FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 2021

CONTACT
Juan Gastelum, [email protected], 213-375-3149

Biden Could Face Further Legal Action Upon Restarting ‘Remain in Mexico’

WASHINGTON — In a letter sent Friday to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), warned that the Biden administration could face additional litigation if it restarts the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the Remain in Mexico policy.

Hincapié informed the officials that MPP violates the terms of a permanent injunction in Orantes-Hernandez v. Meese, a federal class-action lawsuit first filed in the 1980s, that protects the rights of Salvadorans seeking safety in the United States. NILC represents plaintiffs in the case, along with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Immigrants’ Rights Project and the ACLU of Southern California.

Earlier in the week, DHS stated that it will restart MPP “within the coming weeks.”

In her letter, Hincapié writes:

“Despite your own considered analysis and conclusion that MPP imposed unacceptable conditions that denied access to counsel and to proceedings themselves, and further that it is not possible to fix MPP, the administration is poised to re-start the very policy and practices that it so fervently denounced when administered by the Trump administration. Put simply, there is no excuse for this renunciation and abdication on the part of the Biden administration.

“While appreciating the need to comply with the Texas district court order, nothing in that court’s order purports to excuse the Government from the pre-existing Orantes Injunction. Moreover, nothing in the order requires halting the MPP wind down or confining the wind down’s scope to the first two phases. And nothing in the court’s order requires that this administration embrace the cruel, inhumane, illegal, and, in too many instances, deadly facets of the prior administration’s implementation of MPP. While not bound to do any of this, the administration now appears to be committing itself to a path of violating the Orantes Injunction in addition to a host of other laws. These violations will be perpetrated on your watch, against the administration’s own stated principles.”

…

“…while violating law specific to Orantes class members, MPP is unlawful, inhumane, and immoral as applied to any individual seeking asylum in the United States, and we implore you to halt the rush to stand back up a policy that will inevitably lead to more deaths, sexual assaults, and kidnapping and that will further turn this country’s back on law and morality.”

More information about the Orantes injunction is available here.

The full text of the letter is available here.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2021

CONTACT
Madison Allman, [email protected], 202-384-1279

NILC Statement on the House Vote to Advance the Build Back Better Act

WASHINGTON — Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center and the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund, issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to advance the Build Back Better Act, which includes temporary protections and work permits for some undocumented immigrants, expanded financial supports for families – including immigrant families – and investments to help combat the climate crisis:

“The Build Back Better Act invests in transformative efforts to reinforce a robust safety net that will support the wellbeing of millions of people, and House passage is a crucial step toward this bill becoming law. However, the decision by House Democrats to only include temporary protections for immigrants instead of a pathway to citizenship squandered their best opportunity in years to provide permanent protections for the millions of undocumented immigrants who are essential members of our communities. Immigrants have continued showing up every day to get us through the pandemic and have waited decades for meaningful immigration reform that would provide stability for them and their loved ones, and would benefit our country.

“We are counting on our elected officials to keep up the fight and deliver. With all eyes on the Senate, Democrats cannot simply hide behind the advisory recommendations of the Senate parliamentarian to justify inaction. They need to step up and make good on their promise of green cards for the millions of immigrants who call the U.S. home. There is no equitable recovery without immigrants.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2021

CONTACT
Madison Allman, [email protected],  (202) 384-1279
Sydney Bagley, [email protected]
Jorge-Mario Cabrera, CHIRLA, [email protected], (562) 243-5559
Rachel Koelzer, NAKASEC, [email protected], (734) 536-2929

Immigrant Justice Groups Release Memo Outlining How Senate Democrats Can and Should Use Their Power Under Senate Rules to Disregard Parliamentarian and Deliver a Pathway to Citizenship

WASHINGTON — The National Immigration Law Center (NILC), the UndocuBlack Network, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Human Rights (CHIRLA), and the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) released a memo today outlining how Senate Democrats have the authority under existing rules to disregard the parliamentarian and deliver a pathway to citizenship in the Build Back Better Act.

The memo provides a detailed analysis of how precedent and existing Senate rules explicitly authorize Senate Democrats to exercise their power to disregard the parliamentarian’s advisory opinion and pass lasting protections for millions of immigrants who have been waiting 35 years for transformative change.

Under Senate rules, only 41 votes are required to sustain a ruling from the Presiding Officer to disregard the parliamentarian’s recommendation. Senate Democrats and the Vice President must then all vote in favor of the bill for it to pass.

Marielena Hincapié, Executive Director of the National Immigration Law Center and the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund, said, “Our elected leaders have promised for years to secure a pathway to citizenship, and this memo demonstrates how Senate Democrats can use their existing authority under Senate rules to make good on that promise. Instead of deferring to the advisory recommendation of an unelected Senate staffer, Democrats must step into their own power, disregard the parliamentarian’s advisory opinion, and enact permanent relief for the millions of immigrants who call our country home and who are essential to who we are as a nation. The urgency of this moment calls for more than excuses and half-measures. There is no equitable recovery without immigrants. It’s time to deliver.”

Patrice Lawrence, Executive Director of the UndocuBlack Network, said, “Our undocumented communities are resourceful and relentless in our pursuit of our justice and freedom. Green cards in the Build Back Better reconciliation bill is possible and this thoroughly vetted memo proves that. Another election cycle cannot begin with our communities unable to secure stability and certainty through legal permanent residency. We have labored long enough and suffered long enough especially when we worked on the front lines during the pandemic. We look forward to President Biden signing a path to citizenship into law in the Build Back Better package, through updating the registry date, as he promised. We will accept nothing less than green cards.”

Angelica Salas, Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and CHIRLA Action Fund, said, “As this powerful memo makes crystal clear, any attempt to hide behind the unelected Senate Parliamentarian or wrap oneself in procedural chicanery, is nothing more than an attempt to avoid accountability for promises made to our immigrant communities. We have been promised, and we fought for a path to citizenship with green cards and permanent residency, not temporary solutions. After 35 years of waiting for real immigration reform, we now have a clear way forward to realize our communities’ aspirations for recognition from the country they serve and love. So we ask Congress and the White House: do you have the will to match ours?”

Becky Belcore, Executive Director of the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), said, “It is in complete accordance with Senate rules for the advice of the Parliamentarian, an unelected position that serves at the pleasure of the Senate, to be disregarded. It is incumbent on the Senate and the Vice President to deliver on this administration’s promise of a pathway to citizenship, and nothing less. Our impacted community members have shown their tremendous leadership and courage through their organizing efforts for a pathway to citizenship for all. It is time for our elected officials to do the same.”

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