Immigration

The quota edict was followed with a memo to federal prosecutors in the criminal courts with jurisdiction over border areas to issue more misdemeanor charges against immigrants entering the country unlawfully. Sessions’ memo instructs prosecutors “to the extent practicable” to issue the misdemeanor charges for improper entry. On Wednesday, Sessions is scheduled to be in Las Cruces, New Mexico, to speak on immigration enforcement at a border sheriffs’ meeting. … [Read more...] about Immigration judges, attorneys worry that Sessions’ quotas will cut into justice in clogged court system

The two had met at a concert in Houston. Rogelio was the sound engineer. He had lived illegally in the country for much of his life. In February of last year, he was deported. In December, a priest married the couple as they held hands across the fence. Next month, the two will be reunited.  … [Read more...] about ‘Farther north, people just don’t get it’: Feelings about Trump and immigrants on the Mexico border aren’t simple

At least two of the defendants said they intend to seek asylum, which generally exempts people from criminal prosecution for illegally crossing the border. One of them, Yaneth, attempted to turn herself in at a legal port of entry but was turned away, according to court filings. Under U.S. law and international treaty obligations, Customs and Border Protection is required to let in migrants who say they fear persecution in their country of origin. But CBP faces a lawsuit in the Southern District of California alleging that the agency often flouts those rules. … [Read more...] about Trump Administration To Divide Immigrant Families To Prosecute Parents For Illegal Entry

Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) emerged from a meeting with the conservative group late Tuesday night, telling reporters that they had not taken an official position on making a vote on the immigration bill a condition of their support for the farm bill. But Meadows said a “significant number” of conservatives would be “moved” if leadership promised a vote on the hardline immigration bill authored by Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), which is also known as the “Goodlatte bill.” … [Read more...] about Conservatives Cook Up Farm Bill Gambit to Get Vote On Hardline Immigration Bill

Even before the Trump administration concretized the immigration changes this month, family separation at the border sparked legal challenges. In February the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Congolese woman who crossed at a port of entry with her daughter. The two were separated despite crossing legally. The ACLU is asking a federal judge to issue a nationwide injunction barring the federal government from separating families at the border, arguing that it violates the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause. … [Read more...] about Trump’s Crackdown On Immigrant Parents Puts More Kids In An Already Strained System