Center for Immigrant Rights
Nebraska Service Center Teleconference on Asylee and Refugee Issues
On February 9, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center held a stakeholder teleconference on Asylee and Refugee Issues. Questions raised by stakeholders and responses from the Service Center are below.
Refugee Issues:
Q. How is a newly arrived follow-to-join refugee who is joining a spouse who has been to the US for more than two years treated? Are they classified as refugees or a different status?
A. Classification is not affected by the amount of time the spouse has been in the US.
CLINIC Needs Your Input
This month, CLINIC's Advocacy staff is working on several issues with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and we need to hear from you! Is there a detention facility in your area that doesn't allow detainees to make telephone calls to 800 numbers? Do you have examples of ICE conducting enforcement actions in "sensitive locations" such as schools, places of worship, funerals or others places where children and families are present? Contact me at aposner@cliniclegal.org or 202-635-2567.
CLINIC Launches State and Local Policy Map.
By Allison Posner
On February 6, CLINIC launched its new, interactive web feature highlighting state and local immigration initiatives across the country. This feature is publically available for free, thanks to a grant from the Ford Foundation.
New Members - Subscribers
CLINIC welcomes the following new subscribers to its network:
IMPORTA – Center for Immigrant Integration, Santa Barbara, CA. Russell Trenholme, Executive Director, is in the process of applying for BIA agency recognition and staff accreditation for staff Patricia Carlyon and Vanessa del Toro.
International Club of Southwest Louisiana, Lake Charles, LA. The agency is applying for BIA recognition and staff accreditation for Dalia R. Matheus, Executive Director, and Ann Simien, paralegal.
Agency Recognition and Staff Accreditation
CLINIC congratulates the following programs and staff on receiving Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) recognition and accredited representative status respectively:
On February 2, 2012, the Apostle Immigrant Services (Affiliate), New Haven, CT, received agency recognition and Sister Doreta D’Alberto was granted partial BIA accreditation.
The Atlantic City Sub-Office of Catholic Charities of Camden (Affiliate), Atlantic City, NJ, was granted agency recognition on December 1, 2011. Staff Truc Tang and Kim Ngon Tran received partial BIA Accreditation.
State & Local Immigration Policy Map Training
Date: Thursday Mar 01, 2012
State & Local Immigration Policy Map Training
March 1, 2012
2:00-3:00 pm EST
*Please note that times are listed for the event's local timezone.
Open Letter in Response to the Closing of the Berks County Family Shelter Care Center and Solicitation of New Family Detention Beds
"We call on the administration to prioritize release of immigrant families in all cases. We
urge the administration to assign social workers to manage familiesʼ cases rather than
placing them in detention. For families without housing, the administration should
partner with non-profit shelter or child welfare organizations experienced in supporting
asylum-seeking and immigrant families to resolve any issues preventing the direct
release of families. Social workers with proven track records providing family and child
Comments on Special Immigrant Juvenile Regulations
The undersigned members of the ICLN and other interested parties are writing in response to the regulations proposed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) on September 6,
2011, regarding Special Immigrant Juvenile Petitions. While we applaud the proposed
regulations’ provisions reflecting the statutory language updated by the William Wilberforce
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, we have significant concerns about
much of the proposed regulatory language, as well as the commentary accompanying the
