Following news stories that President Trump may send a small contingent of troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, the media is now reporting that the President is also considering executive actions to prevent individuals traveling in the “migrant caravan” from Central America from entering the United States.
The closest races for the U.S. House of Representatives include 16 with a candidate committed to lower immigration who is competing with a candidate who is not. Most of these 16 -- who are as likely to lose as to win -- are incumbents with good reduction records in Congress.
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, the Border Patrol apprehended 396,579 illegal aliens between ports of entry on the Southwest border, an increase of 92,663 over FY 17. 124,511 people presenting themselves at ports of entry on that border were not allowed entry (i.e., deemed inadmissible) in FY 18, an increase of 12,910 over the previous fiscal year. The 521,090 total is 25 percent higher the FY 17 number (415,517) but considerably lower than the 553,378 recorded in FY 16.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed a rule that would extend the circumstances in which the Attorney General may refer cases to himself for review. Thus far, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has reviewed seven cases already decided by the Board of Immigration Appeals and issued rulings in five. The proposal would allow him to issue rulings in cases before they get to the Board.
A memo from the Center for American Progress warns vulnerable Democrats to spend "as little time as possible" talking about immigration. Will open borders prove a bigger albatross than family separations? The last twelve months of immigration punditry provides some clues.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an ambitious immigration regulatory agenda that includes rule proposals for the H-1B, H-4, H-2A, H-2B, F-1 and EB-5 visa programs as well as measures concerning asylum seekers, “public charges,” and migrant families. Many are designed to implement President Trump's America First agenda.
Christopher Browning, a professor of German history, published a long essay in The New York Review of Books. The topic wasn't a book review but a vituperative attack on President Trump, including a denunciation of those, Trump supporters or not, who seek to restrict immigration. It is shockingly shoddy work by someone of Browning's stature, and any effect it may have will only serve to inflame political passions.
ICE told Arizona Sheriffs it has run out of detention space to handle the number of migrants illegally crossing the border and presenting themselves at ports of entry. This lack of housing and the Flores Settlement’s 20-day release requirement forced ICE to release a large number of “family units" in Arizona all at once.
The Mexican government is reportedly stationing hundreds police and immigration agents at its southern border with Guatemala in advance of the arrival of a 2,000-person caravan of Hondurans that is traveling to the United States, according to one report. Another report indicates that Mexican immigration agents are trying to prevent migrants from accessing U.S. ports of entry.
The Trump Administration told the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that it will ask the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s injunction blocking the termination of DACA if the Appeals Court doesn’t issue a decision by Oct. 31. The Ninth Circuit heard arguments on May 15th but has yet to issue a ruling.
