Tag: immigration

Fact-checking President Trump’s claims on immigration

The following article by Meg Kelly was posted on the Washington Post website May 7, 2018:

President Trump seemingly can’t stop talking about immigration. But many of his most frequent claims are wrong. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

The president made it abundantly clear, intentionally or not, that March and April (and maybe even May) might as well be called “immigration month.” It wasn’t on the official schedule. Or worked out in great detail by White House staff. But the pending March 5 expiration of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the actions of Oakland’s mayor, a “caravan” moving slowly through Mexico to the border with the United States and the omnibus spending bill catapulted immigration back into the national conversation and very much onto President Trump’s mind.

The trend was unmistakable as we updated our now-administration-long project tracking the president’s false or misleading claims. Before March and April, about 9 percent of Trump’s claims were on immigration every month. But in those two months, that number jumped to 16 percent. In other words, it nearly doubled. Continue reading “Fact-checking President Trump’s claims on immigration”

The administration’s rationale for urgent border action doesn’t hold up

The following article by Philip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website April 4, 2018:

A U.S. Border Patrol team uses a dog in a search for undocumented immigrants near the U.S.-Mexico border Dec. 9, 2015. (John Moore/Getty Images)

There was no indication on Wednesday of last week that the White House was about to send National Guard troops to the border with Mexico to crack down on immigrants entering the country illegally. Over the weekend, though, President Trump suddenly started hammering on immigration as a central priority, leading to the administration’s vague, then concrete, announcement about strengthening the southern border.

At the daily press briefing on Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen outlined the administration’s proposal. After she did so, a reporter asked a key question: Why now? Continue reading “The administration’s rationale for urgent border action doesn’t hold up”

Trump administration, seeking to speed deportations, to impose quotas on immigration judges

The following article by Nick Miroff was posted on the Washington Post website April 2, 2018:

The Trump administration will pressure U.S. immigration judges to process cases faster by establishing a quota system tied to their annual performance reviews, according to new Justice Department directives.

The judges will be expected to clear at least 700 cases a year to receive a “satisfactory” performance rating, a standard that their union called an “unprecedented” step that risks undermining judicial independence and opens the courts to potential challenges. Continue reading “Trump administration, seeking to speed deportations, to impose quotas on immigration judges”

Why Trump’s attempt to blame Democrats for ending DACA is falling flat

The following article by Amber Phillips was posted on the Washington Post website April 2, 2018:

President Trump appears to be realizing what the rest of Washington has already come to terms with: A deal to protect “dreamers” from deportation is dead.

Recognizing that hundreds of thousands of sympathetic young immigrants could be deported under his watch, he’s on a tear to blame Democrats for a deal’s falling through. Trump has declared the deal dead and then blamed Democrats for it at least three times in the past 24 hours. Continue reading “Why Trump’s attempt to blame Democrats for ending DACA is falling flat”

California, NY sue Trump administration over addition of citizenship question to census

The following article by Samantha Schmidt was posted on the Washington Post website March 27, 2018:

The Justice Department’s request to add a citizenship question on the 2020 U.S. Census was granted. Here’s how that could affect voting districts. (Joyce Koh, Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)

The state of California sued the Trump administration Monday night, arguing that the decision to add a question about citizenship in the 2020 Census violates the U.S. Constitution. The state’s attorney general acted just after the Commerce Department announced the change in a late-night release.

The action was followed Tuesday by an announcement from New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman that he will lead a multi-state lawsuit to preserve what he said was a fair and accurate Census. Continue reading “California, NY sue Trump administration over addition of citizenship question to census”

Dreams Deferred: A Look at DACA Renewals and Losses Post-March 5

The following article by Tom Jawetz, Nicole Prchal Svajlenka and Philip E. Wolgin was posted on the Center for American Progress website March 2, 2018:

More DACA renewal applications means fewer people losing their DACA protections in the months ahead, January 2018. Credit: Getty/Bastiaan Slabbers

On September 5, 2017, the Trump administration terminated the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and permitted only a subset of current DACA recipients, whose protections were set to expire on or before March 5, 2018, to file renewal applications. Predictably, this action created a March 6 cliff, where the bulk of DACA-protected individuals would begin to lose status. At the time, President Donald Trump made clear that it was the responsibility of Congress to pass legislation by March 5 to avert that crisis from unfolding. That has not happened.

In January, a federal court entered a preliminary injunction requiring the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to receive and adjudicate DACA renewal applications from young people that have previously received protection under the program. A second court entered a similar injunction weeks later. On Monday, February 26, the U.S. Supreme Court declined the federal government’s unusual request to bypass the U.S. Court of Appeals and review the injunction in the first instance, sending the case back to the lower court for further proceedings. Continue reading “Dreams Deferred: A Look at DACA Renewals and Losses Post-March 5”

Questions linger about how Melania Trump, a Slovenian model, scored ‘the Einstein visa’

The following article by Mary Jordan was posted on the Washington Post website March 1, 2018:

People who demonstrate “extraordinary ability” are eligible for what is known as the “Einstein” visa. First lady Melania Trump was granted an EB-1 visa in 2001. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)

In 2000, Melania Knauss, a Slovenian model dating Donald Trump, began petitioning the government for the right to permanently reside in the United States under a program reserved for people with “extraordinary ability.”

Knauss’s credentials included runway shows in Europe, a Camel cigarette billboard ad in Times Square and — in her biggest job at the time — a spot in the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated, which featured her on the beach in a string bikini, hugging a six-foot inflatable whale. Continue reading “Questions linger about how Melania Trump, a Slovenian model, scored ‘the Einstein visa’”

Why deporting the ‘Dreamers’ is immoral

The following article by Michael Blake, Professor of Philosophy, Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington, was posted on the Conversation website February 28, 2018:

Credit: Gili Getz / Movimiento Cosecha

On Feb. 26, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a federal judge’s order that the Trump administration continue the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

It was back in September 2017 that President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the end of the Obama-era program that shields hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. Sessions argued that this program rewarded those who disobeyed the laws of the United States. The United States has an obligation to “end the lawlessness” of DACA, he argued, by winding down the program and, at the same time, making a case for the deportation of the “Dreamers” or those previously protected by DACA. Continue reading “Why deporting the ‘Dreamers’ is immoral”

President Trump’s consistent misrepresentation of how the diversity visa lottery works

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website February 26, 2018:

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) was involved in creating the diversity lottery program, but the story doesn’t stop there. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“Think of the lottery. You have a country, they put names in. You think they’re giving us their good people? Not too many of you people are going to be in a lottery. So we pick out people, then they turn out to be horrendous and we don’t understand why. They’re not giving us their best people, folks. They’re not giving us — I mean, use your heads. They’re giving us — it’s a lottery. I don’t want people coming into this country with a lottery. I want people coming into this country based on merit, based on merit.”
— President Trump, in remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Feb. 23, 2018 Continue reading “President Trump’s consistent misrepresentation of how the diversity visa lottery works”

What’s the immigration status of Melania Trump’s parents?

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website February 13, 2018:

President Trump has railed against “chain migration.” His wife is an immigrant and his in-laws are in the U.S., but how did they come in? (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

Several readers asked about the immigration status of Melania Trump’s parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, after spotting social media posts such as this one:

Brasilmagic@Brasilmagic

“Here are Melania’s Parents. Viktor and Amalija Knavs. They live in the United States Permanently now because of Chain Migration after Melania’s Visa Expired & she stayed here Illegally and married Donnie for Citizenship. None of them have a degree or a job”.

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Continue reading “What’s the immigration status of Melania Trump’s parents?”