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(4/24/08)
Government’s Newly-Announced Directive Will
Benefit Thousands
of Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence
(4/22/08)
CIS VAWA
EWI Fact Sheet.
(4/11/08)
CIS
VAWA EWI adjustment guidance memorandum (4/11/08).
Amicus Briefs Filed in Supreme Court Case to
Delineate Scope of "Illicit Trafficking" Aggravated Felony Ground
The Supreme Court agreed to review the issue of whether a conviction
for mere possession of a controlled substance is an aggravated felony
under the "illicit trafficking" aggravated felony ground. The cases of
Lopez v. Gonzales and Toledo-Flores v. United States present the issue
in both the civil and criminal contexts.
Under a grant from the JEHT Foundation, the New York State Defender
Association and National Immigration Project of the NLG coordinated
amicus participation on this important question, which affects the
lives of thousands of noncitizens and their families and loved ones. A
diverse group of organizations and entities submitted seven amicus
briefs, which reflected distinct aspects of harm that flows from the
challenged interpretation, which treats as a trafficking a conviction
for possession. The briefs include those submitted by:
Also posted here are the petitioner's
briefs filed by Jose Antonio Lopez and Reymundo Toledo-Flores.
Government Issues Clarifying Memorandum Regarding
ABC Class Members' NACARA Eligibility
Certain Salvadoran and Guatemalan nationals may qualify for NACARA
relief if they have registered for benefits under the settlement
agreement in American Baptist Churches v. Thornburgh ("ABC")
and meet the other eligibility requirements. The government
maintains a database of ABC registrants. The government has
consistently acknowledged that whether a Salvadoran or Guatemalan's
name appears on its database is not conclusive as to whether that
person registered for benefits. Despite this policy, the government
sometimes denies NACARA eligibility based solely on an applicant's
not appearing in the database.
On June 6, 2006, the government issued
a clarifying memorandum to remind the adjudicators to permit an
applicant to submit evidence that she or he registered when her or his
name is not included in the database. The memorandum also sets forth
the standards adjudicators should use in determining whether a
Salvadoran or Guatemalan registered for benefits. This memo can be
downloaded by clicking the link below:
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Flyers on Immigration
Reform Bills
The National Immigration Project, in collaboration with NYSDA's
Immgrant Defense Project and Detention Watch Network, has created
talking points and a flyer highlighting various detention and
deportation provisions in the immigration bills still pending in
Congress.
VAWA 2005 Reauthorization
Update 12/17/2005. Congress has passed the Violence Against Women
Reauthorization Act of 2005 (VAWA 2005). The president is expected to sign
the legislation soon. The VAWA provisions are contained in the Department of
Justice Appropriations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2006-2009 (H.R.
3402). The final version of VAWA 2005 contains the controversial "Kyl
Amendment" authorizing any federal government agency to collect DNA samples
from people who are arrested or detained under federal authority in order
for those DNA profiles to be included in the federal (CODIS) DNA database.
The Kyl amendment was included as part of the final legislation, despite
strong opposition by the National Task Force to End Domestic Violence and
Sexual Violence, the National Network to End Violence Against Immigrant
Women, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, privacy
groups, immigration groups and practitioners, and members of the American
Immigration Lawyers Association. Advocates were, however, able to defeat the
proposed "King Amendment" that would have prohibited any person convicted of
domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, trafficking, elder abuse, or
dating violence from sponsoring a visa applicant in the future, without
regard to the complex issues this would pose for immigrant survivors of
domestic violence.
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REAL ID Act
Real ID
Action Alert! Your action is
needed in the next few days! (3/30/05)
Draft Legislation for the REAL ID Act
(3/22/05)
Update 2/15/05. Despite opposition from a broad range of advocacy groups as
well as representatives from state and local governments, the House of
Representatives, last week, passed the REAL ID Act (H.R. 418) by a vote of
261 to 161. The Act, if passed into law, would significantly impact
noncitizens in the following ways:
1. Greatly increases the eligibility criteria for asylum and withholding of
removal
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Requires all applicants for asylum or withholding of removal to prove a
central reason behind their persecution is one of the following: the
applicant’s race, religion, political opinion, nationality, or membership in
a particular social group.
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Allows judges to base credibility determinations on the applicant’s
demeanor, candor, responsiveness, or inconsistency with any statement made
at any time to anyone
2. Limits judicial review of immigration decisions
3. Allows authorities to waive laws that would impede the construction of
barriers and roads along the U.S.-Mexican border near San Diego
4. Significantly expands the scope of terror-related activity making
noncitizens inadmissible and deportable as well as ineligible for certain
forms of relief from removal
5. Requires states to meet certain minimum security standards in order for
the drivers’ licenses and personal identification cards they issue to be
accepted for federal purposes
For additional commentary and detailed analyses of the Act,
go to the National Immigration Forum's Web site.
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Temporary Protected Status for
Foreign Nationals Affected by the Recent Tsunami
Update 3/07/05. National Immigration Project submits a letter to the
DHS, cosigned by 35 immigrant and human rights groups, requesting expanded
temporary-relief options for noncitizens from Tsunami-affected nations. The
letter was submitted in support of the National Asian Pacific American Legal
Consortium's (NAPALC) current dialogue with the DHS on this issue. Copies of
the National Immigration Project letter and NAPALC's earlier letter are
provided below.
Update 1/10/05. DHS issues a press release stating
that it will extend temporary protected status to noncitizens from some
tsunami-affected nations. See this
DHS press release for
details. Measures include granting automatic 90 day stays of deportation
to nationals of Sri Lanka and the Maldives with options to extend similar
stays to other nationals (including temporary work authorization) on a case
by case basis. Although encouraging, these measures fall short of the
request for a 12 month period of temporary protected status for a wider
range of noncitizens from tsunami-affected nations included in the House
bill proposed by Rep. Lee (ranking member of House Immigration
Subcommittee). Rep. Lee's bill also contains more options for travel &
re-entry to the U.S. (during the TPS period) among other matters.
Click here for details on
this bill.
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Protection Act of 2004
Excerpted from a report by Shoba Sivaprasad (National Immigration Forum):
Last week, the Homeland Security Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Protection
Act of 2004 (S. 2536/H.R. 5182) was included in the final intelligence
reform legislation or the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
of 2004.
The Homeland Security Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Protection Act of 2004 provides specific statutory support for the work of
the DHS’s Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Privacy Officer, and
Inspector General. Specifically, it elaborates on the functions and duties
of the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. It instructs the
Officer to investigate complaints and information indicating possible abuses
of civil rights and civil liberties not pursued by the Inspector General's
Office, and ensure his effective coordination with the Privacy Officer. It
directs the DHS Inspector General (IG) to designate a senior official within
the IG’s office to focus expressly on civil rights and civil liberties
matters, including the authority to initiate investigations of alleged
abuses of civil rights and civil liberties by employees or officials of the
DHS and employees or officials of independent contractors or grantees of the
DHS. Finally, it makes improvements to the DHS mission statement by
clarifying that our civil rights and civil liberties will not be diminished
as DHS carries out its vital mission. This provision can be found at Title
VIII, Subtitle C of the conference report of the Intelligence Reform and
Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.
For more info please
visit the Forum's Web site, or
e-mail Shoba Sivaprasad.
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About Local Enforcement Legislation
Updates
Anti-local enforcement advocacy in 2004. Opponents of local enforcement were
successful in blocking Congressional support for CLEAR and HSEA, and
removing CLEAR-like provisions from the recently enacted intelligence
bill--but there are still challenges ahead for 2005. For details
read this report by the National
Immigration Forum.
Background
Local enforcement legislation that will expand the ability of state and
municipal police to enforce federal immigration laws. Among other things,
this would allow police officers to check the legal status of anyone who
they “suspect” to be an illegal alien. Many police departments, city, and
state governments have already expressed concern that this act will make
immigrants even more fearful about talking to the police and will undermine
the effectiveness of their community policing programs. Community
organizations also warn that this act will lead to new forms of racial
profiling that will effect a diverse range of working poor communities.
Why Local Enforcement is Dangerous for Immigrant Survivors
Gender violence experts already know that abusers keep their noncitizen
victims quiet by threatening to have them deported. Local enforcement adds
weight to these threats by giving immigrant survivors a legitimate reason to
fear coming forward to the police with information about crimes committed
against them, or other family members. For more information on this,
visit our Immigrant Rights Resources
page and look in the Local Enforcement section under Resources for
Noncitizen Survivors of Domestic Violence.
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