Lopez v. Garland - filed Sept. 11, 2024

Immigration Law The Board of Immigration Appeals’ determination that a theft offense constitutes a crime involving moral turpitude if it includes an intent to deprive either permanently or under circumstances where the owner’s property rights are substantially eroded is entitled to due respect but not binding deference. The lack of availability of a pardon for a conviction does not render the conviction an improper basis for removal. Lopez v. Garland - filed Sept. 11, 2024 Cite as 2024 S.O.S. 23-870 Full text click here >http://sos.metnews.com/sos.cgi?0924//23-870

California Service Center Relocates

On Aug. 12, the California Service Center (CSC) moved to a new facility as USCIS centralizes processing for immigration benefits. The new address is: USCIS California Service Center 2642 Michelle Drive Tustin, CA 92780 The CSC has three new P.O. boxes to intake U.S. Postal Service mail while UPS, FedEx, DHL, and all other commercial carrier mail will go to CSC’s new facility address. Individuals should refer to form filing address and contact pages on uscis.gov in the coming days to find the specific address information depending on the form or correspondence type being submitted. The previous mailing address for the CSC was WS 13057 P.O. Box 10751, Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-1075. We will continue to accept mail at this address until Sept. 30, 2024. After Sept 30, there will be a two-week grace period, during which time any mail received at the Laguna Niguel P.O. box will be forwarded to the Tustin P.O. box. Beginning Oct. 15, 2024, all mail received at the Laguna Niguel P.O. box will be returned as “Return to Sender.” Individuals responding to USCIS correspondence issued on or before Aug. 12, 2024, such as a Request for Evidence, Notice of Intent to Deny, or Notice of Intent to Revoke, should mail their responses to: USCIS CSC P.O. Box 30113/ALL OTHER Tustin, CA 92781 On Sept. 1, 2024, we changed the filing location for Form I-865, Sponsor’s Notice Change of Address, to the Texas Service Center address below: USCIS TSC Attn: I-865 6046 N. Belt Line Road, Suite 865 Irving, TX 75038-0021. There is a 60-day grace period for filings mailed to the California, Nebraska, or Vermont Service Center. These centers will reject any filing postmarked after Nov. 1, 2024. The reason for this change is to support the service centers’ ongoing efforts to increase efficiency and centralize the intake and digitization of forms. The CSC also has a new filing address for paper inquiries related to Form I-751 waivers based on battery or extreme cruelty. These inquiries will now be mailed to the addresses below: U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services California Service Center P.O. Box 30113 / ALL OTHER Tustin, CA 92781 FedEx, UPS, and DHL Deliveries: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services California Service Center 2642 Michelle Drive Tustin, CA 92780 As a reminder, service centers do not provide in-person services, conduct interviews, or receive walk-in applications, petitions, or questions. They work only on certain applications or petitions that applicants have mailed, filed online, or filed with a USCIS Lockbox. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Republicans use spending clash to highlight immigration issue

House Republicans are using this month’s government funding showdown to spotlight an immigration issue that can fuel their criticisms of Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic lawmakers ahead of the November elections. In a draft measure released Friday to keep the government funded after Sept. 30, the House included the text of another bill, dubbed the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and require states to remove noncitizens from their official lists of eligible voters. The Biden administration and Democrats oppose that noncitizen voting bill and are expected to try to block the measure from becoming law, in part because it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. But the bill dovetails into broader election arguments from Republican lawmakers and Trump that their party will be stronger on immigration and border security, as well as claims made without evidence that Harris and Democrats are seeking to get votes from immigrants without legal status. “Americans overwhelmingly agree that noncitizens shouldn’t vote,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted on social media Friday in support of the House push to attach it to the spending bill. “Although existing law nominally prohibits them from voting in federal elections, noncitizens can easily register to vote — just by checking a box on a form while applying for a driver’s license,” Lee wrote. Elon Musk is among voices who have echoed claims that Democrats are seeking to bring in migrants with the plan of having them vote, while other Republicans have taken legal action to have noncitizens removed from voter rolls. A House vote in July on the SAVE Act showed that the issue could cause some swing-district Democrats to peel away from their party. Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Donald Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas and Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez of Washington joined Republicans to pass the measure on a 221-198 vote. And, earlier, seven Democrats joined Republicans in voting for a resolution that chastised Harris on the Biden administration’s immigration record. Campaign and courts The issue is already hot on the campaign trail and in the election fight. America First Legal, which is led by former Trump immigration adviser Stephen Miller, announced on Wednesday his legal firm filed an amended lawsuit broadening existing litigation to target 15 counties in Arizona — including Maricopa, the state’s largest county — for failing to remove noncitizens from its voter rolls. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Bexar County over its plan to mail out hundreds of thousands of resident voter registration forms, citing the lack of authority to send unsolicited forms and the estimated 6,500 noncitizens removed from state voter rolls since 2021. Trump said he “absolutely” would support the idea of attaching the SAVE Act to must-pass spending legislation, when asked if that were the case by Monica Crowley of Fox News during her podcast on Aug. 29, although Trump said he wouldn’t stop there. Under questioning about Congress’ approach to the continuing resolution, Trump said Republicans should pursue a broader strategy that includes paper ballots as well as another Republican border security bill that takes a hard-line approach to immigration. “The SAVE Act is just one element,” Trump said. “They ought to go into a whole thing where you want to have borders, they ought to focus on borders. You know, the House bill that was passed, that’s the real bill that should be passed. But they get on the original one, and not this horrible one that was foisted upon us by some people that had a bad day, but they ought to focus on borders and elections.” Asked if he would support a government shutdown if the SAVE Act weren’t part of the continuing resolution, Trump said he’d “shut down the government in a heartbeat,” criticizing Democrats for overspending. The Biden administration has also come out against the voting measure, which helps Republicans connect the issue to Harris if it does not get signed into law. “This bill would do nothing to safeguard our elections, but it would make it much harder for all eligible Americans to register to vote and increase the risk that eligible voters are purged from voter rolls,” a statement of administrative policy said. “The evidence is clear that the current laws to prevent noncitizen voting are working as intended — it is extraordinarily rare for noncitizens to break the law by voting in Federal elections.” Instead, the Biden administration said Republicans who want to do something about illegal immigration and border security should vote on the border deal that Biden negotiated with a bipartisan group of senators. Harris has pointed to that same deal as immigration measures she would seek to sign into law if elected. The issue could come up during the debate with Trump on Sept. 10, which would coincide with legislative activity on the continuing resolution in Congress. Lawmaker debate House Republicans are framing the SAVE Act as essential to election integrity and needed to prevent states from allowing noncitizens to vote at a time when the Biden administration has been blamed for mass illegal immigration into the country. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., said during floor debate in July the evidence noncitizens are on the voting rolls presents a danger to the electorate at a time when the outcome of the 2024 election is expected to be close. “Every illegal vote cancels out the vote of a legal American citizen,” Steil said. “Illegal voting risks swaying elections. Ensuring our laws are being enforced to prevent noncitizen voting is critical. Some will say that illegal voting is already illegal for noncitizens, but it is also illegal to evade the Border Patrol and enter our country illegally. Yet, that hasn’t stopped almost anyone.” Steil pointed to statistics that Illinois removed almost 600 noncitizens from its voter rolls and a Georgia audit that recently determined more than 1,600 noncitizens had attempted to register. In Pennsylvania, a state that may well determine the outcome of the 2024 election, Steil said almost 10,000 noncitizens were removed from their rolls. In August, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced he had signed an executive order that streamlined the voter rolls in his state, an effort he said included the removal of more than 6,300 noncitizens from registration. According to a report by NBC News, local election officials in Virginia said the presence of noncitizens on the voter rolls could be the result of “errors made when people fill out paper or online forms or when they respond to a question about citizenship on a touchpad device at the department of motor vehicles.” Rep. Joseph D. Morelle, D-N.Y., said during the floor debate in July the requirements for additional documentation to register to vote under the SAVE Act would block certain Republican constituencies as well as Democrats exercising the right to vote. “Let’s be very clear: What is a voter supposed to do if they don’t have a passport?” Morelle said. “What if their Real ID, like almost every American, does not show citizenship status? The SAVE Act will not allow them to register, especially millions upon millions of American women, students, servicemembers, Native voters and many more.” For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Indian migrants drive surge in northern U.S. border crossings

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — A group of immigrants from India pile out of a taxi minivan beside the Clinton County, New York, government building in this small upstate city half an hour from the Canadian border. They are quickly swarmed by a half a dozen fellow Indian immigrants who’ve waited hours for this business opportunity. This fleet of jitney taxis offering migrants rides south to New York City is one clear example of the informal economy that’s sprung up following a significant increase in unauthorized crossings across the usually sleepy northern border over the last year and a half. Sponsor Message “I rent a car, I come here,” Says Shivam, a 20-year-old driver from India who goes by only a surname. “So people coming, I’m just helping them.” But make no mistake, this is business, and business is booming. A Haitian family listens to Creole mass in Springfield, Ohio. National How Springfield, Ohio, took center stage in the election immigration debate So far this year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have had nearly 20,000 encounters with migrants between ports of entry on the northern border. That’s a 95% increase from last year. It’s not entirely clear what’s driving this increase, but nearly 60% of those encounters were with Indian nationals. Shivam and other drivers charge anywhere from $150 to up to $300 per person for the six-hour drive to the Big Apple. There migrants will search for work or head to other cities across America. What’s driving the increase? Shivam himself crossed into the U.S. illegally a few weeks ago, through the thick woods connecting Canada to upstate New York. He says it was challenging. “I had to walk through the forest and at night it’s dark and there’s lots of trees and bushes and the forest is full of mud because of the rain,” Shivam says. He’s now awaiting a hearing in front of an immigration judge after claiming asylum in the U.S. But he admits, he came here mostly for work, and because “I get more opportunities in the U.S. compared to Canada.” Sponsor Message Pablo Bose, director of the Global and Regional Studies Program at the University of Vermont, says the reasons for why most Indian immigrants come to the U.S. varies, and are different to those of Central and South Americans. Migrants from those countries often are fleeing violence, government oppression, and organized crime. That’s the reason the U.S. southern border saw an increase in unauthorized crossings through 2023. Rafaias Villan, 38, in La Guaira, Catia la Mar a barrio right outside of Caracas. Rafaias is considering leaving Venezuela following the disputed election results last month. National Venezuelans in US anxiously watch home crisis, brace for new migration surge In December, CBP officials reported nearly 371,000 encounters with unauthorized migrants, a record high. But those numbers have gone down since the beginning of the year, in part due to Mexico’s increased enforcement, and the Biden administration’s measures limiting eligibility for asylum. At the northern U.S. border, the number of unauthorized crossings pale in comparison. Still, the increase has put some communities on edge. Most of the migrants crossing through Canada are Indian nationals. In June, unauthorized crossings of Indians here hit an all-time high, with about 3,600 attempting to cross between ports of entry. “For some of the Indian families (the motivation) has definitely been economic opportunity, reunification with family,” Bose says. He says part of the reason so many Indians come to the U.S. through Canada first is because of the northern neighbor’s favorable immigration policies. For instance, until recently, migrants in Canada who were on a visitor's visa could apply for a temporary work permit there. Canada also has an express entry policy for skilled migrants who want to live there. So why are they crossing into the U.S.? Bose says there are simply more jobs in more industries. “We have a significant swathe of Indians who end up broadly speaking in the services and hospitality industries, especially in larger cities like New York and Chicago where there’s an ability to disappear into the immigrant workforce,” Bose says. Sponsor Message He added migrants believe the U.S. has more to offer than Canada, like lower taxes and higher wages. “It’s not lost on most migrants that the U.S. dollar is 25% stronger than the Canadian,” Bose says. People from all over the world use the northern border Crossing the northern border is not free of dangers or easy. Migrants can face freezing winter temperatures. They can also be denied asylum quicker, on the spot, as part of an agreement between the U.S. and Canada. Still, many perceive this route safer than traveling to the U.S. through the dangerous parts of Central America, or the Mexican desert. Yasmelin Velazquez, 35, from Venezuela sits with her sons Jordan Velazquez, 3, (L) and Jeremias Velazquez, 2, (R) while selling souvenirs in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua state, Mexico on Saturday, June 29, 2024. Velazquez is part of a growing number of migrants staying in Juárez and working while trying to get an appointment via the CBP One application. National Illegal crossings hit Biden-era low as migrants wait longer for entry Migrants from Venezuela, Nigeria, Haïti and other countries arrive at the Roxham Road border crossing in Roxham, Quebec, on March 2, 2023. Migrants from Venezuela, Nigeria, Haïti and other countries arrive at the Roxham Road border crossing in Roxham, Quebec, on March 2, 2023. Sebastien ST-JEAN/AFP via Getty Images/AFP Deivy Morales, a 25-year-old Venezuelan, knows this too well. After his asylum case languished for two years in Canada, a frustrated Morales decided to cross into New York State. “I came during the day and I saw mosquitoes that looked like helicopters,” Morales jokes. He walked for about three hours in the woods until he was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol. This was a familiar scene for him. A few years ago Morales crossed illegally into the U.S. from Mexico. But he’s back on American soil after his family moved to Chicago from Venezuela. “I haven’t seen my family in almost three years,” Morales says. “I have to see them.” As he figures out how to get there, an Indian taxi driver offers him a ride south. Morales says he only has $150 Canadian dollars. The Indian driver tells him that’s “no good.” “This is the U.S., not Canada,” the driver tells him. Eventually he tells Morales he will drive him. Morales is then rushed to get into an SUV with a group of Haitian immigrants. The driver — a different Indian driver — tells him it’s about a six-hour car ride down on I-87 to New York City. Sponsor Message Other drivers stay put at the bus stop — they know a new wave of migrants is sure to show up soon. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

They won their immigration cases. But months later, they still await release

When an immigration judge agreed it was dangerous for Jose Melvin Gonzalez to be deported to his home country of El Salvador, he thought he would be getting released from a detention center right away. Gonzalez won his immigration case back in April. Since then, his claim was appealed by ICE and he remains in a facility in Pennsylvania, some 2,000 miles away from his wife and four kids in California. "Once you get granted relief, it's like they finally see what you're telling them is true, that your life really is at risk," he said. "But then they keep your life on hold and there's so much uncertainty with what may happen or when I may get back to my family." Sponsor Message Government's own experts found 'barbaric' and 'negligent' conditions in ICE detention Investigations Government's own experts found 'barbaric' and 'negligent' conditions in ICE detention The 45-year-old is one of the many individuals held in custody for months, or even years, after winning their immigration cases. Oftentimes, they are told they have to wait in detention centers while immigration officials appeal the judge's decision or search for a third country to deport them to. But immigration attorneys say ICE appeals are often not approved and third-country deportations rarely materialize — simply delaying immigrants' release from detention. On Tuesday, 80 immigrant rights groups and legal service providers sent a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement urging the immediate release of immigrants who have won their cases. The letter states that those individuals should be allowed to return to their communities even if ICE continues to pursue deportation. The signers argue that prolonged detention causes prolonged suffering. "While that happens, community members can’t restart their life, missing birthdays, holidays, and all the days in between with their children and loved ones," said Trevor Kosmo, an attorney at the Asian Law Caucus, one of several organizations that wrote the letter. The decisions behind a person's release from ICE detention are case by case. A spokesperson for ICE said the agency’s main priority is to "protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws." Sponsor Message In Jose Melvin Gonzalez's case, he was granted protection under the U.N. Convention against Torture (CAT), which bars the U.S. from both using torture directly and deporting people to other countries where they will likely be tortured. Unlike asylum claims, CAT protection does not provide a legal pathway to citizenship. It puts immigrants in a weird bind where a judge ruled it is not safe for them to be deported to their home country but did not explicitly grant them legal status here in the U.S. Still, immigration attorneys say there is no reason to keep immigrants detained, adding that ICE has tools to monitor people beyond detention, like routine mandatory check-ins. GEO Group sickened ICE detainees with hazardous chemicals for months, a lawsuit says Law GEO Group sickened ICE detainees with hazardous chemicals for months, a lawsuit says "If you win fear-based protection, in the vast majority of situations, you are going to eventually be released. So why not be released right away?" said Gonzalez's attorney Austin Rose, who is with the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights and helped draft the letter. Gonzalez and his family fled to the U.S. when he was 8 years old amid El Salvador's civil war. He was a green-card holder, but was deported in his 30s after getting caught helping a friend deal drugs. When he arrived in El Salvador in 2015, Gonzalez said, police officers threatened to put him in the country's notorious prisons. Fearing for his life, Gonzalez illegally returned to Los Angeles. He lived in hiding for six years until he got caught and was put back in ICE custody last year. It's been five months since he won CAT protection. Gonzalez said the entire legal battle has worn him out mentally. His only strength has been the thought of reuniting with his family. "Every day here counts," he said. "Sitting here, it's another day where I can't do anything. I can't do things for my kids, I can't help them with their homework. I can't support my wife." Sponsor Message Rigoberto Hernandez Martinez, 26, from Mexico still remembers the gut punch he felt when he learned he would not be going home right away. After he won CAT protection, he said, ICE officials were looking for another country to deport him to. The thought of being taken to an unfamiliar country caused him to spiral. ICE releases investigation into immigrant's death after months of 'inexcusable' delay Investigations ICE releases investigation into immigrant's death after months of 'inexcusable' delay "I couldn't sleep. I was up all night," he said. "Crazy thoughts crossed my mind, like should I just close my eyes and never wake up?" Hernandez Martinez grew up in the U.S. from the time he was around 8 years old. He was arrested at 19 for throwing an empty beer can at someone while drunk. After serving prison time for being convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, he was taken to ICE custody, where he was detained for nearly two years. He was granted CAT protection in August of 2023 and released two months later. Since then, he has enrolled in college in Monterey County, California, and has been working as an interpreter. Despite CAT protection, he is still not eligible for a green card or any other legal pathways toward citizenship. "You still live in fear because it is not a guarantee that you will stay here forever," he said. "But this is where my heart is at. This is where I want to see my children be born in, the land of opportunities and because it's safe." For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

House Republicans push to link government funding to a citizenship check for new voters

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson is heeding the demands of the more conservative wing of his Republican conference and has teed up a vote this week on a bill that would keep the federal government funded for six more months and require states to obtain proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, when registering a person to vote. Congress needs to approve a stop-gap spending bill before the end of the budget year on Sept. 30 to avoid a government shutdown just a few weeks before voters go the polls and elect the next president. Johnson’s decision to combine the proof of citizenship mandate with government funding complicates prospects for getting that task done. The bill is not expected to go anywhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate, if it even makes it that far. But the effort could help Johnson, R-La., next year should House Republicans retain their majority and he seeks to become speaker again. The vote also could give Republicans an issue to go after Democrats in competitive swing districts as Republicans make immigration-related matters a campaign cornerstone. Advertisement “Today, House Republicans are taking a critically important step to keep the federal government funded and to secure our federal election process,” Johnson said Friday. “Congress has a responsibility to do both, and we must ensure that only American citizens can decide American elections.” Related Stories House Republican unveil bill to avoid government shutdown Speaker Johnson pushes ahead on funding bill with proof of citizenship mandate Hakeem Jeffries rejects GOP spending bill as 'unserious and unacceptable' Democrats will oppose the GOP effort overwhelmingly and warn that any continuing resolution must have buy-in from both political parties. They said Johnson was making the same mistake then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., did a year ago as he tried to placate conservatives. In the end, they rejected his efforts, forcing him to rely on Democrats to get a temporary spending bill passed. That fight led just a few days later to eight Republicans joining with Democrats in removing McCarthy from the speaker’s job. “As we have said repeatedly, avoiding a government shutdown requires bipartisanship, not a bill drawn up by one party. Speaker Johnson is making the same mistake as former Speaker McCarthy did a year ago, by wasting precious time catering to the hard MAGA right, Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Patty Murray of Washington state said in a statement, referring to Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. “This tactic didn’t work last September and it will not work this year either.” Advertisement They said that if Johnson “drives House Republicans down this highly partisan path, the odds of a shutdown go way up, and Americans will know that the responsibility of a shutdown will be on the House Republicans’ hands.” Schumer is the Senate’s majority leader. Murray leads the Senate Appropriations Committee. The voter registration measure is popular with House Republicans. The House Freedom Caucus, which generally includes the chamber’s most conservative members, called for it to be attached to a stop-gap bill that would keep the government funded into early 2025. Republicans say that requiring proof of citizenship would ensure U.S. elections are only for American citizens, improving confidence in the nation’s federal election system, something that Trump has sought to undermine over the years. Opponents say it is already against the law for noncitizens to vote in federal elections and that the document requirements would disenfranchise millions of people who do not have the necessary documents readily available when they get a chance to register, say at a concert, county fair or at a college voter registration drive. In an earlier vote on the voter registration bill, Republicans unanimously backed it while all but five Democrats voted against it. President Joe Biden’s administration strongly opposed that measure, saying the the alleged justification for the bill is easily disproven. Some Republicans are arguing that if Schumer will allow a vote, assuming the bill passes the House, then a government shutdown would be on him. “If Chuck Schumer decides he doesn’t want to bring it, then Chuck Schumer will be deciding that he wants to shut down government. It’s not us,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., during an interview on Fox Business News. Advertisement Trump and other Republicans have revved up their complaints about the issue of noncitizens voting with the influx of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border under Biden’s administration. They are contending Democrats let them in to add them to the voter rolls. But the available evidence shows that noncitizen voting in federal elections is incredibly rare. Another major question to address as part of the short-term spending bill is how long to extend funding. Before the August recess, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said he preferred that the next president be able to pursue top priorities without the distraction of a messy spending fight. But the House Freedom Caucus is banking on Trump winning the White House and putting the GOP in better position to secure the spending cuts and policy priorities they desire. So they want to extend funding until after the inauguration in January. Congress returns to Washington on Monday after spending the past five weeks back in their home states and districts. The short-term bill is necessary because the House and Senate are nowhere near completing their work on the dozen annual spending bills that keep government agencies and programs operational during the coming budget year. So far, the House has passed five of the 12 annual spending bills, while the Senate has passed none, though the Senate has opted to take a more bipartisan approach to the challenge by moving 11 of the bills through the Senate Appropriations Committee with broad support from lawmakers in both parties. Meanwhile, Republicans in the House are using their majority to push bills through with the vast majority of Democrats in opposition. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Campaign advertising’s dark turn

MURDER SHE WROTE — When Vice President Kamala Harris takes the debate stage against former President Donald Trump Tuesday evening, she’ll be charged with responding to weeks of attacks from the Trump campaign and its allied Super PACs for allegedly being soft on crime. It’s not exactly a novel line of criticism — for decades, Republicans have blasted Democrats, whom they accuse of not doing enough about crime in America. But in this election cycle, political advertising on the issue has gotten notably more serious and intense, in particular highlighting the murders of white Americans at the hands of largely undocumented immigrants. Where there were once fears that an ad that’s too menacing could spark backlash, this year there are no holds barred. Campaigns around the country are tapping into the raw emotions that are sparked by seeing a dead American’s relatives on screen. In an advertisement from the pro-Trump Preserve America PAC, funded largely by Miriam Adelson, the mother of an 18-year-old who was killed by an undocumented immigrant in 2015 addressed the camera directly about her son’s death. “[My son] was murdered by an illegal alien. He was tortured, strangled to death and then set on fire,” says Laura Wilkerson. Wilkerson was featured prominently in a 2016 Trump ad lambasting Hillary Clinton as well. But her description of his death and her attack on Harris are more direct than the 2016 vintage. “I fear that if Kamala Harris is elected president there will be so many more mothers that will have to go through the things that my family did — kids dying of fentanyl, more kids dying of gang violence, it’s going to get worse under Kamala Harris. I don’t want your family to suffer,” she continued. At the Republican National Convention, they hit a similar theme. Gold Star families of U.S. service members who were killed in the midst of the withdrawal from Afghanistan came on stage to blast President Joe Biden (before he dropped out of the race) and Harris, blaming them for their loved ones’ deaths and failing to properly acknowledge their memory. Trump then courted controversy when he tried to hammer that message home at the Arlington National Cemetery, which doesn’t allow for political statements on their grounds. The most famous example of a political advertisement playing on Americans’ fears of murder remains the 1988 George H.W. Bush “Willie Horton” ad, which attacked his opponent Michael Dukakis for allowing Horton, a prisoner serving time for a murder in the midst of a robbery, to go on a furlough during which he committed more crimes. Experts have credited the ad with helping Bush defeat Dukakis, but also with playing into ugly racial animus in the country. This election cycle, much of the starkest political advertising involving murder has included the specter of illegal immigration. During the State of the Union, a conservative advocacy group ran an ad blasting Biden’s policies, which they argue led to the murder of Laken Riley, a nursing student killed on a jog; the police indicted José Antonio Ibarra, who entered the U.S. illegally, in the case. “Laken Riley should have been able to go on a run in broad daylight without being murdered by an illegal immigrant. But Joe Biden promised not to deport illegal immigrants,” the voiceover in the advertisement read. (Biden’s deportation record is near that of the Trump presidency, according to the Migration Policy Institute.) Another ad posted online in June highlights the 2023 murder of Rachel Morin, and connects her death to Riley’s. “Laken Riley wasn’t the first. And in Joe Biden’s America, sadly she won’t be the last,” the narrator says. The suspected killer in the Morin case was also in the country illegally. An ad in Wisconsin attempted to link Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin with the killing of six people in the state at a Christmas parade in 2021. In New Hampshire, Kelly Ayotte’s Republican gubernatorial campaign had to apologize after an ad of hers falsely stated that a woman named Denise Robert was killed while her opponent Joyce Craig was the mayor of Manchester; Robert’s murder came two years before Craig became mayor. For Republicans, though, the barrage of ads have served to connect the issue of illegal immigration to that of crime and safety. And the concept has serious purchase with much of their base. Just this weekend, a post spread like wildfire in right-wing circles that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were capturing, killing and eating ducks and cats in the area. JD Vance, Ted Cruz and the House Judiciary GOP X account have all posted on social media about the alleged incidents; the Springfield Police Department said this morning they’ve received no reports about pets being abducted and eaten. Republicans are far from alone in using fear as a motivator to get to the polls. Democrats have based much of their 2024 campaign strategy themselves on the idea that a second Trump term could effectively end democracy in the U.S. But the specific attacks on rising crime — related often to immigration — have become a favorite and effective talking point on the right. The question now is whether these advertisements, many of which were written to beat Biden (and name checked him directly) will work on Harris in the same way. Harris has made up some ground on Trump on the issue of crime, but she remains relatively weak on immigration. And she’ll try to use her prosecutorial background in order to head off the idea that she’s soft on crime at the pass. The litany of attack ads involving murdered Americans, though, could just be a preview of how Trump hopes to go after Harris in Tuesday’s debate and in the last two months of the campaign. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Biden plans to keep target of 125,000 refugees next year, internal report says

WASHINGTON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's administration plans to keep its target of accepting 125,000 refugees next year, according to an internal report to U.S. lawmakers reviewed by Reuters, signaling a refugee ramp-up will continue if Kamala Harris wins the White House. The Biden administration is on pace to bring in 100,000 people through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in fiscal year 2024, which ends on Sept. 30, according to the document, which has not been previously reported. If successful, that would be the highest level in three decades. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Immigration is a top voter concern in the run-up to Nov. 5 elections that will pit Harris, a Democrat and Biden's vice president, against Republican Donald Trump. Trump greatly curtailed refugee admissions during his 2017-2021 presidency and has pledged a wide-ranging immigration crackdown if reelected. The State Department said in a statement that it shared Biden's vision of a refugee resettlement program "that reflects the generosity and core values of the United States" but declined to comment on the coming year's plan. Advertisement · Scroll to continue The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program typically is available to people outside of their home countries who face persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Applicants must be outside the U.S. to qualify for the status. Biden first aimed for 125,000 refugee admissions in fiscal year 2022, an ambitious target that has remained elusive even after years of stepping up refugee processing. The video player is currently playing an ad. 00:06 Lawmakers honor U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan The Biden administration also has increased refugee entries from Latin America, part of a strategy to provide more legal pathways in the region amid record levels, opens new tab of displacement. Refugee Council USA, a coalition of humanitarian groups, had called on Biden, opens new tab in August to raise the target in fiscal 2025 to at least 135,000, citing rising need around the world. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Ohio city with Haitian migrant influx thrust into political spotlight

Amna Nawaz: Today the small city of Springfield, Ohio, found itself at the center of a fraught election-year issue, immigration. Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance claims Haitian migrants in Springfield are — quote — "draining social services and causing chaos." He's also repeated a baseless rumor, already debunked by city officials, about pets being abducted and eaten, a story amplified by right-wing media and Elon Musk online. Geoff Bennett: Over the last four years, Springfield has seen its small population grow by over 20 percent, driven almost entirely by immigrants. William Brangham recently went to Springfield to understand how the city is coping. William Brangham: The sounds of Haitian Creole carrying across soccer fields, in grocery stores, in restaurants dishing up the popular Haitian street food pate kode. It's striking hearing all this in the heartland of the United States Springfield, Ohio. Springfield is a small, blue-collar city with a familiar story. Much of the factory work left decades ago, and the residents followed. A community of more than 80,000, emptied out to less than 60,000, that is, until the last few years. Wes Babian, Springfield Resident: Our churches, we see new people. William Brangham: In the pews? Wes Babian: Yes, absolutely. William Brangham: Wes Babian was the pastor at First Baptist church for almost 20 years. Wes Babian: For years, we have lost people. But you hope somebody else will come and take their place. That hasn't happened here. William Brangham: Until now. Wes Babian: Because there are folks from Haiti who are coming to church. William Brangham: Luckens Merzius, who among his many other jobs mans the sound board for Sunday services, is one of those new Haitian members. Luckens Merzius, Springfield Resident: Why Springfield? (Laughter) William Brangham: Of all places. Merzius with his wife and daughter were among the first Haitian families to arrive here in 2018. Luckens Merzius: I got a decent job when I was in Haiti. And then to make a difficult decision to leave, it wasn't easy. William Brangham: The reason they left is their home country is disintegrating. Protests and increasing violence in the Caribbean nation culminated in the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021. Since then, the country spiraled. Armed gangs currently control 80 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Merzius is one of the estimated 731,000 Haitian immigrants now living in the United States. Luckens Merzius: I got my brothers and sisters, my mother still living there. I'm always thinking about my family in Haiti. William Brangham: Because of that violence, the U.S. granted temporary protected status to Haitians in the U.S., giving them limited-time permission to live and work here. TPS was then expanded by the Biden administration. Merzius says he came to Springfield for the same reason most Haitians did. He heard that housing was cheap and jobs were plentiful. Jamie McGregor, CEO, McGregor Metal: It started slowly. We had an application pool that was a little bit different. William Brangham: People coming to work here. Jamie McGregor: People looking for jobs. What he is welding here, again, are welded axle components. William Brangham: Jamie McGregor is the CEO of McGregor Metal, which makes welded parts for the auto and farm industries. Right now, about 10 percent of his work force is Haitian, over 30 employees. Jamie McGregor: I wish I had 30 more. Our Haitian associates come to work every day. They don't have a drug problem. They will stay at their machine. They will achieve their numbers. They are here to work. And so, in general, that's a stark difference from what were used to in our community. William Brangham: McGregor acknowledges the sudden arrival of so many new immigrants is a challenge on multiple fronts, but he believes this is partly how the Industrial Midwest can regrow Jamie McGregor: We want more jobs in our community. And in order to fill those jobs, some jobs need to be people who are not originally from here. Rob Rue, Mayor of Springfield, Ohio: There's things in the last five years that have really changed and has been a forward improvement for Springfield. But this is taxing the resources of the city. William Brangham: Springfield's Mayor Rob Rue says he was cautiously optimistic when the first Haitians settled in town. But then their numbers quickly rose. The city estimates 12,000 to 15,000 Haitians are here now. Rob Rue: The infrastructure of the city, our safety forces, our hospitals, our schools. Springfield is a close community and has a big heart. But at the same point, we have had this influx that has taxed all these services. William Brangham: The number of students needing English language help has quadrupled in five years. Translators at the local health center cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. And last year was the busiest year on record for the fire department. But it seemed that, for the community at large, the increase in immigration and its stresses largely flew under the radar. A lot of that changed last August. It was the very first day of school, and a school bus full of kids was coming down this road. A driver coming in the other direction came around that bend, said he was blinded by the sun. He clipped the bus and the bus ended up in this ditch. Woman: We begin with breaking news. Multiple law enforcement agencies are on the scene of a deadly school bus crash. William Brangham: Dozens of children were injured and 11-year-old Aiden Clark died. When the driver was revealed to be a Haitian immigrant without a U.S. license, things erupted. Woman: The majority of the Haitians here are low-skilled and thy illiterate. Man: I want to know who is busing them in. Who is responsible for that and who can stop them from coming? William Monaghan, Springfield Resident: Our concerns don't have anything to do with racism. They have to do with lack of affordable housing. William Brangham: For the past few months, Springfield resident and former journalist William Monaghan has been a fixture at city commission meetings. He helps run a Facebook group that's become a clearinghouse for locals' concerns about the Haitians, where people complain about everything from reckless driving to higher rents. Woman: Do you shop in Springfield? No. Do you drive the streets of Springfield? No. Do you consider Springfield your home? No. Are your kids safe in school? No. William Monaghan: They're talking about, I got kicked out of my house because the rent went way up. My insurance has gone way up. I don't feel safe in the stores anymore. With maybe a couple exceptions, it's never a race issue. They want to make it sound like a racial issue so they can demonize us and ignore our concerns. But these are valid concerns. Rob Rue: I have the same concerns that you as moms and dads, grandparents, aunt and uncles have. I won't say this is a Haitian crisis. This is an immigrant crisis. It's the fact that we have so many people here and we have a culture clash. William Brangham: Mayor Rue says reckless driving is an issue, but there's been no uptick in crime related to the immigrant population. But with so many new arrivals, he says the city needs help bolstering basic infrastructure. Rob Rue: We say we need help, basically for translation services and safety forces. That's what were looking at. Our hospitals need reinforcement. William Brangham: In the meantime, local nonprofits like St. Vincent de Paul have stepped in. Here, people learn how to apply for jobs and how to navigate the city's computer system. Woman: It's really important that when you file applications with immigration… William Brangham: A translator and a local lawyer helped this woman with her visa application. In a building across town, Viles Dorsainvil runs a support center that helps Haitians integrate into American life. He understands why so many new arrivals into an established community can create conflict. Viles Dorsainvil, Haitian Community Help and Support Center: They have the right to express themselves, because we are living in a free speech world. But it is from the Haitian side who are trying to find jobs and opportunities, where it is from the locals are complaining because too many people are coming here. It is human being. We are expressing ourselves, the way we feel, but at the end of the day, we have to find a way out, to live together. William Brangham: But he says many Haitians would also return home if the violence subsided. Do you hope one day to go back to Haiti? Luckens Merzius: Yes, hopefully. I can't wait hopefully to go back to Haiti, because I am dreaming Haiti. William Brangham: Dreaming Haiti, meaning at night while you're dreaming, you are there? Luckens Merzius: Yes. Yes, I'm there, so still working, still trying to integrate and then facing with challenges all the time in the U.S., but I'm also dreaming of my country. William Brangham: For now, the residents of Springfield, old and new, will continue writing the latest complicated chapter in the story of immigration in America. For the "PBS News Hour," I'm William Brangham in Springfield, Ohio. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Forbes Leadership Leadership Strategy Trump Trade And Immigration Policies Spell Higher Prices, Less Growth

Economists believe Donald Trump’s trade and immigration policies will lead to higher inflation and lower economic growth. Trump has pledged to raise prices for consumers, even though the cost of living remains a top economic concern among voters. Lower levels of legal immigration and attempts at mass deportation would reduce the supply of available workers, creating economic problems. Trump Promises Higher Consumer Prices Donald Trump said he would impose a universal 10% tariff on imports and raise tariffs on goods from China by 60% or more. A tariff is a tax paid by U.S. consumers, including businesses that use imports, such as steel, to make other products. The higher costs cause people and businesses to pay more for goods and encourage other countries to raise tariffs, making U.S. products less competitive in foreign markets. Tariffs also make the economy and companies less efficient by shielding domestic producers from competition. “The tariffs would reduce after-tax incomes by 3.5% for those in the bottom half of the income distribution and cost a typical household in the middle of the income distribution about $1,700 in increased taxes each year,” according to economists Kimberly Clausing and Mary E. Lovely in a report for the Peterson Institute. “If executed, these steps would increase the distortions and burdens created by the rounds of tariffs levied during the first Trump administration (and sustained during the Biden administration), while inflicting massive collateral damage on the U.S. economy.” PROMOTED According to the Peterson Institute, “Former President Trump recently mused that he might impose even higher tariffs than earlier proposed. A 20% across-the-board tariff + 60% tariff on China would cost a typical US household more than $2,600 a year, up from the $1,700 if it was 10%.” How Trump’s Trade Policies Could Increase Inflation Reducing companies’ ability to increase the supply of goods by raising the price of inputs would hinder the fight against inflation. “There is one and only one basic cause of inflation: too high a rate of growth in the quantity of money—too much money chasing the available supply of goods and services,” wrote economist Milton Friedman. MORE FROMFORBES ADVISOR Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of 2024 ByKevin PayneContributor Best 5% Interest Savings Accounts of 2024 ByCassidy HortonContributor Reducing the amount of money in circulation can reduce inflation, which the Federal Reserve attempts to address through monetary policy. Given the same money supply, anything that hurts the production of goods and services, such as tariff increases, will be inflationary, notes economist Mark Regets, a senior fellow at the National Foundation for American Policy. CEO: C-suite news, analysis, and advice for top decision makers right to your inbox. Email address Sign Up By signing up, you agree to receive this newsletter, other updates about Forbes and its affiliates’ offerings, our Terms of Service (including resolving disputes on an individual basis via arbitration), and you acknowledge our Privacy Statement. Forbes is protected by reCAPTCHA, and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Other economists agree with Regets. “’If Trump increases tariffs as he has proposed, the economy would likely suffer a recession soon thereafter,’ said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s, adding that this includes the impact of very likely retaliation from other nations,” reports CNN. “Inflation, a sore spot for families and the economy at large, would increase by 0.7 percentage points in the year after the tariffs are implemented, according to Zandi’s forecasts.” The video player is currently playing an ad. You can skip the ad in 5 sec with a mouse or keyboard “Risks around inflation linked to tariffs are demonstrably higher today than in 2016,” said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM. “A new Trump administration would bring a round of trade wars that reduce GDP [gross domestic product] growth and raise prices, while a Harris victory would bring a more steady-as-she-goes economic policy, two Wall Street forecasting teams say in new reports,” according to Axios. Goldman Sachs cited Trump’s proposed trade and immigration policies as likely reducing economic growth by 0.5 percentage points. Economists at Nomura “estimated that higher tariffs would increase inflation by 0.75 percentage points in 2025.” Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell warns that another problem is that Donald Trump wants to interfere with the Federal Reserve’s role in setting interest rates. “This should be a five-alarm fire for anyone who claims to care about inflation,” she writes. Trump has expressed a desire to be treated “as an ex officio member of the central bank’s rate-setting committee,” which would follow his lead on interest rates, reports the Wall Street Journal. Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers believes populist interference with the Federal Reserve’s independence would lead to “higher inflation expectations” that would become “self-fulfilling.” Immigration Policies Reducing immigration would also likely lead to higher inflation, as we saw following the Covid-19 pandemic and Trump’s immigration policies. Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell said in a November 2022 speech that a contributing factor to inflation was the “labor supply shortfall,” noting, “The combination of a plunge in net immigration and a surge in deaths during the pandemic probably accounts for about 1-1/2 million missing workers.” (Some economists place the number of missing workers higher.) During a second Trump administration, the United States will almost certainly admit fewer legal immigrants than today. In his first term, Trump admitted a historically low number of refugees. He used presidential authority under 212(f) (of the Immigration and Nationality Act) to block many immigrants from majority-Muslim countries. During the pandemic, Trump used 212(f) authority to deny the entry of family and employment-based immigrants and high-skilled professionals on H-1B and L-1 visas, limiting companies’ access to needed talent. Even before that, denial rates for high-skilled visas more than tripled under Trump. Research shows such restrictions lead companies to offshore engineers and other workers to Canada, India and elsewhere. “Think about the first term, but on steroids,” said a former senior Trump administration official drafting immigration plans for a second term, according to CNN. The combination of the Trump administration’s immigration restrictions and the Covid-19 pandemic lowered the number of foreign-born workers and reduced economic growth or real GDP growth, which increases with growth in the U.S. labor force and productivity. An NFAP study by University of North Florida economics professor Madeline Zavodny found, “U.S. real GDP would have risen by up to an estimated 3.2 percentage points in 2022 if the working-age foreign-born population had continued to grow at the same rate it did during the first half of the 2010s.” U.S. real GDP rose by only 1.9 percentage points in 2022. Reducing immigration would likely be even more harmful to economic growth in a second Trump term. The U.S.-born labor force, on average, is older than when Trump took office in January 2017, meaning more people will stop working. The percentage of the U.S. labor force that is foreign-born rose from 17.1% to 18.6% between 2017 and 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Immigrant workers are responsible for 88% of the labor force growth in the United States since 2019, according to an NFAP analysis. Trump’s plans for mass deportation of the undocumented population will also affect the economy. Approximately 8 million unauthorized immigrants work in America, with most living in the United States for more than a decade. Economists believe removing millions of workers from the U.S. labor force will reduce investment and lead to fewer jobs for U.S. workers. Economists note that increased immigration can curb inflation. “Inflation occurs when the demand for goods and services grows faster than supply,” said NFAP’s Regets. “Increasing our ability to produce by increasing the supply of labor is the least painful way to control inflation.” For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Lawyer: Immigration policy reforms would address healthcare staffing shortages

Kathleen Campbell Walker, JD, chair of the immigration practice group at Dickinson Wright and former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), has testified before U.S. congressional committees and state legislative committee to urge lawmakers to address outdated immigration policies that are exacerbating the healthcare staffing crisis in the U.S. In a recent interview with Health Exec, Walker emphasized that current immigration caps and bureaucratic hurdles are significant barriers to attracting and retaining foreign healthcare professionals, especially physicians. The U.S. immigration system policies are ill-equipped to meet the nation’s growing demand for healthcare workers, and expanding the number of visas for foreign healthcare workers and doctors is in the national interest. She said the U.S. healthcare system is moving towards a shortage of clinicians that expand the waiting periods it takes to see a doctor. “We have mechanisms for people of truly extraordinary ability to come to the United States, but they are still subject to these annual caps. If we have this critical need, shouldn’t we have the latitude to apply an exception to our typical annual cap?,” Walker explained. One of the key challenges Walker identified is the restrictive nature of the H-1B visa category, which many foreign physicians rely on after completing their J-1 status. While certain physicians under the Conrad 30 Waiver Program are exempt from the H-1B cap, Walker argued that broader exemptions are necessary. She proposed a system where states could document their specific healthcare needs and apply for cap exemptions based on shortages. "If a governor can demonstrate a need in their state, why can't that be a basis for us to react in a logical way?," Walker questioned. The complexity and length of the immigration process for healthcare professionals also present significant barriers. “I can’t begin to tell you the complexity of immigration around the physician area. The process is incredibly bureaucratic, and the timing is challenging,” Walker noted. She pointed out that adjudications by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are currently experiencing some of the longest delays in years, even as filing fees have increased substantially. Walker also criticized the recent imposition of a $600 asylum program fee on employment-based sponsors, arguing that it unfairly burdens those trying to address the nation’s healthcare needs. "Is it really the employment-based sponsors that are at fault concerning the inability to address our border security issues? It was a very bad decision," she asserted. To address these issues, Walker proposed the creation of a dedicated position within the White House at a secretary level, who could be tasked with coordinating immigration policies to meet specified U.S. employment needs, particularly in healthcare. “There’s a way to do it,” Walker said. “We desperately need someone to make it work better.” Unfortunately, she said immigration in Congress has become highly politicized and most politicians do not want to be seen as opening the doors to more migrants. This has largely stalled policy reforms for years. However, Walker said there is a big difference between illegal immigration and highly trained professions that want to come here and help solve a severe shortage and they are prevented from doing so because of policy set decades ago. "The U.S. really doesn't want to deal with an increase in immigrant visa numbers, no matter if it's for the Nobel laureate or if it's for the potential researcher who might be able to provide a critical cure to cancer or Alzheimer's," Walker added. As the healthcare staffing crisis continues to grow, the call for immigration policy reform is becoming increasingly urgent. With experts like Walker advocating for change, the pressure is mounting on lawmakers in Washington to take action. Find more details on how federal policies preventing physician from immigrating to the U.S. and how states might be able to alleviate shortages in their areas in the video Immigration barriers prevent solution to healthcare staffing shortages. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Immigration Parole Challenges Must Overcome Standing Roadblock

Before they can overturn a Biden program offering immigration relief to spouses of US citizens, GOP states will have to show whether they have grounds to challenge the Keeping Families Together program. The Biden administration has temporarily admitted immigrants to the US to an unprecedented extent through use of its parole powers, an authority that hadn’t previously been tested in the courts. Republican state officials have mounted legal challenges to parole programs and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, arguing they face financial harm from increased public spending. Last month, conservative states secured a temporary freeze of the new parole-in-place program offering employment authorization and a pathway to permanent residency for immigrant family members of US citizens who have lived here for at least a decade. But if those lawsuits are to successfully overturn large-scale parole programs, Republican-led states will first have to establish that they have been harmed, or will be injured, by the policies. Without that showing, they won’t have standing to bring the litigation in the first place. Some attorneys say they’ll also have to address recent US Supreme Court decisions on standing that lower courts have yet to grapple with. “It’s a big deal. I do think things have changed,” said Karen Tumlin, an attorney and founder of the Justice Action Center. “That’s where the fight is now.” Dollars and Cents Nearly two years before the launch of the parole-in-place program for immigrant family members, GOP-led states sought to stop another parole program admitting up to 30,000 migrants each month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela—countries that at the time comprised the largest sources of migrants claiming asylum at the Southern border. Led by Texas, the states alleged they would have to make bigger expenditures on health care, schools, prisons, and even driver’s licenses thanks to the parole program. But that challenge to the CHNV program was stymied by a district court’s ruling that the states hadn’t shown they’ve suffered any harm from the parole initiative. Judge Drew B. Tipton, a Donald Trump appointee, found that numbers of new migrants had dropped since the program’s launch, meaning the states “claim that they have been injured by a program that has actually lowered their out-of-pocket costs.” While that standing issue is now being appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the Biden administration has tried to short circuit the challenge to the parole program for immigrant family members by claiming that states can’t show any actual harm. Whether states actually meet standing requirements will be the first question settled as the Keeping Families Together litigation enters an expedited briefing schedule. Attorneys on both sides of the case expect a similar fight over standing. In a brief to the Fifth Circuit, Republican states argued that Tipton erred by improperly turning standing into an “accounting exercise.” The case makes clear that states must prove actual injury to challenge a federal immigration program, not just speculate about harm, said Talia Inlender, deputy director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law. The center drafted a brief for immigrants intervening in the parole appeal. “If the court in the parole-in-place program is going to take a really careful look at the standing claims being made by states in that case, they’re going to reach very similar conclusions,” she said. Supreme Court Precedent Immigrant advocates say arguments that Republican states don’t clear standing requirements are bolstered by recent Supreme Court precedent. The high court ruled last year that Texas didn’t have standing to bring claims against the Indian Child Welfare Act, in particular a challenge to a provision giving Native American families preference in placing a child for adoption if they can’t be placed with a family member or a member of their tribe. And in a subsequent ruling, the court found that Republican states led by Texas couldn’t meet standing requirements to challenge Department of Homeland Security enforcement priorities issued by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “The Supreme Court has made clear that courts need to take a very careful look at states’ standing claims to assess whether there is in fact harm,” Inlender said. Arguments that the ruling on enforcement priorities should undermine a challenge to the DACA program were unsuccesful last year. Matt Crapo, senior counsel at the Immigration Reform Law Institute, said proponents of immigrant relief programs are stretching that decision too far. “That was a very narrow holding,” he said. “I don’t think it will extend to parole policies because they’re actually conferring a benefit.” The legal arm of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which backs more restrictive immigration policies, filed an amicus brief in support of the GOP challenge to the CHNV parole program and is advising the state of Kansas in the Keeping Families Together litigation. A court shouldn’t get involved in calculating whether costs imposed by states are offset by the program, but only determine whether any harm occurred at all to determine standing, Crapo said. And states also have an interest in ensuring American workers aren’t harmed by employment authorization granted to immigrants. “Between the two programs, there’s nearly a million people authorized to work that they would be competing against,” Crapo said. Inlender said each court hearing the challenges to immigration programs will have to examine the facts in each case before it. “They just haven’t proven harm,” she said. “To the contrary, states are actually benefiting from these programs.” For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

As Immigration Policy Shifts Rightward, Families Like Mine Are Being Torn Apart

am one of half a million people who are personally affected by the new “parole in place” immigration policy that President Joe Biden announced on June 18. I am undocumented while my spouse is a U.S. citizen, and the Keeping Families Together program (or “parole in place”), which started accepting applications on August 19, allowed me to apply for permanent residence without having to leave the U.S. for years or risk deportation. Roughly 500,000 other “foreign-born spouses of US citizens” like me are also estimated to be eligible for the program. When the announcement was made earlier this summer, I was eager to apply and grateful for the chance to fix my own status. I submitted my application the same day the application was available online. Uncompromised, uncompromising news Get reliable, independent news and commentary delivered to your inbox every day. Email* name@email.com Although the U.S. government is still accepting applications from undocumented spouses, the program is under a Republican-led legal attack, and on August 26, a federal judge in Texas put a 14-day hold on the program. The government has been blocked from processing applications for the program until the “administrative stay” on Keeping Families Together is lifted. While my hopes are in limbo due to this attack, I am painfully aware that even if the hold on Keeping Families Together is eventually lifted, this policy still will not protect my father, Oscar Bermudes, who is currently facing deportation. Related Story Kamala Harris is seen beside the reflected screens of several DACA recipients with whom she is in audience News Analysis | Immigration Kamala Harris Has Gone From Immigration Reformer to Border Hawk. What’s Next? Immigration is a major concern for voters, and it’s possible Harris may sacrifice migrant rights to win the presidency. By Sam Rosenthal , TruthoutAugust 14, 2024 My father migrated from El Salvador when I was 5 years old. He has lived in the U.S. for 20 years, and despite decades of campaign promises to enact immigration reform, there are still no laws that protect him and millions of families like mine from the agony of family separation. Our family is “mixed status,” which means that some of us were born here and others have been able to apply for status through one of the limited and fragile programs that allow some immigrants to adjust their status, while the majority of us remain undocumented. We are one of millions of families that live with the daily threat of being separated by deportation. This is the painful calculus of American immigration policy — a patchwork of executive actions that bring relief to a chosen few, while millions more are subject to increasingly cruel forms of immigration enforcement. Broadly speaking, enforcement comes in two forms: an explosion of border patrol that creates border detention camps, and makes crossing ever more dangerous for migrants, and deportations in the interior that rip families like mine apart. While the political debate over immigration moves in an ever more ethnonationalist direction, few understand the brutal reality of our current immigration system — and what deportation actually means for my family and thousands of families like mine who are currently fighting to stay together. For 20 years, my father worked hard every day in this country. With his hard-earned money, he was able to open up his own trucking company. For 20 years, he paid taxes and built a life in the United States. For 20 years he supported his family, including his youngest son, my 8-year-old brother, who was born here in New Jersey. He is a loving father, husband and friend, and our family needs him here with us. Oscar Bermudes sits with his youngest son, Angel, on Father’s Day 2022. Oscar Bermudes sits with his youngest son, Angel, on Father’s Day 2022. Liseth Bermudes Our nightmare began June 4, 2023, when my dad was traveling to Michigan with one of his truck drivers. The GPS took them through Canada, at which point my dad was immediately detained by immigration. He was in detention for 26 days — the hardest and most heartbreaking time for me and my family. My dad spent Father’s Day detained at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in New York. I visited him for the day, looking at him through a glass screen but unable to hug him. He was so close yet so far. I talked to him through a phone while he was right next to me. I saw him in that blue uniform — how skinny he looked. After about 10 minutes our time was up, and I still remember how the tears rolled down my dad’s eyes, how he couldn’t look back at me and rushed out of the room. It broke my heart. I walked out of that room and I cried for the rest of the day knowing that I couldn’t do anything, knowing that I would be going back home and would not be able to take him with me. Liseth Bermudes visits her father at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, New York, on June 18, 2023 (Father’s Day). Liseth Bermudes visits her father at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, New York, on June 18, 2023 (Father’s Day). Matthew Gould There are 11 million people out there like my father: 11 million people subject to deportation, with no way to apply for legal status. My dad wasn’t able to attend my brother’s high school graduation. I’ve had to comfort my little brothers, who badly missed our dad. These important and precious moments were stolen from both my dad and my brother. I could see it in my brother’s eyes — the sadness of not being able to see his father hug him after his graduation. My little brother asked me questions I didn’t know how to answer. He asked if my dad was arrested. He asked why. He asked when dad would come home to take him to the park and ride bicycles with him. As the oldest child, I felt it was my responsibility to stay strong and make sure my brothers and mom were okay. We felt the absence of 26 days of hugs, laughs and memories with our dad. With Movimiento Cosecha we organized a public deportation defense campaign with our family and community to stop my dad’s deportation. After all the public pressure and legal advocacy, my dad was released, and we were able to obtain an approval for a yearlong stay of removal the day before he was set to be deported. This stay of removal recently expired and he had to check in with ICE on June 20 to request a second stay of removal. The request was approved for another year, but we don’t know what will happen next year. It is difficult having to live deadline by deadline without knowing what the future holds. It is difficult to live with this overwhelming uncertainty, not knowing whether they will allow my father to remain in the country or not. Oscar Bermudes’s family and community demand his release from detention outside of the ICE field office in Newark, New Jersey, on June 21, 2023. Oscar Bermudes’s family and community demand his release from detention outside of the ICE field office in Newark, New Jersey, on June 21, 2023. Gery Vereau There are millions of undocumented immigrants like my father who have lived in the U.S. for years. The last comprehensive immigration reform was passed almost 40 years ago; the law created a path to citizenship for 3 million undocumented immigrants in exchange for increased enforcement in the form of employment restrictions. This legislation created the basic framework for bipartisan immigration reform over the following decades: legalization in exchange for enforcement. But as one administration after another failed to pass comprehensive legislation that would allow immigrants to apply for legal permanent residency, the immigration enforcement system grew ever crueller. Republicans, now calling for mass deportations, have become increasingly extremist, while Democrats have tracked them to the right. The Clinton administration expanded temporary protections for immigrants from certain countries, while criminalizing immigration and making it more difficult for most undocumented immigrants to adjust their status. The Obama administration enacted the DACA program, which allowed 800,000 undocumented youth to apply for temporary status, while deporting a record 3 million immigrants. As politics on immigration move further to the right, smaller and smaller segments of the community are granted fragile, temporary status, while the majority are criminalized and threatened with imprisonment and deportation. Cosecha New Jersey coordinators, Oscar’s family and community members from various organizations in New Jersey rally together to demand Oscar’s freedom on June 19, 2023 (Juneteenth). Cosecha New Jersey coordinators, Oscar’s family and community members from various organizations in New Jersey rally together to demand Oscar’s freedom on June 19, 2023 (Juneteenth). Gery Vereau The only way to break this vicious cycle is to demand the obvious: a path to legal status and permanent protection from deportation for the millions of us who have built families and a life in the United States. Anything less rips children away from their parents and destroys communities. I am grateful for the “parole in place” option under Biden’s Keeping Families Together program, which could allow up to 500,000 spouses of U.S. citizens like me, as well as 50,000 stepchildren of U.S. citizens, to apply for status if the Republican-led legal attack against it is overcome. But right now, my first thought when I wake up in the morning and my last thought every night is how to keep my dad here. And there are 11 million people out there like my father: 11 million people subject to deportation, with no way to apply for legal status; 11 million people who clean America’s offices at night, pick its fruit in the glaring sun, build its homes and take care of its children; 11 million workers who deserve to be treated with dignity, rather than exploited. It is time for all 11million of us to have permanent protection from deportation because we all deserve a chance to be able to live without fear. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

What does Donald Trump’s deportation plan mean for the food system?

Writing in The New York Times op-ed section, newly named FERN senior editor Ted Genoways argues that a Trump presidency, built on threats of mass deportation of migrants, would be a disaster for the American food system: On August 22, just hours before Kamala Harris was due to take the stage in Chicago to accept her party’s nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention, her opponent Donald Trump was in Arizona along the U.S. border with Mexico. Mr. Trump attacked Ms. Harris on immigration, claiming that she intended to abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (I.C.E.) and allow more than 100 million people to cross into the United States. “If Comrade Harris has the chance,” Mr. Trump warned, “our country will be overrun and essentially it will not be a country. It will be ungovernable.” Mr. Trump then renewed his promise to use the military and other government resources to arrest and banish between 15 and 20 million immigrants currently living in the United States, including those in various humanitarian programs. “With your vote,” Trump said in Arizona, “we will seal the border, stop the invasion, and launch the largest deportation effort in American history.” It would be easy to dismiss these threats as posturing to stir up his base, but recent reporting suggests that Mr. Trump’s allies are actively drawing up plans for the broadest and most regressive anti-immigrant policy program since 1954, when Dwight D.the Eisenhower’s administration rounded up more than a million Mexican immigrants as part of an openly racist campaign dubbed Operation Wetback. According to reporting by the Times and Wall Street Journal, Mr. Trump’s planned measures — which he describes as “following the Eisenhower model” — would not just remove people already living and working in the United States but also cut off the flow of new migrants. If implemented abruptly and thoroughly, as Mr. Trump has promised, such policies would threaten vital areas of the American economy dependent on immigrant labor. Nowhere is that more evident than the meat industry. The Democratic National Convention is over, and the momentum Vice-President Harris has gained since taking over for Joe Biden has changed the face of the election. But Donald Trump is by no means finished, and that means Americans must still reckon with the nature of his policies, if elected. As November nears, what immigrant workers can expect from this country only grows more concerning. FERN editor-in-chief Theodore Ross spoke with Genoways about his article. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. You argue that Donald Trump’s anti-migrant policies would uniquely harm the food system in this country. Why is that? And why tell that story in Cactus, Texas? I focus on the tiny meatpacking town of Cactus, Texas, because the potential impact is especially apparent there. Cactus is a town of about 3,000 people, and almost every adult works in the JBS beef plant along the highway on the north side of town. The industry’s reliance on immigrant labor is kind of impossible to miss in such a place. This is a dusty waystation between Amarillo and the Oklahoma border — I mean, truly the middle of nowhere — but there’s an African restaurant, a Burmese and Thai food store, multiple Mexican restaurants. And each of these populations have their own churches: the Cactus Islamic Center, serving Muslims from Somalia; the Cactus Nazarene Ministry Center, with services in Dinka for Christians from South Sudan; Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church for Catholics from Mexico and other parts of Latin America. According to the last census, 90 percent of residents in Cactus speak a language other than English in their homes. So when you start talking about mass deportations — including deportations of refugees, asylum-seekers, and people with other humanitarian status — you can see rather quickly how such a policy would empty out a town like Cactus. When one group of immigrants climbs a rung on the social ladder, raising itself out of poverty just enough to leave jobs on the meatpacking line behind, the industry always finds the next vulnerable group. But the effect stretches well beyond this little town. The JBS plant in Cactus is one of the largest beef processing plants in America. Its closure would dramatically affect the availability and price of beef all by itself. But then, multiply that effect across the other meatpacking towns dotting the middle of the country. And don’t stop there. The dairy industry is reliant on immigrant labor. Our fresh produce is almost entirely picked and packaged by migrant laborers. And consider how many immigrants work in trucking, in loading and unloading, in the kitchens of restaurants. The estimates are that at least a quarter of all jobs in the food industry are filled by immigrants — and the entire industry has been begging for exemptions to be able to hire more and more temporary foreign labor. If Trump’s proposed policies were put in place, it would break the entire food supply chain. How would we eat? It’s estimated that 40 percent or more of the workers in American meatpacking plants are foreign-born. Why does this industry rely so heavily on immigrant labor? The factors are complex, but it starts with a simple fact: this is physically exhausting, often dangerous, and unpleasant work. That’s been the case since meat processing industrialized in the 1890s, so the workforce turns over frequently. Tyson Foods estimates that 40 percent of line workforce turns over every year. To fill those undesirable jobs, the industry has always turned to people who don’t have a lot of other options. People with limited English-language skills. People with no work history. People who will take any job and be glad for the paycheck, at least for a while. This is an old story. Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle is often remembered as an exposé about food purity, but it was actually a book about the systematic exploitation of immigrant labor. In 1906, when Sinclair conducted his research, it was people like the protagonist, Jurgis Rudkus, who was fleeing poverty in Lithuania. Today, it’s Karen refugees from Burma, people fleeing civil war in Sudan, people escaping the failed state of Somalia, or the drug wars and climate pressures of Latin America. Stay in the Loop! Don’t miss FERN’s latest revelations, developments, and initiatives. Sign up for our newsletter and we guarantee you’ll never miss one of our stories. Email* name@example.com CAPTCHA The past being prologue, you write about a mostly forgotten episode in America’s anti-migrant history: Nationwide raids, in 2006, on undocumented workers in meatpacking plants, including the one in Cactus. Those deportations set the stage for a new economy in the food system, one built around immigrant and refugee labor. What are the lessons of those raids today? To me, the first lesson is: when dramatic, high-profile raids are staged, they have a deep, traumatic effect on the people involved — the workers, their children, the broader community. After the raids on the six Swift and Company plants in 2006, children who had two parents arrested were left with no one to pick them up after school that day, nowhere to go. The school districts in places like Grand Island, Nebraska, and Worthington, Minnesota, were left scrambling to find relatives who could care for those kids. Such raids may even have a temporary effect on the industry. Again, after the Swift Raids, the industry briefly saw about a 10 percent dip in the employment of undocumented labor. And Swift itself, which was an old meatpacking company, the company that Upton Sinclair investigated in Chicago a century earlier, in fact, was severely harmed. Their production dropped by more than half as they struggled to replace their workforce, and the company was bought out by the Brazilian company JBS in less than a year. So the short-term effects can be devastating. What [Trump’s] really vowing is to make life for immigrants as bad as he possibly can. But the ruthless machinery of the broader industry always adapts. When one group of immigrants climbs a rung on the social ladder, raising itself out of poverty just enough to leave jobs on the meatpacking line behind, the industry always finds the next vulnerable group. The recent past tells this story. The industry went from Boat People from Vietnam to people from Latin America fleeing the drug war to Somalis fleeing civil war and the collapsing government. Wherever there’s a crisis creating a large group of at-risk people who are turning to the United States for refuge, the meatpacking industry is there to exploit them as the latest disposable workforce. To me, this one of the greatest shocks of the pandemic: seeing that as a country, we could stomach the cognitive dissonance of declaring a workforce “essential” — which required them to stay on the job for us — but then didn’t see them as worthy of workplace protections or even worthy of protections against deportation, once the crisis had passed. There is the well-worn contention that ordinary Americans, whoever they may be, take Trump “seriously but not literally,” while us media folks take Trump “literally but not seriously.” Literal. Serious. How big is the threat to the food system? I think it’s easy to look at what Trump is proposing — deporting as many as 20 million people — and to simply brush it off as impractical. It’s red meat for the base, many pundits are saying, not an actual policy objective. Carrying out a single day of coordinated raids, as ICE did with the Swift Raids in 2006, is one thing. But deporting 20 million people would mean carrying out more than 10 such raids per day for the entirety of a four-year term. Setting aside the moral implications for even a moment, the logistical challenge would seem insurmountable. But, having said that, there are multiple reports that Trump’s immigration team is preparing plans for undertaking just such a policy. Stephen Miller — the architect of child separation, the travel ban, and Remain in Mexico from Trump’s first term — told the New York Times that Trump would instruct ICE to carry out workplace raids and other sweeps of public spaces. He said that officers from other federal law enforcement agencies would be temporarily reassigned, and state National Guard troops and local police officers would be deputized. They would build “vast holding facilities” along the Texas border — just think of that — where thousands of lawyers would be engaged in fast-tracking and rejecting asylum applications. Could they actually get to 20 million people? Probably not. But, you know, in 1954, the Eisenhower administration rounded up an estimated 1.3 million people, mostly Mexican and Mexican American workers, as part of an openly racist campaign dubbed Operation Wetback. Trump himself has said that he plans on “following the Eisenhower model.” So, even if he only achieved a fraction of the promised mass deportations — so his threats were serious but not literal — the effect would still be catastrophic. I think that’s always the risk of taking Trump’s threats at face value. You start discussing them in terms of their logistical feasibility, and you’re missing the larger point. What he’s really vowing is to make life for immigrants as bad as he possibly can. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

More care centers and safe transfers to the US border: Mexico outlines its migration strategy for the coming years

In 27 days, Alicia Bárcena will stop being President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s foreign secretary to become Claudia Sheinbaum’s environment minister. But before leaving, the official is trying to outline Mexico’s migration strategy for the coming years. The plan, which she has called the “Mexican Model of Human Mobility,” includes investing $133 million in countries of origin, creating two new care centers in Chiapas, and the safe transfer to the northern border of migrants with an asylum appointment in the United States. The foreign minister said on Wednesday that her model, which has reduced irregular crossings into the neighboring country by 66%, is not going to go away when she leaves her position: “I presented it to President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who was very interested, so I am sure that this strategy will continue.” Mexico is trapped between migration figures. In the north, Joe Biden’s administration has agreed to manage 4,000 crossings a day, 1,500 through its CBP One platform. But no more, says Bárcena, who remembers December 18, 2023, when the United States announced the closure of seven of its border posts. “Why? Because 12,500 people had arrived at the northern border.” Meanwhile, in the south, 712,000 migrants have entered Mexico in the first six months of 2024 alone. In this bottleneck are the overcrowded camps from Tapachula to Ciudad Juárez, the violence, corruption and the massacres. The foreign minister’s focus is on creating safe routes for migrants upon entering Mexico. “We have managed some very concrete achievements,” said Bárcena, who took over 15 months ago from Marcelo Ebrard. For those who want to go to the United States, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has negotiated with the Biden administration that an appointment for CBP One can be requested from anywhere in the country. Previously, the platform could only be accessed from the 19th parallel, which runs through Mexico City, or further north. Since August 23, it also operates from Chiapas or Tabasco, where migrant processing is concentrated. Along those lines, Bárcena’s latest measure is that once the migrants have a confirmed appointment with CBP One, the Mexican authorities will be the ones to transport them: “We will take them to the border so that they do not have to go through the enormous risks of the journey. In some cases it will be Matamoros, in others, Tijuana, we already have clear routes, taking care of them, because we believe that guaranteeing safe mobility is part of our job.” This implies an immense change in the destinations of thousands of migrants, who identify the journey through Mexico as the most dangerous part of the entire journey to the north. “Much of the solution to the northern border is on the southern border, investing in the south is the strategy,” she said. Behind this objective, in addition to the investment in cooperation of 2.25 billion pesos to create jobs in Belize, Cuba, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras, is the construction of two comprehensive aid centers in Chiapas. This morning, the foreign minister signed agreements with the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for the management of resources directed to these spaces. She will also have almost $3 million of private investment and from foundations. The first center is being built in Tapachula; it will have the capacity to serve 1,500 asylum seekers a day and will be managed by the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid (Comar). “Most of the people who arrive in Tapachula are seeking international protection. More and more were arriving and Comar was on the verge of collapse,” Andrés Ramírez, general coordinator of the commission, acknowledged this morning. In 2023, 140,000 migrants requested asylum in Mexico, a historic number in the country. “It is impossible to process all of them,” said Alicia Bárcena: “Comar, the government had left you alone, but now the government is with you very strongly and so is the United Nations.” The second space will be in Huitxla, in an expanded DIF centre, and will be aimed at migrant families. Both were due to open in August, but will not be ready until December. “Mexico is a country of origin, transit, destination and return of migration,” said the foreign minister, who believes that the “unique migratory characteristics” required a new strategy. “Migration was seen as a problem between the United States and Mexico — in the US it is an electoral issue, no doubt — and the new narrative demands that we see it as a regional phenomenon,” she noted, “We did so with a very clear compass: humanize mobility. The migrant is a person seeking opportunities for a better life.” For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Judge’s Past Red-State Advocacy Shadows Big Immigration Case

J. Campbell Barker ordered pause on Biden program Trump appointee previously challenged immigration policy for Texas AG The judge who paused the Biden administration’s latest immigration program challenged by red states previously helped lead litigation against deportation relief policies while with the Texas attorney general’s office. US District Judge J. Campbell Barker spent four years as a deputy state solicitor where he backed cases at the US Supreme Court contesting key Obama-era immigration initiatives before he was appointed to the bench in 2019 by Donald Trump. Terence M. Garrett, a political science professor at the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, said Barker’s record on immigration while advocating for Texas reflects “a hard-core right-wing approach.” Still, others urge caution in linking his past advocacy to how he might rule. In his first major immigration test as a judge, according to a review of recent cases, Barker’s presiding over a challenge by his former office and 15 other states to a program allowing unauthorized spouses and stepchildren of US citizens to apply for removal protections and work permits while seeking permanent legal status. Those individuals would otherwise have to leave the country before seeking a family-based greencard. The case affecting up to 500,000 immigrant spouses and unfolding in the Eastern District of Texas comes six years after progressives raised concerns about how he would square his record litigating partisan immigration and other issues if confirmed as a trial judge. With an eye on November elections, the administration has curbed asylum options at the southern border, leading to a drop-off in new arrivals. The parole litigation will determine whether pro-immigrant policies are preserved as Democrats try to balance pressure from advocates with attacks from opponents over the border. Travel Ban, DACA As Texas deputy solicitor general from 2015 to 2019, Barker took positions in court defending Trump’s travel ban against people from certain Muslim-majority countries and a state law targeting so-called “sanctuary” policies. He also helped to sue over an expansion to Barack Obama’s signature immigration policy effort, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and a proposed offshoot for parents of citizens and permanent residents known as DAPA. A Texas federal judge struck down DAPA in 2015. A federal appeals court is set to hear oral arguments next month in the latest court fight over DACA. Democrats and immigrant advocates raised concerns during Barker’s Senate confirmation process about his litigation history for the state. Answering written questions about his immigration record, Barker said he’d recuse from any case he had worked on, and that the positions advanced were for his clients and don’t reflect his personal views. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) said Aug. 29 through a spokesperson that she had questioned Barker’s immigration record out of concern that his past stances against immigrant relief programs might “color his approach” to cases as a judge. “His preliminary ruling in this case, in which the President is using power clearly within his legal authority, suggests that those concerns were well-founded,” Hirono said of the Aug. 26 administrative stay that froze new case approvals for undocumented spouses for 14 days. Barker later extended the stay through Sept. 23. He also put the case on an expedited timeline, teeing it up for a ruling as soon as this fall. Barker didn’t return a request for comment left with his chambers for this story. But he wrote in his August order that in temporarily pausing the program he’s “simply undertaken a screening ‘first-blush’ review of the claims” and what’s at stake. Former colleagues and supervisors said he’s got the right demeanor for the bench. R. Paul Yetter told Bloomberg Law in March that his former colleague will “call them as he thinks the law requires.” Andrew Arthur, a resident fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies, which has opposed immigrant relief programs, compared attacks on Barker’s record to criticism by sports fans of a call by a referee they don’t like. ‘Foreboding’ Outcome GOP states sued to block the administration’s Keeping Families Together initiative shortly after the program launched, arguing it violated administrative law and exceeded the government’s authority. The program relies on the government’s “parole-in-place” authorities to permit longtime undocumented immigrants married to Americans to remain in the country while their permanent residency requests are processed. Cyrus Mehta, an immigration attorney at Cyrus D Mehta & Partners, noted that Barker’s order raised questions about whether someone could be paroled “into” the US if already present in the country and whether the Homeland Security Department incorrectly focused on public benefits stemming from the larger parole program, rather than individual grants. That logic would undermine the legal basis of a separate program granting parole for military spouses, which has been used since 2013, Mehta said. “I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that this judge will rule in Texas’ favor, but it’s foreboding at this point in time,” he said. Ira Kurzban, an immigration attorney at Kurzban Kurzban Tetzeli & Pratt, said Barker’s background opposing DACA and DAPA in court “indicates a strong disposition against immigrants” and cautioned against applying for parole while the legal challenge is pending. “I would urge people at this point not to apply until this judge has rendered a decision because, in my view, it’s just setting up all these people for potential mass deportation if Trump wins,” Kurzban said. Standing Issues Though a judge’s reasoning won’t necessarily reflect the positions they previously took as an advocate, immigration law professors said Barker’s prior arguments on behalf of Texas in similar challenges may offer a window into how he views a state’s authority to challenge immigration enforcement matters. For Texas, Barker successfully advanced an argument that the state had standing to challenge a program for undocumented immigrants with American kids because it was harmed by the cost of providing them services, from health care to driver’s licenses. It was a position less commonly used at the time, but now a fixture in state-led immigration challenges, said Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer, clinical professor of law and immigration clinic director at Cornell Law School. And it’s a theory he, as a lawyer for Texas, thought “has legs,” she said. The states made similar arguments when challenging the undocumented spouses program. “Of course we want to think that the analysis could look different for him being in a new role. But we also know that people are human. And if you bought that argument before and helped develop it, it’s, I would say, more probable that the judge would continue to see that argument as meritorious,” she said. Still, a more recent Supreme Court ruling finding states didn’t have standing to challenge a memo narrowing immigration enforcement priorities, which was handed down after Barker’s tenure in government, could also influence his approach, said Lenni Benson, an immigration professor at New York Law School. “I hope the judge sees that entire case in context and not in this politically aggressive soundbite kind of litigation,” Benson said. And as deputy solicitor general in Texas, Barker was representing his client, not necessarily advancing his own views, said Arthur, also a former immigration judge and senior GOP staffer for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. “Simply because you made an argument doesn’t mean you are going to be amenable or predisposed to a similar argument in a different case thereafter,” he said. “Nothing about the administrative stay order would indicate he’s prejudiced on this case in a certain manner.” For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.