Senators approved sweeping legislation Thursday to remake the nation’s immigration system for the first time in a generation by spending tens of billions of dollars to bolster security along the U.S. southern border and offering a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.  By a vote of 68 to 32, senators concluded a nearly […]

“Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., says he opposes an immigration bill working its way through the Senate because it offers “a mere promise of enforcement in the future.”  For example, the bill’s promised 700 miles of border fencing — it just isn’t going to happen, he argues.  He told Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer on […]

“The Supreme Court’s decision on Wednesday to strike down the federal law against same-sex marriage brought a stunning improvement in the lives of Steven Infante, an immigrant from Colombia, and his American husband — less than an hour after the ruling was announced.  Mr. Infante and his spouse, Sean Brooks, were on their way to […]

On September 22, 2011, an Immigration Judge ordered the respondent removed from the United States to Mexico. The Immigration Judge purported to order the respondent removed “in absentia”.  The respondent has appealed the Immigration Judge’s decision to the Board.  The Department of Homeland Security (the ”DHS”) filed a brief in support of the Immigration Judge’s […]

“U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) invites you to take part in a stakeholder teleconference onMonday, July 1, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. EDT to discuss E-Verify’s newest customer service enhancement. This enhancement affords employees the option of being directly notified if there is a record mismatch that needs to be resolved before the employee can be confirmed as work […]

Prof. Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia writes: “As an outcome of research for a future report by Penn State Dickinson School of Law’s Center for Immigrants’ Rights and the American Bar Association’s Commission on Immigration on the relationship between prosecutorial discretion and Notices to Appear (NTAs), we received a response to one of our FOIAs from USCIS which can be found here:

“Though noncitizens can be, and frequently are, judged by juries, they are categorically excluded from serving on them.  In this Note, I explore the implications of this exclusion from demographic, functional, and doctrinal perspectives.  The demographic portrait of noncitizens and minorities in the United States shows that the citizenship requirement for jury service results in […]

“Prospects for congressional passage of a U.S. immigration overhaul looked bleak on Friday, but some House Republicans signaled they would offer a way for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country to get legal status that could be portrayed as something other than a pathway to citizenship. … Representative Spencer Bachus of Alabama, […]

“This practice advisory covers: (1) the holding in Descamps; (2) why this criminal case is equally applicable to the categorical approach used in immigration proceedings; and (3) the decision’s potential implications for specific removal grounds.” – By Dan Kesselbrenner, Isaac Wheeler, and Sejal Zota, June 26, 2013.  The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful contributions of Trina […]