All posts tagged: Immigration

The Biden Pivot

The Institute for International Law and Public Policy presents “The Biden Pivot” | Student Commentary

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On April 8, 2021, The Institute for International Law and Public Policy presented “The Biden Pivot,” a panel of experts who discussed where, and how, the Biden Administration will reverse course on international policies set by the previous administration. Panelists included Duncan B. Hollis, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Law; J. Benton Heath, Assistant Professor of Law; Amy Sinden, Professor of Law; Jaya Ramji-Nogales, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and I. Herman Stern Research Professor. The panel was moderated by Margaret M. deGuzman, James E. Beasley Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Institute for International Law and Public Policy.  Temple Law continues to step up and offer really amazing events on international law and policy. Throughout this year, the Institute for International Law and Public Policy and the student-led International Law Society has continually hosted meaningful discussions that allow students such as myself to engage with Temple Law’s international faculty. As an aspiring international lawyer, the access I’ve been given to these world-renowned scholars has been incredible. I regularly talk with Professor Heath after …

Then & Now: Immigration Legal Advocacy at the Mexico-U.S. Border

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Part one of a two-part post on the changing asylum landscape under the new administration. The Biden administration has signaled its intention to repair the U.S. asylum system. As law students who worked directly with asylum-seeking families, this is welcomed news. Over the last four years, the Trump administration intentionally increased the hardships that asylum seekers face. It adapted harsh, inhumane immigration policies with the express goal of deterring people from seeking asylum in the U.S. One such policy was the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the “Remain in Mexico” program. This policy treated displaced persons, including women, infant children, and the elderly, as dangerous adversaries that the country must defend itself against, and it caused widespread and profound human suffering at the U.S.-Mexico border. MPP is a Trump-era policy enacted in January 2019 which, for the first time, required asylum seekers to wait for their asylum hearings outside the United States at the U.S.-Mexico border. This policy impacted tens of thousands of asylum seekers. They were forced to build makeshift refugee camps …

Sheller Center Students File Tort Claims for Families Separated at the Border

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The Trump administration has engaged in a policy of family separation, which it ramped up in 2018. Under that policy, families apprehended for crossing the border outside of a port of entry were forcibly separated. Parents were placed in adult detention while their children were sent to shelters for unaccompanied minors. They were frequently subjected to cruel conditions of confinement, including overcrowding and the inability to obtain adequate nutrition, hygiene, medical care or mental health services. Notably, the administration expressly announced its family separation policy as a tactic to deter Central American migrants from seeking safety in the United States. In these facilities, parents and children endured weeks or even months without contact with one another. Parents and their children did not know when or if they would be reunited because immigration officials would not provide any information. The separation of parents from their children has predictably caused significant and long-lasting trauma to these families who had sought refuge in the United States. Through the Sheller Center for Social Justice, we represented eight families in …

Getting To The Bottom Of The Immigration Ban

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Whether you were affected, confused or just plain curious about the order, this piece is for you. This article seeks to answer a few pervasive questions: What happened? What even is a refugee? Are there differences between Trump’s order and Obama’s 2011 policy? Who did the order affect and how were they affected? Lastly, what should I do? What happened and what’s to come On January 27, 2017, President Trump issued an executive order temporarily banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, and from Syria indefinitely. The order’s full text can be found here. After a tumultuous couple weeks, the ban has since been lifted. A Seattle federal judge named James Robart temporarily blocked enforcement of Trump’s travel ban in its entirety. On February 9th, 2017, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Seattle judge and completely repudiated the White House’s attempt to restore the travel ban. Why? The constitutionality of the ban was put into question, and the government did not offer sufficient justification for why refugees and immigrants from seven …