Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #ImmigrationCourt
Most recents (24)
Monday's #SCOTUS decision denying detained immigrants the right to a class action to challenge their custody just became very real for me, my asylum-seeking client, and who knows how many other people detained in Mississippi (and beyond) right now in unconstitutional limbo
If you haven't already seen it, pls re-read this excerpt from Sotomayor's dissent in Gonzalez and consider the horrific reality of what she is saying. Alito has for all intents made the law of detention voluntary for ICE in the majority of detained cases
Locking someone up indefinitely without telling them why and presenting no formal evidence to support their detention is the least Constitutional scenario I can imagine. We don't even do this to Gitmo detainees, and t would be national news if a U.S. citizen were treated this way
TFW you've reached a joint agreement with DHS in a difficult detained case which gets your client the best possible outcome under the circumstances only to have a Trump-appointed immigration judge a time zone away reject that joint agreement using the wrong legal standard
FYI for non-lawyers: it is rare for a judge to decline to accept *any* joint agreement brought to the court in good faith by the parties involved
IJ: Counsel, do you reserve appeal?
ME: Yes
JUDGE: well I hope that doesn't keep him in custody at govt expense too much longer
*angry pause*
ME: I have to say that everyone here was hoping we'd reached a solution which would save the govt the trouble
IJ: that's out of my hands
ME: Yes
JUDGE: well I hope that doesn't keep him in custody at govt expense too much longer
*angry pause*
ME: I have to say that everyone here was hoping we'd reached a solution which would save the govt the trouble
IJ: that's out of my hands
Waiting my turn in #immigrationcourt as I watch a Biden-appointed imm judge deport the father of an 8 yr old autistic US citizen at the request of a Biden-hired ICE attorney. Meet the new boss, etc
I wandered into this one near the end, but far as I can tell the judge is of the opinion that the man before him did not demonstrate enough "contrition" for prior immigration violations and that the autistic child would not suffer enough upon separation from his father to count
The judge is literally putting on the record that there are plenty of single mothers with autistic kids in the US, and that this man's wife will now be one of them. Just another Thursday in our #immigrationcourts
man featured in this (paywalled) investigation on credible #MeToo allegations in the #immigrationcourt system has opinions about "reprehensible conduct" 
Yes, the guy who gets to pass judgment in the name of "moral turpitude" is a known sex pest to the degree that he is literally not allowed into the building to rubber-stamp deportations with his colleagues
Let me say that again: the judge who just ruled that driving under the influence with a suspended license is "reprehensible" enough to bar immigrants from residency and/or serve as a basis for deportation was #MeToo'd so effectively that he isn't welcome in his own office
The short & long term effects on kids of having a parent taken into ICE custody for even a few days--let held for years before being deported for life--are all too well-known... and we're simply not allowed to argue this point when seeking release on bond in #immigrationcourt
Immigration judges constantly deny bond and hold parents for months based on anything from pending petty theft allegations to 10-yr-old drunk driving convictions to supposed "gang ties" which DHS has no obligation whatsoever to prove. Lives, psyches, futures destroyed in seconds
We are sometimes allowed to at least introduce evidence of what separation/deportation would do to a US citizen child's mental health, but undocumented kids might as well not exist. They have no value.
It makes me physically I'll to perpetuate these harms just by doing my job
It makes me physically I'll to perpetuate these harms just by doing my job
1/ Let's talk about a few small but vital parts of the #USCitizenshipAct which may not make the kinds of headlines a pathway to citizenship does, but could make millions of people's lives better the day it passes.
2/ Before we do that, it is very important to me that you understand just how *bad* Joe Biden's immigration record is. It is not at all unfair to say that he is directly responsible for some of the worst stuff that this bill is only now undoing.
jacobinmag.com/2019/04/joe-bi…
jacobinmag.com/2019/04/joe-bi…
3/ Let's start with the definition of the word "conviction."
Every state has some form of alternative sentencing designed to divert charges & keep people from the lifetime burden of a criminal record.
Congress (& Biden) didn't like this, and changed federal law accordingly.
Every state has some form of alternative sentencing designed to divert charges & keep people from the lifetime burden of a criminal record.
Congress (& Biden) didn't like this, and changed federal law accordingly.
Anyone else thinking about #immigrationcourt dates scheduled for for clients in 3 yrs and wondering if there will be a federal government to hear them by then, or is that just me
Fun times for someone who grew up believing as a matter of fact that the world would end in his lifetime!
I opened today's class on asylum/refugee policy by reminding everyone that there is no reason whatsoever to assume that the phrase "American refugees" is not something that we will come to know in our lifetimes. Any given country is just a couple of bad leaders/yrs away from it
1/ There are 58 immigration courts in the United States.
In the past seven days, one out of every five of them--including my own here in Boston--has been exposed to #covid19.
We can't keep doing this. Please stop making us do this.
In the past seven days, one out of every five of them--including my own here in Boston--has been exposed to #covid19.
We can't keep doing this. Please stop making us do this.
2/ Accidentally posted Chicago twice up there, but there were a total of 11 of these #immigrationcourt exposures this week alone--just as the second wave is cresting.
3/ I haven't physically appeared in #immigrationcourt for weeks, & only then bc I felt it necessary for effective representation in a tough case.
My partner has serious pre-existing lung issues. Many asylum cases are life-and-death.
This is not a choice I should have to make
My partner has serious pre-existing lung issues. Many asylum cases are life-and-death.
This is not a choice I should have to make
1/ By amending no more than THREE WORDS of the Immigration & Nationality Act, Congress could amend a 91-yr-old law to grant a pathway to citizenship to millions of undocumented Americans in a piece of legislation shorter than this tweet.
Really: three words!
Here's how:
Really: three words!
Here's how:
2/ Loosely speaking, the U.S. had virtually open borders for everyone other than Chinese/East Asians until 1917.
The visa system was then formalized in 1924 based on white supremacist "national origins quotas" explicitly designed to favor white northern/western Europeans.
The visa system was then formalized in 1924 based on white supremacist "national origins quotas" explicitly designed to favor white northern/western Europeans.
3/ As strange as this is to think of today, we simply weren't keeping good track of who was coming to the country at a federal level until 1906 and there was no mandatory requirement that new immigrants register with the government once here.
There wouldn't be until 1940.
There wouldn't be until 1940.
1/ 48 hours after Trump's ICE was given the green light to use "expedited removal" to deport non-citizens ANYWHERE IN THE US w/o seeing a judge first, #SCOTUS has today confirmed that this power is unreviewable. I'm reading the decision now, initial thoughts below
2/ Alito writes for the majority, and in case you had any doubt about where he's been getting his news he leads with the Fox/#TantonNetwork view of #asylum. (FYI, the fact that most asylum apps are not granted is not a valid argument against asylum, but that's for another day.)
3/ In 1996 Congress (working closely with the Clinton admin) passed the single worst immigration bill in modern American history, aka #IIRIRA. Among many other terrible things, this bill both created the expedited removal process & strictly limited review of ERs in the courts
we are now
as of today
133 DAYS
from the beginning
of the
[say it with me now]
👉👉👉 POST-TRUMP ERA 👈👈👈
post TRUMP
POST
Trump
that is "post"
as in AFTER
as of today
133 DAYS
from the beginning
of the
[say it with me now]
👉👉👉 POST-TRUMP ERA 👈👈👈
post TRUMP
POST
Trump
that is "post"
as in AFTER
So yes: a lot of bad stuff is happening this week, especially in #immigrationpolicy.
Just here to remind you that this rollercoaster is about to come to a full & complete stop, & that there is no irreversible damage he can really do in his last few months.
Next: the real work!
Just here to remind you that this rollercoaster is about to come to a full & complete stop, & that there is no irreversible damage he can really do in his last few months.
Next: the real work!
It's mid-November. All of the votes are finally in and accounted for, and Trump has just been trounced in an absolutely historic landslide.
Will he act out? Sure. Will he try to do as much damage as possible? Probably.
Will anyone take him seriously? No.
Will he act out? Sure. Will he try to do as much damage as possible? Probably.
Will anyone take him seriously? No.
As Americans continue to gather for justice & real change, @DOJ_EOIR has been closing #immigrationcourts in major urban centers throughout the US early due to "civil unrest"--but Eloy is well outside of Phoenix in the AZ desert. Are the rattlesnakes rising up, or
oh come ON
Just a few examples from the last few days
I've seen this episode of "Messiah," & to the extent that I could (and this is true) stop laughing through most of it the portrayal of ICE detention was one of the few things I thought it basically got *right.*
Here's a thread on just a few of the things it didn't:
(1/209198)
Here's a thread on just a few of the things it didn't:
(1/209198)
2/ Up top: "Messiah" is smart TV for stupid people. It's Very Serious #resistance theater.
I haven't seen "Homeland," but I guess it's a similar setup except instead of being a possible terrorist our guy (hereinafter "Sexy Jesus") might *also* be the Second Coming, or something
I haven't seen "Homeland," but I guess it's a similar setup except instead of being a possible terrorist our guy (hereinafter "Sexy Jesus") might *also* be the Second Coming, or something
3/ Anyway, all you really need to know is that Sexy Jesus has magicked himself from an Israeli interrogation cell to work a miracle in Dilley, Texas.
If that town sounds familiar, it's bc it has been a major family detention center since the Obama yrs.
thenation.com/article/archiv…
If that town sounds familiar, it's bc it has been a major family detention center since the Obama yrs.
thenation.com/article/archiv…
PROTIP: when an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court warns the reader 11 pages into a 17-page decision that your arguments are "not easy to unpack," you can stop reading and call your client to share the bad news
(yes, even when it is *this* associate justice of the United States Supreme Court)
That said, most #immigrationlaw arguments worth making aren't "easy to unpack," and *that's* why we get paid the big--uh, moving on
This keeps happening, so:
JAIL is where defendants are held pre-trial or (in MA) people w/misdemeanor convictions are sentenced to
PRISON is (in MA) where people w/felony convictions are sentenced to
ICE DETENTION is neither of these things (even if it happens to be in a jail)
JAIL is where defendants are held pre-trial or (in MA) people w/misdemeanor convictions are sentenced to
PRISON is (in MA) where people w/felony convictions are sentenced to
ICE DETENTION is neither of these things (even if it happens to be in a jail)
ICE arrests/detains pending DEPORTATION proceedings in #immigrationcourt, in which detainees are charged with CIVIL violations of the federal imm. law ranging from unlawful presence (if undocumented) to prior convictions for deportable offenses (if documented). No criminal aspect
So yes, people with greencards can be arrested and held in a Massachusetts jail BY ICE for minor decades-old drug convictions for which they have already paid in jail time/probation/fines, etc. Happens all the time. But they are *not being charged with a new crime.*
The entire American #immigrationcourt system is closed and all cases other than those of people in ICE custody will be rescheduled.
Next: release ICE detainees.
Let's drop the pretense that these people being held on civil immigration charges are any real danger to the public.
Next: release ICE detainees.
Let's drop the pretense that these people being held on civil immigration charges are any real danger to the public.
As of now:
USCIS: closed
#IMMIGRATIONCOURTS: closed for all but detained cases
CONSULATES: many closing to the public
ICE (actual quote): "We just have to continue to go with the same game plan that we've been doing."
latimes.com/california/sto…
USCIS: closed
#IMMIGRATIONCOURTS: closed for all but detained cases
CONSULATES: many closing to the public
ICE (actual quote): "We just have to continue to go with the same game plan that we've been doing."
latimes.com/california/sto…
#COVID19 will hit an ICE detention center.
This is a thing that is going to happen. And the facilities will, in many cases, be far less prepared than they are now.
ICE has authority--exclusive authority in many cases--to release every one of them now.
every
one
of
them
NOW
This is a thing that is going to happen. And the facilities will, in many cases, be far less prepared than they are now.
ICE has authority--exclusive authority in many cases--to release every one of them now.
every
one
of
them
NOW
CLOSE THE BOSTON IMMIGRATION COURT NOW
"It's a real public health issue," [Cameron] said.
#mapoli #bospoli #covid19
commonwealthmagazine.org/immigration/de…
"It's a real public health issue," [Cameron] said.
#mapoli #bospoli #covid19
commonwealthmagazine.org/immigration/de…
Also:
-release all (yes, all) ICE detainees
-suspend all USCIS interviews & naturalization ceremonies
-total moratorium on all deportations
Boston is a major nexus for this pandemic. Stop making people come here, and stop sending them out.
None of this is worth it.
-release all (yes, all) ICE detainees
-suspend all USCIS interviews & naturalization ceremonies
-total moratorium on all deportations
Boston is a major nexus for this pandemic. Stop making people come here, and stop sending them out.
None of this is worth it.
As noted in the story, the Boston #immigrationcourt is where non-citizens from RI, NH, VT, ME, and eastern MA are required to report for removal hearings upon pain of automatic deportation if they fail to appear. It's a perfect vector for spreading this all over New England.
Not that anyone asked me, but here's how the #immigration system should deal w/#covid19:
--suspend all #immigrationcourt
--suspend all #USCIS interviews
--automatically extend all ICE check-in 6 months
--release all ICE detainees
None of this is worth the risk. None of it.
--suspend all #immigrationcourt
--suspend all #USCIS interviews
--automatically extend all ICE check-in 6 months
--release all ICE detainees
None of this is worth the risk. None of it.
This is maybe the only upside to having #immigrationcourts not be Constitutional judicial bodies under Article III: they're optional. They are not such an essential part of government that they need to remain operational during a pandemic.
They're just not.
They're just not.
Call me alarmist, but there's no precaution too extreme for what New England is facing right now and we all should have started cutting non-essential public exposure weeks ago. Better now than waiting another day.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
An overwrought piano cover of "My Foolish Heart" is blasting here on the #Boston #immigrationcourt ICE detainee docket while the judge waits on an Arabic interpreter via phone and while it's no Bill Evans it is oddly soothing to this former quasi-pro jazz pianist rn
The #immigrationcourt ICE detainee docket is a sort of hellish cyberspace unmoored from space or time, like a casino or a McDonald's. I imagine they're the same everywhere. If you told me this endless but not unpleasant piano ballad had been going for an hour, I might believe you
As in at least 50% of my appearances here, I'm not being paid & don't expect to be. I barely made my mortgage payment this month. I threw my back out this weekend & have to do 2 full asylum hearings & teach 4 decades of immigration policy tomorrow. Piano jazz is a lovely reprieve
1/ A #Boston federal court decided last month for the 1st time in US history that it's ICE's job to prove an ICE detainee is dangerous rather than forcing the detainee to prove a negative. Here's a quick report on how this Boston-only ruling is playing out in my home court.
2/ 1st, I've always found it frankly bizarre that #immigrationcourts required that *detainees* prove that they shouldn't be in ICE custody. This goes against centuries of common law, if not common sense. The govt should *always* have to justify taking someone's liberty. Always.
3/ In practice, putting the burden of proving "non-dangerousness" in #immigrationcourt required us to gather every relevant page of criminal records (including police reports), even for cases which had been dismissed/dropped, in a matter of days. Not my favorite part of the job.
1/ BREAKING: #ASYLUM LAW
As #impeachment dominates the news cycle the war on #asylum still rages... and the Trump administration just dropped another daisycutter.
This whole thing is *far* worse than this headline might suggest, so let's just into it.
As #impeachment dominates the news cycle the war on #asylum still rages... and the Trump administration just dropped another daisycutter.
This whole thing is *far* worse than this headline might suggest, so let's just into it.
2/ 1st, remember that "criminal aliens" is one of the Trump administration's favorite phrases, intentionally used to associate crime w/refugees, asylum seekers, &Central Americans generally. (MEDIA: This is a very knowing psy-ops campaign; please don't perpetuate it)
3/ International law *does* allow member states of the Refugee Convention to restrict the right of asylum to those convicted of "particularly serious crimes" and even return such people there even knowing they face will face persecution. It's clearly for extreme cases.
IMM JUDGE: Sir, I scheduled a hearing today so that you could file an application. Do you have that?
DETAINEE [in Spanish]: I couldn't.
IJ: You couldn't fill it out?
D: Idk how
IJ: maybe someone who speaks Spanish & English could help
D: I don't have any friends
DETAINEE [in Spanish]: I couldn't.
IJ: You couldn't fill it out?
D: Idk how
IJ: maybe someone who speaks Spanish & English could help
D: I don't have any friends
IJ: I see here that you have 2 US citizen children and no criminal record. You may be eligible for a greencard.
D: I want to leave.
IJ: Are you sure?
D: I tried to find help. No one could help me.
IJ: Sir, it doesn't have to be a lawyer. There may be other people to help you
D: I want to leave.
IJ: Are you sure?
D: I tried to find help. No one could help me.
IJ: Sir, it doesn't have to be a lawyer. There may be other people to help you
IJ: You understand that you'd be up your rights and accepting deportation.
D [thinking]: OK. My children need me. Let's try.
I see something like this every time I'm waiting through the #immigrationcourt detained docket. None of these people have a right to appointed counsel.
D [thinking]: OK. My children need me. Let's try.
I see something like this every time I'm waiting through the #immigrationcourt detained docket. None of these people have a right to appointed counsel.
We were just notified that a young client has died of terminal cancer. You might think this sad news finish an immigration attorney's duties here--but, no.
If I am unable to prove his passing to the #immigrationcourt, my client's file will close with an order of deportation.
If I am unable to prove his passing to the #immigrationcourt, my client's file will close with an order of deportation.
For as absurd as it sounds, this isn't an unreasonable policy. While I knew he was facing a terminal illness I have nothing but an extended relative's word, and it's not inconceivable that someone would fake death to avoid deportation
*would finish
Just had to file my first application for an ICE detainee who entered the US after 7/16/19 & is now barred from #asylum (but still technically eligible for lesser forms of protection) under new Trump rule.
Said it before, but again: this is illegal, & it will get people killed.
Said it before, but again: this is illegal, & it will get people killed.
The case will now be reviewed for a 51% chance of persecution rather than 10%. (Yes, the law really does reduce these life & death cases to betting odds.) Being barred from #asylum also means no chance of truly permanent status or pathway to citizenship.
All very much the intent
All very much the intent
FYI my client presented near the Texas border seeking asylum & was immediately detained and flown to a county jail in Plymouth, Mass to await review by an #immigrationcourt.
You may have heard nativists talk about the "high costs of illegal immigration" ? This is the biggest one
You may have heard nativists talk about the "high costs of illegal immigration" ? This is the biggest one
