Americans for Immigrant Justice’s News Archive

By Syra Ortiz Blanes The Miami Herald witnessed cases being scheduled as far in advance as 2027 over the course of several visits to the South Florida court. An analysis of Department of Homeland Security data from researchers at Syracuse University shows that there were over 320,000 pending immigration cases here as of July 2024, the largest backlog in any …

By Gisela Salomon and Valeria Gonzalez Evelyn Wiese, an immigration attorney at Americans for Immigrant Justice, described the lawsuit as an “attack” on mixed status families who have spent years contributing to their communities in the United States. “Trying to rip apart these families and prevent them from accessing a lawful pathway to status in the U.S. is cruel and …

By Jacqueline Charles Among those deported was […] Joseph, a Florida resident for more than 20 years who is engaged to be married and has a daughter who is a U.S. citizen. Joseph, who turns 40 next week, called his lawyer, Philip Issa, on Wednesday informing him that an officer at the Krome Detention Center in southwest Miami-Dade, where he …

By Hamed Aleaziz “The speed of the program is completely untenable,” said Cindy Woods, national policy counsel at Americans for Immigrant Justice, an organization that represents families whose cases are processed through the expedited removal program, including Sandra’s. Ms. Woods said that over the summer, a mother of two from Ecuador reached out to her two days before her family’s credible-fear …

By Cesar Flores “Amid simultaneous humanitarian, security and health crises, Haiti finds itself in a critical state where there is an urgent need for empathy and understanding by the international community. With a lack of a functioning government and the ever-increasing dominance of gangs in the nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince, the conditions in Haiti are dire, necessitating a compassionate approach that …

By Gisela Salomon “Florida is home to about 4.6 million people that are foreign-born, and nearly three-quarters are from Latin America and the Caribbean. At least 825,000 lack permanent legal status, according to the most recent Pew Research Center survey from 2017. And about half of those people contribute to Florida’s workforce and economy in key industries including agriculture, construction, …

“Immigrant-rights advocates are calling on the Biden administration to immediately suspend all deportation flights to Haiti, citing the inconsistencies in its policies and the deteriorating security situation in the gang-ridden Caribbean nation. Immigrants’ rights organizations from across the country have sent a letter to the administration asking for the deportation flights to stop and decrying the administration’s refusal to implement …

“The White House is also asking Congress for permission to reprogram some funding for ‘community-based residential facilities’ for migrants. ‘It seems like family detention, but painted with a different brush,’ said Cindy Woods of Americans for Immigrant Justice. ‘It’s another attempt to deter more families from coming to the United States.’ Woods and other advocates argue that this effort won’t …

By Syra Ortiz-Blanes “The preliminary injunction filed last week includes several sworn statements from people, identified only by initials, who describe emotional, financial and social harm that the passage of Section 10 has inflicted upon their lives. ‘Our plaintiffs show the profound human impact of who this law affects. We have families that are now afraid to travel together back …

By Syra Ortiz-Blanes “Cindy Woods, National Policy Counsel at Americans for Immigrant Justice, told the Miami Herald that these are ‘positive changes for these two processes that have not been working.’ ‘This is allowing more flexibility for folks who might have already left out of fear and insecurity to be able to try and access this process from a different …

By Elliot Spagat “ICE told advocates last week that it aimed to have up to 500 families under curfews at any given time, said Cindy Woods, national policy counsel for Americans for Immigrant Justice. There were about 200 families under curfew at the time. The number of families enrolled is expected to grow significantly as the program expands, the U.S. …

By Dara Kam “Migrant workers and advocates have filed a federal lawsuit challenging part of a new Florida law that makes it a felony to transport into the state people who enter the country illegally, arguing the law is vague and will lead to ‘unlawful arrest, prosecution and harassment.’ The law, championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, is among a series …