Immigration

Eight states described as having “a legitimate and substantial interest in preserving and promoting fetal life” have weighed in on a lawsuit seeking to clear the way for immigrant minors in federal custody to have abortions.An amicus brief in Garza v. Hargan from the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas argues that minors in federal custody have no right to have an abortion because of their immigration status.“Granting Plaintiff’s motion for a [temporary restraining order] and preliminary injunction would create a right to abortion for anyone on Earth who entered the United States illegally, no matter how briefly,” the brief argues. “If Doe has a right to an abortion, it is difficult to imagine what other constitutional protections she would not have by extension.”Garza concerns Jane Doe and two other young women, Jane Roe and Jane Poe, who are in federal custody, as is standard for … [Read more...] about 8 states file brief supporting government attempt to deny abortions to immigrant minors

A private company has proposed to build an immigration detention center outside Evanston, Wyoming—a town that reportedly has no immigration lawyers and is more than an hour away from the nearest immigration court in Salt Lake City.The jail proposal is from the Management & Training Corporation, a Utah contractor that manages private prisons and Job Corps centers, and has a negative history.Indeed, there are few immigration lawyers in the state of Wyoming, WyoFile reports. Immigration law is complicated and it’s much harder to get representation when someone has been put in detention, Suzan Pritchett, a University of Wyoming law professor, told the online news outlet.“It takes experienced and dedicated immigration attorneys and advocates to be able to get inside an immigration detention center, to be able to screen for people who might have valid claims” for asylum or hardship, she said. “Those are pretty diffuse, complicated legal concepts that someone … [Read more...] about ICE detention center proposed for rural Wyoming town with no immigration attorneys

The federal government cannot criminally prosecute immigrants, and then arrest them on immigration detainers after bail is granted, according to a federal judge.The New York Times reports that in the past few months this has come up in three separate cases assigned to Judge Dora L. Irizarry of the Southern District of New York.In one of her orders, Irizarry wrote that the government can’t “proceed on a dual criminal prosecution and deportation track.”The article notes that the Bail Reform Act protects defendants’ rights to be released before trial, and the Immigration and Nationality Act allows the government to deport people who are in the country illegally.One of the cases involves Keston Lett, a Trinidad and Tobago national who reportedly was picked up at John F. Kennedy International Airport with 2 kilograms of cocaine in his bag. After being charged with importing drugs to the United States, Lett was supposed to be released on $30,000 bail, but was … [Read more...] about Judge says US cannot proceed on dual criminal prosecution and deportation track with immigrants