This week in immigration news – January 9, 2020

On Monday, the Trump administration launched a plan to collect biometric information from migrants as young as 14 and as old as 79 to add to a criminal database.

This rollout is the beginning of a three-year plan to eventually collect biometric data from nearly all migrants detained in the United States. Advocates charge that this is a massive invasion of privacy, especially since the information is being collected from individuals who have not been linked to any crime.

On Wednesday, federal judges in New York denied the Trump administration’s request to move forward with their public charge rule, which critics charge is aimed at curbing legal immigration into the United States.

Under the Trump administration’s rule, if an immigrant received Medicaid, food stamps, or public housing vouchers, this could impact their citizenship application. Check protectingimmigrantfamilies.org—a coalition that UnidosUS is leading—for more information about how we’re fighting back.

In Massachusetts, decades of precedent have been reversed in immigration court. Previously, it was on immigrants to prove that they weren’t a flight risk to stay out of detention.

Now, the burden of proof rests on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to show why someone deserves to be detained. Immigrant advocates are applauding the decision, as it puts the responsibility on the government to argue that someone should be detained. It should be noted, however, that this decision only applies to the Boston immigration court system.