My friend Morgan Smith wrote this note about the Rio Grande in July 2024. Learn more about Morgan here , here and here .
J.A.M. v. USA "The Court holds that Oscar is entitled to a much lower, but still notable award of $175,000 because he was somewhat older at the time of the incident, was detained for about half...
Path2Papers, July 17, 2024 " What are the policy changes the Biden administration is implementing regarding temporary work visas? On June 18, 2024, the Biden administration announced a policy...
DOJ, July 18, 2024 "The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Southwest Key Programs Inc. (Southwest Key), a Texas-based nonprofit that provides housing to unaccompanied children who are...
Jeanne Kuang, CalMatters, July 18, 2024 "Even with all the industries where Californians went on strike during last year’s “hot labor summer,” some of the most active sites of...
Anna-Catherine Brigida, Houston Landing, Apr. 12, 2024
"When Blanca, 49, found out her immigration court case was thrown out, she let out a sigh of relief. When the same happened to Maria Pineda, 31, it was one of the worst days of her life. Both women have spent more than a decade in the U.S., living and working in Houston and raising their kids, who are U.S. citizens. Blanca, originally from Mexico and who asked to be identified by first name because of her immigration status, has another pathway to citizenship through her kids who are old enough to sponsor her. Pineda, from El Salvador, can only get legal status through winning her court case. Their fates were at the center of a Biden administration immigration policy implemented last year that aims to cut down the record 3.4 million immigration court backlog by dismissing court cases through prosecutorial discretion, a longstanding authority that allows agencies to decide how to focus their resources. In an increasingly winding immigration system that includes multiple federal agencies, some people, like Blanca, have other pathways available to them when one is shut off. For others, such as Pineda, the route to legal status is a narrow path with only one door at the end. Their stories show how policies intended to free up resources in a backlogged immigration system can instead push some immigrants into the shadows when a flawed “one size fits all” approach is applied."