18 months ago, CCSD received this report about special education in the Las Vegas Valley. It is damning, finding racial disparities, inadequate curriculum, teacher qualifications and funding, and organizational problems. THREAD 1/x

go.boarddocs.com/nv/ccsdlv/Boar… Before highlighting some key failures, the elephant in the room: @GovSisolak and #NVLEG have not provided adequate funding for schools. They should not campaign on having fixed it (they haven’t). Nor should anyone criticize them without supporting the necessary taxes. 2/x

Today’s agenda from @lindacavazos13 and the @CCSD_Trustees has a slate of governance policies that aim to stifle open dissent among trustees and give @SuptJaraCCSD powers that authoritarian leaders would appreciate. Some examples: 1/x

https://twitter.com/ccsd_trustees/status/1435970783893803021

For example, in judging the performance of the Superintendent, there’s a proposal to allow the trustees to look only at evidence that the Superintendent agrees to. Richard Nixon might not have had to resign if he’d had the benefit of this governance policy. 2/x

Into the legal weeds of DACA: The Biden Admin has reiterated that it intends to bolster #DACA by issuing a regulation after a notice & comment process. This will address PART, and only part, of Judge Hanen's legal critique of DACA which led to Friday's injection. THREAD 1/x One of the legal objections to DACA has been that the Obama Admin issued it as a general policy statement (which can be done quickly), rather than giving the public notice and allowing comment, before issuing regulations. 2/x

Need to say something about how this @NickMiroff @mariasacchetti article is written. In a big scoop about ICE arrest and deportation policy, the article focuses on ICE AGENTS as the affected people, not immigrants who might be arrested and deported. 1/x

washingtonpost.com/national/new-b… The first response is from “one distraught [ICE] official.” After a few paragraphs describing the evolution of the Biden policies, the article describes “ICE officials chafing at the new rules.” It’s clear in this narrative: ICE agents are the center of the story. 2/x

There is a lot good in Pres. Biden’s order restoring the US refugee program today. Let me note a few items that stand out to me (possibly esoteric.) 1/x The call to make the program accessible to victims of gender violence is important. As I am sure the WH knows, this will require further action by the AG to revoke and revise the Sessions/Barr mutilations of asylum and refugee law. 2/x

The @ClarkCountySch, @SuptJaraCCSD and @CCSD_Trustees have not yet withdrawn their proposed regulation to silence teachers from talking about their jobs. They should. But they won't be able to take back the authoritarian impulse that they have revealed. (THREAD 1/x)

https://twitter.com/aleksappleton/status/1331730124090142720

If enacted, the regulation would be unconstitutional. I won't focus on that (@AriCohn has already done a great job at it). We should worry that @ClarkCountySch is not getting good legal advice. But my concern is what this says about district leadership, not its lawyers. (2/x)

Six broad, initial thoughts about how to defend immigrant rights in concrete law & policy, as it appears likely that Biden will be president and Rs will control the Senate. (Thread) 1. Trump’s electoral defeat is a true victory against racism and fear, but it is a defensive victory. It stems the bleeding, and maybe only temporarily. A very big battle, but not the war. Immigrants will remain under threat.

It's getting harder and harder to win asylum in Immigration Court in the United States (and that's no accident) -- Updated data from @TRACReports.

Short thread to follow on Las Vegas data from the report. 1/

trac.syr.edu/immigration/re… In Las Vegas, it is now plausible for a person with a strong case to hope to win asylum. That's new. Here's what I wrote about applying for asylum in Las Vegas in my book, THE BATTLE TO STAY IN AMERICA. I wrote this in 2019. 2/

In Oct 2019, the Las Vegas Sheriff, threatened with litigation and pressured by the community, agreed to limit his jail's cooperation with ICE. We now have some data hinting that this likely slowed deportations and kept families together in Las Vegas. (THREAD) 1/ My book, THE BATTLE TO STAY IN AMERICA focuses on this fight, a microcosm of a struggle that has taken place across the country to cut the jail-to-deportation pipeline. This report from @TRACReports - albeit with incomplete data - indicates that these fights were worth it. 2/

Yesterday, ICE announced - with great pride - 2000 arrests of people it wants to deport. It's significant ... and also a distraction. They want media, activists, and immigrant communities to focus on these arrests, the proverbial knock on the door. They're not the main attack. 1/

https://twitter.com/DHS_Wolf/status/1301314416768675840

In 2018, only about 1 in 5 deportations from inside the U.S. started with a direct arrest by ICE. The vast, vast majority (apprx 80%) begin with a largely hidden system by which local police hand people over to ICE. (Excerpt from The Battle to Stay in America.) 2/

I very much recommend this column by @adamjwhitedc and Yuval Levin to my progressive friends (and everyone, really). I have a few quick comments on it, but it is important and thought provoking. nationalreview.com/2020/08/the-re… 1/

https://twitter.com/adamjwhitedc/status/1292517805691219969

There is a subtle imbalance in the way Trump's executive actions are compared to Obama's. White/Levin describe Trump's recent EOs with precision, which as they point out shows the orders to be more limited than Trump's rhetoric and more arguably, narrowly constitutional.
2/

I teach immigration law. I recommend this thread by @juliettekayyem, debating @JulianCastro on 1325 repeal. It’s the best non-racist case that can probably be made for keeping 1325, beyond mere political calculation. But I believe her arguments to be flawed in 3 ways (thread):

https://twitter.com/juliettekayyem/status/1144098906017533952

1) Misdemeanor punishments don’t deter migration, although as we’ve seen formal criminalization can be the legal foundation for remarkable cruelty. In general in immigration policy, deterrence becomes a rationale for cruelty, and little more.