6/22/20  //  Commentary

Democratic and Republican responses to the DACA decision illustrate the different focus the two parties put on the federal courts.

3/27/20  //  Commentary

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie discuss a lawsuit in Seattle, Dawson v. Asher, requesting that several vulnerable people in immigration detention be released. They discuss the legal standard for detention, why detention centers are particularly dangerous places, and what courts will be balancing when they consider these requests for release. Listen now!

2/18/20  //  Commentary

The administration often tries to foist blame on the courts for its politically unpopular policies--or to have the courts effectuate its politically unpopular policies for the administration.

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!

1/28/18  //  Daily Update

At Take Care, Eli Savit argued that the Trump Administration's threats against sanctuary cities are baseless, but that the rhetoric is nonetheless dangerous. The Justice Department subpoenaed letters from sanctuary cities across the country.

1/28/18  //  Daily Update

Michael Dorf argued that litigation against the travel ban should be considered a success, regardless of the final result at the Supreme Court. A report shows that Customs and Border Protection repeatedly violated court orders issued during the first week of the travel ban litigation.

1/21/18  //  Daily Update

The week began with Martin Luther King Jr. Day and ended with a government shutdown on the anniversary of President Trump's inauguration.

1/14/18  //  Daily Update

A federal court grants an injunction requiring the Trump Administration to resume accepting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals renewal applications.

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.

1/14/18  //  Daily Update

President Trump’s top immigration chief said he was preparing to significantly increase his agency’s enforcement presence in California because of last year’s passage of a “sanctuary state” law.

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.

3/16/17  //  Commentary

Key White House personnel might be violating important limits on their lawful authority.

2/28/19  //  Uncategorized

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Charlie, Jason, and Easha discuss a decision from a federal court in Los Angeles ordering the Trump Administration to grant citizenship to both children of a same-sex couple born abroad to one U.S. parent. Listen now!

4/27/17  //  Commentary

Why did Trump bash a judicial decision blocking an order that, if you believe his own lawyers, does nothing, changes nothing, and likely won't be applied to anybody?

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.

4/30/18  //  Commentary

The Solicitor General is apparently still trying to figure out why the entry ban is constitutional.

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.

4/26/17  //  Quick Reactions

If we had a president less concerned with posing as a man of action and more as the fiduciary taking care that the laws be faithfully executed, he would probably do better in court. I don't foresee him changing course.

7/19/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

The Supreme Court is now a co-owner and co-author of the travel ban. That grows truer every time it tinkers with minutiae of this cruel, unjustified policy. And with that position comes major institutional risk to the Supreme Court’s public legitimacy.

3/27/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

The Department of Justice has filed a brief in the Fourth Circuit defending President Trump's revised entry ban. This is not an impressive brief: it is rife with misstatements of fact and incorrect legal arguments.

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.

3/20/17  //  Commentary

Judge Alex Kozinski, among others, has argued that President Trump's campaign statements are irrelevant to assessing the Muslim Ban. But his argument starts with the wrong question, and inevitably reaches the wrong answer.

7/14/17  //  Quick Reactions

It is likely that the Trump administration will simply seize on whatever ambiguity there is in the latest injunction to deny entry to as many people as it can. Why? Because that is the point of the Travel Ban.

7/15/17  //  Quick Reactions

DOJ rushed to the Supreme Court to ensure that the government wouldn't have to admit grandparents. Its arguments are silly.

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!

5/12/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

The Comey affair underscores that decisionmakers must look beyond the administration’s “official” documents to determine the administration’s motives.

8/2/17  //  Commentary

The Court’s October Calendar Further Underscores That It Never Actually Intends To Resolve The Legality Of The Entry Ban

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.

3/20/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

A careful review of Judge Gorsuch's record reveals strong reason to believe that he would vote to uphold President Trump's revised Muslim Ban (and potentially many other executives abuses, too).

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!

6/1/17  //  Commentary

On a new episode of Versus Trump, Take Care's podcast, Easha and Jason dig into healthcare for the first time, as they take a deep dive into the House v. Price litigation that addresses whether certain payments to insurers under the Affordable Care Act have been properly appropriated. They also debate immigration rhetoric vs. action and discuss drug testing for unemployment benefits. Listen now!

3/30/17  //  Quick Reactions

When asked by the Fourth Circuit, the Government said it wanted to have the full court consider its Muslim ban. But the Government probably did not mean it.

5/10/18  //  Commentary

A different take on how presidential statements or the possibility of them might affect Trump v. Hawaii (the entry ban case).

5/7/17  //  Commentary

In its Muslim Ban brief, DOJ favorably cites Palmer v. Thompson (1971)—which allowed Jackson, Mississippi to close public pools rather than integrate them. The Fourth Circuit should question DOJ about this stunning citation and make clear that Palmer, an odious ruling, has no place in anti-discrimination law today.

10/1/19  //  Commentary

How the Supreme Court facilitated DHS’s plan to indefinitely detain minors and their families.

12/4/17  //  Commentary

Trump isn’t just reckless, and he doesn’t just seem to think he is above the law. He has an authoritarian’s hostility to the very idea of a principled inquiry into the truth.

4/26/17  //  Quick Reactions

If Trump keeps tweeting his lawyers will have their work cut out for them

6/23/17  //  Commentary

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

4/19/18  //  Commentary

On a new episode of Versus Trump, we bring you a podcast version of the speech that Take Care publisher Joshua Matz gave at Harvard Law School on April 3, 2018. The talk, titled "The Legal Resistance to Trump," describes themes, achievements, and limitations of various lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration and its policies. Listen now!

1/10/19  //  Uncategorized

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Charlie, Jason, and Easha bring you a shutdown special, where they talk about the President's emergency powers as well as a lawsuit contending the government is violating federal labor law by not paying workers on time. Listen now!

6/15/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

On a new episode of Versus Trump, Take Care's podcast, Easha, Jason, and Charlie discuss a lawsuit against the President that's been brought by a D.C. gadfly who claims that Trump did not provide sufficient detail on the financial disclosure form he submitted as a candidate. Then, Easha talks with Leah Litman about the status of the Muslim ban litigation and the role of oral advocacy in this and other high-profile cases. Listen now!

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!

4/19/18  //  Commentary

The Supreme Court should strike down Trump’s travel ban.

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

4/27/17  //  Commentary

The second episode of Versus Trump, Take Care's podcast, features discussion of a lawsuit against President Trump for inciting violence, the Muslim travel ban, and more. Listen or subscribe now!

7/11/17  //  Commentary

Jane Chong questioned whether the administration's “self-interested [legal] stance" in the cases about the emoluments clauses "is ... fundamentally at odds with the trust that the office [of the President] confers.” It's worth asking the same about the administration's litigating position on the scope of the injunction against the entry ban.

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.

9/28/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Trump’s potential violations of free speech and press have much in common with his apparent violations of other constitutional limits

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.

4/24/18  //  Commentary

Both the travel ban case and the Texas redistricting litigation raise questions about the staying power of discriminatory intent.

6/27/17  //  Commentary

By making fine distinctions between who Trump can or cannot ban from the US, the Supreme Court has opened the door to greater discrimination against Muslims at the border.

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.

2/16/18  //  Commentary

Should Congress adopt a permanent fix to DACA in the coming days, the preliminary injunction will prove unimportant. But given deep divisions within and among the parties, that is hardly a sure thing. Accordingly, the ruling warrants careful study.

6/5/17  //  Commentary

The President's statements on the London attacks reveal how the President thinks about his entry ban, and also what he might do if there is ever an attack on the United States.

9/5/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Dreamers should invoke administrative law to block Trump's DACA decision

3/18/17  //  Commentary

Why the Establishment Clause Has Emerged as the Chief Stumbling Block for Trump's Muslim Ban

3/28/17  //  Commentary

The Muslim Ban litigation does not involve a "revolt of the judges." As proven by a survey of major and minor cases from the legal canon, this litigation involves only the standard fare of judging.

5/4/17  //  Commentary

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

7/16/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

By Zachary D. Clopton: The question whether a nationwide injunction should issue is case-specific and policy-inflected.

10/18/17  //  Quick Reactions

A quick analysis of the differences between the Hawaii and Maryland district court decisions on the entry restrictions in "EO-3."

6/26/17  //  Quick Reactions

Some quick thoughts on the Supreme Court's actions on the travel ban.

6/15/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

In this post I explain why, in light of the Ninth Circuit’s decision on Monday, there’s no good reason for the Supreme Court to grant any of the government’s petitions or applications.

9/5/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Analysis of the Ninth Circuit's latest travel ban argument (and some personal reflections).

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

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!

6/20/17  //  Commentary

The President’s clarifying memorandum undercuts the legitimate rationale the executive order and DOJ had offered for the entry ban. An amicus brief filed in the Supreme Court explains why that matters.

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.

1/28/19  //  Commentary

Subsequent events have made clear that courts were--and are--right to recognize that all is not regular in the executive branch.

4/21/17  //  Quick Reactions

The AG's comments denigrating Hawaii statehood are objectionable for many reasons. But don't overlook his underlying complaint about national injunctions—which conservatives spent years developing and have suddenly, painfully discovered can be used against them.

8/29/17  //  Commentary

Like so much of what Trump has done, the Arpaio pardon raises multiple challenges to our constitutional system.

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.

1/24/18  //  Commentary

Once again, the Trump Administration is baselessly threatening its political opponents with criminal charges.

3/17/17  //  Commentary

An emergency appeal on the Muslim Ban may be both rational and his worst outcome.

3/24/17  //  Commentary

The Supreme Court is considering a major constitutional challenge to federal immigration detention policies. Trump’s recent executive orders make that case even more significant.

5/4/17  //  Commentary

This week on Versus Trump, the Take Care podcast, we preview a major argument in the Muslim travel ban litigation, talk to Professor Zach Price about reliance interests with respect to selective enforcement of federal laws, and more.

6/15/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

The President's "clarifying" memorandum undermines the facial legitimacy of the entry ban, and the government's stated purposes for the entry ban.

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.

5/5/17  //  Latest Developments

Take Care hereby presents in a single post all commentary we have rounded up in our daily updates since the site launched on March 16. Together, these articles tell the story of the revised travel ban and offer a diverse set of perspectives on legal issues in the litigation.

5/9/17  //  Commentary

In a new op-ed, Erwin Chemerinsky and I argue that the entry ban is unconstitutional because it was driven by animus toward Muslims.

8/19/19  //  Commentary

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

3/16/17  //  Commentary

It is time for progressives to embrace federalism and to use Supreme Court precedents protecting states’ rights to fight against Trump administration policies

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.

6/6/17  //  Commentary

Let's explore the hypothesis that Trump is deliberately sabotaging the already weak case for sustaining the travel ban. This is extremely unlikely. As they say in medical school, when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras. The most obvious explanation--Trump is an ignorant racist with no impulse control--should dominate more intricate theories.

4/20/17  //  Commentary

In its war on information, the Trump administration is not just trying to hide the facts. It’s also trying to misrepresent them.

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.

9/7/17  //  Quick Reactions

And now what? We’re condemned to battle the zombie-like remains of this cruel order as it shuffles about the world for just a few more weeks, ruining lives and embarrassing our tradition of religious liberty.

3/18/19  //  Quick Reactions

Current events provide an occasion for the Court to rethink its agreement with the unitary executive theory. In fact, it’s already done so.

6/21/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

Sirine Shebaya and Johnathan Smith: Trump has never been bashful about his anti-Muslim animus. And he has invoked that animus in creating policies, in defiance of the Constitution.

9/3/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

The Supreme Court’s decision to stay the injunction against the President’s construction of the border wall made no sense. It is also part of a troubling trend of restricting remedies against unlawful government action.

10/6/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Maybe the whole compelling interest test is misguided in Establishment Clause cases.

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!

3/29/17  //  Commentary

The First Amendment makes America great for everyone, not just for citizens.

5/8/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

It is time to ask: Has Trump in effect forfeited some measure of judicial deference across contexts and cases, through his disrespect for the courts and the rule of law and his displays of prejudice and arbitrary decisionmaking? And if he has not yet reached that point, what more would it take?

12/17/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

We must develop an affirmative agenda that speaks to the average American’s reasonable expectations about immigration

6/16/17  //  Quick Reactions

President Trump has asked the Supreme Court to lift the stay preventing him from implementing his travel ban. Nelson Tebbe, Micah Schwartzman and I, along with a large group of constitutional law scholars, have filed a brief opposing Trump's motion.

10/10/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Some thoughts on a brief in a case the Court had scheduled to hear today.

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!

9/24/17  //  Commentary

By the time you read this, the heart of the so-called 'travel ban' will probably be no more.

4/6/17  //  Commentary

Trump's statements about the revised travel ban overwhelmingly evidence a purpose at odds with the Establishment Clause. And few, if any, of those statements evince actual, substantive national security or foreign affairs objectives that explain the bizarre scope of his order.

4/24/18  //  Commentary

When future generations judge a particular composition of the Supreme Court, a major failure can become that Court's defining feature, overshadowing substantial contributions to the law.

5/3/17  //  Commentary

The Muslim Ban targets Muslims everywhere. The notion that it reflects, at most, animus toward foreign (or non-citizen) Muslims doesn't withstand scrutiny. There can be no doubt that it inflicts severe and continuing injury on the American Muslim Community.

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!

10/4/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Anti-Muslim animus on the face of the second travel ban requires clear proof that the third one is free of such bigotry.

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.

4/27/17  //  Commentary

The statute, 8 U.S.C. § 1373(a), says nothing about Trump’s biggest complaint.

4/23/18  //  Latest Developments

Take Care hereby presents in a single, updated post all commentary we have published about the revised travel ban.

5/8/18  //  Commentary

The SG's letter of correction to the Supreme Court says more about the kind of misstatements he will tolerate rather than the kind he won't.

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.

6/2/17  //  Quick Reactions

The government's petition for certiorari and stay requests raise some difficult timing issues in the travel ban litigation.

6/7/17  //  Commentary

Texas’s Amicus Brief Makes An Argument That Is So Obviously Wrong Some People Thought It Was Not Worth Responding To

6/29/17  //  Commentary

The administration has again attempted to push the boundaries to see what it can get away with on the travel ban guidance.

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.

5/10/17  //  Commentary

Sometimes, when an emissary of the President asks courts to “trust us,” things the President does elsewhere can fatally undermine judicial confidence in the President’s respect for rule of law values. We’ve seen it before and we’re about to see it again.

6/5/17  //  Quick Reactions

Thanks in part to the President's own recent tweets and public comments, the case for concluding that his revised travel ban is unconstitutional has now become overwhelming.

6/1/17  //  Commentary

The Ninth Circuit can give life to one of the challengers' most powerful arguments against Supreme Court review.

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?

11/9/17  //  Commentary

You want updates, so we've got updates! On this week’s episode of Versus Trump, Jason and Easha revisit several important cases and news items that we've previously mentioned so that you have the latest information on them. Listen now!

2/4/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

Recently revealed errors in the report that the administration created pursuant to the second entry ban further underscore the parallels between Korematsu v. United States and the entry ban.

9/13/17  //  Commentary

With the threatened rescission of DACA, it is all the more important that courts enforce statutory and constitutional limits on executive authority.

4/23/18  //  Commentary

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

4/25/18  //  Commentary

Giving President Trump the benefit of the doubt is one thing. Fictionalizing an account of his motive so as to avoid reaching a certain conclusion is something else.

4/3/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

In the Fourth Circuit travel ban appeal, DOJ contends that the plaintiffs lack standing. But a deeper examination of the Establishment Clause proves that the plaintiffs’ claims must be heard on the merits.

4/24/17  //  Latest Developments

Take Care offers a quick, rough breakdown of the amicus briefs filed last week concerning President Trump's revised executive order.

7/31/17  //  Commentary

There are some notable similarities between the President's announcement that transgender individuals would be banned from military service, and the ban(s) on entry from several Muslim majority countries.

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.

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.

9/19/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Will the President’s own words mean nothing to the Court, even as they mean everything to millions affected by his order?

6/5/17  //  Commentary

The President's latest statements on Twitter undermine DOJ's defense of the entry ban, and continue the President's efforts to blame everyone (including DOJ and the courts) but himself.

6/26/17  //  Quick Reactions

Preliminary thoughts on the Supreme Court's travel ban order.

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

6/25/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

Many of the Supreme Court’s recent decisions tell us what we need to know: Under any meaningful standard for assessing government motives, the entry ban must fail.

1/11/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

Everything is bigger in Texas, including the outlandish arguments made to prevent undocumented young women from obtaining abortions.

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.

5/9/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

It's our first emergency podcast! Right after the full Fourth Circuit heard oral arguments in a major case regarding the Muslim Travel Ban, we hopped on the line to do a recap. The podcast includes excerpts from the oral argument audio.

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.

6/4/18  //  Quick Reactions

In Masterpiece Cakeshop, Justice Kennedy tells us a lot about why the Court should reject the government's arguments on the First Amendment claim in the entry ban case.

4/17/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

The government can't act based on animus toward particular religions. But that's exactly what Trump did.

4/23/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

Thoughts on what remedy is appropriate if the travel ban is held unconstitutional

5/8/17  //  Commentary

One of the founding principles of this nation is that our government welcomes those of all faiths and rejects religious intolerance. President Trump’s order contravenes our nation’s fundamental commitment to religious freedom and to the equal protection of the laws. Federal courts should declare it unconstitutional.

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.

7/13/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Some commentators are seizing on court orders in the proceedings related to the scope of the injunction against the entry ban as an indication that courts are rethinking their decisions against the entry ban. That's wrong (with a cautionary note about the federal courts).

7/19/17  //  Commentary

All of the briefs are now in on the government’s motion to the Supreme Court for clarification of its order in Trump v. Hawaii.

9/25/17  //  Commentary

The government and the courts have proven that one of the administration’s justifications for the now expired entry ban was a joke.

12/8/17  //  Commentary

By Vicki Jackson & Judith Resnik: Upholding the third travel ban out of deference to the President on matters of foreign affairs would be a tragic mistake.

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.

3/23/17  //  Commentary

The Attorney General’s embrace of private prisons is a victory for the industry, but it threatens the safety of correctional officers and prisoners.

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.

5/25/17  //  Quick Reactions

By Corey Brettschneider: As the Fourth Circuit recognized today, even if Kleindanst v. Mandel supplies the rule of decision and requires rationality review, animus is fatal to the Muslim Ban even under that standard.

6/12/17  //  Quick Reactions

A quick recap of the Ninth Circuit's decision in Hawaii v. Trump with thoughts about what it portends for the Supreme Court.

6/19/17  //  Commentary

Here I offer three quick reactions to the government’s latest filing in the Ninth Circuit case—the first two on questions concerning what the Court should do now with the government’s applications, and the third with respect to the merits of the statutory ultra vires argument on which the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit relied.

10/17/17  //  Quick Reactions

A quick analysis of Judge Watson's order that temporarily restrained the latest set of entry restrictions.

4/27/17  //  Commentary

This Week's Episode: "Get 'Em Out!" + Richard Primus

6/8/17  //  Commentary

The government’s litigation strategy in the travel ban litigation undermines the purported national security rationale for the entry ban.

6/3/17  //  Commentary

I've argued that the Supreme Court shouldn't grant review of the travel ban case because 33 hours after the Respondents file their response to the petition for certiorari on June 12, the entry ban will no longer be operative. Here I respond to two purportedly “plausible” alternative interpretations of the executive order offered by William Baude.

4/26/17  //  Quick Reactions

In a new op-ed, I emphasize the importance of taking President Trump at his word–even as efforts to save his executive orders from his tweets inevitably push Trump's defenders to come up with new and creative reasons for ignoring Trump's public statements.

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.

5/2/17  //  Commentary

Misperceptions of the Muslim Ban case abound. One of them is that Trump's animus is evidenced only by his campaign promise to ban Muslims from America. That promise, we demonstrate, must be situated in the context of Trump's sustained and wide-ranging crusade against the American Muslim community.

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!

5/25/17  //  Quick Reactions

A quick recap of the Fourth Circuit's decision in IRAP v. Trump.

4/7/17  //  Commentary

Trump's anti-urban rhetoric has fanned the flames of a war by state governments against progressive cities. We see this in battles over sanctuary cities, LGBT rights, gun regulation, employee rights. The time has come for a campaign on behalf of city power.

6/21/17  //  Quick Reactions

An analysis of DOJ's latest filing at SCOTUS in the travel ban cases.

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.

6/6/17  //  Commentary

A Munsingwear vacatur could be an intriguing compromise in the travel ban case that just might generate consensus on the Supreme Court. It would let the Justices avoid wading into treacherous constitutional waters. But it would also avoid giving the impression that the Court approved of a nationwide injunction about which the conservative Justices will, I suspect, have serious concerns.

5/30/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

A detailed guide to how and when the Muslim Ban might reach the Supreme Court (and why this question really matters).

4/4/17  //  Commentary

Perceptions of presidential bad faith have given judges the fortitude to do what the law already demands of them, even though their actions might prompt the President to bash them by name on TV or Twitter.

8/8/17  //  Commentary

The President’s litigation positions underscore how he views his office as a license to beat up on persons with less power.

9/21/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

There's reason to be wary of the argument that Congress has to “unambiguously” state funding conditions in the text of statutes.

6/30/17  //  Quick Reactions

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

7/15/17  //  Commentary

Now that the travel ban is back in the Supreme Court, here are four additional, preliminary thoughts on where things stand.

6/21/17  //  Quick Reactions

Analysis of DOJ's filing at SCOTUS today in the travel ban cases.

5/6/18  //  Latest Developments

Amir Ali has filed a letter at the Supreme Court concerning an erroneous factual representation by the Solicitor General

6/29/17  //  Commentary

A post on the absurdity of the Administration’s interpretation of the Supreme Court’s modification of the travel-ban/refugee-limit preliminary injunctions.

5/23/17  //  Quick Reactions

Yesterday, AG Sessions issued his official interpretation of the executive order President Trump issued in January regarding sanctuary cities. The interpretation is notable for its narrowness. But ultimately, the memorandum is more of a retreat than a surrender.

4/20/17  //  Commentary

"A New Sheriff In Town" + Zephyr Teachout

6/23/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

DOJ can't distinguish a case from 1995 in which it took a diametrically opposed view on the relevance of campaign statements.

5/22/18  //  Commentary

A recent article shows why federal courts can and should revisit the convictions and sentences of many federal prisoners affected by Sessions v. Dimaya.

6/8/18  //  Commentary

In a recent article, I expand on my argument that the Court's reasoning in Masterpiece Cakeshop suggests the Travel Ban violates the First Amendment.

4/12/17  //  Commentary

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

4/21/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

The opinion by then-Justice Rehnquist in Hunter v. Underwood (1985), a case about denying the right to vote for racist reasons, offers thoughtful answers to many of the hardest questions that you might ask about motive and the Muslim Ban.

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.

6/29/17  //  Quick Reactions

As reported by the New York Times, the Administration's travel ban guidance shows a lack of respect for the Supreme Court's directive.

3/11/19  //  Commentary

The administration’s recent claims about gender violence and the humanitarian crisis at the border underscore the administration’s hypocrisy on issues related to gender.

12/7/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

On this week’s episode of Versus Trump, Charlie, Jason, and Easha are joined by Take Care publisher Joshua Matz to talk about the Masterpiece Cake Shop oral argument, plus the status of Muslim Ban litigation and the future of Take Care.

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.

3/20/17  //  Commentary

To the extent that Trump’s statements about the travel ban shed light on why the executive orders were issued—and they surely do—those statements are material to the constitutional analysis.

6/27/17  //  Commentary

The Supreme Court’s travel ban order deviates sharply from well-established standards for the granting of a stay. For better or for worse, the spirit of compromise trumped the letter of the law.

4/20/17  //  Commentary

A diverse group of leading constitutional law scholars—representing many different views about the Establishment Clause—has filed an amicus brief challenging the Muslim Ban. Here's what you need to know.

8/26/19  //  Commentary

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

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!

3/27/17  //  Commentary

A confused and poorly reasoned decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit shouldn’t be read to shield agencies from judicial review whenever they happen to be following an executive order.

3/16/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Last night, a federal judge in Hawaii blocked Trump's revised entry ban. Here is a detailed analysis of its decision and an assessment of what likely will happen next in that litigation.

6/26/18  //  Quick Reactions

In Trump v. Hawaii, the Court reminded us that the courts will not be there to save us. It is up to us, instead.

6/25/18  //  Commentary

The Supreme Court decided two merits cases today and took one extremely puzzling action via a summary order. The unifying theme I'll identify is taint.

3/20/17  //  Commentary

Judge Kozinski thinks that we cannot account for President Trump's campaign statements in the Muslim Ban cases. That is wrong. Courts can, and should, reckon with this history in assessing whether Trump's ban comports with religious neutrality.

3/16/17  //  Commentary

The president has continued existing policies, but also signaled a misplaced (and dangerous) reliance on immigration enforcement and incarceration to protect the public.

5/17/17  //  Commentary

On today's two-part episode of Versus Trump, Take Care's podcast, we answer three burning questions related to whether the sitting President can face criminal charges, and how that prosecution could be started. We also have an interview with James Williams, the County Counsel for Santa Clara County, where he discusses his County's lawsuit against Trump Administration that has so far successfully prevented the Trump Administration from enforcing an executive order that would have withdrawn federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities.

6/27/17  //  Commentary

Many close observers of the Court are still scratching their heads, trying to figure out just exactly what the Court did yesterday in Trump v. IRAP–and why. With the luxury of a few hours to ponder the mysteries, here are some tentative speculations on the most commonly posed questions.

6/7/17  //  Commentary

The Administration's unhurried pace in defending its revised travel ban belies its representations of urgency to the U.S. Supreme Court.

6/12/17  //  Commentary

Justice Ginsburg's opinion in Sessions v. Morales-Santana exacerbates many of the shortcomings of our immigration system.

5/4/17  //  Commentary

Trump's promise to ban Muslims was no vague, imprecise, or passing comment made on the fly during campaign season. It was a deliberate, carefully considered, and oft-repeated promise that fit perfectly into Trump's broader vision of discrimination against American Muslims.

3/16/17  //  Commentary

Justice Jackson's famous separation of powers framework offers no support for President Trump's entry ban. In fact, it's irrelevant.

9/30/19  //  Commentary

Judge Gee’s earlier ruling on DOJ’s “application for relief” from the Flores settlement makes clear why her recent ruling invalidating DHS’s new regulation is correct.

6/22/17  //  Uncategorized

On a new, interview-only episode of Versus Trump, Take Care's podcast, Jason has an interview with Glenda Aldana Madrid, of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), about a case in which her organization has so far successfully blocked the Administration's attempt to curb the right to counsel in immigration courts. Listen now!

5/9/17  //  Commentary

In the Fourth Circuit argument in IRAP v. Trump, Judge Keenan put her finger on a simple, basic reason why Section 2(c) of Executive Order 13769 is unlawful—and it doesn’t have much to do with the Establishment Clause. Rather, it’s a matter of everyday statutory interpretation, and the fact that President Trump has failed to establish the necessary precondition for the exercise of his statutory authority.

4/25/18  //  Commentary

Korematsu holds that in a case like this one the obligation to strictly scrutinize invidiously discriminatory policies remains even when the government asserts a facially plausible national security justification.

3/16/17  //  Commentary

An analysis of Judge Bybee's dissent from denial of rehearing en banc in Washington v. Trump, and some predictions about the future of President Trump's revised entry ban.

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!

4/24/17  //  Commentary

DOJ argues that Trump's orders threatening sanctuary cities can't be challenged because they remain speculative. But a recent volley of menacing letters from DOJ to sanctuary cities and counties, and to the State of California, has blasted a hole in DOJ's own defense.

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.

10/8/17  //  Daily Update

The first legal challenges to the third travel ban were filed, while the parties challenging the second travel ban filed briefs on the mootness of those cases. The Trump administration began its phase-out of DACA.

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.

10/1/17  //  Daily Update

The revised travel ban expired, potentially rendering legal challenges to it moot, and the President's new ban came into effect. Senate Republicans unveiled their proposed replacement for DACA.

8/20/17  //  Daily Update

The Trump administration filed a brief arguing that the immigration ban is not a Muslim ban.

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.

8/6/17  //  Daily Update

The Supreme Court scheduled argument in the travel ban case.

11/6/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump's recent executive actions on immigration and refugees are not based on objective criteria.

10/31/17  //  Daily Update

The DOJ filed a notice of appeal in the Travel Ban 3.0 case. The Supreme Court dismissed the Travel Ban 2.0 case as moot.

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.

2/11/18  //  Daily Update

The Nunes memo set off aftershocks; agencies scrambled to implement the Trump Administration's policies to mixed effect; and Congress passes a budget after a brief overnight shutdown.

12/4/17  //  Daily Update

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

6/25/17  //  Daily Update

Reports continue that sanctuary cities' efforts are working.

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.

10/1/17  //  Daily Update

The Fifth Circuit will permit Texas to enforce its anti-sanctuary-city statute while the challenge to the statute is pending. California lawmakers passed a "sanctuary state" bill.

4/23/17  //  Daily Update

Texas state legislatures are cracking down on immigration and Attorney General Sessions may be disingenuous in citing violations of federal law by sanctuary cities.

9/24/17  //  Daily Update

A federal court granted a nationwide injunction against the administration's effort to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities. Attorney General Jeff Sessions criticized California's new bill providing some protections to undocumented immigrants.

9/17/17  //  Daily Update

Trump's decision to end DACA spurs a flurry of legal challenges; his election fraud commission gets into more trouble; and the Supreme Court stays the Ninth Circuit's latest trvel ban ruling.

8/20/17  //  Daily Update

California joined San Francisco's sanctuary city suit against the administration. Attorney General Jeff Sessions criticized Chicago over its sanctuary city policies.

10/21/17  //  Daily Update

Senate Minority Whip Dic Durbin criticized Attorney General Sessions for the policy decision to withhold grant funds from sanctuary cities. California's revisions to state criminal law provide a blueprint for how other states can resist President Trump's plans for mass deportation.

7/23/17  //  Daily Update

The Supreme Court issued a partial stay of the district court's order granting relief to refugees from the revised travel ban. Reports suggest the President is weighing a new executive order that would expand expedited removal of undocumented immigrants.

7/30/17  //  Daily Update

A Massachusetts court issued a ruling in effect turning the Commonwealth into a sanctuary state. Commentary continued on the federal effort to defund sanctuary cities.

10/8/17  //  Daily Update

Los Angeles filed suit against the Department of Justice, arguing that withholding funds based on the city's immigration policies is unconstitutional. California enacted legislation making the state a "sanctuary state."

4/9/17  //  Daily Update

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

9/10/17  //  Daily Update

The President orders an end to DACA and has Attorney General Jeff Sessions announce the change; Trump Jr.'s June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer undergoes more scrutiny; Trump's 16 nominations to the federal judiciary spur challenges and concern.

3/26/17  //  Daily Update

The week was rich with analysis at Take Care and beyond of President Trump’s revised entry ban. The Administration has asked the Fourth Circuit to expedite the appeal. In the meantime, diplomatic cables reveal “extreme vetting” policies may be ramping up.

5/7/17  //  Daily Update

Comparisons between President Trump’s promise to exclude Muslims from the United States and vague off-the-cuff comments during campaign season are inapt.

4/30/17  //  Daily Update

An amicus brief offered an alternative basis to find the Administration's travel ban unconstitutional.

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.

6/18/17  //  Daily Update

California's new budget prohibits municipalities from entering into contracts with ICE to house immigration detainees.

10/21/17  //  Daily Update

Federal district court judges in Maryland and Hawaii blocked President Trump's revised travel ban, preventing the administration from enforcing key provisions of its policy.

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.

11/19/17  //  Daily Update

The House passes its version of a tax bill that would dramatically alter the tax code as President Trump faces trouble over the diversity of his federal judicial nominees and the fitness of his appointees to office, some of whom have alleged conflicts of interest.

11/26/17  //  Daily Update

Travel Ban litigation continues: The Trump Administration petitioned the Supreme Court to allow the full ban to go into effect while they appeal an earlier injunction. An Inspector General report, currently withheld from publication, indicates that federal agents violated court orders in the rollout of the first travel ban.

11/26/17  //  Daily Update

Judge William Orrick held that President Trump's executive order blocking federal funding to "sanctuary cities" violates federalism and separation of powers principles.

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.

4/2/17  //  Daily Update

Litigation over President Trump's revised travel ban order continues: a federal judge in Hawaii issued a preliminary injunction against the order, and the Fourth Circuit will take initial en banc review of a similar injunction.

6/11/17  //  Daily Update

The Trump administration continued increasing enforcement of immigration policies.

12/4/17  //  Daily Update

A jury acquitted an undocumented immigrant in a case that President Trump often cited as a part of his opposition to sanctuary cities. Judicial rulings against President Trump's effort to deny funding to sanctuary cities have implications for federalism and separation of powers debates.

12/4/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump's recent tweets may not help the government's defense of the latest iteration of the Travel Ban.

4/9/17  //  Daily Update

Litigation challenging President Trump's revised immigration order continues in courts. Questions over President Trump's campaign statements and intent continue to linger.

7/9/17  //  Daily Update

A federal district judge rejected Hawaii's request to clarify the scope of the preliminary injunction against the revised travel ban. Commentary continued on the Supreme Court's decision to hear the travel ban case.

6/25/17  //  Daily Update

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

3/16/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump has issued two very controversial executive orders, both banning entrants from selected Muslim-majority nations. Here are some useful analyses of the story thus far.

9/3/17  //  Daily Update

Trump's pardon of former sheriff Joe Arpaio sets off a firestorm; another battle over Trump's immigration ban is heard by the Ninth Circuit; and investigators and journalists turn up more evidence of Trump's business dealings with Russia.

5/7/17  //  Daily Update

The Justice Department hasn't yet appealed the preliminary injunction against President Trump's executive order threatening sanctuary cities with loss of federal funds.

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.

5/14/17  //  Daily Update

The en banc Fourth Circuit heard oral arguments on the revised travel ban, sparking extensive commentary. An advocacy group filed a FOIA request related to border searches of electronic devices in the possession of individuals covered by the travel ban.

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.

2/25/18  //  Daily Update

Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed a new charge against Paul Manafort while Richard Gates pled guilty. Meanwhile, President Trump's proposal to arm teachers drew controversy in Washington.

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.

6/11/17  //  Daily Update

Discussion of the Trump administration's travel ban continued as the administration sought Supreme Court review of a nationwide injunction against the ban.

7/23/17  //  Daily Update

Attorney General Jeff Sessions misstated the findings of two major studies on sanctuary-city policies.

5/14/17  //  Daily Update

California is considering legislation to keep its data from ICE.

4/16/17  //  Daily Update

This week, Trump Administration suspended reports on sanctuary cities amid accuracy questions.

11/12/17  //  Daily Update

As the GOP attempts tax reform, the Mueller investigation keeps heating up, as does Trump's rhetoric on North Korea.

4/9/17  //  Daily Update

Sanctuary cities may become sanctuary states.

4/2/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump's continued focus on sanctuary cities poses legal problems, as cities like Seattle bring challenges on anti-commandeering grounds. In the meantime, the Trump Administration's immigration agenda is exacting an immediate harm.

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.

7/16/17  //  Daily Update

Hawaii's litigation against the revised travel ban continues. There is uncertainty in the Trump Administration over who controls immigration issues.

7/16/17  //  Daily Update

Democrats in New York proposed new protections for undocumented immigrants.

6/25/17  //  Daily Update

The Administration argues in its brief to the Supreme Court for the travel ban that the Court should not second-guess the President's national security judgments.

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.

6/18/17  //  Daily Update

The Ninth Circuit largely upholds a lower court's injunction of President Trump's revised entry ban; the Administration responds with a request to the Supreme Court for supplemental briefing.

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.

12/3/17  //  Daily Update

The future of the "Dreamers" remains uncertain after an announcement from President Trump. A jury acquitted an undocumented immigrant of murder in a case that President Trump often used as a rallying cry in support of his immigration agenda.

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.

8/6/17  //  Daily Update

The Department of Justice threatened four sanctuary cities with federal funding ineligibility.

7/30/17  //  Daily Update

Commentary continued on the Supreme Court's holding on the revised travel ban. The Trump Administration asked the Ninth Circuit to interpret the Supreme Court's ruling narrowly.

4/30/17  //  Daily Update

Judge Orrick issued a preliminary injunction against the Administration's executive order against sanctuary cities. Meanwhile, Attorney General Sessions wrote to nine localities to ensure they are communicating with the federal government for immigration enforcement.

4/16/17  //  Daily Update

This week, Hawaii asked the Ninth Circuit for full court review of the revised entry order. The Fourth Circuit, in an unusual move, agreed to hear the Trump Administration's revised entry order appeal en banc, with oral arguments set for May 8.

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.

4/11/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump continues to sign executive orders on immigration, and advocates continue to fight them in the courts.

3/26/17  //  Daily Update

This week, commentators focused on the constitutionality of federal threats to withdraw funds from sanctuary cities.

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.