He explained that after being released from prison, in 2014, he spent time in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody while they tried and failed to deport him to Ukraine and Russia. Both countries, according to legal filings reviewed by NPR, could not provide or confirm Surovtsev's citizenship since he left before the fall of the Soviet Union. They couldn't give him the travel documents needed for deportation.
But foreign government officials, immigration attorneys and court filings indicate that wasn't the case with at least two groups of deportees this summer that included a dozen migrants from Mexico, Vietnam and Jamaica who'd been convicted of crimes such as murder and robbery. It's unclear whether U.S. officials gave those deportees' home countries a chance to accept the return of their citizens - as has long been required by law - before sending them to the prisons in Africa.
However, the appeals court ruled that a country encouraging its citizens to enter the U.S. illegally "is not the modern-day equivalent of sending an armed, organized force to occupy, to disrupt, or to otherwise harm" the United States. "There is no finding that this mass immigration was an armed, organized force or forces," added the ruling, written by the George W. Bush-appointed Judge Leslie Southwick.
"In the United States of America, no one should fear a midnight knock on the door for voicing the wrong opinion," Conor Fitzpatrick, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said in a news release. "Free speech isn't a privilege the government hands out. Under our Constitution it is the inalienable right of every man, woman, and child."
A U.S. District Judge has barred federal agents from conducting detention stops in Southern California without reasonable suspicion of immigration law violations. Agents cannot rely solely on factors like race, ethnicity, or language.
New York City has long been at the vanguard of interfering with enforcing this country's immigration laws. Its history as a sanctuary city dates back to 1989, and its efforts to thwart federal immigration enforcement have only intensified since.
"The memo instructed the justice department's civil division to prioritize and maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by the evidence."
The Department of Justice's lawsuit against Minnesota legislators claims that allowing undocumented students in-state tuition violates federal law and discriminates against U.S. citizens.
The US court of appeals for the second circuit in New York also required the government to provide a declaration of the current whereabouts and custodial status of Jordin Melgar-Salmeron.
"We're very grateful for the county's investment to date, but I think we all know $700,000 is not enough to set up an infrastructure that covers an entire county."
One of the most common reasons for refusal is failing to show that the relationship is real and ongoing. A marriage certificate or civil partnership registration is required, but on its own, it's not enough.
