Americans for Immigrant Justice’s News

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. …

August 2, 2023 The Honorable Joseph R. Biden President of the United States 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Biden, The undersigned 203 civil, human rights, and immigrant rights organizations write in the wake of the U.S. District Court’s decision in the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant case, pertaining to your administration’s “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways” rule (“asylum …

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 …

Americans for Immigrant Justice executive director Shalyn Fluharty joined WEDU for a panel discussing Florida’s anti-immigrant law SB 1718 and its effects on our state and communities. “This is a real problem, not just because it’s uprooting members of our community—Floridians who have been here for years based upon the fear that they face—but also because we know that we …

June 15, 2023 Submitted via https://www.regulations.gov Daniel Delgado, Acting Director Border and Immigration Policy Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, DC 20528 Lauren Alder Reid, Assistant Director Office of Policy Executive Office for Immigration Review Department of Justice Falls Church, VA 22041 Re: Comment in Opposition to the Proposed Expanded Applicability of the Circumvention …

By Alex Hinojosa “Shalyn Fluharty, executive director at Americans for Immigrant Justice, said that in her experience the majority of migrants she had spoken to will cross actively looking for a border patrol agent to whom they may turn themselves in. However, adding other law enforcement personnel and mixing that with out-of-state national guard troops and other law enforcement personnel …

June 5, 2023 The Honorable Alejandro N. Mayorkas Secretary U.S. Department of Homeland Security 2707 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE Washington, D.C. 20528 Troy A. Miller Acting Commissioner U.S. Customs and Border Protection 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20229 Ur M. Jaddou Director U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 5900 Capital Gateway Drive Camp Springs, Maryland 20588 David L. …

By Vanessa Romo This provision was among the most hotly contested and will likely face strong legal challenges because it’s so poorly written, attorney Evelyn Wiese told NPR. “As someone who has practiced immigration law for many years, I’m not exactly sure what the law means by ‘inspected,’” she said. Wiese noted that the Republican lawmakers failed to define the …

VIA Email Delivery Only  March 15, 2023 The Honorable Joseph R. Biden President of the United States The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20500 Re: Permanently end family detention Dear President Biden: The undersigned 383 organizations write to express our grave concern over reports that your administration is considering returning to the policy of family detention which …

By Micah Danney  Law360 (March 9, 2023, 8:05 PM EST) — Days after reports began to break that the Biden administration is considering detaining migrant families that enter the U.S. unlawfully, immigration attorney Shalyn Fluharty recalled a 14-year-old girl she represented who she said tried to hang herself in detention.Speaking at a video press conference with other immigration advocates on Thursday, Fluharty, who heads Americans for …