- In one of its most shameful decisions of the modern era, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against keeping TPS for Haitians and Syrians. The majority decision makes a mockery of equal protection and turns a blind eye to the administration’s blatant racism, instead treating it as just “political discourse”. The majority ties itself into knots trying to redefine words in an attempt to justify its political decision to shield a racist administration. And the majority misapplied its own standards of review to come to the decision that it, and the president, wanted. This is a distressing time for Haitian and Syrian communities here in Massachusetts and across the country, but the fight to protect our friends and neighbors is not yet over. Last week, Senator Markey introduced S. 4814 which would extend TPS for Haitians; if you have friends or family in other states, ask them to contact their Senators to support this bill (Sen. Warren has already signed on as a co-sponsor). The case is now going back down to the District Court, which will take about 30 days to put the Supreme Court’s order into effect and further litigate the case. People with TPS will not lose their status until the lower court puts the order into effect. MIRA urges families and individuals impacted by this week’s decision to reach out to a qualified attorney to see what options might be available to you.
- In another case that rejects humanitarian immigration, the Supreme Court ruled that asylum seekers at the border do not actually have the right to apply for asylum. Federal law allows asylum seekers in the US to apply for asylum, and this has traditionally been the case for those applying at the port of entry, even if they were not yet physically in the United States. Thursday’s ruling limits asylum applications only to those who have physically entered the US and allows the administration to refuse asylum applications to anyone at the border but who has not entered the country.
- The administration’s attempt to create a national voter database based on the SAVE system, a database used to verify eligibility for benefits, is unlawful according to a federal judge’s ruling on Monday. The judge found that the administration had been relying on citizenship data that it knew to be unreliable and that its actions in expanding SAVE violated a number of federal statutes. A number of states have already been using the system to purge their voter rolls.
- A federal judge in Boston also struck down an attempt by this Administration to place greater limits on voting rights. The administration had been trying to require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote, limited mail-in ballots, and threatened funding to states that do not comply with the administration’s demands. In making its decision, the court found that the Constitution grants power over elections to Congress and the states, and that the administration’s attempts at limiting voter rights violated the separation of powers. The court had previously issued a temporary injunction stopping this scheme from moving forward, and this week’s decision makes that ruling permanent.
- A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit from the Trump Administration against Los Angeles challenging the city’s ordinance barring cooperation with immigration enforcement. The court found that the city’s ordinance was a constitutional exercise of its authority over its own resources. Similar lawsuits against Boston and Chicago had previously been dismissed by federal courts.
- Earlier this week, the Trump Administration proposed a shocking 75% increase in application fees for naturalization to $1,330 while also eliminating fee waivers. This move is entirely in line with this administration’s efforts to limit legal immigration and restrict US citizenship only to those who this administration thinks are worthy.
- A federal appeals court allowed the Trump Administration to move ahead with its designs for expedited removal, which allows the government to deport individuals without a hearing. Expedited removal is not a new process, but has previously been limited to within 100 miles of the border and only for those who have been in the country for less than 2 weeks. In one of his Executive Orders in the current term, the President ordered that the process be expanded to the entire nation and for anyone who has been in the US for less than 2 years. The appeals court, in allowing the move, argued that it does not infringe on due process rights enshrined in the Constitution.
- On Tuesday, a federal judge in California blocked the administration from making arrests at immigration court. Early on, the administration had started dismissing immigration cases against people, only to then take them into custody at the immigration courts to use expedited removal against them. The found that the administration policy came, “not from merely unreasoned decision-making but a complete lack of decision-making,” in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. A federal court in New York had previously blocked the administration from making arrests at immigration court houses in the city.
- After spending over $1 billion on warehouses around the country to detain immigrants by the thousands, DHS is reversing course and is now looking to sell off many of these new acquisitions or transfer them to other federal agencies. Of the 11 warehouses purchased by then-Secretary Noem, the agency is now looking to offload 7 of them in New Jersey, Utah, Michigan, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. Many of the communities that would have hosted these detention centers pushed back because of concerns around the strains they would place on water and sewage resources. A similar plan for warehouse detention in Merrimack, New Hampshire fell apart earlier this year after fierce, sustained opposition from local residents.