On Tuesday, September 26, Trump administration officials revealed that the President plans to admit no more than 45,000 refugees into the United States in 2018. This is the lowest number requested by any president since the passage of Refugee Act of 1980, which grants the President the legal authority to determine the number…
On Sunday evening, September 24, President Trump announced his latest revisions to the travel ban via Twitter in a proclamation, removing Sudan and adding the countries of Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela to the list. Joining the ranks of Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen, nationals from the aforementioned countries will be barred…
On Tuesday, September 12, the Trump administration announced that it is considering limiting the number of refugees admitted into the country to less than 50,000 in 2018. Should this consideration come to fruition, it would be the lowest number of refugees admitted into the country since the passage of the Refugee…
On Friday, September 15, Judge Harry D. Leinenweber, a federal Judge in Illinois, blocked the Justice Department from withholding federal money from sanctuary cities. Specifically, the preliminary injunction issued by Judge Leinenweber bars the DOJ from denying the Edward Bryne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, or JAG…
On Thursday, August 31, the Trump administration announced its selection of four construction companies contracted to build prototypes of the border wall. Construction of the prototypes will take place in San Diego, where they could remain as permanent fixtures functioning as barriers in the city or be removed and relocated…
On Thursday, August 31, Darweesh v. Trump the legal challenge in response to Trump’s travel ban was settled in a courtroom in Brooklyn. The settlement agreement stipulates that the federal government must identify and send a letter to every person who was wrongfully barred from the country, enclosing a list of free legal…
On September 5, 2017, President Trump ordered an end to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Attorney General Jeff Sessions made the announcement, stating that the program will start to be phased out within the next six months. Shortly thereafter, Trump called upon Congress to “Legalize DACA!” and draft…
On Monday, July 7th the city of Chicago’s sued the Department of Justice, over its threat to withhold federal funds to Sanctuary Cities. Specifically, the DOJ threatened to withhold funds from the Byrne JAG grant program, which provides federal funds for local police forces. (I go into greater detail about this action in my previous…
On August 2nd Trump announced his support for a Senate Bill titled: Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy Act (RAISE Act). The most devastating consequence of the RAISE Act would be a 50% reduction in legal immigration to the United States. This drop would occur as the bill would scrap the current U.S. immigration…
On July 25th the Justice Department released a statement which says that it will withhold federal funding from Sanctuary Cities. Specifically, the DOJ stated that the federal government will withhold funding for the popular Justice Assistance Grant Program(JAG). The JAG grant program provides money for local police forces to buy…
On July 24th the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that Massachusetts law enforcement agencies do not have the right to detain people solely under Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers. An ice detainer is One of the main methods that ice uses to detain undocumented immigrants. An ICE detainer is a written…
In response to an appeal from the state of Hawaii, the Supreme Court issued an order in a pending case, which provided both good and bad news for opponents of Trump’s Travel Ban. In short the basis of both the appeal and the Supreme Court’s response to it, hinged on the definition of a “bona fide relationship”. The definition of…