Texas Immigration Lawyer Blog

DACA and Immigration Update

La Puerta Waco hosted a Zoom call to talk about DACA and other Immigration news with Susan Nelson and Anali Looper of American Gateways, Waco. Here is the recording:

 

 

The Sanctuary Movement in the U.S.

Interesting podcasts about the Sanctuary movement to protect Central Americans seeking asylum in the U.S. in the 1980's from 99% Invisible. (2 episodes) 

Sanctuary, Part 1: Church

In the 1980s, Rev. John Fife and his congregation at Southside Presbyterian Church began to help Central American migrants fleeing persecution from US backed dictatorships. Their efforts would mark the beginning of a new — and controversial — social movement based on the ancient religious concept of “sanctuary,” the idea that churches have a duty to shelter people fleeing persecution. There’s been a lot of talk about “sanctuary” in the news recently and the modern movement in the U.S can trace its roots back to Fife.

Sanctuary, Part 2: State

In the 1980s, the United States experienced a refugee crisis. Thousands of Central Americans were fleeing civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala, traveling north through Mexico, and crossing the border into the U.S. [Note: Just tuning in? Listen to the previous episode.]
In response to this mass migration, a network of churches across the country declared themselves “sanctuaries,” offering shelter to Central Americans who were threatened with deportation and in some cases helping to smuggle people across the border. Leaders and members of these sanctuary churches believed they had a religious imperative to help people fleeing persecution.
The government, however, wasn’t swayed by the religious motivations of participating churches. In 1984, the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service), a predecessor to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), launched a full-scale investigation into the sanctuary movement.

 

POTUS has Legal Authority to Protect Central Americans Fleeing Violence

Over 100 Law Professors: President has Legal Authority to Protect Central Americans Fleeing Violence

Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala Immune to Most Legal Challenges

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, 102 immigration and administrative law professors delivered a letter to President Barack Obama stating that his Administration—through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security—has the legal authority to and should designate El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala (the Northern Triangle countries) for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), potentially benefiting 1.2 million undocumented immigrants. TPS is a form of humanitarian protection that provides protection from deportation and employment authorization for undocumented immigrants who cannot be safely returned to their country.  

The legal experts in the letter argue that such designation would likely be immune to the type of legal challenges that have stalled the President’s expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents. The letter was written by Professor Erin Corcoran, former Director of the Warren B Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership & Public Service at the University of New Hampshire Law; Professor Andrew Schoenholtz, Director of the Human Rights Institute at Georgetown Law; and Professor Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Samuel Weiss Faculty Scholar and Director of the Center for Immigrants’ Rights at Penn State Law-University Park.

 

“The legal foundation for the administration to designate TPS to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras is clear,” states Professor Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia.“Congress established TPS as a tool for responding to humanitarian emergencies like those in the Northern Triangle countries.”

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) and the National Immigrant Justice Center delivered the letter to President, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch on behalf of the professors. Recently, the ILRC released a report detailing the legal grounds for designation of TPS to Northern Triangle countries.

This is the second letter in support of TPS for the Northern Triangle countries sent by law professors. The first, sent earlier this year, outlined the deteriorating country conditions that warrant TPS designations. The law professor’s letter joins a chorus of growing voices in support of TPS for the Northern Triangle countries, including more than 270 immigrant and refugee organizations; 200 faith groups; 146 members of the House of Representatives; and 23 members of the U.S. Senate.

Read the full letter here: https://goo.gl/7D1Wpf

 

About the Immigrant Legal Resource Center

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is a national nonprofit that works with immigrants, community organizations, legal professionals, law enforcement, and policy makers to build a democratic society that values diversity and the rights of all people. Through community education programs, legal training & technical assistance, and policy development & advocacy, the ILRC’s mission is to protect and defend the fundamental rights of immigrant families and communities. https://www.ilrc.org

Texas Private Detention Center licensed as a childcare provider

Texas had to change it's rules in order to license the Karnes County Residential Center as a child care provider, but the Texas Department of Family and Protective services has done it. The license was issued for 60 days, giving the facility time to correct problems found in a March 29, 2016 inspection.

The Karnes County Residential Center is located southeast of San Antonio, Texas, and consists of barracks behind brick walls. It holds a maximum of 580 migrants, most mothers and children apprehended crossing the border and is run by the GEO Group, a private correctional detention company.

This is a shame. Painting Sponge Bob Square Pants on wall murals does not a child care center make. 

See the Texas Observer and the New York Times articles for more information. 

Duo from UT immigration clinic plays key role at detention centers

Austin American Statesman by Jasmin Ulloa

“It is shocking to see that these are the women and children considered by our government to be a priority enforcement target,” [Denise] Gilman said. “Detention means that people are going to be summarily deported back to their countries, even though they have good asylum claims. It means that even if they are then released and allowed to pursue their asylum claims, they are going to be living with this trauma on top of trauma.”

US immigration detention policies incompatible with basic principles of justice

ABA Journal by Lorelei Laird

At an ABA Annual Meeting panel on Friday, speakers had strong criticisms of the federal government’s detention policies for immigrant mothers with children.

“The government’s family detention policies of widespread detention of families and secure lockdown facilities are just incompatible with basic principles of justice and liberty,” said Denise Gilman, a professor at the University of Texas Law School and director of the school’s immigration law clinic.

* * *

Gilman, a member of the [C]ommission on Immigration] and a primary author of the report, has been working directly with detained women and children in her role at the law clinic. Because of the explosion of publicity surrounding the so-called surge of unaccompanied minors last summer, Gilman said, federal authorities switched from a policy of releasing families with small children, pending hearings, to a policy of detaining every one. The government originally said this was intended to deter further immigrants by showing they’d be locked up on arrival; and while it has changed its policy, she said, there’s no sign that expansion of detention has stopped.

Gilman said the facilities are prisonlike, with locked facilities and X-ray machines at the doors. Both Texas facilities, in Karnes City and Dilley, are run by private prison companies. Though the families are not technically prisoners, they’re treated like they are, she said. In one case, guards would not permit her students to bring a cupcake to a client celebrating his 9th birthday in detention, she said.

Facing Deportation, Activist Says He Has No Regrets

Texas Tribune by Julian Aguilar

Excellent story about Edgar Torres Hernandez one of the DREAM 34, who was ordered deported by an Immigration Judge yesterday after his claim of a "credible fear" of returning to Mexico was denied. 

 

 

Honduran refugee playing running back for Harlingen Cardinals football team

Valley Morning Star photo

 

Last Friday, I toured the Baptist Family and Children's Services Shelter in Harlingen, Texas, with the State Bar of Texas Laws Related to Immigration and Nationality Committee. This center provides residential care and services for unaccompanied children who enter the U.S. while authorities determine the appropriate steps toward reuniting them with their families or placing them in an alternate setting.

One challenge that BCFS faces is that of children who "age out" (have their 18th birthday). These young people are no longer eligible for services nor are they eligible for foster care. BCFS tries to find safe places for these young people at adult shelters. They told us the inspirational story of Yalerson Castillo, a young man from Honduras who was a resident until he turned 18. A local family who met him through soccer provided him with a home. He is currently attending Harlingen High School and playing running back on the football team. 

Immigration Judge Must Remain Neutral and Not Assume Role of Opposing Counsel

Abulashvili, et al. v. Attorney General of the U.S.

via lawprofessors.typepad.com

Immigration Judges often act as co-counsel for the Government. This is a good precedent rejecting that practice.

Mexican Journalist Granted Asylum in Texas

Texas Tribune by Julian Aguilar

Mexican journalist, Alejandro Hernandez Pacheco, who escaped a drug cartel kidnapping last year has been granted asylum in the U.S.

Hernandez's immigration attorney Carlos Spector says the decision may signal a shift in the federal government's thinking on how to handle such cases.

“It’s a welcome decision and it has made the U.S. government more aware,” he said. “It’s one thing to read the reports and the statistics provided by [advocacy groups] Reporters without Borders and Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. But I think what Alejandro’s case shows is that these aren’t just cartel members killing and repressing the press. I think what is symbolic about his case is that the Mexican government is around the corner or involved directly [in the oppression].”