Appeals court: Trump wrongly diverted $2.5B for border wall
A federal appeals court on Friday ruled against the Trump administration in its transfer of $2.5 billion from military construction projects to build sections of the U.S. border wall with Mexico, ruling it illegally sidestepped Congress, which gets to decide how to use the funds.
Justices rule for Trump administration in deportation case
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration can deport some people seeking asylum without allowing them to make their case to a federal judge.
Young immigrants land court win but still face uncertainty
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he will renew his administration’s effort to end legal protections for young immigrants after Supreme Court blocked the first try.
Dreamers celebrate DACA victory, prepare for next battle
SEATTLE – The city of Seattle estimates there could be as many as 10,000 DACA recipients in the city and 18,000 statewide.
Supreme Court rejects Trump administrations attempts to end DACA protections for young immigrants
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to end legal protections for 650,000 young immigrants, the second stunning election-season rebuke from the court in a week after its ruling that it’s illegal to fire people because they’re gay or transgender.
Yakima officials vote down effort to ban ICE flights
YAKIMA, Wash. -- Officials have struck down an effort to ban flights charted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at an airport in Washington state.The Yakima Herald-Republic reports the Yakima City Council voted 4-3 Tuesday against a proposal for city staff to draft an executive order that would prohibit ICE from using the Yakima Air Terminal-McAllister Field.Councilwoman Kay Funk had made the proposal, seeking a similar executive order as one approved for the King County International Airport.King County Executive Dow Constantine in April signed an order to prevent companies from servicing flights that transport immigrant detainees.ICE has been using the Yakima airport since early May.
More than 100 migrant kids moved back to troubled facility
U.S. government officials say they've moved more than 100 kids back to a remote border facility where lawyers reported detained children were caring for each other and had inadequate food, water, and sanitation.
Legal marijuana work could imperil citizenship bids
Immigration authorities on Friday said that anyone with any involvement with marijuana, regardless of whether it's legal in the state where they live, can be denied citizenship because the drug is still illegal under federal law.The announcement comes weeks after officials in Colorado, where recreational marijuana is legal, began warning residents that working for a dispensary or manufacturing operation could jeopardize their citizenship bids — even if those jobs are state-sanctioned.The updated guidance from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services states that people who use marijuana or are involved with it in any way fail to have "good moral character," a prerequisite for people who have legal permanent residence to gain American citizenship.About two-thirds of states allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes, and 10 allow recreational use.
Attorney general tightens restrictions on asylum-seekers
Detained asylum seekers who have shown they have a credible fear of returning to their country will no longer be able to ask a judge to grant them bond.
Court weighs whether immigrant children should have right to attorney
SEATTLE -- This week, a federal court is weighing whether children should have the right to an attorney in immigration court.Right now, from toddlers to teens, many immigrant children facing deportation are forced to go in front a judge alone and represent his or herself.While the U.S. is obligated to provide court-appointed attorneys for criminal defendants who do not have their own representation, the same does not apply for immigration courts.Last year, data from TRAC Immigration showed that three out of every four unaccompanied children did not have legal representation.
Federal judge orders release of immigrant held after Army base pizza delivery
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge on Tuesday ordered the immediate release of an Ecuadorean immigrant who was held for deportation after he delivered pizza to a Brooklyn Army installation."Although he stayed in the United States unlawfully and is currently subject to a final order of removal, he has otherwise been a model citizen," U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty wrote of Pablo Villavicencio.The Manhattan judge said Villavicencio, who was being held at a New Jersey lockup, can remain in the United States while he exhausts his right to try to gain legal status.
Salvadoran mother separated from son to remain in custody in Tacoma
A Salvadoran woman who was separated from her 8-year-old son when she entered the United States must remain in custody, prolonging her reunification wait, under an immigration judge's ruling Monday.
Mom reunited with son after being separated by immigration officials
Saturday morning a previously detained mom, separated from her six-year-old son at the U.S.-Mexico border, reunited with him at Sea-Tac International Airport after almost two months apart.
Detaining immigrant kids is now a billion-dollar industry
Detaining immigrant children has morphed into a surging industry in the U.S. that now reaps $1 billion annually — a tenfold increase over the past decade, an Associated Press analysis finds.
Detained mothers beginning to be released in Washington
SEATTLE (AP) — Some asylum-seeking parents who have been detained in Washington state after being separated from their children have started to be released from custody, advocates said Wednesday, but it remains unclear when they might see their sons or daughters again.The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project in Seattle said it knows of 55 people detained at the U.S.-Mexico border before being separated from their children and transferred to Washington under President Donald Trump's zero-tolerance policy.An immigration judge released one, Yolany Padilla, a 24-year-old from Honduras, on $8,000 bond from the Northwest Detention Center, a private immigration jail in Tacoma, on Friday — seven weeks after she crossed the border illegally in Hidalgo, Texas.
Protesters voice complaints to Tacoma City Council over Northwest Detention Center
TACOMA, Wash. -- The noise outside Tacoma City Hall resonated within Tuesday night."No justice, no peace ...
Washington Rep. Adam Smith talks "abolish ICE," Trump, immigration reform
SEATTLE -- Calls to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement are getting louder and Washington's representatives are taking the lead.Rep.
Trump blasts calls to abolish ICE, but could it really happen?
The "Abolish ICE" movement is gaining ground and getting the attention of some Democrats in Congress, including Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
Federal court blocks ICE treatment of asylum seekers
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday determined the U.S. government is violating its own rules regarding the treatment of people seeking asylum.Judge James Boasberg issued a preliminary injunction ordering the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to stop what opponents called the arbitrary detention of legitimate asylum seekers.
Thousands Protest Trump Immigration Polices, SCOTUS Travel Ban Ruling
SEATAC, Wash. – People across Western Washington joined the rest of the nation in rallies against the Trump Administration’s zero-tolerance immigration policy specifically citing the separation of children from their parents who arrive at the southern border seeking asylum.