US Immigration and Customs Enforcement can continue using a Seattle airport for chartered deportation flights, a federal appeals court ruled in a decision that rejected a 2019 local order that sought to counter then-President Donald Trump's immigration policies. The agency has long used airports around the country to charter flights deporting hundreds of thousands of noncitizens considered lawfully removable from the US. But in 2019, in keeping with efforts in liberal Seattle and Washington state to resist Trump's priorities, King County Executive Dow Constantine issued an executive order expressing concern that the deportations could constitute human rights abuses. It announced that future leases at the county airport, also known as Boeing Field, would bar operators from servicing deportation flights. The order prompted ICE to begin using an airport in Yakima a much farther drive from ICE's Northwest detention center in Tacoma for the deportation flights. The US sued King County
Texas has offered 1,402 acres to President-elect Trump to be used for constructing infrastructure to facilitate mass deportation of illegal immigrants. Trump will take oath as president on January 20. In a letter to Trump on Tuesday, Dawn Buckingham -- commissioner of the Texas General Land Office -- said, "I am writing to formally offer 1,402 acres of land in Starr County, Texas, to be used to construct deportation facilities." Mass deportation of illegal immigrants was one of the major election promises of Trump. After his victory, the president-elect has expressed determination to fulfil the promise by remove illegal immigrants from the US. The number of illegal immigrants in the country is said to be more than 11 million, which also includes several hundreds of thousand of Indians. The outgoing Joe Biden administration has been removing such Indian nationals through chartered flights. Trump has not made public details of the deportation plan. In his letter, Buckingham wrote t
A federal judge on Thursday struck down a Biden administration policy that aimed to ease a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens. The program, lauded as one of the biggest presidential actions to help immigrant families in years, allowed undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply for a green card without first having to leave the country. The temporary relief from deportation brought a brief sense of security to some 500,000 immigrants estimated to benefit from the program before Texas-based U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker put it on hold in August, days after applicants filed their paperwork. Barker ruled Thursday that the Biden administration had overstepped its authority by implementing the program and had stretched the legal interpretation of relevant immigration law past its breaking point. The short-lived Biden administration initiative known as Keeping Families Together would have been unlikely to rem
A day after the US homeland authorities announced the deportation of Indian nationals who were staying in that country illegally, sources on Saturday said it was a result of the cooperation on migration and mobility between the two nations. As part of this cooperation, both sides are engaged in a process to "deter illegal migration", they said. "On October 22, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), conducted a large-frame charter removal flight to the Republic of India of Indian nationals who did not establish legal basis to remain in the United States," the DHS said in a statement on Friday. This week's flight demonstrates the Department's continued commitment to pursuing "sustained cooperation" with the Indian government and other international partners to reduce and deter irregular migration and jointly work to counter human smuggling, it added. Sources said the move was a result of the India-US cooperation on ...
Immigrants who grew up in the United States after being brought here illegally as children will be among demonstrators outside a federal courthouse in New Orleans on Thursday as three appellate judges hear arguments over the Biden administration's policy shielding them from deportation. At stake in the long legal battle playing out at the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals is the future of about 535,000 people who have long-established lives in the US, even though they don't hold citizenship or legal residency status and they live with the possibility of eventual deportation. No matter what is said and done, I choose the US and I have the responsibility to make it a better place for all of us, Greisa Martinez Rosas, said Wednesday. She is a beneficiary of the policy and a leader of the advocacy group United We Dream. She plans to travel from Arizona to attend a rally near the court, where hundreds of the policy's supporters are expected to gather. The panel hearing arguments won't rule
The Biden administration will resume deporting Venezuelan migrants, the largest single group encountered at the US-Mexico border last month, back to their economically troubled country as their arrivals continue to grow. The process is expected to begin shortly, said two US officials, though they did not provide specific details on when the flights would begin taking off. The officials were not authorised to disclose details of the government's plan and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. The resumption of deportation comes not long after the administration increased protected status for Venezuelans who arrive to the US, so if someone arrived to the US before July 31 of this year, but not after, they'd be eligible for protections. The decision reflects the larger strategy by President Joe Biden to not only provide expanded legal pathways for people arriving, but also to crack down on those who illegally cross into the country from Mexico. The officials would not discuss detai
The Supreme Court on Tuesday wrestled with a partisan-tinged dispute over a Biden administration policy that would prioritize deportation of people in the country illegally who pose the greatest public safety risk. It was not clear after arguments that stretched past two hours and turned highly contentious at times whether the justices would allow the policy to take effect, or side with Republican-led states that have so far succeeded in blocking it. At the centre of the case is a September 2021 directive from the Department of Homeland Security that paused deportations unless individuals had committed acts of terrorism, espionage or egregious threats to public safety. The guidance, issued after Joe Biden became president, updated a Trump-era policy that removed people in the country illegally regardless of criminal history or community ties. On Tuesday, the administration's top Supreme Court lawyer told the justices that federal law does not create an unyielding mandate to apprehe
The Supreme Court is taking up a dispute over a blocked Biden administration policy that would prioritise deportation of people in the country illegally who pose the greatest public safety risk. Republican-led states sued and won a nationwide court order that is meant to limit immigration officers' discretion in deciding whom to deport. The justices are hearing arguments in the case Tuesday. It's the latest example of a Republican litigation strategy that has succeeded in slowing Biden administration initiatives by going to GOP-friendly courts. In a separate ongoing legal dispute, three judges chosen by President Donald Trump are among the four Republican-appointed judges who have so far prevented the administration's student loan cancellation program from taking effect. At the center of the immigration legal fight is a September 2021 directive from the Department of Homeland Security that paused deportations unless individuals had committed acts of terrorism, espionage or egregiou
A federal appeals court ordered a new hearing by the full court on the legality of the Biden administration's selective criteria on who should be deported
Legal setback for Trump as US judge rejects policy of expanded deportation
The special aircraft carrying them landed at the T3 terminal of the Delhi airport at 6 am
Under the new rule, they will issue notices to appear (NTA) to people whose applications regarding visa extension or changes in status have been denied
Migrants are facing increased psychological trauma due to harsh new US immigration rules