Joseph Law Firm Blog
The U.S. Supreme Court has touched on immigration issues twice already this week, providing both good and bad news for non-citizens.
Yesterday, the Court decided not to hear the Trump administration’s appeal of two lower courts’ decisions concerning DACA. The lower courts have blocked the government from ending the DACA program on March 5. USCIS, the agency responsible for reviewing DACA applications and granting benefits under the program, has said it will not accept applications from individuals who have never had DACA before, but they are again accepting renewal applications.
When Trump initially rescinded the executive order creating the DACA program, USCIS would only accept renewal applications for DACA recipients whose deferred action and employment documents expired on or before March 5, 2018. Now that the lower courts have temporarily stopped Trump from ending DACA on that day, USCIS is accepting DACA renewal pursuant to the form instructions. The agency is still not accepting applications for advance parole, however.
Following a day of good news for DACA recipients, the Court ruled today that non-citizens detained pending deportation do not have a right to a bond hearing every six months, overturning a decision by the 9th Circuit requiring hearings that frequently. The initial case was brought by an immigrant from Mexico who had been living in the U.S. since childhood but who was detained for three years without a hearing after being placed in removal proceedings. The 9th Circuit had held that the government must provide bond hearings after an individual had been detained six months, and every six months after that. The case ended up in the Supreme Court after the Obama administration appealed the 9th Circuit ruling.
The conservative justices said the immigration laws do not limit the length of detention, but the liberal justices dissented, arguing that everyone has a right to liberty under the Declaration of Independence. This case does not affect the procedure in place for initial bond hearings, and the government stated that the later bond hearings can be permitted in certain circumstances.