Articles Posted in Family-Based Immigration

As the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) rests on the rulings of three circuit judges, a Texas-filed lawsuit seeking to shut down the immigration program could trigger a legal battle that may force the Supreme Court to finally decide on the matter.

In April this year, judges from the Second and Ninth Circuits ruled that the Trump Administration’s rescission of DACA was arbitrary and capricious, ordering the DHS to reinstate the program and accept DACA renewal applications. A few days later, Judge Bates of the D.C. Circuit likewise found that the Administration failed to adequately explain the legal basis for winding down DACA, ordering the government to continue accepting new applications, but only if it failed to come up with a better justification in 90 days.

Now, a lawsuit filed by the 7-state coalition of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Texas seeking to terminate DACA could finally raise the issue to the Supreme Court. The states are banking on their chances of getting a judge to issue a nationwide order to stop DACA, which would conflict with the existing rulings of the three federal courts.

Amid increased efforts to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants trying to enter the Southwest border, the Justice Department has filed charges of illegal entry against a caravan of 11 asylum seekers from Central America. Four of those facing charges were forcibly separated from their children, who were placed into separate custody. This incident is not the first of its kind, prompting immigration rights activists to accuse the federal government of deliberately separating immigrant families at the border.

Here are a few facts on the matter.

There is No Official Policy…Yet

An immigration proposal currently being considered by the Trump administration and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would penalize immigrants who accept almost any type of public benefits, including a popular tax credit, which could result in the rejection of their legal U.S. residency application.

Under a draft proposal obtained by The Washington Post, the DHS would expand the definition of “public benefit” to include health insurance, federal housing subsidies, and the earned income tax credit, which benefits low- and moderate-income employees. This would allow immigration caseworkers to include a wider range of factors when determining whether immigrants and/or their citizen children are using any public benefits or may be likely to use them.

At present, the law penalizes immigrants who receive welfare payments, labeling them a “public charge.” Under the DHS’s proposal, changes would apply to anyone seeking immigration visas or legal permanent residency, such as foreign nationals with expiring work visas.

U.S.immigration enforcement officials have detained a Brazilian mother and child in separate detention centers, a move that signals a sharp turn in the agency’s enforcement approach.

In the past, immigration enforcement agencies that manage to arrest immigrant families illegally entering the country made it a practice to detain parents together with their children in the same detention facility. This, however, was not the case for a Brazilian mother hiding under the pseudonym “Jocelyn” and her 14-year-old child.

Jocelyn entered the United States along with her son in August last year, having left Brazil to flee from both domestic and gang violence. They had hoped to apply for asylum given their circumstances. Jocelyn is now being held in a Texas detention center while her son was placed in a shelter in Illinois.