11/6/19  //  Commentary

The Supreme Court will hear arguments next week in a case about whether the Trump Administration can revoke DACA. But progressives ought to be wary of the long-term effects of prevailing. A win here could very well make it very hard to undo the lax enforcement policies of the current Administration.

10/17/19  //  Uncategorized

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason and Easha break down President Trump's bad day in court on Friday, October 11. On that day, he lost three different lawsuits: one on the "public charge" immigration rule, one on Congress's subpoena power, and one on border wall funding. Listen now!

10/3/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

Gotcha! No impeachment dessert until you eat your immigration broccoli. On this week’s Versus Trump, Easha (back from parental leave!) and Charlie (just starting parental leave) discuss two immigration losses for the Trump administration. The first concerns Trump’s attempts to roll back court-ordered protections for migrant children; the second, Trump’s attempt to subject more immigrants to expedited removal. Listen now!

9/19/19  //  Uncategorized

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Charlie and Jason discuss the Supreme Court's recent action permitting the Trump Administration to enforce tough new restrictions on asylum eligibility for those who enter the U.S. at the southern border. Listen now!

9/9/19  //  Quick Reactions

The oral argument in the TPS case featured a line of questioning that suggested one of the judges had not read the relevant Supreme Court case.

8/26/19  //  Commentary

The Trump administration’s revamped expedited removal system unsettles the rulings that upheld the expedited removal system against constitutional challenges.

1/28/18  //  Daily Update

President Trump offered a proposal that would offer legal status for the Dreamers in exchange for a border wall and increased regulation of immigration. The Trump administration has significantly increased regulation of immigration, in contrast with its anti-regulatory policies in other fields.

1/14/18  //  Daily Update

Bipartisan negotiations over an agreement to address "Dreamers" is imperiled after President Trump makes disparaging remarks about Haitians and Africans. The Trump Administration announces plans to end Temporary Protected Status for approximately 200,000 Salvadorans living in the U.S.

12/4/17  //  Daily Update

A deal on the "Dreamers" may be less likely after an announcement from President Trump.

11/26/17  //  Daily Update

The Trump Administration announced plans to implement an "extreme vetting initiative" and to eliminate temporary protected status for many Haitian immigrants. Critics argue border patrol checkpoints are ineffective, but many of the administration's goals are as easily accomplished by recent policy changes.

11/6/17  //  Daily Update

New lawsuits challenge the Trump Administrations' deportation proceedings. President Trump seeks legislative changes to the immigration system. More immigration judges are needed to handle the caseload.

10/31/17  //  Daily Update

The en banc D.C. Circuit ruled that the federal government must permit an undocumented teen in custody to access abortion care. The status of the proposed border wall remains unclear.

6/26/18  //  Commentary

The real problem is the Trump Administration itself. What feels like damage today is largely the echo of damage that already happened, rather than something new.

6/7/18  //  Commentary

The administration’s policy of forcibly separating children from their parents highlights some of the shortcomings with the legal justifications for the administration’s position in Azar v. Garza, the case in which the administration is refusing to allow undocumented women in its custody to obtain abortions.

3/21/17  //  Commentary

DOJ argues that courts can't hear challenges to Trump's executive order threatening to punish sanctuary cities. Its arguments are wrong and prove that Trump's policy is illegal.

7/12/18  //  Uncategorized

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Jason, Charlie, and Easha discuss the retirement of Justice Kennedy and how his presumptive replacement may rule in Versus Trump cases. They then do some quick hits to update a handful of important cases. Listen now!

6/4/18  //  Commentary

The Trump administration's apparent policy of separating children from their parents when families cross the border together highlight some of the abuses and excesses of our immigration system.

5/20/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

Now that the Trump administration has identified an additional 1700 children separated from their families, it’s time to revisit the administration’s legal arguments for why it was not actually separating families; with new, questionably legal actions that arise practically every day, we cannot let the way the administration has handled the fallout of its immigration policies slip by the wayside.

9/19/17  //  Commentary

Some new legal challenges were filed to the Trump administration's planned winding down of DACA.

5/8/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

The Trump administration has repeatedly (and incorrectly) argued that a policy does not constitute discrimination unless the policy discriminates against all members of a particular group.

3/20/17  //  Quick Reactions

In urging the Attorney General to cease using state courthouses as bait for undocumented migrants, the California Chief Justice displayed admirable bravery and commitment to the rule of law.

1/18/18  //  Commentary

On a new episode of Versus Trump, Easha, Jason, and Charlie discuss the big decision that forced the Trump Administration to restart the DACA immigration program. Listen now!

6/26/18  //  Commentary

The future of discrimination law is secure, in short—and securely shut to minority races, ethnicities, and creeds suffering at the hands of a populist majority.

2/21/19  //  Uncategorized

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Charlie, Jason, and Easha discuss the early lawsuits that seek to stop the new sections of border wall that President Trump authorized through executive action. Listen now!

6/23/17  //  Commentary

Thoughts on criminality, immigration, and justice from Professor Chelsey Kivland of Dartmouth College.

9/5/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Donald Trump's apparent reasons for (apparently) rescinding DACA make little sense.

3/31/17  //  Latest Developments

The President's words indicate he is open to honoring DACA (the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program). But his actions (and inactions) suggest otherwise.

9/14/17  //  Commentary

On this week’s episode of Versus Trump, we discuss a major new lawsuit that challenges President Trump's announced revocation of the DACA immigration program. Listen now!

1/4/18  //  Uncategorized

On the first episode of Versus Trump of 2018, Jason and Charlie look back at Versus Trump cases in 2017 and score them as Administration wins, losses, or not-yet-decided. They also look ahead at big issues to come in 2018. Listen now!

6/20/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

By Carolyn Shapiro & Joanna Martin: Separating parents from their children without regard for the children’s rights and interests is unconstitutional

6/23/17  //  Quick Reactions

Yesterday, the Supreme Court wisely rejected a position that would have furthered President Trump's interest in reinforcing the hierarchy between immigrants and “real” Americans.

11/2/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

By Daniel I Morales: Can the federal government make it a crime to encourage or induce a noncitizen to illegally enter or reside in the United States?

6/18/18  //  Commentary

Coretta Scott King was right. Jeff Sessions is a horrible man to be Attorney General.

11/7/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

By Kari E. Hong: We do not need more security. We need less of it, and a substantial reduction at that.

5/4/17  //  Commentary

ICE Continues To Undermine DACA Despite Trump’s Protestations To the Contrary

10/26/17  //  Commentary

On this week’s episode of Versus Trump, Easha and Charlie have a quick turn-around emergency pod to discuss an ongoing—wait, just now resolved—case filed by a pregnant 17-year-old girl in federal immigration custody who seeks an abortion. Easha and Charlie first talk about the procedural wrangling that this case has wrought and second about the legal claims in the case, which bring them into the exciting worlds of reproductive rights, immigration law, and international relations. Listen now!

8/26/17  //  Commentary

This pardon by this most abnormal president threatens the rule of law

5/17/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

President Trump's rhetoric draw upon a familiar narrative that pathologizes immigration and immigrant reproduction as a threat while protecting and supporting the nation’s “good” mothers, families, and neighborhood

7/24/17  //  Commentary

A landmark opinion turns Massachusetts into a sanctuary state, setting up a legal and political battle with DOJ.

7/7/17  //  Quick Reactions

Three former Surgeons General have called for an end to involuntary medical procedures on intersex babies and children. U.S. immigration law sheds light on why this is such an important development.

3/24/17  //  Commentary

In limited but vital ways, those who relied on Obama-era immigration and marijuana non-enforcement policies should be protected against sudden shifts in federal policy under President Trump.

6/5/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

DOJ’s view is, apparently, that the law requires DHS to separate children from parents when families cross the border together. This post highlights some of the reasons why that's wrong.

8/19/19  //  Commentary

Intervening legal developments counsel against granting the Solicitor General’s recent petition for certiorari on the expedited removal system.

7/11/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

This week on Versus Trump, Charlie is joined by New Yorker writer Sarah Stillman to discuss the case of Suny Rodriguez, an asylum seeker who sued the Trump Administration over the conditions in detention centers. Listen now!

5/4/17  //  Commentary

Sanctuary cities now face another threat much closer to home: their own state governments. And it will come as no surprise that the Lone Star State has led the way in seeking to shut down local efforts at protecting the dignity of undocumented migrants.

1/12/18  //  Commentary

This decision, however attractive as a matter of policy, strikes me as mistaken under the law. It warrants swift reversal by higher courts.

4/26/18  //  Commentary

On a new episode of Versus Trump, Easha, Charlie, and Jason discuss the Trump Administration's lawsuit against California. The lawsuit seeks to prevent the state from enforcing three new state laws that the federal government says will undermine enforcement of immigration law. Listen now!

6/19/18  //  Commentary

Calling all the ambulance chasers to address this administration's mistreatment of migrants.

3/1/18  //  Commentary

On a new episode of Versus Trump, Easha, Jason, and Charlie check back in with the most politically charged of all Versus Trump suits: the Russia investigation. Listen now!

2/1/18  //  Commentary

On a new episode of Versus Trump, Charlie and Jason discuss an unexpected recent opinion that held that Ravi Ragbir, an immigration activist and alien subject to deportation, had the "freedom to say goodbye" before he could be removed from this country. Listen now!

6/6/18  //  Commentary

Jennings v. Rodriguez underscores how prior administrations, with the agreement of the federal courts, argued for expansive authority over immigration and immigration detentions that were ripe for abuse.

10/5/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Here we address confusions and misconceptions about what DACA is (or was), and what will happen next; about the effects of DHS’s “rescission, and what the legal basis might be for that rescission; about what happens during the so-called six-month “window”; about the prospects that Trump might reverse course in March; and about the current litigation challenging DHS’s rescission.

5/5/17  //  Commentary

Basic principles of constitutional structure mean Trump is, and should be held, personally responsible for ICE’s egregious treatment of the DREAM-ers.

9/4/17  //  Commentary

The Trump administration will invoke whatever views of statutes and executive power maximize cruelty towards the foreign nationals he and his supporters most despise.

11/16/17  //  Commentary

On this week’s episode of Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie discuss a new lawsuit that forces courts to answer the question of whether the federal government needs a warrant to search people's electronic devices at the U.S. border, and they also respond to a discussion on the Supreme Court podcast First Mondays regarding the government's recent filing in the Hargan v. Garza abortion case. Listen now!

3/23/17  //  Commentary

The transition to President Trump has massively shifted federal enforcement priorities. Does the Constitution protect people who relied on Obama's immigration, healthcare, or marijuana policies?

4/23/18  //  Commentary

Whatever side the Court takes in the travel ban litigation, it should renounce national security exceptionalism

5/31/18  //  Uncategorized

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Easha, Charlie, and Jason discuss recent important cases in the world of immigration, including a new lawsuit contending that the Trump Administration may not pursue its apparent policy of legally separating immigrant children from adults that they enter the country with. Listen now!

6/12/17  //  Commentary

The Trump Administration’s expansion of deportation efforts has occurred alongside systematic efforts to strip people caught in the enforcement web of their right to due process.

11/13/18  //  Commentary

By Neil Weare and Sam Erman: It's time to invalidate policies denying birthright citizenship to persons born in U.S. territories

8/4/17  //  Quick Reactions

State officials are seeking out ways to intensify federal efforts to enforce immigration law, but they are thereby intensifying larger problems plaguing our national immigration system

4/13/17  //  Commentary

The Trump administration has enacted several policies to conceal, subvert, or manipulate information. It has retracted a proposal to add LGBTQ identification to the U.S. census and eliminated LGBTQ identification from HHS surveys. These policies and others attempt to deny the existence of a problem by disappearing the (inconvenient) facts.

5/16/19  //  Uncategorized

This week on Versus Trump, Jason and Easha go through a few updates to cases involving Title X, which provides money for family planning; the Administration's policy to have many asylum applicants removed to Mexico; and the controversial border wall. Trump lost one, won one—for now, and hasn't yet gotten a decision in the third. Listen now!

5/31/17  //  Quick Reactions

An extraordinary concurrence by Judge Reinhardt of the Ninth Circuit condemns inhumanity and injustice in our immigration system.

4/11/17  //  Commentary

An exchange of letters between the California Chief Justice and Attorney General Sessions offers valuable lessons for states considering immigrant protective policies that respect human rights and dignity (but might annoy the Trump Administration).

1/23/19  //  Commentary

A recently leaked document highlights the perils of government lawyering on behalf of the Trump administration.

5/16/17  //  Commentary

Trump suggested in a recent signing statement that he could disregard an appropriations restriction on federal marijuana enforcement. But Trump is mistaken.

3/30/17  //  Commentary

President Trump's immigration enforcement policy has massively raised the stakes in Hernandez v. Mesa, where the Supreme Court is considering a cross-border shooting by a U.S. agent.

11/8/17  //  Commentary

An immigration lottery has symbolic value. It symbolizes the role that luck plays in all our lives, including with respect to citizenship.

10/19/17  //  Quick Reactions

One facet of the government's position in Garza v. Hargan got a laugh at the Supreme Court when the government raised it in another case.

1/17/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Charlie, Jason, and Easha hit three topics: the mysterious case of the subpoena to a foreign corporation that may be related to the Mueller investigation; the nomination of William Barr as Attorney General; and the temporal nature of an emergency, as prompted by live listener feedback. Listen now!

8/31/17  //  Commentary

Cities need to be recognized as constitutional actors in their own right, worthy of protection and capable of self-determination.

7/2/18  //  Commentary

In a recent case, the Court suggested that calling out an attempt to use religion to justify harming others was evidence of animus. That’s wrong.

6/30/17  //  Quick Reactions

It is the federal government’s responsibility to define immigration violations—and in particular, aggravated felonies—precisely.

4/12/17  //  Commentary

On the first full day of Passover, the Trump Administration offered several lessons about institutionalized racism and ethnic cleansing.

4/13/17  //  Commentary

Given the nativist overtones of his campaign and his administration’s signature policies — from the Muslim ban to an immigration crackdown that equates being a foreign-born minority with criminality — Trump has exploded the fiction that we live in a post-racial society.

10/2/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

The government is arguing it can deprive noncitizens of their legal rights simply by making it too difficult and painful to vindicate those rights.

3/16/17  //  Commentary

It's time to force Congress back into the conversation about immigration enforcement. Here's how.

3/8/18  //  Commentary

On a new episode of Versus Trump, Easha, Jason, and Charlie discuss a recent district court opinion that rejected California's challenge to the Trump Administration's expedited border wall projects in California. Listen now!

6/14/18  //  Commentary

On this week's special live episode of Versus Trump, Easha, Charlie, and Jason share the stage at the ACS National Convention in Washington, DC with Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and Stanford Law's Pamela Karlan. They discussed several important cases brought by states against the Trump Administration as well as the broader federalism issues presented by Democratic Attorneys General being involved in so many lawsuits against the federal government. Listen now!

8/27/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump placed the border wall at the center of Congressional budget debates. The administration has also dramatically increased the number of immigrants in ICE custody and in removal proceedings.

4/2/17  //  Daily Update

This week, reports emerged that ICE is targeting sanctuary cities with increased enforcement operations. This, and other Trump Administration immigration policies, has an immediate harm on immigrants nationwide. ICE has also been brought to court for allegedly unconstitutional searches at the border.

10/1/17  //  Daily Update

The White House announced it will cap the number of refugees admitted in the next fiscal year at 45,000. The administration circulated several new hardline enforcement proposals, including a dramatic increase in the number of enforcement agents.

10/8/17  //  Daily Update

The House Homeland Security Committee voted to advance a bill authorizing $10 billion to construct a border wall. The Supreme Court heard re-argument in Jennings v. Rodriguez.

3/26/17  //  Daily Update

As Trump Administration immigration enforcement cracks down, fear among immigrant communities is up, as is push back from state judges to protect their courthouses.

4/9/17  //  Daily Update

DHS is arresting immigrants at local courthouses. President Trump's proposed wall is no longer looking like a certainty.

4/23/17  //  Daily Update

The Trump Administration continues to crack down on undocumented immigrants. Advocates have fought back by pointing to backed up immigration courts and expense estimates of the border wall.

4/16/17  //  Daily Update

This week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the "Trump Era," heralding increased enforcement of immigration offenses. On Take Care, Jennifer Chacón argued that states can innovate effectively to protect human rights in the face of problematic ICE arrests. Also on Take Care, Joshua Matz and Leah Litman argue that Sean Spicer's deplorable remarks about the Holocaust must be seen in the context of Trump Administration policies on Syria and immigration.

6/4/17  //  Daily Update

Judge Stephen Reinhardt sharply criticizes the Trump Administration's aggressive enforcement policies, and the Administration pressures immigration attorneys to stop providing representation in certain deportation proceedings.

5/14/17  //  Daily Update

The Administration is rejecting Congress's attempts to intervene in immigration enforcement. Controversy continues over ICE's treatment of DREAMers and immigrants at state courthouses. And reports suggest President Trump's enforcement policies may be having unintended consequences.

7/23/17  //  Daily Update

The administration expanded the H-2B visa program for low-skilled, seasonal workers. A group of former diplomats and national security advisers urged President Trump to keep the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration within the State Department.

6/11/17  //  Daily Update

The Trump administration continued increasing enforcement of immigration policies.

6/25/17  //  Daily Update

The Administration announces it will not immediately halt DACA, but will deport DACA recipients' parents.

8/20/17  //  Daily Update

The President suggested he might pardon controversial former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Commentary continues on the proposed RAISE Act.

8/6/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump announced his support for the controversial RAISE Act. The leaked transcript of a January call revealed that President Trump told Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to stop contradicting him on the border wall.

3/26/17  //  Daily Update

As Trump Administration immigration enforcement cracks down, fear among immigrant communities is up, as is push back from state judges to protect their courthouses.

4/30/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump abandoned his demand for border wall funding, he told DREAMers they may "rest easy," and the Supreme Court expressed skepticism over the Administration's position on when citizenship may be revoked.

10/21/17  //  Daily Update

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will crack down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants. DOJ may implement quotas to evaluate the performances of immigration judges. Like many of his predecessors, President Trump has found immigration issues more difficult than he imagined they would be.

5/7/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric has harmed American Muslims and mothers and children fleeing gender-based violence.

7/9/17  //  Daily Update

The Administration's enforcement policies are putting a strain on the court system. A Ninth Circuit panel ruled in that undocumented children detained by federal authorities are entitled to a hearing to challenge their detainment.

7/30/17  //  Daily Update

The administration issued a ban on travel to North Korea. A federal court issued a preliminary injunction against the deportation of Iraqi immigrants.

6/18/17  //  Daily Update

The Administration moves to reopen hundreds of cases of undocumented individuals who received reprieves from the Obama Administration, and the Administration seeks to rescind DAPA.

7/16/17  //  Daily Update

The Trump Administration is attempting to limit immigration opportunities for students, business owners, and refugees. Obama-era protections may be under attack and it is unclear whether the DOJ will defend them.