A Massachusetts high court ruled recently that local authorities have no legal standing to honor ICE detainers. This is a win for the immigrant community in that state. We hope other states follow suit soon. You can read more here.
Category: News
Express Deportations Underway
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has issued a new order which as district judges to issue judicial orders of removal when we an inmate has completed their sentence. This measure speeds up the deportation process by taking the immigration court out of the equation. You can read more in the Miami Herald.
Immigration Justice Campaign
AILA has launched a new initiative to prepare more lawyers to defend immigrants facing deportation. You can read their press release regarding it here.
Ski Industry wants more H-2B visas
Did you see the article in the Denver Post about the ski industry supporting an increase in H-2B visas? With record low unemployment numbers in Colorado they are scrambling to find workers. Check out the article here.
PI Letter to the Editor
Our attorney, Jennifer Smith, wrote a letter to the editor of the Post Independent recently. In it, she thanked local law enforcement for refusing to do the work of the federal government relating to immigration and she encouraged legislative action to reform our immigration policies. Remember, separated families are not limited to a particular religion, culture or political party.
You can read the LTE in full here.
Aspen Daily News article
Check out the article in today’s Aspen Daily News regarding fear in the immigrant community. Jennifer was a big contributor to the story. You can find the full article here.
Sanctuary City Funding Update
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a nationwide injunction against Section 9(a) of Executive Order 13768, which blocks so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions” from receiving federal grant money. The court concluded that the counties of San Francisco and Santa Clara demonstrated that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their challenge to Section 9(a) of the Executive Order, that they will suffer irreparable harm absent an injunction, and that the balance of harms and public interest weigh in their favor.
Read more here.
Redesigned Green Card
USCIS will be redesigning green cards and employment authorization documents come May 1st. The redesign will make the documents harder to tamper with or counterfeit. You can learn more about the changes here .
Pitkin County’s Stance
Pitkin County is formalizing their stance on immigration. They want to send a message to the immigrant community that they are welcome and valued. County employees will not ask about someone’s immigration status unless necessary. They will not provide ICE or CBP “non-public information” about a person. This is great to hear local authorities standing with the immigrant community. You can read more about this in the Post Independent online here or in the newspaper.
ICE update
At a public meeting in El Paso Wednesday, the head of ICE for Colorado confirmed there are no checkpoints or sweeps for enforcement, and there is NO plan to implement either. ICE reaffirmed it will not arrest anyone at sensitive locations such as schools and churches. Every arrest is for a targeted person – someone with aggravated felonies, sex offenders, recent DUIs, and national security.