News and Events Relating to Immigrant Detention
Supreme Court Limits Use of Identity Theft Law in Immigration Cases
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a favorite tool of prosecutors in immigration cases, ruling unanimously that a federal identity-theft law may not be used against many illegal workers who used false Social Security numbers to get jobs.
The question in the case was whether workers who use fake identification numbers to commit some other crimes must know they belong to a real person to be subject to a two-year sentence extension for “aggravated identity theft.”
The answer, the Supreme Court said, is yes.
MCHR Co-Sponsors the Chicago Conference on Human Rights
Representative Jan Schakowsky encourages the advancement and protection of human rights at home
CHICAGO, Apr. 14 - On Saturday April 11th, the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights, along with a number of its member organizations, participated in the 2nd Annual Chicago Conference on Human Rights. This one-day convening brought together over 100 human rights advocates, students, academia, and members of the community to discuss timely local and international human rights issues.
Obama to Push Immigration Reform Bill Despite Risks
WASHINGTON, Apr. 9 - While acknowledging that the recession makes the political battle more difficult, President Obama plans to begin addressing the country’s immigration system this year, including looking for a path for illegal immigrants to become legal, a senior administration official said on Wednesday.
County Jails Are Paid Millions to House Undocumented Immigrants Facing Deportation
COLUMBUS, Apr. 5 - A cheer went up in the cabin when the plane touched down on the steamy airstrip near the capital city, San Salvador.
Passengers chanted: El Sal vador! El Sal vador!
For all the excitement at returning to their homeland, the 120 passengers were on the plane because they were being deported after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement caught them entering or living in the United States illegally.
Immigrant Detainee Dies, and a Life Is Buried, Too
NEW JERSEY, Apr. 3 - The hand-scrawled letter from a New Jersey jail was urgent. An immigration detainee had died that day, Sept. 9, 2005, a fellow inmate wrote in broken English, describing chest pains and pleas for medical attention that went unheeded until too late.
“Death ... need to be investigated,” he urged a local group that corresponded with foreigners held for deportation at the jail, the Monmouth County Correctional Institute in Freehold. “We care very much because that can happen to anyone of us.”
MCHR Urges Secretary Napolitano to Reform ICE Policies
MARCH 26 - Members of the Midwest Coalition of Human Rights have sent a letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, urging her to reform existing ICE policies on immigration enforcement and to push for comprehensive immigration reform.
U.S. Seeks Election to U.N. Human Rights Council
UNITED NATIONS, Mar. 31 - The Obama administration will seek a seat on the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, announcing Tuesday that it believed working from within was the most effective means of altering the council’s habit of ignoring poor human rights records of member states.
The policy reverses the stance of the Bush administration, which viewed the Geneva-based council as irredeemable for its almost exclusive focus on human rights violations by Israel.
DHS Signals Policy Changes Ahead for Immigration Raids
WASHINGTON, Mar. 29 - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has delayed a series of proposed immigration raids and other enforcement actions at U.S. workplaces in recent weeks, asking agents in her department to apply more scrutiny to the selection and investigation of targets as well as the timing of raids, federal officials said.
A senior department official said the delays signal a pending change in whom agents at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement choose to prosecute -- increasing the focus on businesses and executives instead of ordinary workers.
House and Senate Reintroduce DREAM Act
WASHINGTON, Mar 26 - Today, members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate reintroduced the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act). This bipartisan legislation addresses the situation of the children of undocumented parents who were brought to the U.S. at an early age and have no path to legal status under existing immigration laws. The DREAM Act would provide conditional legal status and eventual citizenship to undocumented youth if they meet the following criteria:
MCHR Urges Secretary Napolitano to Reform Existing ICE Policies
MARCH 26 - Members of the Midwest Coalition of Human Rights have sent a letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, urging her to reform existing ICE policies on immigration enforcement and to push for comprehensive immigration reform.