This week in immigration news — June 4, 2020
These are the immigration news we are tracking this week.
DACA recipients arrested during Black Lives Matter protests in Phoenix
Three DREAMers were arrested during Black Lives Matter protests this weekend in Phoenix. All three were initially turned over to ICE before they were released. One of the DREAMers, Maxima Guerrero, was a legal observer of the protest, and was leaving when she was arrested.
As DACA is a temporary status, advocates are now worried that they are at risk for deportation if they participate in the demonstrations.
Immigrants fearing torture can challenge their deportations
In a 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held this week that immigrants who fear being tortured if they return to their home country can appeal their deportation order in federal appeals court.
Immigrant in class-action suit against ICE who was deported is now missing
Hector Garcia Mendoza was deported to Nuevo Laredo—a border city that is well-known for being especially dangerous for newly arrived migrants from the United States—on the same day that a federal judge ordered his deportation be put on hold.
Garcia Mendoza is one of the plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against ICE for their handling of the COVID-19 outbreak in a New Jersey detention center. While advocates were worried about the initial timing of the deportation, they are now even more concerned, because Garcia Mendoza has gone missing.
ICE continues to transfer immigrants
ICE’s response to the coronavirus in its detention centers has been under fire by immigrant advocates for months. Now, the agency is being criticized for continuing to transfer immigrants to facilities across the country while most Americans are under stay at home orders.
More than 1,400 immigrants in ICE detention centers have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and two immigrants and three ICE staffers have died due to COVID-19.
In June 2018, then Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen made the claim that the department would only separate families if there was a risk to the child’s or children’s welfare, or if the parent had a criminal warrant. A new report by the Inspector General, however, finds that between May-June 2018, nearly 35 families were separated for other reasons, such as having entered the United States without a visa.
