Matthew Kolken on Deportation And Removal

Obama's position on Arizona Boycott: I Don't Endorse - or Not Endorse

"President Barack Obama says the decision to boycott Arizona over its tough new law cracking down on immigration is for private citizens, not the president of the United States, to decide." -Associated Press

Obama to send 1,200 troops to U.S.-Mexico border

Who would have thought that eighteen months into the Obama Presidency that the administration's first tangible move on immigration would be to militarize the southern border.

Truth truly is stranger than fiction.

American Citizen Faced Deportation

NBC News Chicago has reported that Eduardo Caraballo, a United States Citizen, was taken into custody by Federal Immigration authorities on Friday and held in immigration detention for three days.

Immigration Officials detained Mr. Caraballa despite the fact that he repeatedly told officers that he was a United States Citizen, and his mother corroborated his claim by presenting his birth certificate, and his state-issued ID.  Even though they were provided proof of Mr. Caraballa's United States citizenship, Immigration Officials indicated their intention to commence deportation proceedings.

Caraballa was released Monday afternoon after Congressman Luis Gutierrez was contacted.

"Here we had an American citizen, that the federal government, not state authorities, but the federal government, with all their technology and all their information capacity that they have, could not determine, for more than three days, his status as an American citizen. It's very, very, very dangerous ground to tread." -Congressman Luis Gutierrez.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials had no comment.

Under Obama Pending Deportations Reach an All-Time High

Obama's 1,000 deportations per day mandate is being felt in our Nation's immigration Courts.  

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a data gathering, data research and data distribution organization at Syracuse University, has reported that at the end of March 2010 there are 242,776 unresolved immigration court cases, a new all-time high.

An analysis of the data reveals that the immigration court backlog is growing by 6.3 percent since TRAC’s last report at the end of 2009.  This number is 30.4% higher than it was 18 months ago prior to Obama's election.  

The added pressure on our immigration courts has resulted in the increase of the average length of time an individual must wait to have their matter resolved to up to 443 days.

Is this the "Change" you believed in?

New Board of Immigration Appeals Decision re: Limitations for filing a motion to reopen

The Board of Immigration Appeals has just issued the following decision: Matter of MONGES-Garcia, 25 I&N Dec. 246 (BIA 2010).

The Board ruled that:

(1) The 90-day time limitation for filing a motion to reopen in 8 C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(1)(2010) applies to motions to reopen in absentia deportation orders for the purpose of adjusting status, whether filed before or after the 1996 promulgation of the regulations.

(2) The 5-year limitation on discretionary relief for failure to appear at deportation proceedings under former section 242B(e)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1252b(e)(1) (1994), is not in conflict with, and does not provide an exception to, the 90-day deadline for filing a motion to reopen in 8 C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(1).

Study: Under Obama 50% of all Federal Prosecutions are for Minor Immigration Violations

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse on the immigration front, it got worse.

The American Immigration Council, Immigration Policy Center (IPC) has just issued a press release that shines a bright spotlight on what the Obama administration is doing to non-violent immigration violators in the United States.

A January 2010 study done by the Warren Institute, and a second study done by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) examine the impact of Operation Streamline, which targets nonviolent border-crossers for federal criminal prosecution.   These studies reveal that in President Obama's first year in office he has prosecuted more non-violent immigration related crimes than any President in the history of our country.

According to the data, under Obama 50% of all federal criminal prosecutions are for immigration violations, many of which involve illegal entry, while prosecution of violent crime has actually decreased.  The end result is that under Obama's watch billions of dollars have been allocated towards targeting non-violent immigration violators for criminal prosecution.  Is this how you want your tax dollar spent? 

The bottom line is this: President Obama's position on immigration is right in line with what is going on in the State of Arizona, and he is a hypocrite when he chastises Arizona lawmakers for doing THE EXACT SAME THING that he has been doing since taking office: targeting immigrants.

So Mr. President, when do you plan on prosecuting the real criminals who have actually engaged in serious crimes involving drugs, weapons, and organized crime? The answer must be only after you have finished destroying millions of American families with your 1,000 deportation per day mandate.

We are on to you Mr. President, and in 2012 we won't be fooled again.

Michelle Obama Between a Rock and an Immigration Place

Michelle Obama was given the unenviable task of having to answer for her husband's failed immigration policies yesterday.  I don't feel for her, as I am given this task on a daily basis: having to tell a family that mommy or daddy won't be around anymore because of the President's 1,000 person per day deportation record.

We can only hope that Michelle gave Barrack an earful after dinner.

Pennsylvania considers entering the Deportation Business

Pennsylvania State Representative Daryl Metcalfe speaks on Fox News about his support of a State Immigration law similar to Arizona's that is being proposed in Pennsylvania.  Governor Edward G. Rendell opposes turning the State of Pennsylvania into another Arizona, and it is unlikely that should a bill pass the legislature that he would sign it into law.

Board of Immigration Appeals Update

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) just issued the following precedent decision that clarifies a previous decision relating to the standards required for a proper determination of whether an asylum application is frivolous.

Matter of B-Y-, 25 I&N Dec. 236 (BIA 2010) Interim Decision # 3680

(1) In making a frivolousness determination, an Immigration Judge may incorporate by reference any factual findings made in support of an adverse credibility finding, so long as the Immigration Judge makes explicit findings that the incredible aspects of the asylum application were material and were deliberately fabricated. Matter of Y-L-, 24 I&N Dec. 151 (BIA 2007), clarified.

(2) In considering an asylum applicant’s explanations for inconsistencies or discrepancies, an Immigration Judge making a frivolousness determination must separately address the applicant’s explanations in the context of how they may have a bearing on the materiality and deliberateness requirements unique to that determination.

(3) When the required frivolousness warnings have been given to an asylum applicant prior to the merits hearing, the Immigration Judge is not required to afford additional warnings or to seek further explanation in regard to inconsistencies that have become obvious during the course of the hearing.

Minnesota's New Immigration Bill Looks Like Arizona's

Monkey see, monkey do.  Minnesota is now considering a State immigration law that will mirror the new law in the State of Arizona.  Meanwhile in Washington, President Obama has written-off 2010 for immigration reform, wasting another nine months of his Presidency. 

With the November elections looming it will be interesting to see how many seats change hands.  If the polling is any indication of things to come, this President will spend the next 2 years in lame duck status, and there will be no hope for immigration reform until 2012 at the earliest.

This President's strategy has been clear to me from the start: delay, and then blame the Republicans for his party's lack of action.

So much for change we can believe in.