This week in immigration news — March 5, 2020
Here are the immigration news we are tracking this week:
A judge rules that Ken Cuccinelli’s appointment is unlawful
Last year, advocacy groups filed a lawsuit that challenged Cuccinelli’s appointment as acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Cuccinelli is also serving as acting Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, which has oversight of USCIS, a conflict that was the subject of the lawsuit.
The advocacy groups that filed the lawsuit have also asked for the USCIS’s hardline directives affecting asylum seekers to be struck down.
Rally in Virginia supporting the right to receive a driver’s license
On Tuesday, members of the Charlottesville community marched in support of the right for all Virginians to receive a driver’s license. This march was quickly arranged by community leaders to try and persuade their state senator to vote in favor of the bill, which has already passed the state’s general assembly.
Lawsuit claims that Immigration and Customs Enforcement rigged its algorithm
A new lawsuit is claiming that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rigged its algorithm that would determine if a person who was arrested should be detained or released in advance of their hearing.
The algorithm has been changed twice—in 2015 and in 2017. According to the lawsuit, the option to “release” an individual was removed. This left the only options as “detention” or “refer to supervisor”—an option that would almost never end in a person being released.
