PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7. 18. 17
Source: https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=B9C4F866-A3C6-4870-81CD-CC100F9F7A36
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and 22 Senators sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly citing concerns about the impact of President Trump’s interior enforcement executive order on immigrant survivors of domestic violence, trafficking, and other crimes. The Senators highlight how recent actions by the Department of Homeland Security undermine protections for immigrant survivors of domestic violence and other crimes.
“We write to express our serious and growing concern that U.S. Department of Homeland Security personnel have taken steps to erode longstanding protections for immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and other crimes, undermining the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”), the Trafficking Victim Protection Act (“TVPA”), and other state and federal laws enacted to protect survivors,” wrote Sens. Murray, Cantwell, and their colleagues. “However, the recent changes in enforcement priorities, your February 20, 2017 memorandum implementing President Trump’s executive order on interior enforcement (“2017 Kelly Memo”),] and reports of ICE agents in the field, cast this sense of certainty in question.”
Joining Sens. Murray and Cantwell in signing the letter are: Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Tom Udall (D-NM), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Al Franken (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).
Sens. Murray, Cantwell and Senate Democrats are requesting the Department clarify what policies CBP and ICE rely on when enforcing immigration laws for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and other crimes and in sensitive locations, and provide the following information by July 31, 2017:
A detailed description of any change in DHS policy or procedures, since January 19, 2017, that allows for DHS agents to detain a survivor or witness of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, or other enumerated crime listed in INA §101(a)(15)(U), and under what conditions.
A detailed description of how DHS and ICE conducts oversight of its immigration enforcement actions in the field, including as it pertains to individuals enumerated in 8 USC §1367 or in locations enumerated in 8 USC §1229(e), including individuals who were detained “collaterally” to other enforcement targets.
A copy of any written policies or standard practices DHS and ICE personnel follow when they are presented with information about a potential survivor of a person described in 8 USC §1367.
A description of how the Executive Order pertaining to interior enforcement will be implemented by local DHS personnel, ICE agents, and ICE trial attorneys, as it relates to survivors and witnesses who may fall into the enumerated enforcement priorities, and what guidance local DHS personnel, ICE agents, and ICE trial attorneys were provided on this matter.
A detailed description of how expansion of INA §287(g) agreements and reinstatement of the Secure Communities program, as described in the interior and border enforcement Executive Orders, will address training, policy, and protocol relating to individuals eligible for protections under VAWA and the TVPA.
A detailed description of how the Executive Order pertaining to interior enforcement will be implemented as it relates to the Privacy Act and personally identifying information about non-citizens who may be survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking or other crimes, but not yet identified or otherwise indicated as a survivors in DHS’ record systems. In your response, address disclosures of survivor information made on the Victim Information and Notification Exchange (“VINE”), including what actions DHS is taking to ensure any information about the identity or location of a survivor is protected.
A detailed description of how the Executive Order pertaining to interior enforcement will be implemented as it relates to the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (“VOICE”) Office, and non-citizen survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and other crimes and witnesses who are potentially eligible for protections under the VAWA, TVPA, Special Immigrant Juveniles, and other humanitarian immigration protections.
Specific clarification as to whether the June 2011 Morton Memo was rescinded.[10]
The following is the Executive order given by Trump dated in January:
ENHANCING PUBLIC SAFETY IN THE INTERIOR OF THE
UNITED STATES
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), and in order to ensure the public safety of the American people in communities across the United States as well as to ensure that our Nation's immigration laws are faithfully executed, I hereby declare the policy of the executive branch to be, and order, as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. Interior enforcement of our Nation's immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States. Many aliens who illegally enter the United States and those who overstay or otherwise violate the terms of their visas present a significant threat to national security and public safety. This is particularly so for aliens who engage in criminal conduct in the United States.
Sanctuary jurisdictions across the United States willfully violate Federal law in an attempt to shield aliens from removal from the United States. These jurisdictions have caused immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our Republic.
Tens of thousands of removable aliens have been released into communities across the country, solely because their home countries refuse to accept their repatriation. Many of these aliens are criminals who have served time in our Federal, State, and local jails. The presence of such individuals in the United States, and the practices of foreign nations that refuse the repatriation of their nationals, are contrary to the national interest.
Although Federal immigration law provides a framework for Federal-State partnerships in enforcing our immigration laws to ensure the removal of aliens who have no right to be in the United States, the Federal Government has failed to discharge this basic sovereign responsibility. We cannot faithfully execute the immigration laws of the United States if we exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. The purpose of this order is to direct executive departments and agencies (agencies) to employ all lawful means to enforce the immigration laws of the United States. (read full order on the White House webpage)
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/25/presidential-executive-order-enhancing-public-safety-interior-united
Excerpt from order: " Sec. 11. Department of Justice Prosecutions of Immigration Violators. The Attorney General and the Secretary shall work together to develop and implement a program that ensures that adequate resources are devoted to the prosecution of criminal immigration offenses in the United States, and to develop cooperative strategies to reduce violent crime and the reach of transnational criminal organizations into the United States."
Related stories from the DOJ: Attorney General Jeff Sessions Applauds House of Representatives for Anti-Human Trafficking Legislation
PRESS RELEASE DATED JULY 7. 12. 17
Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-applauds-house-representatives-anti-human-trafficking
Today Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued the following statement applauding the House of Representatives for passing three significant Anti-Human Trafficking bills:
“There is simply no way to overstate the horrific nature of enticement, kidnapping, and human trafficking. It is an absolute priority of President Trump and the Department of Justice to make those that seek to profit off the exploitation of others feel the weight of swift and certain justice. I am therefore extremely encouraged by the actions of Congress today in passing legislation aimed at stopping this scourge and commend all those that supported these bills.”
Foreign National Extradited and Pleads Guilty to Human Smuggling Conspiracy
PRESS RELEASED ISSUED: 4. 12. 17
Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/foreign-national-extradited-and-pleads-guilty-human-smuggling-conspiracy
A Pakistani citizen pleaded guilty today for his role in a scheme to smuggle undocumented migrants from Pakistan into the United States.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips of the District of Columbia and Special Agent in Charge Angel M. Melendez of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in New York made the announcement.
Sharafat Ali Khan, 32, a Pakistani citizen and former resident of Brazil, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to smuggle undocumented migrants into the United States for profit before U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton of the District of Columbia. Khan was extradited to the United States from Qatar on July 13, 2016. Judge Walton scheduled Khan’s sentencing hearing for July 6, 2017.
According to admissions in the plea agreement, between March 2014 and May 2016, Khan and other co-conspirators organized and arranged the unlawful smuggling of large numbers of undocumented migrants to the United States. For their smuggling operation, Khan admitted that he and his co-conspirators used a network of facilitators to transport undocumented migrants from Pakistan and elsewhere through Brazil and Central America and then into the United States by land, air or sea travel. Khan further admitted that he was responsible for managing safe houses for the migrants and arranging a network of associates in other countries to serve as escorts during different legs of the smuggling route. Khan also admitted that voyage included harsh conditions that caused a substantial risk of serious bodily injury or death – including lengthy foot hikes with little food and water through the Darien Gap, a dangerous tropical forest area in Panama.
The investigation was conducted under the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force (ECT) program, a joint partnership between the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and HSI. The ECT program focuses on human smuggling networks that may present particular national security or public safety risks, or present grave humanitarian concerns. ECT has dedicated investigative, intelligence and prosecutorial resources. ECT coordinates and receives assistance from other U.S. government agencies and foreign law enforcement authorities.
HSI New York investigated this case, with assistance from HSI Brazil, Mexico, Panama and Washington, D.C. field offices, the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force, FBI-Miami, the Human Smuggling Cell, the Diplomatic Security Service-Brazil, the Brazilian Federal Police and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided significant support with the defendant’s extradition and foreign legal assistance requests. The Justice Department thanks the Government of Qatar for their assistance with the extradition in this case. Senior Trial Attorney Michael Sheckels of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard DiZinno of the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case.
AG FERGUSON ASKS US SUPREME COURT TO KEEP FAMILY DEFINITION INTACT IN TRAVEL BAN CASE
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED: 7. 18. 17
Source: http://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/ag-ferguson-asks-us-supreme-court-keep-family-definition-intact-travel-ban-case
OLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today joined a coalition of states asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the Trump Administration’s effort to bar travel by certain close family members of people in the United States.
Last month, the high court ruled that the travel ban would not apply to those with “a close familial relationship” to someone in the U.S. The ruling came in challenges filed in Hawaii and Maryland opposing President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban.
“Judge Watson said it well,” Ferguson said. “It’s common sense that grandparents, grandchildren, and others are close family. I am asking the court to reject the federal government’s effort to continue enforcing its overly restrictive interpretation.”
On June 26, the high court accepted review of the Hawaii and Maryland cases. It also ordered that a federal district court injunction blocking Trump’s travel ban to remain in place for those with a “bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.” The court explained that such a relationship can be either “a close familial relationship” with “a person” in the United States, or a “formal, documented” relationship with an entity or organization.
Following the ruling, the Trump Administration issued guidance stating it intends to enforce its travel ban against close family members including grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles and first cousins.
The State of Hawaii challenged this interpretation at the district court level, with supporting briefs from Washington and other states. On July 13, Judge Derrick Watson enforced his previous injunction, ordering the federal government to broaden its definition of close family.
The federal government sought review of this decision to the Supreme Court, and Hawaii filed a response asking that the lower court ruling remain in place. The states’ brief today supports Hawaii’s request.
In the brief, the states give a concrete example of the harm done by the federal government’s narrow definition. John, a young Congolese man, was orphaned as an infant and raised as a son by his uncle, alongside his 10 cousins.
“John’s uncle never legally adopted John, however, because that practice was not part of their culture and there was no need to do so; the uncle already considered John a son and John’s cousins considered him a brother,” the states write. “After fleeing for their lives as refugees in 2009, the family was finally resettled in the United States on July 4th of this year — but without John, who was forced to stay behind (presumably under application of the federal government’s guidance to him), and who is now separated from the only ‘parents’ and ‘siblings’ he has ever known — a frightening and emotionally devastating experience for both John and his United States–based family.”
The brief argues that the Trump Administration’s “artificially narrow line” drawn in the court’s ruling affects the ability of state universities, hospitals and businesses to recruit and retain students and staff:
“When foreign nationals decide whether to accept offers of employment or offers of admission to an educational institution in the United States, they take into account whether their close family members will be able to visit them. And during the time that such persons are actually working or studying in the United States, their fundamental familial relationships are profoundly burdened if close family members are prevented from visiting them.”
Background
In January, Ferguson filed a lawsuit challenging the legality and constitutionality of President Trump’s original travel ban. At the same time, he sought a temporary restraining order blocking its implementation while the case proceeds. Washington argued its challenge of the Executive Order was likely to ultimately succeed and the ban was causing extraordinary harm to Washington state and its residents, so the court should block the travel ban until the case could be ultimately decided.
U.S. District Court Judge James Robart granted the nationwide temporary restraining order. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the order. In order to grant the temporary restraining order, the judges had to find that Ferguson’s lawsuit against the Administration was likely to succeed.
Contrary to some of President Trump’s subsequent tweets, his Administration chose not to appeal the restraining order against the original travel ban to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On June 5, the President tweeted: “The Justice Dept. should have stayed with the original Travel Ban, not the watered down, politically correct version they submitted to S.C.”
In fact, the Trump Administration dropped its appeal, and reimbursed the Washington State Attorney General’s Office for its court costs.
The Trump Administration declared its intent to rescind the first Executive Order and replace it with a revised travel ban.
Issued on March 6, the second travel ban made significant changes, but Ferguson and other Attorneys General believed the second ban was also unlawful and unconstitutional. Ferguson amended his lawsuit to challenge the legality of the President’s revised ban.
Judge Robart heard Washington’s challenge to the revised travel ban on March 15, but before he could rule, two judges in Maryland and Hawaii issued nationwide injunctions blocking the implementation of the ban. Judge Robart chose not to issue a ruling given that the revised travel ban was already halted.
The Trump Administration appealed those two injunctions. The Administration lost its appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which upheld the Maryland injunction, and ruled that the Executive Order “in text speaks with vague words of national security, but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination.”
On June 12, the Administration also lost its appeal of the Hawaii injunction before the Ninth Circuit.
The Administration appealed those rulings to the U.S. Supreme Court, which accepted review June 26. Oral arguments are set for October.
