News

RECORD NUMBER OF DEPORTATIONS IN 2024

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U.S. immigration judges issued a staggering 136,623 deportation orders during the initial six months of Fiscal Year 2024, according to an analysis by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a nonpartisan, nonprofit data research center affiliated with the Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University. This is a significant surge in removal orders compared to the previous peak in removals observed in FY 2019 under the Donald Trump administration and the peak in FY2011 – FY2012 under the Obama administration. The current pace of removal orders have soared by 50 percent. This surge coincides with the expansion of immigration judges during the current administration. New York City emerged as the epicenter of deportations, with just under 11,000 removal orders issued to immigrants residing there. Following closely behind was Harris County, TN, which witnessed more than 8,000 removal orders, and Los Angeles County, CA, with nearly 6,000 removal orders. Despite the prominence of those three top regions, Dallas County, TA, and Miami-Dade County, FL, also witnessed substantial deportation figures. The disparity becomes evident when looking at Miami-Dade County, which has only one-fourth of the removal orders of New York City and less than half of Los Angeles. Analysts also found that as immigration judges accelerate the issuance of removal orders, fewer immigrants ordered for removal manage to secure legal representation to advocate their cases. ATRAC examination of year-by-year trends over the past decade reveals a nuanced trajectory according to an article in the Amsterdam News. Between 2016 and 2019, the total number of removal decisions saw a modest increase, but there were notable improvements in representation rates. However, the onset of partial government COVID-19 shutdowns precipitated a sharp decline in decisions, coinciding with a surprising uptick in the likelihood of finding legal representation. This anomaly probably stemmed from the decreased demand for immigration attorneys due to the reduced number of court hearings, subsequently alleviating supply constraints, TRAC found. Since Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, the rate of legal representation for immigrants facing removal proceedings has sharply declined. Last year, representation rates dropped to just 20 percent. In FY 2024, this decline continued, with only 15 percent of immigrants ordered for removal able to secure legal representation. Interestingly, this contrasts significantly with the current representation rate of 30 percent for all immigrants in the court’s backlog. The implications are clear: Immigrants without legal representation face significantly higher odds of being ordered for removal. This underscores the urgency of addressing the challenges encountered by immigrants navigating the legal intricacies of deportation proceedings in the United States. Ranking of Places With the Most Residents Ordered Removed in Immigration Court Whether Immigrant was Represented when Removal Ordered Proceedings During FY 2024 (October 2023 – March 2024) Rank Ordered Removed Had An Attorney Percent with Attorney New York City, NY 1 10,897 1,469 13% Harris County, TX (Houston) 2 8,336 1,382 17% Los Angeles County, CA 3 5963 1247 21% Dallas County, TX 4 2815 136 5% Miami-Dade County, FL 5 2521 368 15% From TRAC Report

A TRUMP SECOND TERM

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A Trump Second Term is bad for Immigrants

In an interview with Time Magazine on April 30, 2024, Trump discussed his agenda for a second term, which includes deporting millions of people using the military. Trump envisions a series of mass deportation camps that would require military support. “I think in terms of the National Guard. But if I thought things were getting out of control, I would have no problem using the military, per se,” Trump said. “We have to have safety in our country. We have to have law and order in our country. And whichever gets us there, but I think the National Guard will do the job.” During Trump’s first term, the Department of Homeland Security considered using National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants but the plans ultimately never came to fruition. “The Posse Comitatus Act says that you can’t deploy the U.S. military against civilians,” Cortellessa noted. “Would you override that?” “Well, these aren’t civilians,” Trump responded. “These are people that aren’t legally in our country. This is an invasion of our country — an invasion like probably no country has ever seen before. They’re coming in by the millions. I believe we have 15 million now. And I think you’ll have 20 million by the time this ends. And that’s bigger than almost every state.” Trump has made cracking down on immigration a centerpiece of his reelection campaign, repeating a strategy that worked for him when he first ran for office. He’s accused migrants of “poisoning the blood of the country” and referred to people in the U.S. illegally who are suspected of committing crimes as “animals.” Trump explained some of his plans that he wants to put in place on day one, January 20, 2025, if he wins reelection—a suite of aggressive actions on the border and on immigration—a massive deportation operation. Trump explained, “So if you look back into the 1950s, Dwight Eisenhower, he’s not known for that, you know, you don’t think of him that way. Because you see, Ike, but Dwight Eisenhower was very big on illegal immigration not coming into our country. And he did a massive deportation of people. He was doing it for a long time. He got very proficient at it. He was bringing them just to the other side of the border. And they would be back in the country within a matter of days. And then he started bringing them 3,000 miles away—” How Would He Get Local Law Enforcement Onboard? When asked about how he would get local law enforcement to participate in his massive deportation operations he stated his willingness to you use funding incentives. He was asked, “Does that mean you would create funding incentives from the federal government for state and local police departments?” Trump: “It could very well be. I want to give police immunity from prosecution because the liberal groups or the progressive groups, depending on what they want to be called, somewhat liberal, somewhat progressive, but they are—they’re very strong on the fact that they want to leave everybody in, I guess, I don’t know. You know, sanctuary cities are failing all over the place.”  PROTECTING POLICE? In a strange statement, even for Trump, he stated that he wanted to protect police from prosecution for their actions. Trump said: We want to protect police from prosecution. Trump: Police have been—their authority has been taken away. If something happens with them, even if they’re doing a very good job, they take away their house, they take away their pension, they take away their, I mean, essentially, they end up losing their families over it. They take away everything. They prosecute people. And we have to give the police back the power and respect that they deserve. Donald Trump in Times Magazine Interview https://time.com/6972022/donald-trump-transcript-2024-election/ One thing seems abundantly clear when it comes to a possible Trump second term, it is not going to be good for immigrants in the United States.

Updated USCIS Processing Time Data

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2022, 2023, and 2024 median processing times for Forms I-765, I-90, and I-485.

USCIS released updated case processing time averages April 3, 2024. A chart and graph of the median processing times for some common forms are below showing 2022 (blue), 2023 (red), and thus far in 2024 (green) as of today. FORM Classification or Basis for Filing 2022 2023 2024 I-765 Based on a pending asylum application 9.2 1.6 0.6 I-765 Based on adjustment of status application 6.7 5.5 3.6 I-765 Based on parole 1.1 1.3 0.9 I-821 Request to register for TPS 10.2 11.8 8.7 I-485 Based on family-based petition 10.6 11.4 9.4 I-130 Immediate Relative 10.3 11.8 11 N-400 Application for naturalization 10.5 6.1 5.2 I-131 Application for advance parole document 7.3 5.8 4.4 I-90 Replacement or renewal of LPR card 1.2 9.1 3.3 source: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/fact-sheets/historical_pt_factsheet_fy16_to_fy24.pdf Source: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/fact-sheets/historical_pt_factsheet_fy16_to_fy24.pdf

Third Gender Option Added to Form N-400, Application for Naturalization

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USCIS adds an option for a third gender on application

The 04/01/24 edition of Form N-400 is the first USCIS form to include the “X” gender option. Today, April 1, 2024, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has made a big announcement that we hope isn’t a bad April Fool’s Day joke of some kind. USCIS’ update to their policies take effect immediately. Applicants filing the 04/01/2024 edition of Form N-400 on or after April 1, 2024, will have the option of choosing “m” (for male), “f” (for female), or “X” as a gender option on the form. USCIS issued a Policy Alert on April 1, 2024, PA-2024-08, which explains this change to the Department of Homeland Security’s policy. This is reflected in an update to the USCIS Policy Manual as well. What is “X” Gender? The X gender marking is intended for applicants who neither identify as being male nor female. This would be a blanket option covering any non-binary or gender fluid individuals who do not feel comfortable being referred to as a male or a female. Any gender that isn’t male or female would fall into this category. From the Policy Alert, “USCIS has determined that it will define “X” as “Another Gender Identity” for purposes of USCIS forms and secure identity documents. Transgender individuals have already had the option to select the gender they identify with per an earlier change to policy that allows for noncitizens to change their gender on USCIS ID documents quite easily without needing to provide any evidence. However, updating one’s gender on a certificate of naturalization that has already been issued can be a bit more tricky, so any applicant that may wish to change the gender that appears on their USCIS documents should do that before their certificate of naturalization is issued if possible. Will This Change Be Coming To All USCIS Forms? At the moment the change has only been made on the Form N-400. However, this change will be coming to other USCIS forms in the future, which they have confirmed in the Policy Alert stating: “USCIS anticipates that the additional gender option “X” will become available upon each form’s revision to incorporate the change, beginning with the Application for Naturalization (Form N-400).” USCIS Policy Alert, Availability of Additional Gender Options for Certain Benefit Requests, April 1, 2024; PA-2024-08 When Will This Option Become Available on Other USCIS Forms? According to the Policy Alert, “USCIS anticipates that the additional gender option “X” will become available upon each form’s revision to incorporate the change, beginning with the Application for Naturalization (Form N-400).” USCIS recommends that to determine what gender options are available for a particular form in the future, see the relevant USCIS form and related instructions. What if my N-400 is Already Pending? USCIS addressed this concern in the Policy Alert stating that Applicants who have a pending Form N-400 using the edition in effect before April 1, 2024, may request to update their gender on or after April 1, 2024, as well. Is there an X Gender Option if I am Requesting Residency or Another Immigration Benefit? For all other forms, individuals must wait until USCIS revises those forms to include the X gender option. USCIS explains this in the alert. The good news is that they also indicated that the change will be coming for other forms.

EOIR “Experiencing Intermittent Systemwide Outages”

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Email from EOIR on March 21, 2024, regarding system outages

Today, March 21, 2024, the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) sent out an email at 5:40 p.m. EST stating: EOIR has been experiencing intermittent systemwide outages and is working to ensure the issues are fully resolved. We will provide updates as appropriate, but please contact your local court with questions. We will issue new Notices of Hearing to those whose hearings were affected today. https://www.justice.gov/eoir/find-immigration-court-and-access-internet-based-hearings Since they provided the link to the internet-based hearings links, it seems they are referring to the Webex Virtual Hearings System. It also seemed that the Automated Case Status System Website was down earlier this afternoon. So if you had trouble accessing your Immigration Court Virtual Hearing today it wasn’t only you and there is no need to worry. The email from EOIR states that they will be sending out new hearing notices for those whose hearings were affected by the technical difficulties today.