering Dreamers to get Access to ACA, Medicaid
President Joe Biden, now visiting Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland, on April 13, 2023 announced opening up Medicaid and ACA enrollment process for the Dreamers.
Judge Rules Updated DACA Program Illegal
After Biden administration published new rules, addressing the concerns raised by a federal judge when he had tossed out the legality and constitutionality of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program on the ground of insufficiency related to the compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen on September 13, 2023 ruled that even the updated rules were illegal. This time, though, Judge Hanen called the action of federal government as usurpation of the authority that had been bestowed upon the Congress. Texas and eight other Republican states are plaintiff in this case. Judge Andrew Hanen, an appointee of President George W. Bush, also supported the states' argument that they had been harmed because of increasing costs being borne by them to provide healthcare, educational and other needs to DACA recipients. However, the judge didn't oblige the states' request to terminate the program immediately, instead instructing the federal government not to admit any new applicant to the program. By the end of March 2023, there were 578,680 applicants enrolled in the DACA program, according to the Citizenship and Immigration Services.
********************************* DACA PROGRAM ******************************
***************************** TRUMP'S IMMIGRATION EO ***********************
Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting Seven Muslim Nations
Barely a week in the White House. President Donald Trump already made splash, nay waves, in the nation's political circle by signing some of the Executive Orders ranging from border walls, deregulation, withdrawing from TPP and others. On the first full working day in office, January 23, 2017, President Trump signed one of his earliest EO withdrawing from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). However, none of them came closer to his January 27, 2017, late afternoon signing the EO restricting travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries: Syria, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Libya. Under the EO, taking everyone by surprise, steps included:
* A moratorium on all incoming refugees for 120 days
* An indefinite suspension for Syrian refugees
* A 90-day travel ban on citizens from these seven nations
The EO created so much chaos and confusion that immigration officials and airport security had to scramble to comply with the eddict in a haphazard manner, leading to hundreds, if not thousands, of travelers getting stuck at various U.S. airports for hours. News began to emerge from nation's gateway airports of mothers and grandmothers in detention with toddlers, creating a backlash and strong condemnation. Protesters flocked to the nation's airports to show support for the refugess and condemn President Trump's discriminatory executive action. Scores of immigration lawyers worked pro bono for travelers, including dozens of Green Card holders, students, academics and doctors, stranded at the nation's airports.
Brooklyn Judge Puts Trump's EO on Hold; Outcries Get Louder
More than 24 hours after President Trump signed an executive order restricting travel from seven Muslim-majority nations, leading to a chaotic and confusing promulgation of the eddict at the nation's gateway airports and hours-long detention of many hundreds travelers, a federal judge, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly of Brooklyn, on January 28, 2017 ordered a temporary hold on the president's executive order, bringing relief to detained travelers and cheers to thousands of protesters who had shown up at the nation's airports to show support for refugees and condemn president's EO. Meanwhile, protests at nation's gateway airports during the day just got bigger and louder, and foreign leaders, U.S. corporate executives and academia joined a growing chorus of condemnation against the president's order. Among the corporate titans, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Sundar Pichai of Google, took a more direct and vocal stands against Trump's order while the French and German foreign ministers--Jean-Marc Ayrault and Sigmar Gabriel--at a Paris press conference during the day called Trump's executive order as against the values of "welcoming refugees who flee war and oppression".
Trump Fires Acting Attorney-General
Escalating a crisis stemming from the January 27, 2017, hashazard stroke of his executive pen, President Donald Trump on January 30, 2017 doubled down on the crisis, chaos and confusion by firing the acting A.G. Sally Yates hours after she refused to enforce president's EO targeting travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations. Later the administration appointed Dana Boente, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, as the acting AG. The defiance and the following firing of the acting AG was an unprecendented political earthquake for a nascent administration and an unparallel display of insubordination since the so-called "Saturday Night Massacre" in 1973, when President Richard Nixon had fired his Attorney-General and Deputy Attorney-General for disobeying his order to dismiss the then-Watergate Crisis special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Cox was later fired by the then-Solicitor-General Robert Bork.
***************************** TRUMP'S IMMIGRATION EO ***********************
************** TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S ZERO-TOLERANCE POLICY ***********
U.N. Asks U.S. to Stop Separating Children from Parents
After Attorney-General Jeff Sessions announced policy changes on April 6, 2018 to address the crisis that had "erupted in the southwest borders" and adopted so-called "Zero-Tolerance" policy, hundreds of migrant families had been torn apart with children being forcefully separated from parents, leading to an inhuman scenario that had drawn wide-spread condemnation. On June 5, 2018, U.N. stepped into the hot potato of this political issue, imploring the U.S. to stop the practice of separating families as deterrent to unlawful migration. A spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani, based in Geneva, issued a call during the day to stop the practice as separating children from parents amounted to "a serious violation of the rights of the child". U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley retorted that U.S. should not be told what to do by other nations.
Domestic, Gang Violence Ruled out for Asylum
In a seismic change to the asylum rule, Attorney-General Jeff Sessions took a stab on June 11, 2018 at two provisions of the widely applied category that most of the Central Americans used to seek asylum in the USA: gang violence and domestic violence. Out of five categories, this category--domestic violence and gang violence--is misused, according to Conservatives, in plenty of abundance. Sessions' action overturned the 2016 ruling of the Board of Immigration Appeals regarding an asylum petition by an El Salvadoran woman, who had fled her husband, and sent the case back to an immigration judge.
Former First Lady Laura Bush Steps in
In an article in The Dallas Morning News, former First Lady Laura Bush on June 18, 2018 called the separation of families "cruel" and "immoral". Between April 19, 2018 and May 31, 2018, DHS sent about 2,000 migrant children to mass detention centers or foster care.
President Trump Signs Executive Order to End Family Separation
Under bipartisan pressure and all-round outrage that stemmed from the so-called "Zero-Tolerance" policy, President Donald Trump on June 20, 2018 signed an Executive Order formally ending the separation of children from parents. Under the order, parents and children will be detained together. Under the four-page Executive Order, the U.S. will still prosecute people who cross the borders illegally, but the family separation will not be carried out. The EO also ordered the Justice Department to seek court approval to amend the 1997 Flores Settlement, a consent decree that required children to be limited to 20 days in federal immigration custody irrespective whether they were held with parents. It will the responsibility of HHS Secretary Alex Azar to initiate the family reunion process.
Airlines Oppose Family Separation
American Airlines led other airlines on June 20, 2018 to categorically oppose the family separation of immigrants who had entered the country illegally and flying those distressed children alone under federal contract on its plane. After American issued a statement, saying "we have no desire to be associated with separating families, or worse, to profit from them", other airlines, notably Southwest, United, Frontier, Spirit and Alaska issued their own statements opposing the family separation.
DOJ Files Petition asking Extension
Trump DOJ on June 21, 2018 filed a petition to the U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of Los Angeles, seeking to amend the 20-day maximum detention (for children) clause in the 1997 Flores. vs. Reno Settlement.
Demonstrations against Trump Administration's Zero-Tolerance Policy Get Boost
After winning a major battle after Trump administration caved in under increasing public pressure as President Donald Trump rescinded the policy of family separation by signing an executive order, progressive groups went full throttle on June 23, 2018 to bring hundreds-strong demonstration to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection station at McAllen to decry the practice of criminally prosecuting immigrants caught crossing the borders illegally and trying them at criminal justice system instead of immigration courts. At the Archer Park in McAllen, among the demonstrators were legend labor leader Dolores Huerta and Kerry Kennedy, daughter of RFK, who urged the crowd to stay strong and begin a 24-hour, 24-day relaying fast, each day for 100 of a total of approximately 2,400 migrant children separated from their parents after the so-called Zero-Tolerance policy had been instituted by Trump administration.
Bush Appointee Orders Trump Administration to Reunify Families
In a stinging rebuke, U.S District Court Judge Dana Sabraw of San Diego on June 26, 2018 ordered Trump administration to reunify children with legal guardians within 30 days and children under 5 within 14 days. Judge Sabraw, appointed by George W. Bush, also ordered to stop the practice of family separation. The verdict forced the administration to scramble for hastening the re-unification process.
Trump's Family Separation Policy Takes Its First Casualty
Trump administration's universally loathed family separation policy on June 29, 2018 cost the nomination of Trump administration's selection for a prestigious U.N. body, International Organization for Migration, or IOM, as Ken Isaacs was forced to withdraw after receiving the least votes in three-round balloting process. The election of Antonio Vitorino as the new executive director was a stunning blow to Donald Trump's already falling favor with international community and it came in the midst of worldwide denunciation since Isaacs' nomination had been announced by Trump administration in February 2018 because of Isaacs' past anti-Muslim tweets.
Judge Rejects Administration Request for an Extension
U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw of San Diego on July 6, 2018 rejected Trump administration's request for an extension of deadline for reuniting migrant children with parents, calling the government's rationale for extension request not an "articulable reason".
Judge Rejects Trump Administration's Petition to Amend Flores Settlement
U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of Los Angeles on July 9, 2018 rejected Trump administration's request to extend the length of detention of children--even with parents--beyond the current maximum of 20 days as dictated by a 1997 settlement, known as Reno vs. Flores Settlement. Ruling against Trump administration's petition, Judge Gee called the administration's effort "a cynical attempt" to shift immigration policymaking to the courts.
Judge Rebukes Trump Administration for Missing the Deadline
U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw of San Diego on July 11, 2018 chastised Trump administration for missing the deadline of reuniting all children younger than 5 years old with parents, and ordered the administration to give a status report later in the week, saying very clearly that "these are firm deadlines" and "not aspirational goals", regarding July 10, 2018, deadline for children younger than 5 years and July 26, 2018, deadline for other children. Of the 100 or so children younger than 5 years, government was able to reunite only 75 with a parent, or legal guardian as of July 10, 2018.
GAO Blames Fed for Keeping Key Agencies in Dark over "Zero-Tolerance Policy"
A scathing report issued October 24, 2018 by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office described a chaotic response by the Department of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to Trump administration's "Zero-Tolerance Policy" that led to separation of 3,000 migrant children from their parents. Leaders of DHS, which is responsible for enforcing the nation's immigration laws, and HHS, which is responsible for taking care of separated migrant children, have been caught off-guard by the April 6, 2018, announcement of the policy. They rushed to manage a chaotic situation that led to a politically disastrous situation for Trump and GOP. Under pressure, Trump was forced to withdraw the "Zero-Tolerance Policy" on June 20, 2018. Six days later, a federal court judge ordered Trump administration to reunite all children with parents within 30 days and children younger than 5 years within 14 days. However, none of HHS and DHS were ready by that time, according to GAO. It's not until July 6, 2018 that both agencies have come up with a mechanism to reunite the separated children with families. The GAO report is further evidence of an administration which takes frequent impulsive decisions and surprises even its insiders.
Judge Blocks Administration's Asylum Rule Changes
U.S. District Court Judge Emmett Sullivan of the District of Columbia on December 19, 2018, blocked part of the asylum rules issued by then-Attorney-General Jeff Session on June 11, 2018 that barred asylum seekers to cite domestic violence and gang violence to file for asylum request. In a blunt verdict, the federal judge said that it was not the "whims" of the executive branch, but the "will" of Congress that would set the asylum laws.
Parents
of 545 Separated Children not Found
The
Washington Post
and The Associated Press reported on October 21, 2020 that 545
migrant children separated from their parents as part of Trump administration’s
so called “Zero Tolerance” policy were not reunited with their parents
as authorities were unable to find the whereabouts of missing parents, several
of them might have been deported to their countries of origin.
IG Report Blasts Trump Administration's Zero-Tolerance Policy
Besieged at home and abroad, shame against President Donald Trump can't come in any more abundance as the latest one issued by the inspector general of the U.S. Justice Department on January 14, 2021, pointing out how ill-prepared the Justice Department has been under then then-A.G. Jeff Sessions in managing the crisis stemming from the "Zero-Tolerance" policy that has led to family separation for thousands of migrant children and a life-long trauma for the kids. The I-G Report issued on January 14, 2021 blasted the Trump administration for not planning for the fallout of such drastic action or creating a unified, disciplined communication cadence.
Zero-Tolerance Policy Rescinded
Acting Attorney-General Monty Wilkinson on January 26, 2021 wrote a memo to all prosecutors, effectively rescinding the zero-tolerance policy that was blamed for separation of thousands of migrant children from their parents, bringing permanent scar to America's age-old record to deal with migrant families with fairness and compassion. In his memo, the acting attorney general emphasized his goal of returning to "longstanding principle of making individualized assessments in criminal cases".
Biden Admin to Start Uniting Kids with Parents
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a statement on May 3, 2021, stating that four family reunions would take place this week, marking the beginning of an arduous process that might take months, or even years. President Donald Trump instituted a much-criticized "Zero-Tolerance Policy" from April to June 2018, when a federal judge ordered the policy to be ended and children to be reunited with parents. However, it emerged later that Trump administration had been separating families throughout 2017 as well as early part of 2018 until President Trump officially announced the beginning of the "Zero-Tolerance Policy". Government records show that about 5,500 children have been separated in 2017 and 2018 because of the policy. Many children are now staying with relatives in the U.S. while their parents have been deported. Biden campaigned on promise to reunite the children separated because of Trump's "criminal" policy with their parents. May 3, 2021, announcement by Secretary Mayorkas marks the beginning of fulfillment of Biden's promise. Addressing a press conference on May 3, 2021, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that a task force established by President Joe Biden in February 2021, Family Reunification Task Force, was "working day and night" to address what he called Trump administration's "cruel separation of children from their parents". Joe Biden on his first day of office signed an executive order to reunite separated families "to the greatest extent possible".
Biden Strongly Favors "Remuneration" Plan for Separated Migrant Families
President Joe Biden on November 6, 2021 told reporters that his administration was in the midst of talks with attorneys of migrant families to come up with an appropriate amount to be paid as part of "remuneration" to compensate the forced separation of children from parents, a brutal policy instituted by Trump administration. The so called "Zero Tolerance" policy attracted international outcry and strong domestic opposition, leading President Donald Trump to suspend the policy.
Family Re-unification Program Moving at a Desired Pace, Task Force Leader Says
The Department of Homeland Security reported on December 23, 2021 that 100 migrant children separated during Trump-era policy had been reunited with their parents and another 350 kids were in the process of reunified. An additional 1,150 children are yet to be located and reunified with their parents. The executive director of Biden administration's Family Re-unification Task Force, Michelle Brane, said that "we are making progress, and I feel like we are gaining momentum".
Biden Administration, ACLU Reach Settlement on Family Separation Issue
Biden Administration and American Civil Liberties Union on October 16, 2023 reached a settlement that would bar the Department of Homeland Security from carrying out the Trump-era-style family separation for the next eight years. According to the DHS figures released in February 2023, 3,881 children were separated from their parents or guardians between 2017 and 2021. More than 100 children could not be reunited with their families yet. President Donald Trump applied this inhuman policy on a mass scale in 2017 to deter migrant crossing as part of his Zero-Tolerance Policy. His administration reversed the course days before a federal judge, U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, halted the program in June 2018 and ordered for the reunification of the families.
Under the agreement, the separated families will receive three years of humanitarian parole as well as housing aid for up to a year, help in behavioral health and medical health benefits, and parents of separated families will get work permit during the time of length of parole.
************** TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S ZERO-TOLERANCE POLICY ***********
********************* MIGRANT PROTECTION PROTOCOL *********************
Judge Blocks Rules over Denial of Bond Hearings to Migrants while in Asylum Process
************** TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S ZERO-TOLERANCE POLICY ***********
President Trump Declares National Emergency in the Southern Border
While signing the bipartisan budget measure, President Donald Trump on February 15, 2019 declared a national emergency in the southern border. Trump was unable to receive any Congressional funding for his border wall. The national emergency declaration will pave the way for the administration to divert money from other agencies. White House Chief of Staff Mike Mulvaney said during the day that the administration would tap an additional $6.6 billion from the defense construction project coffer, taking the total to $8 billion. Within hours of Trump's declaration, American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, filed a lawsuit challenging president's declaration of emergency. ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero used President Trump's own admission at a Rose Garden conference, where he had declared the national emergency, to emphasize that the situation in the southern border didn't deserve application of national emergency. California Attorney-General Xavier Becerra said that he was mulling to file a multi-state lawsuit challenging the emergency declaration. A separate public advocacy group, Public Citizen, on February 14, 2019 filed a lawsuit on behalf of a south Texas nature preserve and three landowners who had been given notice that part of their properties were needed to construct the border wall.
Bipartisan Condemnation of Trump's National Emergency Declaration
A group of 58 former national security officials--including as recognizable names as Chuck Hagel, Madeleine Albright, Thomas Pickering, John Kerry and Susan Rice--issued a joint statement on February 25, 2019, condemning President Donald Trump's national security declaration at the southern border. The statement disputed Trump's claim as devoid of "factual basis" and clearly stated that no such situation existed in the southern borders to merit such declaration.
********************* MIGRANT PROTECTION PROTOCOL *********************
Infamous Migration Protection Protocol Challenged in Court
Trump administration's recent declaration of Migrant Protection Protocol that forced the asylum seekers to stay in Mexico as their cases went through the formal administrative procedure in the U.S. had strained resources in Mexico and put migrant families in an unchartered territory. Trump administration has rolled out the controversial Migrant Protection Protocol in San Diego sector of the border in January 2019, and is now planning to expand in the coming weeks to El Paso sector.
Federal Judge Blocks Controversial Trump Administration Policy
A federal judge, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg of San Francisco, on April 8, 2019 has blocked implementation of Migrant Protection Protocol under which Trump administration is forcing asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their cases are being processed in the U.S., creating a nightmare for Mexico and tremendous degree of security problems for the migrants, especially minors and women.
Appeals Court Reverses Lower Court Ruling Blocking Trump's Stay-in-Mexico Policy
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on April 12, 2019 put on hold the lower court Judge Richard Seeborg's April 8, 2019, ruling that blocked Trump administration's Migrant Protection Protocol. The appeals court panel gave the plaintiffs until April 16, 2019 to file why the protocol should be blocked and the U.S. Justice Department until April 17, 2019 to respond.
Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Trump
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on May 7, 2019 ruled that Trump administration had authority to order migrants stay in Mexico while their asylum cases moved forward in the U.S. court system under a pilot program called the Migrant Protection Protocol. However, the case needs to be retried in the lower court and every case has its own merit, implying the case may not have ended yet and may end up at the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Okays Implementation of "Stay in Mexico" Order
The U.S. Supreme Court on March 11, 2020 ruled that Trump administration could carry out the Migrant Protection Protocol, also known as "Stay in Mexico" policy, as the merit of the policy would be going through judicial hearings and processes. Trump administration applied the policy to about 60,000 migrants since it came to existence 13 months ago. Last month a panel of 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against the protocol under its areas of jurisdiction, namely California and Arizona. The March 11, 2020, U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturned the last month's appeal court's verdict, thus handing a significant policy victory to Trump.
Federal Judge Blocks Controversial Trump Administration Policy
A federal judge, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg of San Francisco, on April 8, 2019 has blocked implementation of Migrant Protection Protocol under which Trump administration is forcing asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their cases are being processed in the U.S., creating a nightmare for Mexico and tremendous degree of security problems for the migrants, especially minors and women.
Appeals Court Reverses Lower Court Ruling Blocking Trump's Stay-in-Mexico Policy
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on April 12, 2019 put on hold the lower court Judge Richard Seeborg's April 8, 2019, ruling that blocked Trump administration's Migrant Protection Protocol. The appeals court panel gave the plaintiffs until April 16, 2019 to file why the protocol should be blocked and the U.S. Justice Department until April 17, 2019 to respond.
Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Trump
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on May 7, 2019 ruled that Trump administration had authority to order migrants stay in Mexico while their asylum cases moved forward in the U.S. court system under a pilot program called the Migrant Protection Protocol. However, the case needs to be retried in the lower court and every case has its own merit, implying the case may not have ended yet and may end up at the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Okays Implementation of "Stay in Mexico" Order
The U.S. Supreme Court on March 11, 2020 ruled that Trump administration could carry out the Migrant Protection Protocol, also known as "Stay in Mexico" policy, as the merit of the policy would be going through judicial hearings and processes. Trump administration applied the policy to about 60,000 migrants since it came to existence 13 months ago. Last month a panel of 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against the protocol under its areas of jurisdiction, namely California and Arizona. The March 11, 2020, U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturned the last month's appeal court's verdict, thus handing a significant policy victory to Trump.
Biden Administration to Let in Migrants from Mexico to U.S. in Orderly Manner
In a sharp departure of Trump administration's policy, Biden administration has decided to allow 300 migrants a day to enter into the U.S., according to a February 13, 2021, print report from The Dallas Morning News, beginning February 19, 2021. These migrants are from the pool of 25,000 cases under consideration as part of Migrant Protection Protocol, a.k.a. Stay in Mexico program. They have sought refuge at the southern border in lawful manner, but under the Trump administration order, they have been forced to wait in Mexico, often under dangerous and squalid conditions, as their cases are being heard in the U.S. There are a total of 70,000 people in the the program now. The three cities that will host the migrants are yet to be identified by Biden administration, but refugee resettlement groups and migrant rights groups have identified them as Brownsville and El Paso in Texas and San Ysidro in California. The migrants will be subsequently allowed to move to other parts in the USA where many of them already have families as their cases will be heard in the U.S. court and immigration system. The U.N. migration agency will test for COVID-19 on the Mexican soil before the migrants are allowed to enter in the U.S. The people who are longest in the queue and are vulnerable such as LGBTQ people will be given the highest priority. The migrants who have been removed under Title 42 are not qualified.
Judge Orders Biden Admin to Revive Stay in Mexico Program
A federal district court judge, U.S. District Judge Mathew Kacsmaryk of Amarillo, a Trump appointee, on late August 13, 2021 ordered the Biden administration to revive the Migrant Protection Protocols. A day after being sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, Joe Biden suspended the program. After a review, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on June 1, 2021 ended the program altogether. The case was filed by Texas and Missouri Attorney-Generals Ken Paxton and Eric Schmitt, respectively. The 53-page ruling blamed the DHS for not undertaking the benefits of the program, leading to the failure of showing "a reasoned decision". This is the second such setback for Biden administration. Earlier a Texas judge ruled against Biden's pause on deportation.
U.S. Supreme Court Puts a Hold on Stay in Mexico Revival Verdict
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on August 20, 2021 granted a DOJ appeal against an August 13, 2021, federal judge's order to revive the Migrant Protection Protocol by issuing a temporary injunction until August 24, 2021 to allow parties time to submit their filings. On August 19, 2021, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a DOJ plea to for an injunction on the August 13, 2021, verdict issued by the U.S. District Judge Mathew Kacsmaryk of Amarillo.
U.S. Supreme Court Restores the Trump-era Rule
Four days after suspending a lower court order that ordered the Biden administration to restore Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocol, also known as Stay in Mexico directive, U.S. Supreme Court on August 24, 2021 lifted its suspension and letting an Amarillo federal judge's order to stand. Justice Samuel Alito signed the suspension order on August 20, 2021 to grant time for the DOJ to submit its filing. Nation's highest court issued an unsigned verdict on August 24, 2021, saying that the administration had "failed to show a likelihood of success on the claim that the memorandum rescinding the Migrant Protection Protocols was not arbitrary and capricious", the same argument--"arbitrary and capricious"--nation's highest court had used to reject Trump's effort to quash DACA program. Three Liberal justices dissented, but didn't write any opinion.
Biden Admin Appeals to Higher Court to Let it Scrap MPP
Biden administration on September 21, 2021 filed a brief to a New Orleans-based appeals court to overturn the U.S. District Judge Mathew Kacsmaryk's order to restore the Migrant Protection Protocol, or the so-called Stay in Mexico order, in favor of striking down the Trump-era rule.
Biden Admin to Restore Stay in Mexico Practice
Biden administration on October 15, 2021 said in a filing to the U.S. District Judge Mathew Kacsmaryk of Amarillo that it would restore MPP by next month.
"Stay in Mexico" Practice to Resume after Mexico, U.S. Agree on Take-back Conditions
The Department of Homeland Security on December 2, 2021 announced that it would resume the Migrant Protection Protocol effective December 6, 2021 to comply with U.S. District Judge Mathew Kacsmayk's order. Under the MPP, about 70,000 migrants have stayed back in Mexico as their cases are proceeding in the United States since the protocol has gone into effect in January 2019. Biden suspended the policy after assuming presidency. U.S. had to reach an agreement with Mexico on the issue of taking back the migrants and allowing them to wait on Mexican soil. Under the conditions laid out by Mexico, the returnees will be vaccinated before returning, will have better access to attorneys to help in their asylum cases pending in the U.S. and will be provided better security in the face of rising gang-fighting and violence in the border communities.
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Biden's Overturning of Trump-era MPP
U.S. Supreme Court on June 30, 2022 ruled 5-4 in favor of upholding Biden administration's authority to reverse the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocol, or Remain in Mexico, program.
U.S. Supreme Court Issues Official Declaration of the Verdict
The U.S. Supreme Court on August 1, 2022 issued official notification to make the June 30, 2022, verdict that had overturned the Migrant Protection Protocol, or Remain in Mexico, program to go into effect.
Biden Admin Ends Remain in Mexico Protocol
On August 8, 2022, Biden administration ended the Migrant Protection Protocol, or Remain in Mexico, hours after a federal judge, U.S. District Judge Mathew Kacsmaryk of Amarillo, lifted an order to this effect.
********************* MIGRANT PROTECTION PROTOCOL *********************
*********** TRUMP'S EMERGENCY DECLARATION AND BORDER WALL **********
House Votes against President Trump's Emergency Declaration
In a clear rebuke, House of Representatives on February 26, 2019 passed a resolution sponsored by Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio by 245-182 against President Donald Trump's February 15, 2019, declaration of national emergency at the southern border.
Senate Votes against Trump's Emergency Declaration
GOP-dominated Senate on March 14, 2019 voted 59-41 to pass a measure blocking President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration in the southern border.
Trump Vetoes Congress' Measure against National Emergency Declaration
President Donald Trump on March 15, 2019 used his first veto to punt Congressional action to void his February 15, 2019, national emergency declaration in the southern border.
House Fails to Overturn Trump's Veto
House of Representatives on March 27, 2019 failed to overturn Trump's first veto as 248 votes--all Democrats and 14 Republicans voted for the House measure--didn't go as far as two-third threshold that the body needed to quash Trump's veto.
Border Has Arrived at "Breaking Point"
The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner Kevin McAleenan on March 27, 2019 live-streamed his press conference at El Paso, saying that the El Paso was the "Ground Zero" for the country's immigration crisis and the nation had arrived at the "breaking point". Last month, McAleenan, appearing before Congress, warned the lawmakers that soon the nation would face the "breaking point" on immigration crisis. On March 27, 2019, he said that that point had now arrived.
Defense Chief Wants Troops to Stay Indefinitely to Protect Border
Visiting McAllen, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on May 11, 2019 that more than 4,000 troops now helping CBP agents could stay there as long as it would take to secure the border. Last week during testimony before Congress, Shanahan said that 4,364 U.S. active-duty and National Guard personnel were now at the southern border.
Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Effort to Shift Money to Build Wall
A federal judge, U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr. of Oakland in May 2019 blocked Trump administration's effort to shift defense department's money to build walls--one along 46-mile corridor in New Mexico and the second one along 5 miles in Yuma, Arizona.
Setback to House Democrats as Judge Refuses to Block Trump Funding Re-allocation
House Democrats received a severe a legal jolt on June 3, 2019 in their effort to block Trump administration from shifting $6.1 billion from other priorities to build walls along the southern border. President Donald Trump declared an emergency in the southern border as Democrats refused to fund President Trump's demand for money to build "beautiful" border wall, and decided to shift money from other defense priorities. House Democrats took the White House to the court in order to block the president's try to shift money by bypassing the Congress to build wall. However, The June 3, 2019, ruling by the U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, cleared the way for Trump administration to begin work on the wall unless Democrats pushed for appeal. The 24-page ruling outlines the reason for refusing to go along the Democrats' demands, citing lack of authority and jurisdiction on an executive order as important as national emergency.
Oakland Federal Judge Issues an Expanded Order
U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr. of Oakland on June 28, 2019 expanded his May 2019 ruling that had blocked Trump administration from funding walls along 46 miles in New Mexico and 5 miles in Yuma, Arizona by ordering that the administration could no longer use the counterdrug money to fund building walls in those two projects. Judge Gilliam added more constraints on June 28, 2019 by blocking the replacement of 63-mile border boundary in Tucson sector and 15 miles of El Centro sector.
Appeals Court Blocks Funding for Border Wall
A divided three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on July 3, 2019 upheld the June 28, 2019, ruling by a federal judge in Oakland.
Supreme Court Clears the way for Trump Admin to Tap Defense Money for Border Wall
The U.S. Supreme Court on July 26, 2019 lifted an injunction on Trump administration's budget maneuver to divert $2.5 billion in defense fund before the expiry of this fiscal year on September 30, 2019 to build 100 miles of border wall in California, Arizona and New Mexico. The July 3, 2019, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling upheld the order of the U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr. of Oakland to block diversion of money from other defense priorities to build wall. The appeals court's ruling said that the "Constitution assigns to Congress the power of the purse" and it "is Congress that is to make decision regarding how to spend taxpayer dollars". U.S. Solicitor-General Noel Francisco argued that U.S. needed the wall to fight drug crimes at the southern border in the case that came to be known as Trump vs. Sierra Club. Lawyers for the Sierra Club, the Southern Border Communities Coalition and ACLU argued that 30-foot wall would harm wildlife and damage the environment. The Trump vs. Sierra Club case pertains to proposed replacement of 46-mile barrier in New Mexico that will cost an estimated $789 million and 63 miles in Arizona that will cost an additional $646 million. The other two projects are in California and Arizona, and are estimated to cost less. Five conservative justices voted to give Trump administration a victory which President Trump exulted in a tweet message: Wow! Big VICTORY on the Wall", while four Liberal justices opposed the majority ruling.
Trump Taps $7.2 billion to Build Wall
After last week's 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' 2-1 ruling to overturn an El Paso federal court's ruling last month that Trump administration had violated law by diverting the money not approved by Congress and allocated to other purposes to build wall led to Trump administration's rush to come up with a sum of $7.2 billion from other Defense spending plans to fund building a wall along the Mexico border, according to The Washington Post's January 13, 2020, edition. As of today, Trump administration has diverted about $18.4 billion.
Trump Dealt a Setback in Border Wall Construction
A day after visiting Yuma, Arizona to see 200-mile border wall completion, President Donald Trump on June 26, 2020 was dealt a raw jolt by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled against administration's action to divert money from Pentagon budget to construct border wall. Speaker Nancy Pelosi lauded the court ruling, saying that the purse belongs to Congress, not with the executive branch. The opposition to Trump's border wall construction is a bipartisan one. Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Clarendon, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, in February 2020 objected President Trump's effort to divert $3.8 billion from Pentagon's construction budget. Although Rep. Thornberry was not opposed to constructing the border wall, he prefers that money to come explicitly from Congress.
Trump Taps $7.2 billion to Build Wall
After last week's 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' 2-1 ruling to overturn an El Paso federal court's ruling last month that Trump administration had violated law by diverting the money not approved by Congress and allocated to other purposes to build wall led to Trump administration's rush to come up with a sum of $7.2 billion from other Defense spending plans to fund building a wall along the Mexico border, according to The Washington Post's January 13, 2020, edition. As of today, Trump administration has diverted about $18.4 billion.
Trump Dealt a Setback in Border Wall Construction
A day after visiting Yuma, Arizona to see 200-mile border wall completion, President Donald Trump on June 26, 2020 was dealt a raw jolt by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled against administration's action to divert money from Pentagon budget to construct border wall. Speaker Nancy Pelosi lauded the court ruling, saying that the purse belongs to Congress, not with the executive branch. The opposition to Trump's border wall construction is a bipartisan one. Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Clarendon, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, in February 2020 objected President Trump's effort to divert $3.8 billion from Pentagon's construction budget. Although Rep. Thornberry was not opposed to constructing the border wall, he prefers that money to come explicitly from Congress.
Trump
Wins Border Wall Funding Case from Appeals Court
A
panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on late December
4, 2020 handed a victory to Trump by overturning an El Paso federal judge’s
ruling against Trump administration’s diversion of $3.6 billion in
Pentagon budget for border wall construction. The New Orleans-based appeals
court ruled that the plaintiffs—El Paso County and community activists—could not
prove that they had suffered because of resource diversion to construct border
wall.
*********** TRUMP'S EMERGENCY DECLARATION AND BORDER WALL **********
*********************** TRUMP'S TARIFF THREAT TO MEXICO *******************
Trump Threatens to Impose Tariffs on Mexican Imports
President Donald Trump on May 30, 2019 pulled the trigger of tariff in a shocking way and surprising rationale that he would impose 5 percent tariff on Mexican imports beginning June 10, 2019 unless Mexico didn't take appropriate measures to prevent Central American migrants from coming to the U.S. President Donald Trump's threat has come with a tweet, reflecting the cavalier way he mixes foreign policy, trade policy and immigration policy. Trump didn't stop at 5 percent tariff. He went beyond that threatening to impose incremental tariffs every month up to 25 percent. The threat has thrown the newly minted NAFTA, formally called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, in limbo as it awaits Senate ratification. As of 2018, U.S. has imported $346.5 billion in goods from Mexico while exporting $265 billion in goods. Many experts are having hard time how immigration and trade are getting messed up in a volatile political atmosphere.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador tried to defuse the escalation on May 31, 2019, ordering his Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard to head to Washington next week to hold talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
*********************** TRUMP'S TARIFF THREAT TO MEXICO *******************
Judge Blocks Rules over Denial of Bond Hearings to Migrants while in Asylum Process
In a gross stretch of constitutional right and American values, Attorney-General William Barr in April 2019 announced that Trump administration would not accord the bail bond hearings to migrants who would cross the borders illegally and seek asylum. The rule was expected to go into effect on July 15, 2019. Immigrant rights group decried the April 2019 rule as the violation of Constitution's Fifth Amendment of due process. On July 2, 2019, a federal judge, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman, sided with the rights groups and blocked the new rule, calling it an assault on "a longstanding prohibition against indefinite civil detention with no opportunity to test its necessity".
*************************** SAFE-THIRD COUNTRY RULE ************************
Trump Administration's New Rule to Block Asylum Seekers
In an unprecedented move, Trump administration on July 15, 2019 published new restrictive rules on the Federal Registrar. Under the new rules, going into effect on July 16, 2019, hundreds of thousands of migrants who cross a third country, say Mexico, and have to first file asylum petition in that country, depriving many Central Americans the opportunity to file asylum petition before the U.S. authorities. The new rules are sure to be challenged in courts. The "safe-third country" rule may put migrants stuck in dangerous conditions in some of the most dangerous cities in Mexico.
"Safe Third Country" Rule Blocked
A federal judge in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge John Tigar, on July 24, 2019 put a nationwide hold on the controversial "safe third country" rule that went into effect last week. Under the rule, Central Americans will be denied entry to the USA if they don't file asylum in Mexico first.
Guatemala Signs "Safe Third Country" Agreement with USA
Obviously under the U.S. pressure, Guatemalan government led by President Jimmy Morales, whose scandal-ridden administration is in the twilight of its tenure, has defied its own Constitutional Court ruling to sign an agreement with the USA on July 26, 2019 that will require any migrant from El Salvador, Honduras, other Latin American, African and Asian countries passing through Guatemala to first file asylum in Guatemala under the so called Safe Third Country law. Weeks earlier Guatemala's highest court ruled that Guatemalan government couldn't sign such a law without legislative approval, thus the July 26, 2019, signing of the deal by DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan and Guatemalan Interior Minister Enrique Degenhart was some sort of "poo-pooh" reaction to the Constitutional Court's ruling. Many human rights groups took strong exception to the "safe third country" deal as Guatemala could not take care of its own people, leave alone migrants from other nations. Guatemala and Canada, which has a "safe third country" agreement with the U.S., are not at the same par, according to these human rights groups.
Appeals Court Hands out Partial Victory to Trump
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on August 16, 2019 overturned the July 24, 2019, verdict issued by the U.S. District Judge John Tigar, clearing the way to implement "safe third-country" rule and reject the asylum cases of migrants passing through any "safe third-country". The partial victory handed out to Trump administration is limited to the jurisdictions under the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, covering California and Arizona.
Supreme Court Upholds Trump Rule
Handing out a solid victory, U.S. Supreme Court on September 11, 2019 tossed out a lower federal court ruling that blocked Trump administration's safe-third country rule. President Trump took to twitter to celebrate the 7-2 ruling, calling it a "BIG United States Supreme Court WIN". Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented.
U.S., El Salvador Sign Safe Third Country "MOU"
Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan and El Salvador's foreign minister, Alexandra Hill, on September 20, 2019 signed a "memorandum of understanding" underpinning the provisions for safe-third country rule, under which U.S. could deny asylum to migrants who would pass through El Salvador.
Federal Judge Nominated by Trump Blocks so-called Safe-Third Country Rule
A federal judge, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly of Washington D.C., nominated by President Donald Trump, on July 1, 2020 tossed out the administration's rule enacted last year, requiring asylum seekers from Central America and other nations to seek asylum first in the nation that they were passing, namely Mexico and Guatemala, on the ground that the administration didn't follow the rule-making process such as publishing the rule on Federal Register and seeking public comments. In September 2019, U.S. Supreme Court issued an unsigned order tossing out an injunction by a separate federal judge, U.S. District Judge John Tigar, and restored administration's authority to goa ahead with implementing the rule while the case was being litigated.
An Appeals Court Tosses out Trump's Safe-Third Country Rule
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on July 6, 2020 tossed out Trump administration's rule to deny refuge to asylum seekers if they didn't file asylum in a third country that they passed on the way to the U.S., second such judicial rebuff in five days. Ironically the appeals court found too that Trump's rule-making process didn't go through appropriate sets of protocols and standard practices just like the federal judge in D.C. had found.
U.S., El Salvador Sign Safe Third Country "MOU"
Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan and El Salvador's foreign minister, Alexandra Hill, on September 20, 2019 signed a "memorandum of understanding" underpinning the provisions for safe-third country rule, under which U.S. could deny asylum to migrants who would pass through El Salvador.
Federal Judge Nominated by Trump Blocks so-called Safe-Third Country Rule
A federal judge, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly of Washington D.C., nominated by President Donald Trump, on July 1, 2020 tossed out the administration's rule enacted last year, requiring asylum seekers from Central America and other nations to seek asylum first in the nation that they were passing, namely Mexico and Guatemala, on the ground that the administration didn't follow the rule-making process such as publishing the rule on Federal Register and seeking public comments. In September 2019, U.S. Supreme Court issued an unsigned order tossing out an injunction by a separate federal judge, U.S. District Judge John Tigar, and restored administration's authority to goa ahead with implementing the rule while the case was being litigated.
An Appeals Court Tosses out Trump's Safe-Third Country Rule
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on July 6, 2020 tossed out Trump administration's rule to deny refuge to asylum seekers if they didn't file asylum in a third country that they passed on the way to the U.S., second such judicial rebuff in five days. Ironically the appeals court found too that Trump's rule-making process didn't go through appropriate sets of protocols and standard practices just like the federal judge in D.C. had found.
Biden Administration Reverses Trump-era Safe Third Country Deals
Foreign Secretary Anthony Blinken said on February 6, 2021 that Biden administration was taking steps to notify partner nations--Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras--that the Trump-era agreements with the respective nations to force migrants to stay in those countries and seek U.S. asylum from there instead of seeking asylum at the southern borders were not "suitable ways to work with our partner governments to manage migrations across the region". The February 6, 2021, step is continuation of Biden administration's ongoing endeavor to reverse Trump administration's anti-immigrant rule sets.
On February 2, 2021, Biden signed a raft of executive orders to either reverse or pause Trump-era immigration rules and set up a committee to reunite separated children with their biological families.
*************************** SAFE-THIRD COUNTRY RULE ************************
*************************** DEPORTATION POLICY EXPANDED ******************
ACLU Files Suit against Trump Administration's Deportation Policy Overreach
In a legal challenge to the Trump administration's July 22, 2019, expansion of "expedited removal" order, American Civil Liberties Union on August 6, 2019 filed a lawsuit on behalf of migrants in Florida, Texas and New York against DHS and other agency chiefs. Earlier the "expedited removal" applied to unauthorized migrants, who didn't have any asylum cases pending in the country, caught within 100 miles from the border and stayed in the U.S. less than two weeks. Under the July 22, 2019, Trump administration's order, the "expedited removal" process will extend anywhere in the country and for the undocumented migrants who have lived less than 2 years, increasing the number of undocumented entrees to be eligible for immediate deportation by tens of millions. The July 22, 2019, order also gives low level immigration officers to make decisions as important as detaining and deporting undocumented migrants.
*************************** DEPORTATION POLICY EXPANDED ******************
************ TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S NEW GREEN CARD POLICY *************
Trump Administration's Attack on Legal Immigration
Trump administration on August 12, 2019 announced a sweeping measure that would deny Green Cards to many immigration applicants if they could not prove that they were a "public charge", implying they were not dependent on Medicaid, food stamp and other government handouts. The rules will exempt active-duty military personnel, refugees and asylum seekers.
CIS Chief's Ridiculous Explanation of Lazarus' Poem
A day after Trump administration announced rules to make it more difficult for legal immigrants to get Green Card, the head of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Ken Cuccinelli, in an interview with NPR, stoked further controversy by misinterpreting a poem written by Emma Lazarus that had been inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. For generations, the poem written in "The New Colossus" in 1883 stood like a founding stone for open embrace of "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free". Ken Cuccinelli said during the NPR interview on August 13, 2019 that what Emma had meant was different and the line should have been "give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge". Cuccinelli's revisionist stand also showed that he was biased toward "people coming from Europe where they had class-based societies".
Lazarus Biographer Challenges CIS Chief
Emma Lazarus Biographer Esther Schor on August 14, 2019 challenged CIS Director Ken Cuccinelli's comment on the poet's 1883 poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. Schor said that Lazarus was well aware of universal nature of migration and penned the poem in 1883 after Congress banned Chinese workers by passing Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
California Files Lawsuit against Trump Administration's New Green Card Policy
California and three other states on August 16, 2019 filed a lawsuit to block Trump administration's new rules that would make it easier to deny Green Cards to legal immigrants. California Attorney-General Xavier Becerra, filing the lawsuit in a federal court in San Francisco, said during the day that Trump administration's new policy would make half of the country "public charge" and would allow the administration to deny green cards on flimsy grounds such as if "your child participates in something as basic as your neighborhood school lunch or nutrition program".
Supreme Court Lets the Wealth Test Stand
In a setback to migrant rights advocates, U.S. Supreme Court on February 21, 2020 voted 5-4 to let the "public charge" rule go into effect as the merit of the rule would be litigated in the country's court system. The "public charge" rule will go into effect on February 24, 2020.
*************************** DEPORTATION POLICY EXPANDED ******************
ACLU Files Suit against Trump Administration's Deportation Policy Overreach
In a legal challenge to the Trump administration's July 22, 2019, expansion of "expedited removal" order, American Civil Liberties Union on August 6, 2019 filed a lawsuit on behalf of migrants in Florida, Texas and New York against DHS and other agency chiefs. Earlier the "expedited removal" applied to unauthorized migrants, who didn't have any asylum cases pending in the country, caught within 100 miles from the border and stayed in the U.S. less than two weeks. Under the July 22, 2019, Trump administration's order, the "expedited removal" process will extend anywhere in the country and for the undocumented migrants who have lived less than 2 years, increasing the number of undocumented entrees to be eligible for immediate deportation by tens of millions. The July 22, 2019, order also gives low level immigration officers to make decisions as important as detaining and deporting undocumented migrants.
*************************** DEPORTATION POLICY EXPANDED ******************
************ TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S NEW GREEN CARD POLICY *************
Trump Administration's Attack on Legal Immigration
Trump administration on August 12, 2019 announced a sweeping measure that would deny Green Cards to many immigration applicants if they could not prove that they were a "public charge", implying they were not dependent on Medicaid, food stamp and other government handouts. The rules will exempt active-duty military personnel, refugees and asylum seekers.
CIS Chief's Ridiculous Explanation of Lazarus' Poem
A day after Trump administration announced rules to make it more difficult for legal immigrants to get Green Card, the head of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Ken Cuccinelli, in an interview with NPR, stoked further controversy by misinterpreting a poem written by Emma Lazarus that had been inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. For generations, the poem written in "The New Colossus" in 1883 stood like a founding stone for open embrace of "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free". Ken Cuccinelli said during the NPR interview on August 13, 2019 that what Emma had meant was different and the line should have been "give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge". Cuccinelli's revisionist stand also showed that he was biased toward "people coming from Europe where they had class-based societies".
Lazarus Biographer Challenges CIS Chief
Emma Lazarus Biographer Esther Schor on August 14, 2019 challenged CIS Director Ken Cuccinelli's comment on the poet's 1883 poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. Schor said that Lazarus was well aware of universal nature of migration and penned the poem in 1883 after Congress banned Chinese workers by passing Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
California Files Lawsuit against Trump Administration's New Green Card Policy
California and three other states on August 16, 2019 filed a lawsuit to block Trump administration's new rules that would make it easier to deny Green Cards to legal immigrants. California Attorney-General Xavier Becerra, filing the lawsuit in a federal court in San Francisco, said during the day that Trump administration's new policy would make half of the country "public charge" and would allow the administration to deny green cards on flimsy grounds such as if "your child participates in something as basic as your neighborhood school lunch or nutrition program".
Supreme Court Lets the Wealth Test Stand
In a setback to migrant rights advocates, U.S. Supreme Court on February 21, 2020 voted 5-4 to let the "public charge" rule go into effect as the merit of the rule would be litigated in the country's court system. The "public charge" rule will go into effect on February 24, 2020.
Federal
Judge Blocks the “Public Charge” Rule
A
federal judge in Chicago, U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman, on November
2, 2020 blocked Trump administration from applying the so called “public
charge” rule to decide who would receive the Green Card. The judge
rejected the rule on the ground that Trump administration had failed to explain
why the rule was needed as part of Administrative Procedure Act. Cook
County that includes Chicago runs country’s one of the largest public healthcare
systems. In February 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the
“public charge” rule to go into effect as the litigation over the merit
of the rule would proceed in the lower courts.
Public
Charge Rule Returns after Appeals Court Overturns Lower Court Order
A
day after a lower federal court judge has thrown out the “public charge”
provision to determine whether a legal applicant is eligible to receive “Green
Card”, which many immigration rights activists have slammed as a “wealth
test”, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on November 3,
2020 has restored the rule as its merit is being contested in the court.
************ TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S NEW GREEN CARD POLICY *************
150 Eminent Latinos Sign an Open Letter Expressing Solidarity
More than 150 eminent Latino writers, actors, actresses, novelists and journalists signed an open letter published in The New York Times on August 16, 2019 that lent solidarity to the country's Hispanic in the wake of El Paso mass shooting directed against Hispanics and recent nabbing of 680 illegal workers from a Mississippi poultry farm by ICE agents.
************************* TEMPORARY PROTECTION STATUS ********************
Trump Administration Extends TPS
Trump administration on November 1, 2019 announced extension of temporary protection status for foreigners from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal , Nicaragua and Sudan until after the 2020 presidential election. The TPS, slated to be lapse at varying timelines for respective countries, will allow about 428,000 holders of the temporary protection status to stay here through at least the new deadline, January 4, 2021.
************ TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S NEW GREEN CARD POLICY *************
150 Eminent Latinos Sign an Open Letter Expressing Solidarity
More than 150 eminent Latino writers, actors, actresses, novelists and journalists signed an open letter published in The New York Times on August 16, 2019 that lent solidarity to the country's Hispanic in the wake of El Paso mass shooting directed against Hispanics and recent nabbing of 680 illegal workers from a Mississippi poultry farm by ICE agents.
************************* TEMPORARY PROTECTION STATUS ********************
Trump Administration Extends TPS
Trump administration on November 1, 2019 announced extension of temporary protection status for foreigners from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal , Nicaragua and Sudan until after the 2020 presidential election. The TPS, slated to be lapse at varying timelines for respective countries, will allow about 428,000 holders of the temporary protection status to stay here through at least the new deadline, January 4, 2021.
TPS Holders not Entitled to Get Green Cards
In a case filed by an El Salvadoran couple that went through the federal court system straight to the country's highest court, the U.S. Supreme Court on June 7, 2021 ruled 9-0 that the plaintiff could be denied the Green Card because they were not lawfully admitted and thus not qualified to receive the permanent residency. There are about 400,000 TPS recipients from about 12 nations who can get reprieve from deportation and a work permit for job in the U.S.
Treatment for Venezuelans Irks Conservatives
To many conservatives, the stern words made by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in May 2023 on the verge of lifting of the Title 42 that the U.S. borders are not open and any illegal crossing will be processed promptly and migrants without sufficient grounds for asylum will be deported expeditiously ring hollow as the secretary on September 20, 2023 has made public from the White House the decision to grant some 472,000 Venezuelans, many of them have crossed illegally without following appropriate procedures as outlined before, Temporary Protected Status. These Venezuelans crossed the border before July 31, 2023. The 472,000 TPS recipients are in addition to 272,000 given TPS in 2021 and 2022. However, Mayorkas made it clear that any arrival after July 31, 2023 would not be considered under the TPS program as broadly as the arrivals before that date.
************************* TEMPORARY PROTECTION STATUS ********************
Pilot for DNA Collection to Begin
Trump administration is going to launch another shameful and insulting pilot program for 90 days effective January 6, 2020 to collect saliva samples from the apprehended and detained migrants and send those samples to FBI for DNA analysis. The sites chosen for the pilot includes one Canadian border point near Detroit and Eagle Pass in Texas, across the Mexican city of Peidras Negras. The pilot will be applied to migrants as young as 14-year-olds. However, legal migrants, or migrants who cross the borders lawfully, will not be subjected to DNA sample collection.
Maryland Judge Overturns Abbott's Rejection of Refugee Resettlement in Texas
All the groundwork was prepared by President Donald Trump when, in September 2019, he ordered the refugee intake cap to be slashed to 18,000 from 30,000 a year ago and 110,000 in 2016. President Trump also gave the states the leeway of "opt-in", paving the way for one of the states to refuse to intake refugees. Sure enough, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott didn't take much long to announce on January 10, 2020 that Texas would not admit any refugee. On January 15, 2020, Maryland Judge Peter J. Messitte ruled that Texas' decision "flies in the face of clear Congressional intent" and imposed an injunction.
Visa Restrictions from Six More Nations
Trump administration on January 31, 2020 suspended immigrant visas from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea and Nigeria. Diversity visas for applicants from Sudan and Tanzania were also suspended. The new restrictions will go into effect on February 21, 2020.
************************* TEMPORARY PROTECTION STATUS ********************
Pilot for DNA Collection to Begin
Trump administration is going to launch another shameful and insulting pilot program for 90 days effective January 6, 2020 to collect saliva samples from the apprehended and detained migrants and send those samples to FBI for DNA analysis. The sites chosen for the pilot includes one Canadian border point near Detroit and Eagle Pass in Texas, across the Mexican city of Peidras Negras. The pilot will be applied to migrants as young as 14-year-olds. However, legal migrants, or migrants who cross the borders lawfully, will not be subjected to DNA sample collection.
Maryland Judge Overturns Abbott's Rejection of Refugee Resettlement in Texas
All the groundwork was prepared by President Donald Trump when, in September 2019, he ordered the refugee intake cap to be slashed to 18,000 from 30,000 a year ago and 110,000 in 2016. President Trump also gave the states the leeway of "opt-in", paving the way for one of the states to refuse to intake refugees. Sure enough, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott didn't take much long to announce on January 10, 2020 that Texas would not admit any refugee. On January 15, 2020, Maryland Judge Peter J. Messitte ruled that Texas' decision "flies in the face of clear Congressional intent" and imposed an injunction.
Visa Restrictions from Six More Nations
Trump administration on January 31, 2020 suspended immigrant visas from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea and Nigeria. Diversity visas for applicants from Sudan and Tanzania were also suspended. The new restrictions will go into effect on February 21, 2020.
********************************** TITLE 42 REMOVALS ***************************
Trump Administration's Rapid Removals of Migrants due to Coronavirus Draws Criticism
In March 2020 as most of the world began to shut down to contain an once-a-century pandemic, Trump administration imposed one of the most stringent immigration restrictions to remove migrants rapidly from the U.S. soil without any due course. The measure, called as Title 42, was draconian and not criticized at the time of its declaration as it was announced apparently as a mitigation measure against the spread of the Coronavirus. As months have passed by, immigration rights groups have become more vocal against the Title 42 removals.
Biden Administration to Continue Using Title 42, at least for the Time Being
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on April 27, 2021 that Title 42 would remain in force, at least for the time being, continuing the Trump administration's policy to expel migrants quickly, with exception from the Trump administration's blanket application to carve out cases of unaccompanied minors. Since Trump administration invoked the controversial Title 42 of the Public Health Services Act in March 2020 as a special healthcare crisis measure, it had been used in at least 670,000 cases. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas expressed his intention to continue with the Title 42, a rare healthcare measure imposed by the CDC in March 2020, during a conference call related to the Operation Sentinel, a campaign to fight the operation of migrant smugglers and other unethical players. Title 42 of the Public Health Services Act is not a new tool. It has been around since 1893. Trump administration invoked it in March 2020 to fight against the transmission of Coronavirus at the outset of the pandemic at both Mexico and Canada borders.
CDC Extends Title 42 for Two Months
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on August 3, 2021 extended the Title 42, imposed by the Trump administration in March 2020 to mitigate the Coronavirus spread at the early days of pandemic, for another 60 days.
Appeals Court Panel Rules against Family Removals, Lower Court against Minor Exemption
In a pair of dichotomous rulings on March 4, 2022, D.C.-based U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the practice to remove families to Mexico under Title 42 should be stopped immediately as it [practice] put the affected families at great risks of harm while a lower court judge in Fort Worth ruled against Biden administration's exemption of unaccompanied minors from Title 42 removal process. The three-judge panel of the nation's second-highest court ruled that federal government could no longer put families at harm's way. The March 4, 2022, appeals court ruling does not extend to individuals removed under Title 42. In a separate case, U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman gave Biden administration seven days to reply why accompanied minors had been kept from under the purview of Title 42 and left the verdict on hold for the next seven days.
CDC Ends Title 42 for Unaccompanied Minors
As the Biden administration's waiver to Title 42 for unaccompanied minors are getting challenged in courts, with the possibility to be blocked by one of the upcoming verdicts, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on March 12, 2022 has given the administration the administrative cover by lifting Title 42 for the unaccompanied minors. Title 42 will continue to be promulgated for family members and adults.
Biden to Lift Title 42 in May
Biden administration's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on April 1, 2022 announced that the Title 42 would be lifted on May 23, 2022, removing a pandemic-era health emergency slapped by the Trump administration at the outset of the pandemic on March 20, 2020. The Title 42 lifting decision didn't satisfy either Liberals or Conservatives. Conservatives, GOP and Democratic lawmakers facing competitive races in the Fall of 2022 are against removal of Title 42 in a haste. Liberals are frustrated that the public healthcare emergency that most of the nation has already forsaken will be used to discriminate thousands of asylum seekers between now and May 23, 2022. Title 42 has been used 1.7 million times since it went into effect on March 20, 2020.
Judge Orders a Two-Week Delay of Lifting of Title 42
A Louisiana federal judge on April 27, 2022 issued a temporary restraining order [TRO] to delay, by two weeks, Biden administration's action to lift Title 42 effective May 23, 2022. U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays opined in a four-page verdict that the administration didn't follow appropriate administrative procedures. The judge ruled in a case filed by about two dozen Republican states against the Biden administration's announcement to lift the pandemic-era emergency effective May 23, 2022.
Judge Blocks Biden's Title 42 Lifting Plan
A federal judge in Louisianan on May 20, 2022 issued a preliminary injunction, blocking the Biden administration's plan to lift Title 42. U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays agreed with the plaintiffs--in this case, 24 GOP-led states--that the states bore the majority of the burden from the migrant surge that's about to happen right after the lifting of Title 42. Also, the administration didn't follow proper procedure of soliciting public feedback, according to Judge Summerhays, a Trump-appointee, from people, thus in violation to the Administrative Procedure Act.
Biden Administration Launches Ukraine-style Sponsor Program for Venezuelans
Biden administration announced this week that Venezuelans would be subjected to Title 42 removals and Mexico had agreed to take them back, according to the October 15, 2022, edition of The Dallas Morning News. The new policy for the Venezuelan migrants allows up to 24,000 annual paroles. However, there is a caveat: there has to be someone in the U.S. who will be willing to be an economic sponsor. The new migration policy went into effect on October 13, 2022. This agreement with Mexico will allow would-be migrants to file paperwork from the Mexican sides of the border provided that they have a U.S. sponsor and they have entered Panama or Mexico before or on October 19, 2022, seven days after the October 12, 2022, agreement between Biden administration and Mexico.
Judge Strikes down Trump-era Title 42
A separate case filed against the U.S. by migrant rights groups, including ACLU, led to the U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan striking down the Title 42. On November 15, 2022, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan of the District of Columbia ruled that the Title 42 had little proven public heath benefit while the "impact on the migrants was indeed dire". The verdict went into effect immediately, and Biden admin is unlikely to appeal the judge's verdict.
Judge Extends the Beginning of the Title 42 Removal by Five Weeks
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan on November 16, 2022 modified the removal of Title 42 timing from immediate effect to December 21, 2022. The judge extended the removal timeline "WITH GREAT RELUCTANCE" as he put it in all caps in order to give Biden admin time to prep.
El Paso Declares a State of Disaster Days before Title 42 to be Lifted
As Republican states lost another battle on December 16, 2022 as a federal appeals court upheld a lower court order to lift the pandemic-era Title 42, which has been used to expel more than 2 million undocumented migrants, on December 21, 2022, El Paso was bracing for a major influx of migrants. On December 17, 2022, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of disaster, allowing the city to force migrants off the streets to shelters, among other measures. El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego also had authority to declare a county-wide "state of disaster", but refrained from doing so because Governor Gregg Abbott might have used that to push his political agenda. It's abundantly clear that the U.S. may not be equipped to handle the upcoming surge, including an estimated surge of a daily 5,000 migrants to El Paso, after Title 42 is lifted. U.S. Supreme Court may provide the much needed reprieve, according to many political analysts.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals on December 16, 2022 ruled that the "inordinate and unexplained untimeliness of the States' motion to intervene on appeal weighs decisively against intervention". Three judges are the appointees of both Democratic and Republican administration. Judge Florence Pan is a Biden appointee, Judge Justin Walker is a Trump appointee and Judge Patricia Millett is an Obama appointee.
Roberts Holds off on Title 42
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who handles emergency appeals from the D.C., on December 19, 2022 has issued a temporary hold on the lifting of Title 42, a pandemic-era measure used to expel 2.4 million migrants--a vast majority of them are in the southern border--and slated to be withdrawn on December 21, 2022. Chief Justice John Roberts gave the Biden administration 5PM December 20, 2022 to respond to GOP states' emergency filing which has been submitted on December 19, 2022.
Biden Admin Seeks Delay in Lifting Title 42, Texas National Guards Deploy in El Paso
Biden administration and immigrant rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, submitted their filings before the U.S. Supreme Court on December 20, 2022 in response to GOP-led states' emergency petition to the Court that lifting [of Title 42] would burden the states. In its filing, Biden administration strongly favored lifting the Title 42, but asked the court for some delay to prepare for the changed situation. It asked the court to delay up to at least December 27, 2022.
Meanwhile, about 400 Texas National Guard personnel were deployed on December 20, 2022 along the border at El Paso. The guards, specialized in mob control, was called a day earlier by Governor Gregg Abbott.
U.S. Supreme Court Stays Title 42 in Place for at least Two Months
U.S. Supreme Court on December 27, 2022 handed a significant victory to 19 Republican states and a much needed reprieve to Biden administration as it had decided to leave a pandemic-era health emergency rule dating back to 1944, Title 42, in place until February 2023 when the apex court would take up the case. Title 42 was used to expel undocumented immigrants at least 2.5 million times--many of them were repeat expulsions--since the U.S. borders had been all but shut down at the outset of COVID-19 in March 2020. 19 Republican-ruled states argued that they would face "unprecedented calamity" after the withdrawal of Title 42.
Biden's New Border Policy Attracts Plaudits, Criticism
President Joe Biden on January 5, 2023 expanded the sponsor-based migration plan that had been instituted for Venezuelans in October 2022--and for Ukrainians prior to that--to include migrants from Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua. President Joe Biden announced the new plan for orderly intake of 30,000 migrants per month from these four nations with a stern warning that migrants should not just arrive at the borders. Applicants can seek appointment related to their asylum at official border crossings using an app "CBP One". Title 42 is still enforceable that has allowed U.S. to expel migrants at least 2.5 million times since the outset of the pandemic in March 2020. However, the new, orderly intake process for the four nations in the Western Hemisphere announced on January 5, 2023 comes with some strict provisions such as repeat offenders will be prohibited from entering the U.S. for the next five years. There will be criminal prosecution if migrants continue to try to cross the border illegally. Title 42 has none of these strict provisions.
Democrats and migration rights groups offered qualified praise for Biden's January 5, 2023, announcement--made three days prior to Joe Biden's January 8, 2023, first border visit in his presidency--to allow 360,000 people annually from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela through the sponsorship program, while Republicans lambasted Biden administration's failure to secure the border. Many Republicans, including Texas Governor Gregg Abbott, mused that Biden might be coming to El Paso on January 8, 2023 for political stunt and photo-ops. Abbott has been busing the migrants to Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia, and his office has put the number of migrants bused to those Democratic-run cities as of January 3, 2023 at about 16,500 since the busing program has begun in April 2022.
Biden Administration Reaches Deal With Mexico
Biden administration on January 5, 2023 has announced an agreement with Mexico under which U.S. southern neighbor will take back 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela per month if they enter the U.S. illegally.
Biden Follows Trump-era-like Path to Mitigate Potential Surge
As the Title 42 is about to be lifted, Biden administration is getting creative and veering closely toward Trump-era model in the run-up to its May 11, 2023, withdrawal. On February 21, 2023, Biden administration's Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice issued a joint rule that resembled more like one obtained from Trump's playbook. Under the rule, migrants entering the U.S. unlawfully have to rebut the "presumption of ineligibility" because they have failed to seek asylum along "lawful, safe and orderly pathways". That implies migrants to prove that there have been threat and risk to their wellbeing in seeking asylum in a third country that they have used in their journey en route to USA. The rule will seek public comments for 30 days. Although critics called the rule as reiteration of Trump-era rule, administration officials rebutted that narrative and said that it was not a ban on asylum. Four Democratic Senators--Senators Cory Booker, Bob Menendez, Ben Ray Lujan and Alex Padilla--responding to the new rule, said that they were "deeply disappointed".
*********** DEPLOYMENT OF 1,500 ACTIVE-DUTY TROOPS
Biden to Deploy 1,500 Troops to Border
In anticipation of migrant surge on the border as the May 11, 2023, deadline for Title 42 withdrawal nears, Biden administration on May 2, 2023 has announced the deployment of 1,500 active-duty troops to the border as support to free up the CBP personnel to focus on their enforcement responsibilities. The active-duty soldiers will not be directly engaging with migrants, instead focusing on back-office, administrative and support work so that CBP personnel may focus on their core duty of enforcement. Already, there are 2,500 National Guard troops in the border, and Defense Secretary Llyod Austin has mandated their deployment through October 1, 2023. The active-duty troops will be deployed for 90 days.
Officials are expecting that once Title 42 is lifted on May 11, 2023, there will be a mad rush toward the borders. In anticipation of that, Biden administration has taken some mitigation measures, including streamlining the asylum application process, plan to open up asylum processing centers, beginning with two centers, each in Guatemala and Colombia, and expelling non-qualified asylum seekers promptly.
1,500 Active-duty Troops to be sent to El Paso
Although the location where the active-duty troops deployment were to happen was unknown during the time of announcement, Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said that the 1,500 active-duty troops would be sent to El Paso, according to May 6, 2023, edition of The Dallas Morning News.
Pentagon to Withdraw 1,100 Active-duty Troops from the Border
Pentagon decided to withdraw 1,100 active-duty military personnel from the Texas-Mexico border in the coming days after the expiry of their 90-day stint while 400 remaining active-duty troops would stay until at least August 31, 2023, according to the August 2, 2023, edition of The Dallas Morning News. The anticipated rush to the border in the afterwards of the lifting of Title 42 on May 11, 2023 didn't materialize. Matter of the fact, the encounters had dropped after the Title 42 had been lifted.
*********** DEPLOYMENT OF 1,500 ACTIVE-DUTY TROOPS
U.S., Mexico Work out a Five-point Plan for Post-Title 42 Surge
The Dallas Morning News on May 4, 2023 reported in a front-page article that U.S. Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall met with Mexican President Amlo Manuel Lopez Obrador and other Mexican officials on May 2, 2023 at Mexico City, and hashed out a five-point plan as a roadmap and mitigation strategy document to address potential surge of migrants after May 11, 2023, lifting of the Title 42 pandemic-era rule.
No Particular Surge Seen in the First Full Day of Post-Title 42 Withdrawal
There are no media reports of a significant surge of migrants after 10:59 PM CT May 11, 2023, deadline for lifting of the Title 42 Pandemic-era emergency rule. According to The Dallas Morning News' May 13, 2023, front-page coverage on Title 42 rule lifting, the relevant metrics which are of interest are:
* 10,000: Daily number of migrants taken into custody
* 29,000: Number of migrants in U.S. Border Patrol custody on May 10, 2023
* 6,000: Number of migrants in shelters in Tijuana
* 1,000: Border crossings via land per day for interviews if the asylum seekers get appointments through app
* 30,000: Number of entrees from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti and Nicaragua per month if they apply online, have a sponsor and enter through an airport
* 100,000: Number of entrees from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador if migrants apply online and have family in the U.S.
* 100: Number of processing centers to be operational soon in Guatemala, Colombia and other nations for asylum in the U.S., Canada, and Spain
During the Title 42 emergency rules, repeat offenses didn't have consequences, but in the post-Title 42 era, Biden administration has made it very difficult to cross borders illegally, including barring the migrants entering illegally from re-entering the U.S. for five years and slapping them with possible criminal prosecution.
Adverse Ruling, Legal Challenges, Migrant Minor's Death Roil Biden Admin
As the Title 42 was lifted on May 11, 2023, a trio of events knocked out Biden administration's choreography of an orderly asylum process in the border.
* Late on May 11, 2023, a federal judge in Florida blocked Biden administration from releasing migrants in the U.S. The injunction will be valid for two weeks, and U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell scheduled the next hearing for May 19, 2023. The lawsuit brought by Florida Attorney-General Ashley Moody aims to disrupt the Biden administration's plan to release migrants with a notice to appear at an immigration office if holding centers exceed 125% of the capacity, or if migrants spend an average of at least 60 hours in detention, or if daily encounters exceed 7,000.
* ACLU and its partner organizations sued Biden administration in the federal court on late May 11, 2023 to block new rules issued by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas a day earlier. Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced on May 10, 2023 rules that would restrict ability of migrants to seek asylum without online application or seeking asylum in a third country through which they were traveling. The government also made the release conditions for migrant families in the U.S. stricter, including requiring GPS tracking and curfews. ACLU and related partner organizations called the rules replicates of Trump-era rules.
* U.S. and Honduran officials said on May 12, 2023 that a 17-year-old Honduran boy had died under the Health and Human Services, or HHS, custody this week. Unaccompanied minors are normally being taken care of by the HHS. More than 8,600 children are currently under the HHS guardianship.
Border Encounters Plunge in the Week since Title 42 Lifted
U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported on May 19, 2023 that the week (May 12-18, 2023) since Title 42 was lifted had seen an average of 4,000 migrant encounters between the legal crossings compared to 10,000 in the preceding week.
********************************** TITLE 42 REMOVALS ***************************
Directive to Return Foreign Students Enrolled in Online-only Courses Rescinded
Eight days after a July 6, 2020, Trump administration's directive to cancel F-1 visa for tens of thousands of foreign students if their universities offer only online classes has generated eight federal lawsuits, stiff opposition from higher education institutions across the nation and scathing criticism from political opposition, Trump administration is forced to bite the dust on July 14, 2020 as it has decided to rescind the directive. As the trial was about to begin at Boston in one of the lawsuits brought by Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the federal judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, said that the defendant lawyers had conveyed that the directive had been revoked and Immigration and Customs Enforcement would revert back to a typical March 2020 directive guiding the online courses and student visa.
Directive to Return Foreign Students Enrolled in Online-only Courses Rescinded
Eight days after a July 6, 2020, Trump administration's directive to cancel F-1 visa for tens of thousands of foreign students if their universities offer only online classes has generated eight federal lawsuits, stiff opposition from higher education institutions across the nation and scathing criticism from political opposition, Trump administration is forced to bite the dust on July 14, 2020 as it has decided to rescind the directive. As the trial was about to begin at Boston in one of the lawsuits brought by Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the federal judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, said that the defendant lawyers had conveyed that the directive had been revoked and Immigration and Customs Enforcement would revert back to a typical March 2020 directive guiding the online courses and student visa.
Migrant
Caravan Begins in Honduras; Thousands Cross into Guatemala
Reminiscing
the caravan of tens of thousands of migrants two years ago before the U.S. midterm
election, a caravan of hundreds of would-be migrants was formed on September
30, 2020 at San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras. Many of the people in the
caravan are young males, with few children. They began their northward trek on September
30, 2020 night. On October 1, 2020, hundreds of them crossed into Guatemala,
many of them walking from Honduran border town of Corinto into the
Guatemalan border town of the same name. Guatemalan President Alejandro
Giammattei made it clear on October 1, 2020 in a televised address
that, without appropriate registration, foreigners would be deported because of
coronavirus risk. Guatemalan security forces were outnumbered in the border,
thus enabling thousands of migrants to enter the country without registering.
Guatemalan military is setting up checkpoints deeper inside the country along
main routes to nab the migrants and check their registration papers.
Judge
Blocks Trump Administration’s Minor Expulsion Policy
A
federal judge, U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan, on November 18, 2020
put a pause on parts of a Trump administration’s policy hastily imposed in
March 2020 in the guise of the century’s worst public health crisis stemming
from COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, Trump administration used a 19-th
century, arcane rule, Title 42 of Section 265, to expel anyone trying to
cross the border. Since March 2020, Trump administration expelled more than
200,000 people, including families with children, adults and about 14,000 children
who had crossed the borders alone. Judge Sullivan blocked the provision that
allowed U.S. to expel minors who had crossed the borders by themselves, while
the broader implication of the law would go through hearing process. American
Civil Liberties Union filed the case on behalf of a 14-year-old Guatemalan who
had crossed the border alone to reunite with his father, but subsequently expelled
by the CBP. Although Judge Emmett Sullivan had halted the expulsion of minors,
the entire policy came under legal scrutiny now.
NEW MIGRANT CARAVAN TO TEST INCOMING BIDEN ADMINISTRATION
Caravan Formed in Honduras Heads to the U.S.
About 2,000 people, many of them are suffering from Hurricane eta and iota, have formed a migrant caravan on early January 15, 2021 in the first challenge to the incoming Biden administration. They are headed to Guatemalan border in their trek to eventually reach the U.S. A large group of people reached the border town of Agua Caliente.
Guatemalan Security Forces Beat back Migrants
As the caravan strength had grown to over 9,000 by January 16, 2021, Guatemalan security forces stood up chokepoints along the border area to repel any move northward. As thousands of migrants were stuck at the Honduras-Guatemala border, few hundreds tried to scale the security dragnet on January 17, 2021 morning, leading to melee with the Guatemalan security forces. Dozens of migrants were injured.
******************************* TEXAS AND MIGRATION *********************************
Texas Wins Injunction on Biden Administration's of 100-day Pause to Deportations
Two days after a memo, issued within hours of the Joe Biden's January 20, 2021, inauguration by Acting Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske, had put a stop to certain deportations for 100 days, Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton on January 22, 2021 filed a lawsuit against the deportation pause. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, a Trump appointee, on January 26, 2021 imposed a 14-day injunction on the executive order, saying that Texas had a fair chance of prevailing over two of the six claims it had made in the lawsuit against the 100-day deportation pause, including one that any deportation, by law, should be carried out within 90 days and the [Biden] order might adversely impact the state. Days before Trump left office, a senior Home Security official, Ken Cuccinelli, now an acting deputy secretary, signed individual agreements with Texas, Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana and North Carolina that before taking any decision, DHS would consult with the respective states, agreements many thought unenforceable and were designed to tie the hands of incoming Biden administration.
Biden Admin Threatens Abbott to Take to Court over Anti-Migrant Kids Proclamation
Days after Texas Governor Gregg Abbott issued a proclamation instructing the Texas Human and Health Services to yank the licenses of 52 state-licensed facilities that had been contracted by the federal government to take care of unaccompanied migrant children, Biden administration on June 7, 2021 threatened to take Abbott and two other officials to the court if the order were not revoked. The U.S. Health and Human Services Deputy General Counsel Paul Rodriguez wrote in the letter that "[The Office of Refugee Resettlement] operates 52 state-licensed facilities in Texas, which comprise a significant portion of ORR's total operational footprint", thus significantly disrupting the smooth operation of ORR. Children's advocates prefer licensed-facilities over emergency intake mega sites which are normally opened at the convention centers, military bases and other large venues. Gregg Abbott's last week's proclamation set a timeline of August 30, 2021 to wind down the operation. The U.S. HHS letter was sent to, beside Governor Gregg Abbott, Texas Deputy Secretary of State Jose Esparza and Texas Health and Human Services Executive-Commissioner Cecil Erwin Young.
Abbott Orders Restriction on Migrant Transportation
In another salvo that's directed more to satisfy his right-wing base than mitigating the spread of Coronavirus, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott on July 28, 2021 signed an executive order, restricting the transportation of migrants to shelters in order to prevent the spread of the virus in the state. Governor's executive order was signed a day after an appeal by the Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez, seeking governor's help as Customs and Border Patrol, in recent days, had been releasing many detained migrants with Coronavirus in the midst of his community. Governor Abbott's executive order prohibits any private transportation company from transporting such migrants to shelters, and it gives explicit authority to Department of Public Services to stop any vehicle on any "reasonable suspicion of violation of his order". Only designated federal, state and local authorities, as per the July 28, 2021, gubernatorial order, can provide such transportation.
Attorney-General
Warns Abbott
U.S.
Attorney-General Merrick Garland on July 29, 2021 warned Texas Governor Gregg Abbott
against the executive order that he had signed a day earlier that prohibited
private transportation companies from carrying migrants through the state, and
asked the governor to “rescind” the EO as the order was both “dangerous and
unlawful”. Abbott’s July 28, 2021, EO is unlawful, according to Garland,
because Texas cannot enforce its own immigration-related laws against private
transport companies contracted by the federal government.
Biden
Admin Ups the Ante on Abbott’s Action
In
drawing a battle line with the state, U.S. Department of Justice on July 30,
2021 filed a lawsuit against Governor Gregg Abbott’s July 28, 2021,
executive order that had put severe restrictions on transportation of migrants
who had been earlier detained by the U.S. immigration authorities. The suit,
filed in the U.S. District Court in El Paso, has accused the state of
violating the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution in which federal
laws take precedence over the state laws. The suit also contended that the
proposed action would jeopardize the “health and safety of noncitizens in
federal custody”. The suit is the latest salvo in a fight between the state of
Texas and the Biden administration, with the state of Texas having filed five
other suits against the federal government, all related to immigration.
Federal Judge Issues Temporary Injunction on Abbott's Executive Order
A federal judge in El Paso, U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Cardone, an appointee of the Former President George W. Bush, on August 3, 2021 granted an early, but a very preliminary, win to Biden administration by putting the Texas Governor Gregg Abbott's July 28, 2021, executive order--prohibiting all private individuals and transport companies from transporting the migrants released from the federal custody to shelters or other places--in abeyance through August 13, 2021, or any later date extended by the court. Judge Kathleen Cardone said that the federal government would, most likely, prevail in the case because of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
************ DEL RIO OVERWHELMED BY HAITIAN MIGRANTS
Biden Admin Begins Mass Deportation of Mostly Haitian Migrants
Biden administration on September 19, 2021 began airlifting tens of thousands of Haitian migrants who had crossed the borders in recent days and spent their time underneath a bridge at Del Rio. Come September 22, 2021, Biden administration will operate a total of seven flights a day between the U.S. and Haiti.
Abbott Seeks Biden's Help in Del Rio Sector
Governor Gregg Abbott on September 20, 2021 asked the Biden administration in a letter that it declare a federal emergency to deal with the surge in the Del Rio sector, mostly by Haitian migrants. On September 18, 2021, the number of such migrants in the Del Rio sector, according to Abbott's letter, reached as high as 16,000 and created a crisis of health and welfare for the tens of thousands of migrants who had sought shelter under an international bridge in Del Rio. In March 2021, Governor Gregg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star, declaring a state emergency, arresting migrants on state misdemeanor charges, sending state troopers and Texas National Guards troops to enforce state laws.
Abbott Blasts Biden Administration over Haitian Migrant Surge at Del Rio
Standing in the backdrop of Del Rio international bridge, Governor Gregg Abbott used his anti-Biden administration ire over the surge in tens of thousands of migrants, mostly Haitians who had been uprooted from their nation during 2010 earthquake and later had settled in South America, to send a message to a specific group Texans: GOP Primary voters to fend off challenge from his right by Allen West, a former Florida Congressman and former Texas Republican Party chair and Former State Senator Don Huffhines. His press conference at Del Rio on September 21, 2021 was designed to brush up his image as a devout fighter against illegal immigration and focused on securing the border.
Del Rio Migrant Camp Dwindles, Special Envoy Resigns
As Biden administration continued to airlift thousands of Haitian migrants, who had overwhelmed the small border town of Del Rio, to Haiti with daily flights, the number of migrants underneath an international bridge had dwindled from more than 14,000 last weekend to fewer than 4,500 on September 23, 2021. In addition to this mass airlift operation, hundreds, if not thousands, especially pregnant women, are being released in the U.S. Meanwhile, on September 22, 2021, the special envoy to Haiti, Daniel Foote, sent his resignation letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken over the "inhumane" policy of deporting the Haitian migrants to their lawless homeland and repeatedly ignoring his suggestions and recommendations related to policy proposals affecting the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Foote was named the special envoy in July 2021 days after the assassination of Haitian president.
Migrants Gone from the Makeshift Camp at Del Rio
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on September 24, 2021 that all the migrants who had been staying at the makeshift encampment underneath the Del Rio International Bridge had been now gone. Del Rio Mayor Buno Lozano called it a "phenomenal news". Mayorkas said during the day that nearly 30,000 migrants had been encountered since September 9, 2021 and about 15,000 had massed the encampment during the last weekend alone.
************ DEL RIO OVERWHELMED BY HAITIAN MIGRANTS
OPERATION LONE STAR*******
Abbott Expands to Three More Counties
In March 2021, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott launched the so called Operation Lone Star to pump up state's resources and spending to deter and detain the undocumented migrants. Governor Abbott sent Texas State troopers and Texas National Guards to six counties: Kimble, Edwards, Val Verde, Kinney, Zavala and Frio. Texas State troopers and Texas National Guards personnel began to arrest undocumented migrants for trespassing since July 2021 and sent to two far-away holding facilities in Briscoe and Segovia State Prisons. Those two prisons are now holding thousands of migrants arrested as part of the Operation Lone Star. Since July 2021, at least 3,000 undocumented migrants had been arrested under the program. On March 10, 2022, Governor Abbott expanded the Operation Lone Star to include three more counties: Webb, Jim Hoggs and Brooks. Texas Legislature has allocated $2.8 billion to fund the Operation Lone Star.
Abbott Instructs Migrants to be Bused to D.C.
On April 6, 2022, Governor Gregg Abbott has gone far beyond the traditional measures to prevent a migrant surge expected to happen after the Biden administration lifts the Title 42 on May 23, 2022. Abbott announced that Texas Division of Emergency Management, or TDEM, would charter buses to transport the undocumented immigrants released by the CBP to the U.S. Capitol. Abbott has also announced that, going forward, every commercial vehicle entering the U.S. from Mexico will be subject to search by the DPS to prevent undocumented immigrants from being smuggled in. This will have adverse impact on the transportation time of produces and goods into Texas from Mexico, state's largest trading partner. It's highly likely that lawsuits will be filed against the busing proposal as only those migrants who give the consent will be transported to the U.S. Capitol and there is no way one can verify it [the consent] for each of the undocumented migrants.
Business Leaders Fret over Abbott's New Border Directive
Texas business leaders and cross-border freight operators are outspoken against Governor Gregg Abbott's April 6, 2022, announcement of the twin measures, as part of the [now ballooned to] $4 billion-Operation Lone Star initiative, to inspect every commercial vehicle crossing into Texas from Mexico to search for drugs and undocumented immigrants as well as to send the consenting undocumented immigrants released by the federal authorities along the border to the U.S. Capitol. Texas business leaders and freight operators are fretting over potential hours-long delay of commercial trucks at 27 border crossings along the Texas-Mexico border because of an additional layer of inspection for each incoming commercial vehicle. The trade between U.S. and Mexico is the second-largest at $661 billion per year after that of U.S. and Canada.
Mexican Drivers Revolt, Block the Pharr-Reynosa Bridge; Produces Ripen
The woe in border compounded during the weekend through Monday April 11, 2022 as the "enhanced inspection" as ordered by Governor Gregg Abbott on April 6, 2022 as part of strengthening the Operation Lone Star initiative had created massive bottleneck at the Pharr International Bridge and other crossings. Under the April 6, 2022, enhanced operation, two major actions are going to be undertaken as part of extending the reaches of the Operation Lone Star: (1) every single commercial vehicle entering the U.S. via 27 international crossing points along 1,254-mile Texas-Mexico border will be searched by DPS for smuggled drugs and people; (2) Texas Division of Emergency Management, or TDEM, will requisition charter buses for transporting the undocumented migrants released from the federal custody from the border areas to the Capitol Hill if the migrants consent to the long journey to Washington D.C. Mexican drivers frustrated over hours-long, sometimes days-long delay, at the Pharr International Bridge, had begun their own blockades on the Reynosa side of the bridge, leading to complete stoppage of the flow of traffic on the bridge. Fresh produces in the stalled freighters are reported to be ripening, adding to a possible further shortages of food and produces on the grocery shelves in Texas and beyond amidst an already existing crisis in the nation's ever-tightening supply chain ecosystem.
TX Ag Secretary Blasts Abbott for Border Delays
After Texas instituted the enhanced inspection for all incoming commercial vehicles from Mexico since April 6, 2022, several business groups and border area public officials criticized Governor Gregg Abbott for hours of traffic snarling at 27 international crossing points. However, on April 12, 2022, a high-ranking government official decried Abbott's move for the first time. Texas Agricultural Secretary Sid Miller said in a statement that the enhanced inspection regime at 27 border crossings "is not solving the border problem, it is increasing the cost of food and adding to supply chain shortages". There is already a four-filter security check system in border areas: (1) Customs and Border Protection, (2) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Texas Department of Transportation, (3) Texas Department of Public Safety, and (4) CBP and Border Patrol checking 30 miles past the border. A fifth layer of checking by the DPS is only going to increase delay and worsen the supply chain woes, but will do very little in catching and preventing smuggled drugs and migrants.
Traffic Ease after Mexican State Signs Deal with Abbott; First Migrant Bus Arrives at Washington
Governor Gregg Abbott on April 13, 2022 emphasized that "enhanced inspection" would continue for all of incoming commercial vehicles crossing the border from Mexico at all but one border crossings after a deal was signed between Abbott and Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Alejandro Garcia Sepulveda covering the Laredo-Columbia Bridge, fourth-busiest northbound crossing into Texas in 2018 traffic volume. Also, on April 13, 2022, Mexican truckers lifted the blockade of the busy Pharr International Bridge that had become a choke-point of all north-bound traffic after the block had begun on April 11, 2022. Touting the deal alongside Nuevo Leon's governor at a press conference at Laredo, Governor Abbott said that "clogged bridges can only end" with collaborative deals such as the one that had been signed with Nuevo Leon. The deal stipulates that Nuevo Leon will set up a checkpoint at the Mexican side of the Laredo-Columbia Solidarity International Bridge and the roughly 10-mile border between Nuevo Leon and Texas will be "continuously patrolled by" Mexican police. Nuevo Leon shares only 10 miles of 1,254-mile Texas-Mexico border. It is not clear whether April 13, 2022, deal between Governor Gregg Abbott and Governor Samuel Alejandro Garcia Sepulveda will cover only Laredo-Columbia Solidarity International Bridge or other bridges between Nuevo Leon and Texas such as Pharr International Bridge. Although the blockade by Mexican truckers was lifted on the south side of the Pharr International Bridge on April 13, 2022, "enhanced inspection" by DPS continued for all incoming commercial vehicle to Pharr.
The other component of the April 6, 2022, sensational announcement by Governor Gregg Abbott took a dramatic political denouement on April 13, 2022 as a bus chartered by the state dropped the first batch of undocumented immigrants at the doorstep of Fox News building in Washington D.C. to the embrace of a flood of cameras and crews. The busing of asylum seekers released from federal custody to the nation's capital is more to seek media attention to derive maximum political advantage.
Two Additional Mexican States Sign Deal with Abbott to Ease "Enhanced Inspection"
A day after Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Alejandro Garcia Sepulveda signed a deal with Texas Governor Gregg Abbott, similar deals were signed by Governor Abbott and respective governors of Coahuila and Chihuahua on April 14, 2022, paving the way for lifting the "enhanced inspections" in the coming days and smooth traffic flow between Texas and those two northern Mexican states. The commercial traffic seems to be running normally between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso as of late April 14, 2022. What Coahuila Governor Miguel Angel Riquelme Solis and Chihuahua Governor Maria Eugenia Campos Galvan have presented as so called security guarantees are not very different from what they are already doing now, but have provided an off-ramp strategy for Governor Abbott to get out of this mess that have delayed traffic at many of the 27 crossings for hours and even days, led to rotting of the fresh produce inside the commercial vehicles and heightened the political tension as Governor Abbott faces reelection.
Abbott Ends 10-day "Enhanced Inspection"; Texas Loses $477 million per Day
Governor Gregg Abbott on April 15, 2022 ended the "enhanced inspection" of every single entering commercial fleet driving through 27 Texas crossings that he had announced with much fanfare on April 6, 2022 along with busing just-released migrants from federal custody to Washington D.C. During the 10-day (April 6-15, 2022) duration of the so called "enhanced inspections", DPS personnel could not find a single smuggled migrant or an ounce of smuggled drug. However, they found vehicles with faulty brakes, non-performing turn-lights or mechanical disrepair. According to a renowned economist, Ray Perryman, Texas lost out $477 million per day because of the inefficiencies created by the so called "enhanced inspections". Governor Gregg Abbott secured the so called security pledge from the governor of the last of four bordering states, Tamaulipas Gov. Francisco Javier Cabeza de Vaca, on April 15, 2022.
Mexican President Blasts Abbott's Enhanced Inspections, Agreements with Four Bordering Mexican States
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on April 18, 2022 took strong exception on how Governor Gregg Abbott had strong-armed to get security deals with the governors of Tamaulipas, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon. AMLO also raised questions about legality of the agreements that the states had reached with a foreign official by bypassing the federal government.
Hefty Price Tag in Abbott's "Enhanced Inspections"
Governor Gregg Abbott's "enhanced inspections" rolled out at 27 land border crossings had cost $470 million a day to Texas in lost trade, according to Ray Perryman of Perryman Group. The report released April 20, 2022 estimates a total loss of more than $4.2 billion to the state and $9 billion to the nation. The report also projected a loss of 77,000 job years for the entire nation and 36,000 job years for Texas. One job year is equivalent to a person working for an entire year. The thing about the border "is that we don't have an excess capacity", said Ray Perryman, CEO of the consulting firm The Perryman Group. Abbott announced the "enhanced inspections" at the border for all incoming commercial fleet as well as chartering buses to transport undocumented immigrants to D.C. in a press conference on April 6, 2022. He has ended the "enhanced inspections" on April 15, 2022 after securing pledges from four border state governors, but the busing to D.C. continues.
Millions of Dollars Shifted from COVID Aid Package to Fund Border Security
In one of the most shameful budget sleights, Governor Gregg Abbott and four other top GOP leaders on April 29, 2022 wrote a joint letter to heads of several agencies to shift $465.3 million from the general purpose funds to state disaster fund and eventually to Texas Military Department to fund the increasing cost of running the Operation Lone Star program launched in March 2021. The letter implored the agency heads to tap "other sources" to replenish the $465.3 million, referring to the money allocated for the state in COVID-19 package by the federal government. The other state leaders are Lieutenant-Governor Dan Patrick, Speaker Dade Phelan and chairs of Senate and House appropriations panels.
Abbott Orders Migrants to be Released at Ports of Entry
Governor Gregg Abbott on July 7, 2022 issued an executive order, instructing the state police and National Guard to take undocumented migrants to ports of entry and release them. The July 7, 2022, executive order antagonizes both the liberals and right-wing leaders, many of whom have called the practice simply as "catch-and-release".
********************** BUSING OF MIGRANTS TO SANCTUARY CITIES
Newsom Calls for Investigation of Migrant Busing
Since Texas Governor Gregg Abbott began busing migrants to Democratic-controlled sanctuary cities in April 2022, Texas bused more than 10,000 migrants as of the previous week (week ending September 10, 2022), including 7,900 to Washington, 2,200 to New York City and more than 300 to Chicago. Many of the migrants were falsely told that their cases would be expedited, leading to migrant rights groups to raise concerns over the fraud being committed with tens of thousands people whose only crime was to seek better opportunity and safety in the U.S. California Governor Gavin Newsom on September 15, 2022 wrote a letter to Attorney-General Merrick Garland, asking for an investigation into Governor Gregg Abbott's migrant busing program. On September 8, 2022, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a public emergency, enabling the local administration to mobilize resources faster and seek federal help.
New York City Mayor Calls Gov. Abbott a Bully
Texas Governor Gregg Abbott sent about 80,000 migrants to the Democrat-run cities since he launched the migrants busing program in 2022 as part of the $10 billion Operation Lone Star. Since March 2022, circa 161,000 migrants arrived at the New York City, including tens of thousands in buses sent from the Texas border communities. 68,000 are still in the care of the New York City, leading to a severe strain on city resources.
In the last week of December 2023, New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued an executive order imposing rules and constraints on how, where and when chartered buses could drop off migrants. New York City Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy on January 2, 2024 poured out frustration at the non-compliance of the bus operators at the behest of Abbott, paraphrasing a line about the Joker in the film The Dark Knight that "some men can't be reasoned with, they can't be negotiated with, they just want to watch the world burn. Greg Abbott is that man".
Texas bus operators are now dropping the migrants at New Jersey train stations and helping them buy one-way train tickets to Penn Station in New York City.
********************** BUSING OF MIGRANTS TO SANCTUARY CITIES
************************ Ron DeSantis Flies Migrants to Martha's Vineyard
Florida Governor Faces Questions
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is being criticized for using COVID-19 federal dollars to fund the transportation costs of Vertol Systems Co. Inc. to fly migrants from San Antonio to Martha's Vineyard on September 14, 2022. Some migrant rights activists accused Gov. Ron DeSantis of kidnapping the migrants and putting them on a plane to a destination while telling something different where they were being flown into.
Bexar County Sherriff to Investigate DeSantis' Flights
On September 19, 2022, Bexar County Sherriff Javier Salazar launched an investigation into Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' action to fly migrants from San Antonio to Martha's Vineyard.
Call for DOJ to Investigate DeSantis' Flights Grows
A letter written by California Governor Gavin Newsom, Californian attorney general and Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar asked for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether "false or deceptive representations" were made by Florida officials to fly migrants to Sacramento. The July 6, 2023, letter stated that the California Department of Justice had opened an investigation, but pleaded with the DOJ to begin its own investigation. In June 2023, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar called for a criminal probe into September 2022 flight orchestrated by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to fly dozens of migrants from South Texas to Martha's Vineyard. District-Attorney Joe Gonzalez has yet to make a decision on the Martha's flight probe.
Now, comes on the heels of growing calls for DOJ to get involved in the probe is a letter written on July 31, 2023 by District-Attorney for the Cape and Islands District Robert Galibois to launch an investigation to assess whether migrants have been "inveigled into making this journey" in September 2022.
************************ Ron DeSantis Flies Migrants to Martha's Vineyard
DPS e-mail Shows Abuse of Migrants
The Dallas Morning News reported in its July 18, 2023, edition that there were abuses and mistreatment of migrants in the southern border. Many migrants got injured in concertina wires. According to the report, DPS personnel were encouraged not to give water to migrants although that was contrary to the department's policy and might not be a wider problem. The Dallas Morning News cited an e-mail sent by a DPS staffer on July 3, 2023 for its front-page article. The staffer, Nicholas Wingate, said that he did support the Operation Lone Star, including placing concertina wire along the bank, but criticized erecting concertina in the river itself and other inhuman treatments. The July 3, 2023, e-mail was sent to Trooper Brandon Tinsley. The Wingate e-mail said that some of the DPS commanders had ordered personnel to push back migrants into Rio Grande. It also said that many migrants got injured in razor wire. DPS Regional Director for South Texas said in an e-mail on July 15, 2023 that migrants should be given water and medical care. In a separate e-mail on July 15, 2023, DPS Director Gen. Steven McCraw acknowledged that razor wire had increased the injuries of the migrants. The Office of Inspector General for the DPS is investigating the allegation described in the Wingate e-mail.
In the recent legislative session, lawmakers added $5.3 billion for the Operation Lone Star in addition to $4.6 billion already spent so far.
White House Blasts Abbott's Border Policy; Mexico Accuses Lone Star State of Violating International Laws
The Dallas Morning News reported on July 19, 2023 that the incoming Mexican foreign minister, Alicia Barcena, sent a memo to the U.S. authorities on June 26, 2023, days before a DPS trooper called in an e-mail message parts of Operation Lone Star as inhuman, that Abbott's action to erect concertina wire and use floating buoys to deter migrants flouted international treaties from 1944 and 1970.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on July 18, 2023 that if the account published in The Dallas Morning News was correct, "it is abhorrent".
Mexican President Condemns DPS Tactics
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador stepped in the heated debate of DPS' aggressive border enforcement tactics, including pushing migrants into Rio Grande, refusing water to exhausted migrants, leaving razor wire and buoys in the river that had injured scores of migrants, on July 19, 2023, calling them "barbaric" and "inhuman".
DOJ Gives Deadline to Remove "Floating Barrier"
That enough is enough is now being loudly screamed by the Biden administration at Texas Governor Gregg Abbott's inhuman border tactics recently made public by a DPS trooper's e-mail that shed new light of brutality against the migrants such as the fate of a pregnant woman's miscarriage as she had been entangled in razor wire, DPS personnel pushing a migrant girl back to Rio Grande, denying water to exhausted migrants and migrants getting injured with razor-laced barriers invisible because of high waters. DPS staffer Nicholas Wingate's July 3, 2023, letter is the window to the outside world to see Gregg Abbott-backed DPS' atrocities on migrants. On July 20, 2023, DOJ sent a letter to Governor Gregg Abbott, according to a front-page article by The Dallas Morning News published on July 22, 2023, informing the state that erecting razor wire and putting floating barrier to deter migrants were illegal. The letter demanded that the state "expeditiously remove the floating barrier" by 2PM July 24, 2023.
DOJ Files Suit against Texas
As Governor Gregg Abbott instead of ordering to remove buoys from Rio Grande, doubled down on his hardline immigration strategy by writing a letter to President Joe Biden, vowing to defend Texas from the migrant "invasion", the U.S. DOJ on July 24, 2023 moved forward to file a lawsuit to remove floating barrier in Rio Grande near Eagle Pass. Announcing the filing of a suit five hours after Governor Gregg Abbott's defiant letter, Associate U.S. Attorney-General Vanita Gupta added that Abbott's action was unconstitutional and also violated the Rivers and Harbors Act. Governor Gregg Abbott's letter is a test case to assess how Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 stood under the judicial scrutiny for the very precept that states could take action to defend when federal government failed.
Mexico Notifies U.S. Long Ago of Floating Barrier in Rio
Long before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers came to know of floating barriers in Rio Grande, Mexico brought the issue to the attention of the U.S. authorities, according to the affidavit of a lawsuit filed on July 24, 2023 by the U.S. Department of Justice to remove the buoys from the river. According to The Dallas Morning News' July 27, 2023, edition, DOJ suit asks the removal of buoys and a ban on new construction of razor wire along the river. However, the suit doesn't ask for the removal of 60-mile razor wire that the state of Texas has erected over the past two years.
Political Tension Rises over Discovery of Two Bodies near Marine Barrier
Two bodies were found near or on the buoys near Eagle Pass in Rio Grande River on August 2, 2023. On August 3, 2023, Mexican government identified one of them as that of a Honduran boy. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador blasted Governor Gregg Abbott, saying his barbarity had led to the death of innocent humans. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, and Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, didn't mince their anger to lambast Governor Abbott's policy of cruelty and inhumanity as buoys in the river posed life-threatening danger to the migrants.
Texas Responds to Federal Lawsuit; TX Lawmakers Favor Defunding; Buoys Placed on Mexican Side
In response to Biden administration's lawsuit asking Governor Gregg Abbott to remove buoys near Eagle Pass, Texas on August 10, 2023 justified placing the 1,000-ft river barrier, saying that the river near Eagle Pass was not navigable, and thus, a key federal law--Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899--related to navigation didn't apply. Texas also defended its action on the ground of the "sovereign right to defend itself against invasion by transnational cartels".
Meanwhile, 14 GOP members of the House of Representatives from Texas delegation on August 10, 2023 wrote a letter to their colleagues not to appropriate money for the DHS until it secured the border.
Separately, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena, appearing alongside State Secretary Anthony Blinken at the State Department in Washington D.C., complained to reporters on August 10, 2023 that buoys had been placed on Mexico's side of the river, a charge that the authorities in Texas immediately dismissed.
Legal Arguments Ramping up Ahead of Hearing
As the hearing date of August 22, 2023 at a federal court in Austin over federal government's order for the state of Texas to remove the buoys from Rio Grande nears, tension is running high as both the Biden administration and Governor Gregg Abbott have dug in. On August 17, 2023, the U.S. DOJ submitted a legal filing, scoffing Abbott's argument of "invasion" as justification for placing floating barrier in the Rio Grande River. Justice filing said that invasion "is a matter of foreign policy and national defense" and it's not Abbott's business to place floating barrier in the river.
On August 15, 2023, the U.S. DOJ submitted a survey report by a bi-national commission, International Boundary and Water Commission, that 80% of the floating barriers were on the Mexican side of the river, corroborating the statement that Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena had made last week in Washington D.C. Another piece of evidence submitted by the U.S. DOJ in favor of removing the floating barrier is the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in which Mexico had agreed to give up the right to Texas in exchange for unhindered "navigation" in the river. In 1845, Republic of Texas became a state of the United States of America. U.S. DOJ also accused the state of Texas of violating the 1899 Rivers and Harbors Act.
Texas paid $850,000 to Cochrane USA to install the floating barrier in early July 2023.
******************************** JUDICIARY's VERDICT ON BUOYS
Texas Should Remove Buoys from Rio, Judge Orders
A federal judge, U.S. District Judge David Ezra of Austin, issued a 42-page verdict on September 6, 2023, instructing Texas to remove the buoys by September 15, 2023.
Fifth U.S. Circuit Lets Texas to Keep Buoys in the River for Now
As expected, a conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on September 7, 2023 provided a temporary reprieve to Texas by continuing to have floating barrier in Rio Grande River near Eagle Pass.
Appeals Court Orders Buoys Removed
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on December 1, 2023 ruled 2-1 against state of Texas' action to place buoys in the Rio Grande River near Eagle Pass and ordered those barriers to be removed.
Full Court Vacates the Buoy Removal Order, Agrees to Hear the Case
As the state of Texas appealed against the December 1, 2023, ruling by a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the September 6, 2023, ruling by U.S. District Judge David Ezra that ordered the buoys to be removed from Rio Grande River near Eagle Pass as placing them violated the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, the full 17-judge bench on January 17, 2024 accepted the appeal for a future hearing and vacated the injunction issued by the lower federal court.
******************************** JUDICIARY's VERDICT ON BUOYS
Texas' "Enhanced" Inspections Absurd, Mexico's Largest Trucking Group Says
Texas on September 19, 2023 resumed what Texas Department of Public Safety called the "enhanced commercial vehicle safety inspections" at crossings around Del Rio and El Paso to "deter placement of migrants and other smuggling activities". This caused a massive wait time of incoming trucks at the border, with the potential of ripen fruits, vegetables and other fresh produce to rot as wait time as high as 24 hours could inflict close to $1.9 billion. On October 8, 2023, Mexico's largest trucking company called out Governor Gregg Abbott's "enhanced commercial vehicle safety inspections" absurd. According to Texas A&M's Texas Center for Border Economic and Enterprise Development, Mexico exported $443 billion in fruits, nuts and other commodities to the north of the border through Texas.
Texas Erects Concertina Wire along New Mexico
The Dallas Morning News reported on October 17, 2023 (Tuesday) that Texas was unilaterally constructing the concertina barrier on the Texas side of the Rio Grande River along the Texas-New Mexico border. Texas Governor Gregg Abbott first hinted about building a barrier along Texas-New Mexico border during a speech at Manhattan Institute on September 27, 2023 as many undocumented migrants, according to Abbott, would now enter El Paso from New Mexico after crossing the border there.
Texas' Third Special Legislative Session to Fund More for Operation Lone Star
On October 23, 2023, Texas House Appropriations Committee passed by 14-9 votes a bill that would allocate $1.5 billion to construct physical barriers such as border walls. Governor Gregg Abbott called earlier this month the third special legislative session, and included two must-pass items: (1) border security and (2) school choice. The allocation of $1.5 billion is on the top of $5.2 billion that the regular legislative session has budgeted for Operation Lone Star. In 2021, Texas lawmakers approved $4.6 billion for Abbott's political cudgel, i.e., Operation Lone Star.
************* CONCERTINA WIRE BARRIER
Paxton Faces Defeat over Concertina Wire Barrier in Court
Although a federal judge in October 2023 issued an injunction against Border Patrol from cutting concertina wire near Eagle Pass, U.S. District Judge Alia Moses, a George W. Bush appointee, on November 30, 2023 ruled in favor of defendant, saying that the "law may be on the side of Defendants" and the state failed to make a persuasive argument why Border Patrol didn't have any right to cut the wire. Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration, complaining that Border Patrol was cutting concertina wire near Eagle Pass even in case of non-emergency. Although the state erected razor wire in El Paso and Rio Grande Valley, Eagle Pass became the cynosure of Texas' fight against Biden administration's border policy. Texas had installed buoys in the Rio Grande River near Eagle Pass too to deter undocumented migrant crossing. Although the federal judge ruled in favor of Biden administration's right to cut the concertina wire erected by the State of Texas, the judge took the federal government to task for its "utter failure" to deter, prevent and halt unlawful entry into the United States. Paxton immediately appealed the decision to the appeals court.
Appeals Court Orders Pause to Federal Cutting of Concertina Wire
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on December 19, 2023 ruled against the federal government's action to cut the concertina wire erected by the state of Texas in the Maverick County, home to Eagle Pass. The three-judge panel's ruling ordered the Biden administration to stop destroying the wire.
Biden Admin Appeals to Supreme Court on Wire Cutting Case
Biden administration on January 2, 2024 filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency hearing, pleading for letting the federal government resume concertina wire-cutting on the border near Eagle Pass. Attorney-General Ken Paxton filed the case asking a lower court to prevent the U.S. from cutting wire on the border. On October 30, 2023, U.S. District Judge Alia Moses of the Western District of Texas issued a temporary restraining order, or TRO, against the Border Patrol. The ruling applied to 29-mile wire barrier in the Maverick County, home to the city of Eagle Pass. However, the federal judge sided with Biden administration in a November 30, 2023, ruling, citing the federal government's overriding authority on border issues.
The appeals court based in New Orleans, one of the most conservative courts in the U.S., has ruled in favor of the state, but on a different, but related, issue on whether the state has a right to sue the federal government in this case. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled on December 19, 2023 that the state has the right to sue in this case. The appeals court added that Texas' action [of erecting concertina wire] did supplement the federal government's action, leading to the stoppage of wire cutting by Border Patrol.
CBP Submits Filing over Drowning
The U.S. Department of Justice, which had filed an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court on January 2, 2024 to let the Border Patrol cut the concertina wire barrier erected by Texas near Eagle Pass, on January 15, 2024 allowed a CBP official to submit an additional filing related to January 12, 2024, drowning of three migrants, including two children, in Rio Grande River. Robert Danley, U.S. Customs and Border Protection lead field coordinator for Del Rio sector, added in the filing that around the same time of the drowning on January 12, 2024, Texas Military Department personnel had obstructed Border Patrol agents from entering the Shelby Park, which had been seized by the state of Texas late January 10, 2024. On January 16, 2024, Governor Gregg Abbott, writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, blamed the deaths on President Joe Biden's "open border" policy. Meanwhile, the TMD on January 14, 2024, disputed what Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, had shared with the public a day ago in which the moderate Democrat had implied that those three lives could have been saved if the TMD allowed the CBP personnel enter the Shelby Park and do their job.
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Feds
The U.S. Supreme Court on January 22, 2024 ruled 5-4 margin that Biden administration could cut or destroy the concertina wire, reversing the lower appeals court ruling. Justices John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett joined the court's three Liberal justices to rule for the majority.
************* CONCERTINA WIRE BARRIER
OPERATION LONE STAR********
At least 46 Found Dead in a Tractor-Trailer
Authorities made gruesome discovery on June 27, 2022 as 46 migrants were found dead in an extremely hot tractor-trailer at a deserted place in San Antonio. An additional 16 migrants, including four children, were taken to hospitals. Their bodies were too hot to touch with bare hands when they had been transported to hospitals. The tractor-trailer seemed to have encountered mechanical problems and its air conditioning might have stopped working, leading to the miserable situation. A city worker was alerted by human cry from inside the trailer which was parked at a forlorn site adjacent to a rail track near the city's southwest periphery. The city worker immediately alerted the authorities. San Antonio police Chief William McManus later said that the DHS investigators were leading the investigation. The death toll is likely to mount in coming hours and coming days, and will mark the deadliest migrant tragedy on the U.S. soil. In 2017, 10 migrants were found dead in a tractor-trailer parked at a San Antonio Walmart parking lot. In 2003, bodies of 19 migrants were found in a truck under an excruciatingly summer heat condition.
Death Toll Mounts as Abbott Blames Biden
On June 28, 2022, the arduous task of identifying the bodies are continuing as the death toll has mounted to 51. Lest he lost out taking the advantage of political and electoral mileage, Governor Gregg Abbott on June 28, 2022 held President Joe Biden responsible for the migrant deaths. President Joe Biden issued a statement at Madrid, where he had arrived from Germany to attend a NATO summit, deploring the ghastly deaths of migrants and criticizing Abbott's "grandstanding around migrant deaths".
Abbott Orders Truck Inspection at Border
In view of the worst migrant fatalities found on June 27, 2022 in a tractor-trailer on the outskirts of San Antonio, Governor Gregg Abbott on June 29, 2022 ordered truck and trailer inspection at the border by the DPS personnel. In April 2022, Governor Abbott instituted a similar, but botched, commercial vehicle inspection regime that had found not a single ounce of drugs or a single migrant.
The final death toll from the June 27, 2022, tractor-trailer mishap on the outskirt of San Antonio rose to 53, including 27 from Mexico, 14 from Honduras and seven from Guatemala, according to a July 19, 2022, front-page related article in The Dallas Morning News.
DPS to Begin Enhanced Vehicle Inspection
Days before the withdrawal of Title 42, Department of Public Safety on December 13, 2022 announced that it would carry out enhanced vehicle inspection at borders, but was conspicuous by not telling where and when to begin the enhanced inspection.
Biden's Stop at Border Draws Praise, Criticism
President Joe Biden, en route to Mexico City to attend a summit of Canada, U.S. and Mexico, on January 8, 2023 stopped by the border at El Paso. He was received at the El Paso International Airport by Governor Gregg Abbott, but a pleasant handshake didn't mask the tension between the two as an open letter handed by the governor was critical of federal government's action and approach to the current migration crisis. As of September 30, 2022, Border Patrol stopped 2.38 million migrants at the border for the latest fiscal year, marking the first time that the figure exceeded 2 million mark.
Abbott Deploys 450 National Guard Troops to Border
In what White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called "political stunts", Texas Governor Gregg Abbott on May 8, 2023 visited 450 National Guard troops equipped with tactical gear at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport as they were preparing to be deployed at the border region as part of the newly created Texas Tactical Border Force. The TTBF troops will have mandate to repel migrants from the country contrary to 1,500 U.S. troops being deployed in the border by the federal government to free up Border Patrol from the administrative tasks.
Abbott's May 8, 2023, action came six days after May 2, 2023, order to resume enhanced inspection of commercial vehicles that he had instituted twice before--in April 2022 and June 2022--only to loosen and eventually withdraw because of traffic snarls and wait time of 20 hours to cross the border for many vehicles carrying fruits, vegetables and other perishables for Texans and people beyond. This time, too, the inspection regime was loosened on May 8, 2023.
Eagle Pass Declares State of Emergency
The same day the Biden administration announced granting Temporary Protection Status to nearly half a million Venezuelans who had arrived at the U.S.--many of them flouting the tough rules that Biden administration had unveiled prior to lifting of the Title 42 in May 2023--before July 31, 2023, the Texas border city of Eagle Pass on September 20, 2023 declared a state of emergency as 6,000 new migrants arrived at the city in the past 24 hours.
Abbott Signs SB 3 and SB 4
Near a steel wall that Texas is constructing in Brownsville, Governor Gregg Abbott on December 18, 2023 signed Senate Bill 3 and Senate Bill 4 that had been passed during the Fourth Special Legislative Session. Senate Bill 3 allocates $1.54 billion for constructing border walls. Senate Bill 4 is the most restrictive bill that Texas has ever passed, empowering state and local police to arrest anyone thought to be in the state illegally. They will be effective in early 2024.
********************************** TEXAS SB 4 ***********
Lawsuit Filed against SB 4
El Paso County and immigrant rights groups led by ACLU on December 19, 2023 filed a lawsuit against the Senate Bill 4, saying that immigration was the sole responsibility of the federal government and Governor Gregg Abbott exceeded his authority. The lawsuit, filed in the western district court of Texas, named DPS Executive Director Col. Steve McCraw as the defendant. On December 18, 2023, the day that Governor Gregg Abbott signed the Senate Bill 4, Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro wrote a letter, signed by more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers, to Attorney-General Merrick Garland to intervene as the law--scheduled to be effective in March 2024--might lead to "racial profiling, significant due process violation, and unlawful arrests of citizens, lawful permanent residents and others".
Abbott and conservatives are looking forward to seeing the law to be contested at the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2012, an apex court ruling rejected a similar Arizona law, SB 1070, that allowed the state to verify the residents' immigration status and work verification documents.
Justice Files Suit against SB 4
The U.S. Department of Justice on January 3, 2024 filed a lawsuit in an Austin federal court, accusing Governor Gregg Abbott of violating the "Supremacy Clause of the Constitution" by signing the SB 4 that called for authorizing the state and local enforcement agencies to detain undocumented migrants and empowering the local judges to issue orders for those undocumented migrants to return to the country where they had entered from, presumably Mexico. The Senate Bill 4 is due effective on March 5, 2024. Governor Gregg Abbott's and other Conservatives' main goal is for this law to go through the litigious trajectory straight to the U.S. Supreme Court that has overturned in 2012 a hard-right immigration law--Senate Bill 1070--enacted by Arizona in 2010 authorizing the police to question and probe a person's immigration status on any reasonable suspicion. Now with conservative majority, the U.S. Supreme Court will be inclined to unravel its 2012 ruling, Abbott and Conservatives are betting.
Judge Remains Skeptical about SB 4
The hearing was held at the court of U.S. District Judge David Ezra of Austin on February 15, 2024 on the merit of the SB 4 that would go into effect on March 5, 2024. The judge, a Ronald Regan appointee, questioned the applicability of disparate laws being implemented by different states and how they could still fit into the larger framework of the Republic. The SB 4 empowers the state police to detain undocumented migrants based on suspicion and a local judge to order the removal of the undocumented migrants. If the undocumented migrants fail to obey the local judge's order, they will be subjected to more severe felony count. The U.S. Justice Department filed an appeal to the SB 4, accusing Governor Gregg Abbott of usurping the federal authority.
Judge Blocks out SB 4
U.S. District Judge David Ezra on February 29, 2024 blocked Texas Senate Bill 4 from becoming effective. In a 114-page ruling, Judge Ezra said that the Texas SB 4 violated the U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause for federal government's authority over immigration.
Alito Puts SB 4 on Hold
After the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave a TRO relief to the state of Texas on March 2, 2024, the federal government filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put a pause on the implementation of the Texas SB 4 for a week (March 9, 2024) pending the federal government's next move to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The federal government filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Samuel Alito issued an order on March 4, 2024, temporarily blocking the law from going into effect until March 13, 2024 as the apex court took the case for a hearing in the next few days.
Alito Puts a Hold on SB 4
Just before the 4PM deadline for an earlier pause to expire, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on March 18, 2024 suspended the SB 4 from going into effect pending further notice. Justice Alito handles all the emergency cases filed from Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Texas Senate Bill 4 empowers the DPS troopers to detain undocumented immigrants. Local sheriffs' offices and local police agencies may get involved too in enforcing the law. It has two misdemeanor violation provisions for illegally crossing the borders. For the first time violators, it's a Class B misdemeanor with a jail term of up to 6 months and a $2,000 fine. For repeat offenders, it's a Class A misdemeanor with a jail term of up to a year and a fine of $4,000. The penalty for both misdemeanor counts will be elevated to that of a felony for any prior felony crime or two prior misdemeanor drug convictions. The law also empowers a state judge to order the undocumented immigrants to return to the country where he has entered the U.S. from, presumably Mexico.
Supreme Court Lifts the Hold, Appeals Court Reimposes the Injunction on SB 4
Barely 24 hours after Justice Samuel Alito suspended the SB 4 from going into effect, a divided Supreme Court on March 19, 2024 allowed the state law to go into effect. However, the win for Governor Gregg Abbott was short-lived as the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later in the day put a stay order on implementation of the law.
Appeals Court Blocks SB 4
For the second time in a week, a three-judge panel of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to keep the implementation of SB 4 in abeyance pending further notice. The ruling came just before the midnight on March 26, 2024. The majority opinion was joined by Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez and Chief Judge Priscilla Richman while Judge Andrew Oldman dissented.
********************************** TEXAS SB 4 ***********
********************************** SEIZURE OF SHELBY PARK
Texas Seizes an Eagle Pass Park
Driving a cleave through the heart of the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas seized an iconic footprint of Eagle Pass. Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas told reporters on January 11, 2024 morning that Governor Gregg Abbott had issued an order that Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety troops would take control of 47.4-acre Shelby Park. Mayor Salinas said that metal fences were erected, prohibiting the public from the access to the park. Even Border Patrol is prohibited from entering the park.
Paxton Defends Seizing the Park
In response to a cease-and-desist letter written on January 14, 2024 by DHS General Counsel Jonathan E. Mayer, Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton on January 17, 2024 defended state's action of seizing the 47.4-acre park and erecting fence to block trespassing of unauthorized people, including Border Patrol.
Second Letter Sent by DHS to Give Access to Border Patrol
After the January 22, 2024, U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Feds' right to cut the wire at the border, DHS General Counsel Jonathan E. Meyer on January 23, 2024 sent a second letter to Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton, asking for full access of Shelby Park--seized by the Texas Military Department and Texas Department of Public Safety on January 10, 2024 and subsequently fenced off to the public--to Border Patrol personnel. However, Governor Gregg Abbott remained defiant and said on January 24, 2024 that Texas would fight against the Feds and "lawless" president. Meanwhile, on the other side of the political spectrum, there is demand to federalize the Texas National Guard, including Rep. Joaquin Castro's strong appeal on January 23, 2024 for the Biden administration to take such action.
********************************** SEIZURE OF SHELBY PARK
Governor's Comment Deserves Condemnation
In an editorial published on January 17, 2024, The Dallas Morning News came down heavily on Governor Gregg Abbott for his irresponsible comment on January 5, 2024 on far-right Dana Loesch's radio show that the only thing "we are not doing is" that "we're not shooting" people crossing the border.
******************************* TEXAS AND MIGRATION *********************************
Biden Taps Harris to Lead the Border Surge Crisis
After a White House meeting with HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, Vice President Kamala Harris and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, President Joe Biden on March 24, 2021 tapped Vice President Kamala Harris as the administration's point-person to address the root causes of the border surge and solve the crisis.
Harris Holds First Virtual Meeting with Guatemala's President
As President Joe Biden's point-person to address the underlying reasons of migration from the Northern Triangle Region--Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras--Vice President Kamala Harris on April 26, 2021 held the first virtual meeting with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, and pledged to "strengthen our cooperation" to better manage steep northward migration by addressing both the "acute causes" such as hurricanes and earthquakes, persistent drought and Coronavirus pandemic and "root causes" such as extreme weather conditions, government corruption and lack of economic opportunity. Republicans are critical of Vice President Harris and President Biden for not taking a single trip to the southern border.
Harris Holds Virtual Meeting with AMLO; Stresses on Providing "Relief to Northern Triangle"
11 days after she had held talks with Guatemala's president, Vice President Kamala Harris on May 7, 2021 held conversation with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. It was a cordial virtual meeting focused on common objectives to fight against the social and economics ills afflicting the region and providing immediate "relief to Northern Triangle and address the root causes".
Harris' First Overseas Trip Focuses on Root Causes of Human Migration
Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden's point-person for determining the root causes of massive migration from Central America and Mexico, took her first foreign trip to meet with the presidents of both nations: Guatemala's on June 7, 2021 and AMLO on June 8, 2021. At both stops, Vice President Harris emphasized on strengthening the checks and balances of governance, fighting corruption, drug-related violence and nepotism, and creating opportunities for people to lower the need for risky northbound trip by hundreds of thousands.
Amnesty
International Rebukes Biden Admin for Expelling more than 10,000 Mexican
Children
Amnesty
International in
a report issued on June 11, 2021 accused Biden administration’s Customs
and Border Patrol of expelling more than 10,000 Mexican kids caught after crossing
the borders although similar expulsions of unaccompanied kids from other
nations were put on hold by the administration.
******************************* BIDEN ADMIN'S TARGETED DETENTION *******************
Biden Administration to Prioritize Detention and Deportation
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on September 30, 2021 wrote a memo to immigration and border agency heads to prioritize whom to arrest and deport based on the "overriding question" of "whether the noncitizen poses a current threat to public safety". Being undocumented can not be the sole criterion to arrest and deport a noncitizen. The new directive will take effect on November 29, 2021.
Supreme Court Blocks Biden Admin's Targeted Immigration Rule
U.S. Supreme Court on July 21, 2022 dealt a setback to Biden administration over a September 30, 2021, memo that clarified the government stand towards detaining and removing undocumented migrants. Biden administration's DHS secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, stated in the September 30, 2021, memo that DHS agents would target for priority those undocumented immigrants who posed "threat to public safety". U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton of Texas, responding to a suit filed by the attorney generals of Republican states, put a hold on Biden administration's detention and deportation plan, and the Fifth U.S. Circuit of Appeals upheld the lower court ruling. On July 21, 2022, U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling by 5-4 margin as it decided to hear the merit of the case in December 2022, paving the way for the DHS to apply the Trump-era detention and deportation rule. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson weighed in the first apex court case on July 21, 2022 on the minority side, joined by Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Amy Coney Barret.
Supreme Court Upholds Biden Administration's Targeted Deportation Strategy
U.S. Supreme Court on June 23, 2023 sided with the Biden administration in a case that had been followed by legal scholars, immigrations rights groups and politicians of every ilk. The verdict was 8-1, with Samuel Alito dissenting. In a majority opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh opined that federal government had no option, but to prioritize its limited resources and employee size to pursue only those who posed the maximum security risk to the country, or caught in the border. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on June 23, 2023 applauded the verdict. The case was heard in October 2022, but the apex court left the Biden administration's targeted detention and deportation strategy on hold since July 2022. Now, with this verdict delivered by the apex court, there is an air of certainty in applying immigration enforcement in a definitive manner to detain and deport only a fraction of 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.
******************************* BIDEN ADMIN'S TARGETED DETENTION *******************
UNICEF Sounds Alarm on Child Migration through Treacherous Darien Gap
The UNICEF said on October 11, 2021 that the migration of minors through very difficult and treacherous Darien Gap, a wide swath of dense jungle covering Panama and Colombia and home to wild animals and human traffickers, jumped manifold during the first nine months of 2021. According to UNICEF, about 19,000 minors have crossed the Darien Gap, and constitute more than a quarter of 67,100 people--a large number of them are Haitians who have been forced to leave Haiti after 2010 earthquake and have settled later in Brazil and Chile--who have crossed the Gap which does not have any highway or any paved road. In 2017, the recorded migration of minors through Darien Gap was 109, 3,956 in 2019 and 1,653 in 2020. The UNICEF director for Latin America and Caribbean, Jean Gough, said that the influx of so many minors posed "serious humanitarian crisis throughout the region, beyond Panama".
Mayorkas Memo on Workplace Raids
Biden administration will stop workplace raids against the undocumented workers and instead will focus on curbing the exploitation of undocumented workers by unscrupulous employers. In a memo sent October 12, 2021, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asked the Immigration and Customs Enforcement to review the current enforcement policies and come up with better mechanism to protect the vulnerable undocumented workers and curb exploitative practices by the employers. The memo criticized Trump-era large-scale workplace raids, saying that these "highly visible operations misallocated enforcement resources".
**************************** TAPACHULA MIGRANT CARAVAN *****************************
2,000-strong Migrant Caravan Heads North
Hondurans, El Salvadorans, Haitians and others, most of them are Central Americans, have been staying at the Chiapas border town of Tapachula for the past several weeks in expectation that their filings for asylum or staying visas will be granted soon by Mexican authorities. Losing patience over repeated delays, about 2,000 migrants formed a caravan on October 23, 2021, and began their march north. There are kids, women and families as part of the caravan. They have arrived at a nearby village, Alvaro Obregon, on October 23, 2021, where most of them slept at a local baseball field. On October 24, 2021, the caravan began their journey, and they arrived at Huehuetan by the nightfall.
Migrant Caravan Doubles in Size
The number of migrants in the caravan that had started on October 23, 2021 had doubled with an estimated 4,000 people as it reached the town square of Chiapas town of Villa Commaltitlan on October 27, 2021.
**************************** TAPACHULA MIGRANT CARAVAN *****************************
Interior Immigration Arrests Drop Significantly under Biden
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement data released on October 26, 2021 show that the Enforcement and Removal Operation (ERO) administrative arrests fell drastically in fiscal 2021. The arrests in the interior of the country fell to 72,000 in fiscal 2021 (October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021) compared to 104,000 in fiscal 2020 and an average of 148,000 between fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2019. The ERO administrative arrests peaked at 322,093 in 2011 under Obama administration.
DHS Memo Limits Places of Arrest for Undocumented Foreign Aliens
Rolling back Trump-era rules, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on October 27, 2021 issued a memo, significantly limiting the places where agents could carry out arrests of undocumented foreign aliens. The DHS memo sharply limits arrests at hospitals, playgrounds, daycare centers, courthouses and other places known for congregation of children.
************** ASYLUM OFFICERS INSTEAD OF IMMIGRATION COURTS TO DECIDE CASES
DHS Unveils New Policies to Reduce Case Backlog
Biden administration on March 24, 2022 unveiled new asylum policies that would target the massive immigration court backlogs that had accumulated over a number of years. Under the new DHS rule, asylum officers will have discretion to grant humanitarian protection to asylum seekers. When they will not be able to make any decision on any case, the case will be handled by an immigration judge, thus streamlining the cases for the immigration court system and accelerating the case movement.
Program Involving Lower-level Asylum Officers Fails to Scale up
The Dallas Morning News reported in a front-page article on January 28, 2024 that the process of relieving the immigration court backlog by assigning asylum officers to make decisions didn't scale up well. According to an analysis conducted by the Migration Policy Institute, about 500 videoconferencing booths were installed at the processing center facilities for migrants in the U.S. custody along the border, but at the height of the program in March 2023, only 936 applicants were processed. Biden administration in April 2023 suspended the program for six months as it readied for lifting the Title 42.
************** ASYLUM OFFICERS INSTEAD OF IMMIGRATION COURTS TO DECIDE CASES
Supreme Court's Conservative Majority Stabs at Immigrant Rights on Bond Hearing
In a severe setback to the rights of detained migrants on having access to bail hearing while their deportation cases are being heard, the U.S. Supreme Court on June 13, 2022 ruled 6-3 that detained migrants have no legal rights under a federal law to seek a bond hearing in which they can argue for their release during the time of trial. In another related case, the conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on June 13, 2022 against such migrant defendants' right to band as a "class" to seek bond hearing.
U.S. Asylum Approval Rate vs. Mexican Asylum Approval Rate: Root Cause
In Mexico, authorities between January through November 2022 have successfully granted 61% of the applicants applying for asylum, including 90% approval rate for Venezuelans and Hondurans. However, Cuban and Haitian applicants have fared much worse.
The U.S. asylum approval rate in fiscal 2022 (October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2022) was 46%, more than 27% approval rate two years ago under the last year of President Donald Trump.
The disparity between the asylum success rates in the U.S. and Mexico is, to a great extent, rooted in how these two neighbors apply the asylum criteria. Mexico follows the Cartagena Declaration that espouses a broader eligibility criteria based on "generalized violence, foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive violation of human rights or other circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order". The U.S. follows a much narrower definition of the eligibility rules based on personal situation as spelled out by the U.N. Refugee Convention.
***************** MIGRANT DEATHS IN JUAREZ DETENTION CENTER FIRE ****************
At least 40 Migrants Die in Fire at a Juarez Detention Center
In a tragic outcome, a fire at a detention center in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez in late March 27, 2023 killed at least 40 migrants and injured 29. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on March 28, 2023 that the migrants had set the mattresses on fire after hearing that they would be deported. However, immigration and human rights activists pushed back against that narrative. The detention center where fire has been reported is run by Mexico's National Immigration Institute. Many advocacy organizations accuse the Mexican law enforcement of criminalizing the migrants and asylum-seekers. On March 9, 2023, at least 30 migrants shelters and advocacy organizations complained in an open letter that authorities were using excessive force against the migrants. The letter decried the criminalization of migrants and asylum-seekers. In anticipation of lifting of Title 42 in May 2023, there is a surge in migrants near the border communities.
Eight under Investigation in Deadly Fire
As authorities on March 29, 2023 lowered the estimate of the death toll to 39, there was report circulating that an investigation had been launched into the roles of eight personnel responsible for the security of the migrant detention center at Ciudad Juarez.
Arrest Orders Issued against Six, Complaint Filed against State's Top Immigration Official
On March 30, 2023, arrest orders were issued by a Mexican court against six people, including three officials from the federal National Immigration Institute, two from a private security company, and the sixth person was a detainee who had allegedly put fire on mattress foam. Authorities said that five were already arrested.
Meanwhile, there is a complaint filed with federal investigators against the dereliction of duty of Chihuahua state's top immigration official. A lawyer, Jorge Vazquez Campbell, filed a complaint on March 29, 2023, accusing retired Navy Rear Admiral Salvador Gonzalez Guerrero of ordering the detention cells to be locked even when the fire was spreading.
Mexico's Immigration Agency Head Arraigned
On April 25, 2023, Mexico's Immigration Institute chief Francisco Garduno was arraigned on negligence and professional failure-related charges in the March 27, 2023, fire-caused deaths of 40 migrants at a Chihuahua detention center. Despite poor and unsafe conditions at various detention centers, Francisco Garduno, who was brought to head the beleaguered agency in 2019 by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, didn't take any action, according to the prosecutors who wanted Garduno to be removed and barred from traveling out of Mexico. The judge denied prosecutors' request on both fronts. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reposed faith in the besieged head of the Immigration Institute.
The highest-ranking official to go to trial so far is the chief delegate of Immigration Institute in the state of Chihuahua, Retired Navy Rear Admiral Salvador Gonzalez Guerrero, who had been charged in homicide and causing injury by omission.
***************** MIGRANT DEATHS IN JUAREZ DETENTION CENTER FIRE ****************
U.S. Stops Migrant Processing at Laredo Checkpoint
In response to growing evidence that extortionists are demanding hefty money from the migrants who have made appointments on CBP One portal, U.S. suspended processing migrants at Laredo checkpoint. The Dallas Morning News' June 13, 2023, report is an eye-opener to the alarming security scenario in northern parts of Mexico, especially in Nuevo Laredo, a busy corridor for migrants. There were reports that Mexican border guards are preventing the migrants from appearing before the U.S. authorities at the Laredo checkpoint until they give hefty amount of money.
Federal Judge Blocks Biden's Migration Rule Unveiled Hours before Title 42 Withdrawal
U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar of the Northern District of California on July 25, 2023 blocked a key Biden administration rule announced on May 10, 2023 (see the related Title 42 blog), a day before the Title 42 was lifted, that had barred migrants from seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border without first applying online or seeking protection in a third country that they had passed through. However, the judge gave the administration some leeway as it would not go into effect in two weeks. Biden administration immediately appealed the order to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Appeals Court Suspends Lower Court Ruling
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals on August 3, 2023 ruled 2-1 to hold off the July 25, 2023, ruling of U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar, who gave the Biden administration an August 7, 2023, timeline to withdraw the new asylum rule that would make it difficult for the migrants to seek asylum in the U.S. without first seeking protection in another country which the migrants were passing through or applying online for asylum. The appeals court ruling gave Biden administration breathing room to formulate its next course of action.
********************* FERM Program ******************
FERM Program Expanded to 13 Locations
On the eve of the lifting of Title 42, the U.S. DHS unveiled on May 10, 2023 an innovative program, known as the Family Expedited Removal Management, or FERM, Program, as an Alternative to Temporary Detention, or ATD. A family unit can't be kept under detention for more than 20 days. Both Trump and Obama administrations pursued family detention as a mitigation strategy. Biden administration deviated from that strategy. Under FERM program, the head of the family needs to wear an ankle monitor and is subjected to an 11PM to 6AM curfew until the conclusion of the "credible fear" screening process that may lead to faster deportation or going to the next step of asylum process, but under favorable conditions without being subjected to curfew or ATD monitoring. The screening may happen within days. A negative "credible fear" determination from the screening is followed up with a review process by an immigration judge if the FERM participant appeals the initial determination. A final negative "credible fear" determination leads to prompt deportation. A positive "credible fear" determination allows the family to stay in the U.S. to continue with their asylum process that may take years with the current backlog of 1.2 million cases.
Initially, in May 2023, Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operation (ERO) rolled out FERM in four locations: Baltimore, Chicago, Newark, and Washington. Denver and Minneapolis were added later. On July 28, 2023, FERM was expanded to Houston and New Orleans. On August 4, 2023, FERM was expanded to five more locations: Boston, Providence, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose.
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Biden Admin Waives Federal Laws to Grant Border Wall Construction
Acknowledging that migrant surge is reaching an alarming stage, Biden administration on October 4, 2023 greenlit building border wall in the Starr County by waiving 26 federal laws, including Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Endangered Species Act.
Biden Hedges His Skepticism against His DHS Secretary's "Acute and Immediate" Need Comment
As Biden administration is facing criticism from Democrats and environmentalists for waiving 26 federal laws--including Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Endangered Species Act--to resume construction of 20 miles of wall in Starr County, President Joe Biden is striking a political balance with his emphatic comment on October 5, 2023 that border wall does not work. That's not what America has heard from the U.S. government a day ago when Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has written in a notice on the Federal Register that "there is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas".
The funding for the 20-mile barrier will come from the unspent $190 million of $1.375 billion that Trump administration has allocated in 2019 for border walls. Biden administration wanted to use the money for other purposes, but the Congress balked. In a way, Biden administration is in a bind as the pie left unused has to be used only for border wall construction.
Judge Upholds Government's Authority to Prioritize based on CBP One Application
A federal judge, U.S. District Judge Andrew Schopler, on October 13, 2023 upheld Biden administration's authority to prioritize who to accept for asylum processing based on the applications filed through the CBP One app. Circa 263,000 people have scheduled appointments using CBP One between January 2023, when the app-based application system went into effect, and August 2023, including 45,400 processed in the August 2023 alone. Plaintiffs argued that preventing the asylum seekers who arrived at the southern borders without a prior appointment via CBP One was unconstitutional. A separate, but related, case is pending regarding a rule that allows 30,000 people per month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to get a 2-year stay in the United States if they have arrived at the U.S. airports after applying on the CBP One app and securing the backing of a U.S.-based sponsor.
U.S. Flies Deportation Flight to Venezuela First Time in Years, Summit of Four Latin Leaders Planned
In an unprecedented action of detaining and deporting unauthorized migrants, U.S. on October 18, 2023 launched several flights a week to Caracas with Venezuelans who might have tried to enter the U.S. without following the revamped rules. The government of Nicolas Maduro agreed to accept the deportees as part of easing the sanctions. The flight on October 18, 2023 marked the first time in several years that U.S. was resuming the deportation flight.
Meanwhile, a summit of four high-egress nations for migrants in the Western Hemisphere will be host by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on October 22, 2023. The summit at the southern city of Palenque is likely to be attended by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canal and Haitian Premier Ariel Henry.
Arizona's Democratic Governor Criticizes Biden's Inaction, Sends Troops to the Border
That the frustration over migrant crisis is not only rising among the Republicans, but also turning some southern Democrats into staunch critics of Biden's handling of the border security is evident as Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs on December 15, 2023 ordered the state's National Guard to the border. However, the gubernatorial order is not clear when and how many of troops will be deployed to the border. Things turned bitter after the Customs and Border Patrol ordered the crossing at Lukeville, Arizona closed indefinitely on December 4, 2023. Lukeville crossing in recent months has become a major magnet for undocumented migrants to cross the border to the north. The crossing also serves as a major conduit for Arizonans to visit the Mexican resort of Puerto Penasco, or Rocky Point. A week ago, Governor Hobbs asked the federal government to mobilize Arizona's 243 National Guard troops who were already stationed in Tucson sector. Frustrated by the Biden administration's inaction, Governor Hobbs on December 15, 2023 took the unilateral action to send the National Guard to the border.
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Largest Migrant Convoy in 18 months Formed
A large convoy of migrants--numbering 6,000--from Central America on December 23, 2023 set out their journey from the border town of Tapachula, near the Mexican-Guatemalan border.
Blinken, Mayorkas Meet Mexican Officials as 6000-strong Caravan Marching through Chiapas
As the 6,000-strong Christmas Caravan arrived at Escuintla, Chiapas, the message from the meeting between a high-level U.S. delegation and Mexican officials remained muddled at best. On December 27, 2023, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and other Mexican officials at Mexico City. The scheduled sessions were overshadowed by the largest caravan since June 2022 that had set out from Tapachula, close to Guatemala border, on December 23, 2023. Blinken asked President Obrador to do more to mitigate the surge. So far, in December 2023, CBP personnel arrested 10,000 migrants per day in the southwest region. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in turn, asked the U.S. to revisit its sanction regimes against Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela that had fueled migrant surges from those nations. Also, Obrador pressed for reopening the rail road crossings. The U.S. closed two railroad crossings in recent days to prevent migrants from taking freight trains to enter the U.S. As a result, Mexican farmers are not receiving feedlot for their cattle, creating economic hardship for Mexican ranchers. The U.S. though reopened those railroad crossings a few days ago. Beside Blinken, the U.S. delegation includes Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall.
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Safe Mobility Initiative a Step in Right Direction, but too Narrow in Scope, Migrant Advocates Say
Biden administration in June 2023 launched Safe Mobility Initiative that would corral select migrants into more streamlined, safer mechanism instead of pursuing treacherous paths to reach the U.S.-Mexico borders. Under the SMI, Biden administration opened Safe Mobility Offices (SMOs) in Guatemala, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Colombia in the Fall of 2023. The program, Safe Mobility Initiative, interviews applicants, conducts health-screening and recommends the selection for refugee status. The SMI applicants selected for refugee status will receive the work authorization and legal status in the U.S. The program is implemented in collaboration with the U.N. High Commission for Refugees and U.N. International Organization for Migration. To date, 3,000 refugees have arrived under the SMI program and 9,000 have been approved, according to the January 6, 2024, edition of The Dallas Morning News. Migrant advocates see this new program not as an alternative to the existing asylum seeking process, which is by all means all but broken, but another additional tool in the toolbox.
Monthly Record of Border Crossings by Undocumented Immigrants Reported
The Dallas Morning News reported on January 28, 2024 in a front-page article that December 2023 ranked the highest number of recorded monthly border crossings with an alarmingly high figure of 249,785.
Congress Needs to Update the Dubious Immigration Law, The Dallas Morning News Says
That it's overdue to reform our nation's broken immigration system is not an overstatement. The overhaul is needed to empower the federal government and the president to successfully apply the immigration law to control and manage the border while streamlining the asylum-seeking process. The Dallas Morning News on February 3, 2024 published a front-page article to explain how Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 was often confusing and sometime even self-contradictory. Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 authorizes the president to "suspend the entry" of foreigners if the president deems that the entry is "detrimental to the interests of the United States". President Donald Trump invoked Section 212(f) several times, including imposing Muslim travel ban and banning unauthorized entry between the checkpoints. However, the same law states in a different section that people can come to the U.S. borders and seek asylum, even if they cross into the U.S. without authorization. That explains why Trump had relatively easier time to institute a Muslim travel ban than banning the illegal entry into the U.S. through the southern borders. In the Muslim travel ban, the prohibition was imposed before foreigners even began their journey and reached the U.S. ports of entry. To the contrary, applying 212(f) is trickier at the southern border as it will contradict the asylum component of the INA 1952.
EUROPE
Europe to Give Tunisia 1 billion Euro to Stanch Migrant Flow
On June 11, 2023, Tunisian President Kais Saied and Prime Minister Najla Bouden met with the visiting European leaders to discuss on managing the migrant flow across the Mediterranean in exchange for receiving financial aid to get over its economic crisis. Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed to provide needed help, including a package of 1 billion euro financial aid, to the North African nation to manage the migrant crisis and right its off-tracked economy. The package needs to be voted and approved by 27 member nations. Many rights groups see the economic incentive as a carrot to North African nation to get strict in mitigating the migrant flow to Europe by taking harsh measures. Already the allegation of racism is running rampant as the president himself complained earlier in the year that Arab character of his nation was getting undermined by migrants from Africa. Lest he gives a negative and intolerant image of the government in the run-up to the European leaders' visit to Tunis, Saied hours earlier took a quick trip to a migrant camp in Sfax, the main coastal hub for the subsequent treacherous journey across the Mediterranean Sea, and talked compassionately with the migrants, and tended their babies.
At least 79 Perished in Mediterranean during Risky Voyage
In one of the worst migrant disasters in recent memory, a trawler reportedly carrying some 500 migrants on June 14, 2023 capsized in the Mediterranean Sea some 45 miles southwest of Greek Peninsula of Peloponnese. The trawler began its journey from the Libyan port of Tobruk and was en route to Italy. At least 79 migrants were reported deceased, several were rescued and many remained missing as the vessel had sunk in the midst of darkness in the wee hours of June 14, 2023. Greek Caretaker Premier Ioannis Sarmas declared a three-day national mourning to honor the victims.
********************************** REFUGEE ISSUES ***********************************
Biden's Stance to Slightly Tweak Trump's Refugee Settlement Plan Angers Allies
President Joe Biden on April 16, 2021 angered Liberals and his allies as he determined that his predecessor's plan to resettle 15,000 refugees in the current fiscal "remains justified by humanitarian concerns and is otherwise in the national interest" although he removed the region-specific restrictions such as Muslim nations. President Biden signed the emergency determination, Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions, on April 16, 2021, and immediately the adverse reactions started to pour in. President Biden has said through emergency determination that if the quota is breached before the end of the [fiscal] year, he will raise the limit. Senate's number 2 Democrat Dick Durbin called it "unacceptable". Later in the day, White House backtracked as the White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki clarified that President Biden would increase the refugee resettlement cap by May 15, 2021, but didn't say by how much
On February 12, 2021, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken notified Congress that Biden administration would increase the cap for the current fiscal to 62,500. Usually a presidential determination comes shortly after the notification to Congress, but this time it took more than two months and also very disappointing.
Biden Raises the Cap for Refugee Intake
After facing wrath from Liberals and his allies, President Joe Biden on May 3, 2021 raised the cap for the current fiscal year ending September 30, 2021 to 62,500, the original number that the Biden administration first notified Congress in February 2021.
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