Page 5 - Us Immigration Law

Family of 2-year-old US citizen deported to Honduras drops lawsuit

Lawyers for a 2-year-old U.S. citizen who was deported with her mother to Honduras confirmed on Tuesday that the family was dropping its lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. The girl - one of three U.S.-born children who were deported alongside their Honduran-born mothers - had been at the heart of one of the mounting legal battles playing out in the United States weighing if the Trump administration broke the law in implementing its new deportation policies. Given the traumatizing experiences the families have been through, they are taking a step back to have full discussions about all their options, the safety and well-being of their children, and the best ways to proceed so the harms they have suffered can be fully addressed, said Gracie Willis, one of the family's lawyers. The lawsuit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, National Immigration Project and several other allied groups, which said the deportations were a shocking although

20 Democrat attorneys sue Trump admin over conditions on federal funding

A coalition of 20 state Democratic attorneys general filed two federal lawsuits on Tuesday, claiming that the Trump administration is threatening to withhold billions of dollars in transportation and disaster-relief funds unless states agree to certain immigration enforcement actions. According to the complaints, both Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have threatened to cut off funding to states that refuse to comply with President Donald Trump's immigration agenda. While no federal funding is currently being withheld, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said during a news conference on Tuesday that the threat was imminent. President Donald Trump can't use these funds as a bargaining chip as his way of ensuring states abide by his preferred policies, Bonta added. Department of Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that the lawsuit will not stop the Trump Administration from ...

Trump plans door knocks, DNA tests to keep tabs on 450,000 migrant children

President Donald Trump's administration is conducting a nationwide, multi-agency review of 450,000 migrant children who crossed the US-Mexico border without their parents during President Joe Biden's term. Trump officials say they want to track down those children and ensure their safety. Many of the children came to the US during surges at the border in recent years and were later placed in homes with adult sponsors, typically parents, relatives or family friends. Migrant advocates are dubious of the Republican administration's tactics, which include dispatching Homeland Security and FBI agents to visit the children. Trump's zero-tolerance approach to immigrants in the US illegally which has resulted in small children being flown out of the country has raised deep suspicion his administration may use the review to deport any sponsors or children who are not living in the country legally. Trump officials say the adult sponsors who took in migrant children were not always properly

Arizona guv vetoes bill mandating local officials' help with immigration

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs on Friday vetoed a Republican-backed bill intended to support the Trump administration's immigration crackdown by requiring local and state officials in Arizona to cooperate with federal enforcement efforts. Under the proposal, local and state officials couldn't prohibit or restrict cooperation with federal immigration efforts or block the use of federal databases and grant funds related to immigration enforcement. It also would force cooperation on immigration detainers requests from the federal government to hold onto people already in state custody until immigration authorities could pick them up. Supporters say the measure is needed to ensure federal authorities can safely and more easily take custody of immigrants, rather than having to track them down later after they have already been released from state prisons or county jails. Opponents say the state should leave immigration enforcement to the federal government and that the cooperation require

Trump admin seeks expansion of nation's immigration detention system

Amid rural Louisiana's crawfish farms, towering pine trees and cafes serving po'boys, nearly 7,000 people are waiting at immigration detention centers to learn whether they will be expelled from the United States. If President Donald Trump's administration has its way, the capacity to hold tens of thousands more migrants will soon be added around the country as the US seeks an explosive expansion of what is already the world's largest immigration detention system. Trump's effort to conduct mass deportations as promised in the 2024 campaign represents a potential bonanza for private prison companies and a challenge to the government agencies responsible for the orderly expulsion of immigrants. Some critics say the administration's plans also include a deliberate attempt to isolate detainees by locking them up and holding court proceedings far from their attorneys and support systems. The acting director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Todd Lyons, said at a border .

Indian student's US deportation blocked: Wider visa implications decoded

A US federal judge temporarily blocked the deportation of Krish Lal Isserdasani, an Indian student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, whose student visa was suddenly revoked.

US asks foreign nationals to register under Alien Act or face arrest, fines

All foreign nationals who are residing in the country for 30 days or more are required to register and carry proof of registration with them

Palestinian activist expecting US citizenship interview arrested by ICE

A Palestinian man who led protests against the war in Gaza as a student at Columbia University was arrested Monday at a Vermont immigration office where he expected to be interviewed about finalising his US citizenship, his attorneys said. Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident who has held a green card since 2015, was detained at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Colchester by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, his lawyers said. The attorneys said they do not know where he is. They filed a petition in federal court seeking an order barring the government from removing him from the state or country. "The Trump administration detained Mohsen Mahdawi in direct retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinians and because of his identity as a Palestinian. His detention is an attempt to silence those who speak out against the atrocities in Gaza. It is also unconstitutional," attorney Luna Droubi said in an email. According to the court filing, Mahd

Immigration judge rules Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil can be deported

Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil can be kicked out of the US as a national security risk, an immigration judge in Louisiana has found during a hearing over the legality of deporting the activist who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The government's contention that Khalil's presence in the United States posed potentially serious foreign policy consequences was enough to satisfy requirements for his deportation, Immigration Judge Jamee E Comans said at the conclusion of a hearing in Jena on Friday. Comans said the government had established by clear and convincing evidence that he is removable. Lawyers for Khalil said they plan to keep fighting and will seek a waiver. And a federal judge in New Jersey has temporarily barred Khalil's deportation. Khalil, a legal US resident, was detained by federal immigration agents on March 8 in the lobby of his university-owned apartment, the first arrest under President Donald Trump's promised crackdown on student

Canadians travelling to US: Your phones, laptops may be checked, beware!

Countries including the UK, Germany and France have already issued similar warnings to their citizens

NIA arrests key accused in human trafficking case via 'dunki' route

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday arrested a key accused involved in sending a man illegally to the US via 'dunki' route. Gagandeep Singh alias Goldie of west Delhi's Tilak Nagar was nabbed here. The victim, who hail from Tarn Taran district of Punjab, was deported back to India earlier this month, NIA said in a statement. He was sent to US via the infamous dunki route in December 2024, it said. The term 'dunki,' which is believed to have originated from the word "donkey," refers to an illegal pathway that immigrants take to enter countries like the US without proper documentation. Their risky and arduous travel is usually facilitated by human trafficking syndicate. The victim in this case had paid around Rs 45 Lakh to the accused agent for the illegal immigration, as per his complaint. The victim was deported to India by the US authorities on February 15. He filed a complaint against the agent after the deportation. The case was originally registered by the Punja

MEA says no IAF aircraft used for immigrants' repatriation since 2020

The Ministry of External Affairs has not hired any IAF, chartered or commercial civilian aircraft for Indian immigrants' repatriation from any country since 2020, the government informed Parliament on Thursday. Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita said this in a written response to a query in Rajya Sabha by TMC MP Saket Gokhale. The MEA was asked the details of all instances when the ministry has used Indian Air Force aircraft or chartered or commercial civilian aircraft for repatriation of Indian immigrants being deported from other countries between 2020 till date. It also asked the details of countries that have used military aircraft for deporting Indian immigrants since 2020. "The Ministry of External Affairs has not hired any Indian Air Force or Chartered/Commercial Civilian aircraft for the purposes of repatriation of Indian immigrants being deported from any country since 2020. However, in a few exceptional cases, Indian immigrants facing deportation we

Trump administration to strip legal status from 532K migrants living in US

The Trump administration will revoke temporary legal status from potentially more than half a million migrants who entered the US legally under a Biden-era programme

388 Indians deported from US since Jan, concerns raised on treatment: Govt

India has "strongly registered" its concerns with the US authorities on the treatment meted out to deportees on a flight that landed on February 5, particularly with respect to use of shackles, especially on women, the Centre informed Parliament on Friday. Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh in a written response to a query in the Lok Sabha also said the "US side has conveyed" to the MEA that detainees on the three deportation flights (that landed on February 5, 15 and 16 respectively) were "not instructed to remove any religious head coverings and that the detainees did not request any religious accommodations during the flights aside from requesting for vegetarian meals". The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in its response said that it had also registered its concerns regarding the need to accommodate the religious sensitivities and food preferences of the deportees. The MEA was asked whether the government has taken cognisance of reports regarding the ..

No women or children shackled during deportation from US, says central govt

The Ministry of External Affairs stated that it had shared its concerns with US authorities over the treatment of deported Indian nationals

Immigrants in marriage fraud in US will face deportation, Rs 2 crore fine

The US government told citizens they can help protect the immigration system by reporting fraud online - including marriage and other visa scams

Judge calls Trump admin's response on deportations 'woefully insufficient'

A federal judge instructed the Trump administration to explain why its failure to turn around flights carrying deportees to El Salvador did not violate his court order in a growing showdown between the judicial and executive branches. US District Judge Jeb Boasberg demanded answers after flights carrying Venezuelan immigrants alleged by the Trump administration to be gang members landed in El Salvador after the judge temporarily blocked deportations under an 18th century wartime law. Boasberg had directed the administration to return to the US planes that were already in the air when he ordered the halt. Boasberg had given the administration until noon Thursday to either provide more details about the flights or make a claim that it must be withheld because it would harm state secrets. The administration resisted the judge's request, calling it an unnecessary judicial fishing expedition. In a written order, Boasberg called Trump officials' latest response woefully insufficient. The

Trump admin deports hundreds of immigrants despite judge's orders to pause

The Trump administration has transferred hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador even as a federal judge issued an order temporarily barring the deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration targeting Venezuelan gang members, officials said Sunday. Flights were in the air at the time of the ruling. US District Judge James E Boasberg issued an order Saturday blocking the deportations but lawyers told him there were already two planes with immigrants in the air one headed for El Salvador, the other for Honduras. Boasberg verbally ordered the planes be turned around, but they apparently were not and he did not include the directive in his written order. OopsieToo late, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, a Trump ally who agreed to house about 300 immigrants for a year at a cost of $6 million in his country's prisons, wrote on the social media site X above an article about Boasberg's ruling. That post was recirculated by White House communications director Steven Cheung. Secretar

Explained: Why H-1B is the most restrictive visa in US immigration

For fiscal year 2025, U.S. employers filed a staggering 423,028 eligible H-1B registrations, hoping to secure one of just 85,000 available visas for foreign workers-an approval rate of only 20%

US judge to hear arguments over blocking immigration arrests in US schools

A federal judge is set to hear arguments Friday over whether he should block immigration agents from conducting arrests at schools under a Trump administration policy that has yet to be acted upon. Denver Public Schools is asking US District Judge Daniel Domenico to block immigration enforcement in schools across the country while its lawsuit challenging the new policy plays out in court. The suit says the possibility of routine immigration arrests in its schools has led to a drop in attendance. It also says the district has had to divert resources to respond to fear among students and families over the lifting of longtime rules restricting immigration enforcement near schools, churches and other sensitive locations. This includes providing mental health support to students, diverting administrator attention from academics to immigration issues, and assisting students who miss school to catch up, lawyers for the school district said in their request to block the new policy. Under t