Your weekly summary from the Council

 LATEST ANALYSIS 

• California Law Would Prevent Transfers From Local Law Enforcement to ICE Custody
  
  Each year, 1,500 immigrants who earn their release from California prisons are transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. A proposed California law would ensure people granted release from criminal custody are free to return to their community. Read More »
   
• Turning Back Asylum Seekers is Against the Law, Court Finds
  
  After years of litigation, a federal court found that the U.S. government’s turning back of asylum seekers at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border—primarily through a practice called metering—not only violates U.S. law, but also is unconstitutional. Read More »

 FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW  

• Every state in the country would benefit from some type of immigration reform. Allowing more people to live and work legally would benefit everyone, whether the state has a high immigrant population or sees immigrants coming to work seasonally. 

  This fact sheet from the American Immigration Council highlights the demographics, economic and tax contributions, education level, and other factors of immigrants living in the United States. 

  Read more: Immigrants in the United States 

 ACROSS THE NATION 

• Enforcement of U.S. immigration laws has historically been guided by policies that emphasize prioritization. The Biden administration issued a memo on January 20 outlining immigration enforcement priorities that directs ICE to focus on those it considers to be a threat to public safety or national security. A second memo issued on February 18 directs ICE to collect data and issue reports on enforcement actions and deportations.
  
  The American Immigration Council, with Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) and Mijente Support Committee, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with ICE seeking reports about ICE's enforcement activities and whether the people arrested by the agency fit into the category of individuals deemed priorities for enforcement actions. Obtaining this information will raise public awareness on how ICE is implementing enforcement priorities, the extent of accountability within the agency, and the effects of immigration enforcement. 
  
  Read more: Seeking Records About ICE’s Compliance with DHS’s Enforcement Priorities   

 MAKE A CONTRIBUTION 

 FURTHER READING 

• Reuters: Former immigration judges: appellate review crucial to fix errors
   

• Border Report: Activists, local officials press Democrats for immigration reform in spending package
   

• Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette: OPINION | KAREN MARTIN: Staying in touch with our immigrant past

         

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