The U.S is deporting people at a record pace (close to 400,000 a year!) and the rapidly expanding collaboration between police and immigration is a key tool. Immigrant communities urgently need tools to protect and expand their rights. Immigrant Defense Project initiated DANGER! Police Involvement in Mass Deportation in 2013 in work to end police collaboration with ICE with our allies the Sex … Read more »
This article was first published on October 23, 2015 at CQ Researcher. Is U.S. Immigrant-Detention Policy Justified? By Mizue Aizeki Deputy Director, Immigrant Defense Project Is it justifiable to imprison more than 400,000 people each year — including longtime green card holders, children and families, trafficking survivors and asylum seekers — for civil violations of immigration law? To lock them … Read more »
This article was originally published at the Huffington Post, on November 13, 2015. Judges Call for Curb on Immigration Detention, Administration Should Listen — and Act By Andrew Wachtenheim, IDP Staff Attorney The federal court decision blocking the president’s executive actions on immigration wasn’t the only significant judicial intervention in immigration policy in recent days. In late October, another court found against … Read more »
IDP staff attorney Dawn Siebert is quoted in this November 8, 2015 article about a Virginia Supreme Court directive advising trial judges to warn non-citizen defendants of the possible immigration consequences of a guilty plea. Maryland’s public defenders have a full-time immigration lawyer, Johnson said. And in New York state, regional centers have been set up with immigration lawyers to serve as advisers … Read more »
IDP Executive Director Alisa Wellek is quoted in this November 5, 2015 article on the deportation of inmates being released from U.S. prisons as part of an effort to roll back harsh drug sentences. Advocates acknowledge that non-citizen convicts are unlikely to garner much public or official sympathy. Still, said Alisa Wellek, director of the New York-based Immigrant Defense Project, “these people … Read more »
IDP’s executive director Alisa Wellek is quoted in this October 30, 2015 article on a New York federal appeals court decision curbing indefinite detention without bail for certain immigrants awaiting deportation hearings. Alisa Wellek, the executive director of the Immigrant Defense Project, a legal advocacy group in New York, said that the two federal appeals courts had “sent a clear message” to the government not to let immigrants … Read more »
IDP deputy director Mizue Azeki is quoted in this December 9, 2015 article reporting that across New York City, courthouse arrests of immigrants — often focusing on individuals with felony convictions from decades ago — have become a regular occurrence. “ICE is trying to create an environment where it becomes incredibly difficult for cities to pass laws that lower their levels … Read more »
These charts list common criminal offenses, and whether they might trigger specific immigration consequences under federal law.
Download: “Particularly Serious Crime” Bars on Asylum and Withholding of Removal: Case Law Standards and Sample Determinations
This chart is separated by capital letter category which relates to the relevant subsection of the statutory definition of “aggravated felony.” Within each letter category, the cases are grouped by jurisdiction beginning with the Supreme Court and the Board of Immigration Appeals and continuing through the Circuit Courts of Appeals and the Federal District Courts (and by reverse chronological order … Read more »
IDP has been working for years to convince localities to pass legislation protecting the human rights of immigrants, including ending collaboration with the federal government’s mass detention and deportation machine. Unfortunately, Donald Trump and others have used a senseless killing in San Francisco to demonize so-called “sanctuary cities” and roll back our hard-won gains. Watch Alisa’s appearance on Nightline below, her comments … Read more »
IDP and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild have prepared a Mellouli practice advisory regarding the Mellouli decision. On June 1, the U.S. Supreme Court strongly reaffirmed general applicability of the traditional strict categorical approach for determining removability in the immigration context. Mellouli v. Lynch, No. 13-1034, 2015 WL 2464047 (June 1, 2015). Specifically, the Court held … Read more »
Supreme Court reins in some drug deportations, but deeper reforms needed June 05, 2015, 08:00 am By Alisa Wellek The United States Supreme Court ruled this week that the federal government went too far in seeking to deport immigrants for certain low-level drug-related offenses. Moones Mellouli, a legal permanent resident and math teacher originally from Tunisia, was deported after pleading guilty … Read more »
On April 10, 2015, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder signed an order that should be good news for immigrants accused of certain crimes and their criminal defense lawyers: Matter of Silva-Trevino, 26 I. & N. Dec. 550 (A.G. 2015) (Silva-Trevino II). The Attorney General’s order vacates a November 7, 2008 opinion of former Attorney General Michael Mukasey that allowed immigration … Read more »
IDP’s Alisa Wellek will appear on Melissa Harris-Perry’s show on MSNBC this Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. Topics will include deported veterans, driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants, states’ resistance to the federal deportation enforcement priorities and the injunction against the executive action(DAPA). Alisa will discuss IDP’s work to bring deported veteran, Howard Bailey, back home. Be sure to tune in! … Read more »
IDP applauds the April 10th Order of Attorney General Eric Holder vacating Matter of Silva-Trevino, 24 I&N Dec. 287 (AG 2008), a highly problematic decision that has led to the unjust deportation of many immigrants from the United States. This action by the sitting Attorney General is a tremendous step in the restoration of justice and due process to immigrants facing possible … Read more »
For decades, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) used its office trailer on Rikers Island, one of the world’s largest jails, as a base for funneling thousands of New Yorkers into a mass detention and deportation machine that tears apart families and violates human rights. On Valentine’s Day, 2015, the Immigrant Defense Project celebrated the #bestbreakupever. February 14, 2015 was the first day that … Read more »
The Supreme Court yesterday heard a case that reflects the tragic absurdity of both the War on Drugs and the mass deportation machine that relies on it: Moones Mellouli, a math teacher and lawful permanent resident has been forever separated from his family and home in the U.S. for possessing a sock. In Mellouli v. Holder, at issue is the … Read more »
On October 22, 2014 the New York City Council passed groundbreaking legislation dramatically expanding existing city laws that limit the circumstances under which the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and Department of Correction (DOC) will honor an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer or otherwise cooperate with federal mass deportation programs. Most of the legislation took effect on December 14, … Read more »
IDP has just released an advisory along with sample briefs which were shared by the Legal Aid Society and Brooklyn Defender Services. The advisory explains who is eligible and provides a step-by-step guide on how to prepare and file the necessary court documents. View advisory and related documents. Practice Advisory: Getting Clients with Detainers Out of DOC Custody