This summary was featured in Documented’s Early Arrival newsletter. You can subscribe to receive it in your inbox three times per week here.
Four Black immigration organizations — the Haitian Bridge Alliance, UndocuBlack Network, African Communities Together and Black Alliance for Just Immigration — filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to demand the Biden administration halt deportations of Haitian asylum seekers. The complaint requests that any possible witnesses of Border Patrol abuses be allowed to stay in the U.S. while their asylum claims are investigated. The groups also argued that by conducting immediate deportations, DHS failed to comply with a recent ICE directive to “withhold civil immigration enforcement action against victims or witnesses participating in criminal investigations.” HuffPost and The Grio
In other federal immigration news…
4,000 Migrants Expelled by Title 42
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that roughly 4,000 migrants were apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Del Rio, Texas, over the past weeks under the public health rule Title 42. Between 10,000 and 12,000 migrants were released into the U.S. Mayorkas then defended the pandemic policy, saying it is “not an immigration policy. It is exercised as the CDC … has ordered, in light of the arc of the pandemic,” Mayorkas told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.” DHS conducted five repatriation flights on Saturday, including three flights from Del Rio to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and two flights from Del Rio to Cap Haitien, Haiti. CNN
KIND Urges New EOIR Director to Lead Agency Fairly
In a press release, Kids in Need of Defense urged newly appointed Executive Office for Immigration Review Director David Neal to ensure the agency delivers justice and due process to unaccompanied children and other U.S. immigrants. KIND President Wendy Young said Neal’s background as an immigration judge and chair of the Board of Immigration Appeals puts him in a spot where he can “ably lead EOIR as the administration seeks to overhaul the U.S. asylum system and immigration courts to restore fundamental fairness.” In addition, “Neal’s vast knowledge of immigration law and the United States’ long-held commitment to protecting those seeking safety in our nation will help to re-establish integrity and sound judgement in the U.S. immigration adjudication system,” Young said. Deanna Garcia for Documented.
