Your weekly summary from the Council

 LATEST ANALYSIS 

• Who is in ICE Detention Right Now? New Data Provides a Snapshot of Sprawling Detention System

Recently published data from ICE provides insight into who the agency is detaining and for how long. The results show that the majority of noncitizens are being held in the rural South, and many are subject to fast-track removal proceedings. But still, many people remain locked up for months, if not years. Read More »

• Resounding Victory in a Data Case Against ICE

The Second Circuit ruled against ICE in a case that has broad implications for the public’s access to data held in immigration agency databases. Read More »

 FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW  

• This week, the Biden administration’s Family Reunification Task Force marked its second anniversary. The administration created the task force in February 2021 to lead efforts in reuniting families separated under former President Trump’s “Zero Tolerance” policy.   
  
  While the Task Force has been successful in reuniting hundreds of families separated by the Trump administration’s horrific family separation policy, significant work remains to reunite hundreds of others that remain separated to this day, and to address the tremendous harm that these families experienced at the hands of the U.S. government. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a fact sheet that states the task force has reunited 600 families, but nearly 1000 families remain separated. Of the 998 children who are still separated, only 148 are currently in the process of reunification.  
  
  Despite the two-year effort to reunite families, the Biden administration has been fighting to prevent victims from receiving financial compensation for their trauma.  

This ongoing lawsuit filed by the American Immigration Council and our partners seeks monetary damages for five asylum-seeking mothers and their children for the trauma they endured at the hands of the U.S. government.  

Read More: Separated Family Members Seek Monetary Damages from United States

 ACROSS THE NATION  

• A group of immigrants recently sued USCIS, seeking an end to processing delays that prevent them from becoming lawful permanent residents.  

USCIS already approved immigrant visa petitions filed by their family members who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. But the plaintiffs in the lawsuit can’t move forward with their lives—or obtain employment authorization or protection from deportation—until USCIS processes the waiver applications they filed at least 12 months ago. The agency previously decided these applications in under five months, but now, the average processing time is over three years.  

The class action lawsuit was filed by the American Immigration Council and our partners. 

Read more: Class Action Lawsuit Challenging USCIS Delay in Deciding Applications for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers

 QUOTE OF THE WEEK 

“Since 2014, the United States has experienced several successive periods of high humanitarian migration, each time met with aggressive deterrence. What these experiences have shown is not only that deterrence-based programs are inhumane and ineffective in achieving long-term reductions in migration, but also that the situation at our southern border is driven more by humanitarian crises abroad than U.S. domestic policy. A functioning humanitarian protection system, not deterrence, is the appropriate response to people seeking asylum.”

– Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Policy Director with the American Immigration Council

 MAKE A CONTRIBUTION 

 FURTHER READING 

• Deseret News: Is this the beginning of the end of DACA?

• US News: Immigration Drives Wedge Between Biden, Progressives

• WRALTech Wire: Guest opinion: NC’s Indian-American CEOs are only the tip of the iceberg

• Factchequeando: Qué sabemos del ‘parole humanitario’ para venezolanos, haitianos, cubanos y nicaragüenses y la posibilidad de que sea suspendido por un juez de Texas

 VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES 

•  The Immigration Justice Campaign (IJC) is looking for volunteer interpreters to work with IJC volunteer attorneys in representing people in their immigration proceedings. Interpreters are integral to match volunteers with clients in need of representation.  

You don’t need to know any legal terminology or have a legal interpretation background to volunteer. The only qualifications for volunteer interpreters are: 

• Able to speak English and at least one other language fluently  

• Able to supply a letter of recommendation or an interpreter I.D.  

Sign Up: Immigration Justice Campaign Volunteer Form

         

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