Trump Administration Announces Final “Public Charge” Rule Which Can Materially Reduce Legal Immigration

Legal Immigration Reduced Materially by “Public Charge” Rule
Sep26

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. Much has been written about the impact of the anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration regarding undocumented immigrants.  However, it appears that the Trump administration is now seeking also to attack legal immigration. On August 12, the Trump administration announced a final “public charge” rule which can materially reduce legal immigration. Finalizing proposed regulations that were issued on October 10, 2018 (and received more than 260,000 public comments), this final “public charge” rule (published in the Federal Register on August 14) amends U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulations

September 26, 2019
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Supreme Court Allows President Trump to Access Certain Department of Defense Funds to Build Border Wall

Supreme Court Allows Trump to Access Funds to Build Wall
Sep25

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. While the Federal judiciary often has been viewed as the best hope to protect immigrant rights against the anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration, concern has been expressed about whether the Supreme Court can in fact serve in this role.  The argument is that the recent appointments of Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court by President Trump will give the Supreme Court a conservative bent that will cause it to support the anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration.  As one decision that appears to support this

September 25, 2019
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Federal Courts Issue Different Rulings on Trump Administration’s Effort to Significantly Restrict Asylum Protection

Trump Efforts to Restrict Asylum Protection Significantly
Sep24

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. The Federal judiciary has frequently been relied on to block the anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration.  However, as with any litigation, there is no guarantee as to how any Federal judge will rule on any specific immigration law issue.  This point was made abundantly clear on July 24 when 2 Federal courts issued different rulings on the Trump administration’s effort to significantly restrict asylum protection for migrants. These 2 cases involved lawsuits against the new rule of the Trump administration (published in the Federal Register to be effective July

September 24, 2019
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Trump Administration Announces Expanded “Expedited Removal” Deportation Authority

Trump Deportation Authority “Expedited Removal” Expanded
Sep23

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. Probably the major limitation on the anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration has been decisions by the Federal judiciary to overturn certain of these policies in court cases.  Therefore, it is not surprising that the Trump administration would try to restrict the ability of judges to review immigration cases. Specifically, on July 22, the Trump administration announced that it will expand its “expedited removal” deportation authority – the ability of immigration officers to deport migrants without them appearing before judges. In an executive order in January 2017, President Trump directed

September 23, 2019
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New Study Shows ICE is Not Targeting Serious Criminals

New Study Shows ICE is Not Targeting Serious Criminals
Sep22

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. In defending his immigration policies, President Trump often argues that his purpose is to deport “criminals” (“bad hombres”) from the United States.  Notwithstanding this rhetoric, a new study reveals a different result. The study, from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), released on July 19, shows that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is in fact not targeting serious criminals. The TRAC study states that “the latest data from the Immigration Courts through June 2019 shows only 2.8 percent of recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

September 22, 2019
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ICE Sets Record For Arresting Undocumented Immigrants Without A Criminal Background

May31

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. Some records, such as winning the most Super Bowls or scoring the most points in an NCAA college basketball game, receive universal praise.  Other records garner a more mixed reaction. Such is the case with the recent news that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) set a record in December, 2018 by arresting the highest percentage of undocumented immigrants with no criminal background.  Specifically, 36.5 percent of the undocumented immigrants arrested by ICE in December, 2018 had no criminal record – the highest such percentage since ICE started categorizing arrests

May 31, 2019
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El Paso Immigration Court Accused Of “Culture of Hostility” Toward Immigrants

El Paso Immigration Court Accused Of “Culture of Hostility”
May27

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. A recent report by the American Bar Association described the US immigration courts as “facing an existential crisis . . . irredeemably dysfunctional and on the brink of collapse”.  Besides requiring a major overhaul for inefficiency, the US immigration courts may suffer from another fundamental problem – bias against immigrants. This point was made in an administrative complaint filed yesterday by the American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association with the US Department of Justice with respect to the El Paso, Texas Service Processing Center immigration court.

May 27, 2019
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Federal Judge Stops Trump Administration’s “Remain in Mexico” Program

“Remain in Mexico” Program Stopped Trump Administration
May20

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. The US government consists of 3 branches – an executive branch (the President and his administration), a legislative branch (the Congress), and a judicial branch (the courts).  Because of the anti-immigration policies of President Trump and his administration, and the general inability of Congress to reach an agreement on immigration legislation, it has largely been left to the courts to protect immigrant rights.  This point was again evidenced on April 8 when Federal District Court Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco issued a preliminary injunction against and stopping President Trump’s Migrant

May 20, 2019
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“Public Charges” – Increasingly Used by The Trump Administration To Support Visa Denials

“Public Charges” – Used by To Support Visa Denials
May15

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. There seems to be no end to the arguments being used by the Trump administration to restrict immigrant rights.  An increasingly used strategy by the Trump administration is to argue that a visa should be denied because the immigrant would become  “ public charges ”.  Based on how the Trump administration interprets the term, “public charge”, an increasing number of immigrants, especially Mexicans, are being denied visas to the United States. “Public charge” is a term used by U.S. immigration officials to refer to a person who is considered primarily

May 15, 2019
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Federal Court Victory for Abused, Abandoned Or Neglected Migrant Children

Victory for Migrant Children Abused, Abandoned, or Neglected
May08

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. When you think of abused, abandoned or neglected migrant children, you probably feel some sense of humanitarian concern.  Unfortunately, it is fair to say that the Trump administration does not issue immigration policies that prioritize such concern.  Consistent with its general intention to prevent immigration to the US, the Trump administration recently acted to deny immigration rights to certain abused, abandoned or neglected migrant children.  However, on March 15, a Federal District Court Judge ruled against this Trump administration policy and in favor of the immigration rights of certain abused, abandoned

May 8, 2019
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