There have not been many immigration-related published decisions recently,
but that has not kept the topic of Immigration Law out of the news. The
Los Angeles Times
reports that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ("DHS")
will continue its policy of providing a
removal reprieve and work authorization
to immigrant childhood arrivals. The continuation of DHS's Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals program ("
DACA") shows its commitment to protecting those individuals who were brought
to the U.S. involuntarily but likely know no other home. However, the
program remains controversial because it is not the product of a change
in the law, such as the proposed
DREAM Act
would have been, but instead is the result in a shift in enforcement priorities.
This shift toward more liberal enforcement priorities is not limited to
the federal government. The
Los Angeles Times
is also reporting on how several Southern California counties, including
Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, and San Bernardino but not Orange and
Kern, despite nevertheless being bound by the
Trust Act, are
no longer complying
with DHS's forty-eight-hour post-criminal-custody detainer requests
("ICE Holds"). DHS uses the ICE Holds to enable it to apprehend
undocumented foreign nationals easily because they are already being held
in custody but local law-enforcement authorities. Although as of yesterday
the change in policy does not appear to have yet taken root at least in
Los Angeles County, its prospective execution is officially not based
on political concerns but rather on liability concerns. With more and
more communities' refusing to comply with ICE Holds, DHS will have
to find alternative methods for apprehending undocumented foreign nationals.
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