Policy Analysis

Obama Administration Begins Raids of Recently Arrived Central Americans

On December 23rd, the Obama Administration announced the launch of enforcement operations against Central American families – typically young mothers with small children – as a response to the recent spike in arrivals from that violent region. Since September, the...

Support Grows for Ending Immigrant Detention by Private Corporations

The three Democratic presidential candidates – Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley – articulated their immigration policy plans at this week’s National Immigrant Integration Conference (NIIC) in Brooklyn, New York. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the first...

Revisiting the US Refugee Protection System 35 Years after Passage of the Refugee Act of 1980

The Refugee Act of 1980 sought to conform US law and policy with the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. Since the Act’s implementation, the United States has resettled nearly three million refugees, provided political asylum to...

A Plan to Transform the US Immigrant Detention System

The US immigrant detention system serves two legitimate purposes, to ensure that persons in removal proceedings appear for their hearings and (if so ordered) can be deported and, in rare cases, to protect the public. Unlocking Human Dignity: A Plan...

Why the Central American Children Migrants Need Full Adjudication of Their Protection Claims

In response to the dramatic increase in Central American child migrants, Congress and the Administration are considering proposals to scale back or repeal the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA). In his latest Huffington Post blog, Donald Kerwin,...

Do the Right Thing: Upholding the United States’ Commitment to Protect Children Fleeing Persecution

Anadelcy was fifteen years old when she witnessed a gang member murder a young man in her town in El Salvador. A curious and bright young girl, Anadelcy was at school on that particular day studying for exams. As she...

Municipal IDs and State and Local Measures to Regularize the Lives of the Unauthorized

In the last decade, a growing number of US cities have implemented municipal identification cards (IDs). Both advocates and critics call municipal IDs “documenting the undocumented.”[1] IDs enable residents to access buildings and services, but are issued by municipalities rather...

Congressional Hearings on Asylum Seekers Facing U.S. Expedited Removal Process

On December 12, 2013, the US House Judiciary Committee held a hearing entitled “Asylum Abuse: Is It Overwhelming Our Borders?” The Committee Chair, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), was concerned that rising numbers of claims of persecution at the US-Mexico border...

Immigrant Relatives of US Military Allowed to Stay

In November 2013, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum clarifying that federal immigration officials may “parole in place” non-criminal immigrant family members of active-duty service members, reservists and veterans of the US armed forces. The grant...

Legalization of US Unauthorized Residents: A Rule of Law or Access to Justice Issue?

Large numbers of unauthorized migrants in the United States are potentially eligible for legal status, but have been simply unable to access the relief for which they qualify. In a new blog for the Huffington Post, CMS’s Executive Director Donald...