Category Archives: News Releases

Loretta Lynch Confirmed as Attorney General

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 2015

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, [email protected], 213-400-7822

NILC: Loretta Lynch Is the Right Choice

WASHINGTON — Loretta Lynch, a champion of civil rights, was confirmed today by the Senate to be the next attorney general of the United States, the first African American woman to serve in that post. Most recently, she served as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Following the 56-43 Senate vote, National Immigration Law Center (NILC) Executive Director Marielena Hincapié issued the following statement:

“Although her nomination was beset by hyperpartisan attacks and delays, the Department of Justice will finally be able to count on Attorney General Lynch to lead them into this next, crucial phase of its history.

“Lynch’s credentials and her record of vigorously fighting financial fraud, cybercrimes, and civil rights violations by law enforcement officers won bipartisan Senate praise. She has pledged to work to strengthen the bonds between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.

“Unfortunately, the final Senate tally did not reflect her qualifications, because some chose to politicize this important vote for the country’s chief law enforcement officer and instead used their vote as a protest against President Obama’s immigration initiatives. During her Senate Judiciary Committee testimony, Lynch observed that DAPA and DACA are legally sound. The new attorney general’s independent assessment has support: Over a hundred legal scholars agree that the law is on President Obama’s side with regard to the November 20 immigration actions.

“The needless, long delay in the confirmation vote was a disappointing commentary on the broken legislative process that held her confirmation hostage to an unrelated political dispute. Lynch, the execution of justice, and our nation deserve better from elected officials.

“As the first African American woman to lead this important post, Loretta Lynch serves as a role model not just to women of color, but to all Americans, no matter where they were born or how humble their beginnings. We look forward to working with her and with others at the Department of Justice to ensure that all people, regardless of immigration or socioeconomic status, are treated equally under the law.”

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CHIP Reauthorization Applauded

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2015

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, 213-400-7822, [email protected]

NILC Applauds Children’s Health Care Program Funding

WASHINGTON — Last night the Senate approved legislation that would extend funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for two years. The House of Representatives has already approved this legislation, which was combined with a proposal to create a new and permanent payment system for doctors who accept Medicare. President Obama has indicated that he will sign the bill. Below is a statement from Angel Padilla, National Immigration Law Center health policy analyst:

“Millions of children and pregnant women, native-born and immigrant alike, will continue to have access to affordable, reliable health care coverage, thanks to this rare display of bipartisan action in Congress. Ensuring access to health care coverage is vital for all of us, but especially for our nation’s children, for whom any absence of care can mean the difference between life and death.

“This vote serves as a reminder that we must continue to fight for the future of this important program. Although proposals to extend CHIP funding for four years, rather than two, would have prevented the need for yet another vote in an increasingly polarized Congress, we — along with allies across the country — will continue to fight to ensure that this sound investment in our health and our future remains on our law books.”

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Coalition Asks Appellate Court to Reverse Texas Ruling

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2015

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, [email protected], 213-400-7822

Unprecedented Coalition of Elected Officials, Advocates Ask Appellate Court to Reverse Texas Ruling Blocking President’s Immigration Initiatives

Attorneys general, 181 members of Congress, 73 mayors and county officials from 27 states, educators, law enforcement, civil rights, faith, labor and business leaders file legal briefs defending executive action

WASHINGTON — The Texas federal district court order that blocked parts of President Obama’s executive action on immigration was based on unproven or incomplete presentations to the court and should be reversed, civil rights and immigration advocates argue in an amicus(“friend-of-the-court”) brief in the case of State of Texas, et al. v. United States, et al. Texas and 25 other states have sued the federal government to stop the implementation of initiatives that will provide temporary relief from deportation, but advocates maintain the president’s actions are legally sound.

The legal briefs defending the deferred action initiatives are being filed today with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals by a range of advocates, leaders, and elected officials. One of these briefs will be filed on behalf of more than 150 civil rights, labor, and immigration advocacy groups, led by the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), American Immigration Council (AIC), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Briefs also expected to be submitted to the court today include 15 states and the District of Columbia, 73 mayors, county officials from 27 states, 181 members of Congress, and educators, law enforcement, faith and business leaders. These briefs discuss the economic and community benefits that result from expansion of the successful DACA program and the new DAPA initiative for parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.

“Collectively, the parties in these filings represent more than half of the foreign-born population in our country, which means they have a demonstrated track record of producing inclusive immigration policies,” noted Marielena Hincapié, NILC executive director, during a telephonic press briefing announcing the briefs. “We are confident that we will win because the law is on our side. But we also know that the wheels of justice often move slowly. In the meantime, our message to eligible immigrants and their families is to be patient, continue gathering the necessary documents to apply, save up for application fee, and don’t lose faith,” added Hincapié.

“We are undeterred and we will continue in this campaign [to realize the start of the DACA and DAPA programs],” added Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. An early signer of the amicus brief by local officials, the mayor said the filing before the appellate court by mayors and counties has twice as many signers as an earlier brief submitted to the Texas district court. Citing the economic and community benefits that would come from allowing immigrants to come out of the shadows, Mayor Hancock added, “This is about our communities. This is about working with those who have chosen to call our cities ‘home.’”

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-CA, said the legal filing by 181 members of Congress argues the Texas court overturned Congress’ decision to give the executive branch authority to set immigration enforcement priorities.

“What the court has done is not only an affront to what the executive has done [in setting priorities] and to the authority we have — well-grounded in law and in precedent — but also an affront to what Congress has done,” Lofgren said. “There are millions of people living in fear, who have made our economy and lived here for decades, whose lives have been turned upside down by an erroneous ruling.”

Some states claimed that the administrative relief will harm them, but the legal briefs argue the judgment was incorrect.

“That is incorrect. The states have to show irreparable harm to get a preliminary injunction; they have not,” Noah Purcell, solicitor general in the Washington state Attorney General’s Office told reporters. “The president’s directives are good for states; they are not harming states.”

The human aspect of the case also was highlighted during Monday’s press call.

“Although I was disappointed by the news that a federal district judge blocked implementation of DACA expansion, I was not disillusioned,” said Jong-Min You, an immigrant from New York who would be eligible for relief under DACA expansion. “I know that eventually, I will be able to come forward and apply for relief from deportation and work authorization, and I’m not the only one. Other Elder Dreamers, along with their parents and millions of others, are ready for the legal battle ahead and for the legal battle to end so that we can finally move forward.”

Rocio Saenz, SEIU international executive vice president, said advocates for expanded DACA and DAPA will never give up.

“The plaintiff states and Republicans who support this lawsuit can ignore the will of their own constituents and immigrants’ contributions, but we will continue to defend the immigration action in the courts. We will continue to fight for immigration reform. We will continue to inform future applicants and make sure that when the time comes — and it will come — that every eligible person applies for the immigration action. We are and will continue to send a strong message to the naysayers, to Republicans who stand in the way of progress: We are not the enemy. But we are ready – ready to fight back, ready for the immigration action, and ready to vote,” Saenz said.

“Amici and the government are clearly on the right side of the law, and we are confident that a stay [of the Texas order] will be granted, hopefully by the Fifth Circuit, one day very soon,” said Melissa Crow, legal director of the American Immigration Council.

A recording of Monday’s press call can be downloaded at
www.nilc.org/document.html?id=1222

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Senator Harry Reid Retiring

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 27, 2015

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, 213-400-7822, [email protected]

NILC Statement on Sen. Harry Reid’s Retirement Announcement

WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada announced this morning that he would not seek reelection, which means he will be ending a career of more than three decades in the Capitol. The following is a statement by Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center:

“Senator Harry Reid has been a steadfast champion for all families, regardless of where they came from or how much money they have. His commitment to justice and equality for all led him to take strong stands to protect and advance the rights of immigrant youth and workers, even when such choices were politically risky.

“Good leadership is sometimes hard to find, but Sen. Reid has been one of the best. His retirement represents a loss for low-income immigrants and working families, who have always had, in him, a strong advocate.

“We will miss his voice and leadership in the Senate.”

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Attacks on Immigrants in Budget Resolution

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2015

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, 213-400-7822, [email protected]

Senators Urged Not to Agree to Attacks on Low-Wage Immigrants in Budget Blueprint

WASHINGTON — As congressional conservatives continue advancing legislative attacks against immigrants and President Obama’s recent immigration relief initiatives, nearly 100 national and state religious, medical, labor, children’s and anti-poverty advocacy organizations are urging senators to steer clear of budget proposals that would hurt low-wage immigrants.

At issue are proposals expected to be offered during the Senate budget debate that would strip eligibility for tax credits from millions of children and their working, tax-paying immigrant families. These proposals are the latest in a series of efforts by conservative lawmakers to deprive immigrants of all economic supports, including tax credits earned through the work they do and the taxes they pay.

“The Budget Resolution must not be used to further impoverish low-wage immigrants by changing tax law and disallowing eligibility for the earned income tax credit (EITC) and the refundable Child Tax Credit,” states a letter sent Tuesday to senators by the National Immigration Law Center and dozens of advocacy groups.

“Immigrant workers perform some of the most essential jobs that make up the backbone of our economy and immigrant families make significant tax contributions at every level,” including local, state and federal income taxes, as well as payroll taxes that support the Social Security and Medicare systems, the letter explained. “Despite these significant tax contributions, most immigrant workers may never be eligible to collect their earned benefits.” Undocumented immigrants are denied federal safety-net assistance, including help through the food stamp program (known as SNAP), the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and nonemergency Medicaid.

“The choice is clear. Congress can produce a budget blueprint that protects our economy and maximizes the contributions of immigrant workers, or it can go home for its two-week spring break and explain to taxpayers why their pocketbooks are being emptied to pay for lawmakers’ attacks against immigrants,” said Ellen Sittenfeld Battistelli, a policy analyst with the National Immigration Law Center. “Congress can do right by the taxpayers and abandon these senseless attacks. It can go even further by working on long-term immigration reform that would produce greater economic benefits for everyone.”

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Response to ICE Director’s Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 20, 2015

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, 213-400-7822, [email protected]

Saldaña’s Prayers Are an Immigrant Family’s Nightmare

WASHINGTON — Testifying before a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing Thursday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Sarah R. Saldaña shocked the immigrant advocacy community when she said, “Thank you. Amen. Yes,” in response to a question from Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) about whether Congress should make immigration detainers, or requests to local law enforcement officials to hold immigrants for ICE, mandatory. Today, Saldaña issued a statement in which she attempts to clarify that she believes such detainers should not be made mandatory. Below is a statement from Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center:

“In her first hearing testifying before Congress as ICE director, Sarah Saldaña showed little regard for immigrant families and even less concern for the U.S. Constitution as she lamented the fact that litigation had precluded her agents from going after immigrants in local communities. Her attempt today to “clarify” her position only raised more concerns, as the statement seems to serve mostly to tout the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP), the administration’s new immigration enforcement strategy. Director Saldaña has left immigrant advocates across the nation wondering whether PEP is simply S-COMM — a program that shattered countless immigrant families and has led to Fourth Amendment violations — by another name.

“The Department of Homeland Security is in the process of implementing significant policy changes to its enforcement and deportation priorities announced by President Obama last November. These changes are meant to restore order and fairness to our immigration system, which has for far too long resulted in the deportation of mothers, fathers, and workers. These changes were also designed to allow local law enforcement leaders to restore immigrant communities’ trust in them.

“Director Saldaña’s comments are deeply troubling and run counter to the new DHS policies. We urge President Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to ensure that everyone within ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, from top to bottom, complies with the president’s recent executive actions on immigration.”

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House Judiciary Committee Passes HR 1148

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 18, 2015

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, 213-400-7822, [email protected]

House of Representatives Mass Deportation Bill Shows Little Learned from Past Anti-Immigrant Behavior

WASHINGTON — In a party-line vote, the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives today passed a bill out of committee that would criminalize immigrants who are not authorized to be in the U.S. and would turn local law enforcement into de facto immigration officers. The bill, HR 1148, is nearly identical to the 2013 SAFE Act, an anti-immigrant proposal that drew the ire of immigrants’ rights groups and local law enforcement. Below is a statement from Kamal Essaheb, immigration policy attorney for the National Immigration Law Center:

“Today’s proceedings show that in their zeal to attack immigrant communities, anti-immigrant legislators in the House Judiciary Committee are willing to threaten everyone else’s safety. That’s why law enforcement leaders across the country have urged lawmakers to reject this proposal. Unfortunately, these requests — from those whose job it is to protect and serve everyone in their communities — seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

“Attacks on immigrant communities are nothing new: Arizona, Alabama, and others attempted to create state-based racial profiling laws, and all these laws trampled on the rights of people of color, regardless of where they were born. It’s time to abandon misguided efforts to export failed Arizona-style policies to other states and instead focus on proposals that improve public safety for everyone by restoring relationships between local law enforcement and immigrant communities.”

The committee also passed, in a party-line vote, HR 5137, a bill that would eliminate key protections for unaccompanied noncitizen children. Specifically, the bill would make it harder for such children to access legal help and would raise the standard for showing that they have a credible fear of being persecuted if they are returned to their home countries.

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Immigration Relief Crucial to U.S. Economic Health

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2015

CONTACT
Gebe Martinez, [email protected], 703-731-9505

NILC Urges Congress to Keep Integrity of Tax Rules to Secure Economic Benefits of President’s Immigration Initiatives

Benefits from immigration relief will improve the economy for everyone, according to NILC testimony before House subcommittees

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s immigration initiatives will have a positive impact on the economy, and failure to carry them out “would severely harm the federal budget,” the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) stated in its comments today before U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Subcommittees on Health Care, Benefits and Administrative Rules, and National Security.

Two components of the president’s announced immigration policy changes — Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) — “will provide a natural economic stimulus for everyone,” testified Avideh Moussavian, NILC’s economic justice policy attorney. The impact of the immigration relief extends beyond dollars and cents, by making communities “safer, more prosperous, and better integrated in ways that simply cannot be measured.”

Moussavian cited estimates by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) showing that the president’s initiatives would generate $18.9 billion in revenues, including payroll and income taxes, over the next ten years. If the proposals are blocked, the federal budget deficit will rise by more than $6.3 billion during the same period, according to the CBO and JCT. Conservatives who oppose commonsense immigration reform legislation, and this initial step toward administrative relief, have wrongly claimed that people who are granted DAPA or expanded DACA would receive costly federal benefits.

“Although immigrants who qualify for DACA or DAPA pay taxes, they are nevertheless excluded from many economic supports. They are unable to purchase health insurance — even at full cost — in state or federally run health care exchanges. They are similarly excluded from programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, SNAP, and federal Medicaid, among other things,” Moussavian testified.

At the same time, working families who have Social Security numbers and pay taxes have the same rights and responsibilities as everyone else.

“It is a longstanding federal tax principle that the same rules apply to all taxpayers who are working lawfully in the U.S. This includes access to certain earned tax credit programs, like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC),” Moussavian told lawmakers. “And while we may disagree on the president’s executive actions, we need to protect the integrity of the tax system.”

The written testimony that NILC’s Avideh Moussavian submitted to the House subcommittees is available at www.nilc.org/document.html?id=1214.

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DOJ Files Stay Request in Texas v. U.S.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2015

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, [email protected], 213-400-7822

Department of Justice Takes Strong Step to Stem Harm Caused by District Court Ruling in Texas

Emergency stay request should be granted without delay

LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Department of Justice has filed an emergency stay request to allow President Obama’s recent immigration initiatives to go into effect while the appellate court considers Texas, et al. v. United States, et al., the pending lawsuit against the immigration initiatives. The stay request, which was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, would allow the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) expansion, along with the deferred action initiative for parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (DAPA), to be implemented. The National Immigration Law Center, along with several civil, labor, and immigrants’ rights organizations, filed a brief in support of the Obama administration in this case. Below is a statement from Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center:

“This filing rightly recognizes that our communities are robbed of the opportunity to live free from fear of deportation and our economy is deprived of much-needed fiscal benefits with each day that this injunction remains in place. The legal bar for granting such a stay is high, and for good reason: our justice system can and should consider fully the facts of each case. However, we firmly believe that in this case, like in other recent major civil rights cases, the Department of Justice’s request more than meets these high standards.

“Although they may disagree on the politics, legal experts across the ideological spectrum agreethat the actions President Obama took to mend parts of our broken immigration system fell well within the president’s legal authority. The wheels of justice may turn slowly, but that’s no reason to allow people and our economy to suffer while this case makes its way through the courts. The Fifth Circuit can and should grant this important emergency stay request, and they should do so without delay.”

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Bills Undermine Rights of Workers, Children, Asylees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 4, 2015

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, 213-400-7822, [email protected]

House Bills Undermine Rights of Workers, Children, Asylees

WASHINGTON — The National Immigration Law Center calls for rejection of a package of bills approved this week by the House Judiciary Committee that underscore conservatives’ “deportation only” strategy at the expense of privacy rights, civil rights, and fair labor standards for workers. The measures also would undermine critical due process protections for asylees and subject children to prolonged detention in facilities that are not age appropriate.

The bills that passed the House Judiciary Committee include:

H.R. 1147, the Legal Workforce Act, which requires all U.S. employers to use the error-prone E-Verify system, at great cost to the federal government, businesses and workers. The bill would put the jobs of hundreds of thousands of authorized U.S. workers at risk while pushing immigrant workers and businesses deeper into the underground economy.

A government-commissioned study found that Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) were four times more likely to receive an erroneous E-Verify determination under the currently voluntary E-Verify system, and that work-authorized immigrant workers were 27 times more likely to receive an erroneous E-Verify determination than U.S.-born workers.

H.R. 1149, the Protection of Children Act is a harsh departure from the U.S. tradition of protecting those who have been subjected to violence, human trafficking, abuse and other crimes. The bill undermines critical due process protections in the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA).

Below is a statement from Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center:

“It is the height of hypocrisy that the conservative-led House Judiciary Committee approved the E-Verify bill by asserting they are trying to protect U.S. workers without harming small businesses, when, in fact, the bill would do the opposite. The damage a mandatory E-Verify system would cause for American workers is clear. In this economy, the loss of just one job due to an error-prone government system is one job too many.

“Furthermore, the measures to remove critical human and civil rights for children and asylees are unconscionable. We have investigated detention facilities and found troubling violations, particularly for women and children. The legislation would set back our nation’s humanitarian legacy.”

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