Immigration Update

Asylum-seeking migrants;

Hernandez had left her husband because of domestic abuse. But then gang members found her and demanded to know where he was. They gave her 12 hours before, they said, they’d kill her 6-year-old.

That night, she took the boys and ran north.

Migrants picked this pregnant mother of 2 to go to the front of the asylum line

They’d all traveled hundreds of miles — by bus, by train, on foot. All had left their homes and scrounged for food and braved the rain and the chill to make it to the US border crossing at Tijuana, Mexico. And they all planned to seek asylum in the United States.

But someone had to be at the front of the line. And in end, they picked her.

Gabriela Hernandez, a pregnant mother of two whose journey CNN has followed, was among eight people chosen Monday by her fellow migrants to begin the process of seeking asylum in the United States.

Hernandez had fled a threat of violence in Honduras with her sons, ages 6 and 2. But after a month on the road — just as they reached the port of entry at San Ysidro — officials there said they’d reached capacity and were “temporarily unable to bring additional persons traveling without appropriate entry documentation into the port of entry for processing.”

Migrants picked this pregnant mother of 2 to go to the front of the asylum line

Dozens of migrants vowed to camp outside the center, just a stone’s hurl from San Diego, until “every last one is admitted into the United States,” an organizer said.

When customs officials on Monday again began processing the cases of people they termed “undocumented arrivals,” the migrants looked among themselves for who should step to the fore.

They picked eight, including Hernandez.

‘I cannot go back to my country’

She’d come 3,000 miles to get to this place, a kindergartner and a toddler in tow as a third little one, in just its second trimester, grew in her belly.

Hernandez had left her husband because of domestic abuse. But then gang members found her and demanded to know where he was. They gave her 12 hours before, they said, they’d kill her 6-year-old.

That night, she took the boys and ran north.

A month later, she was among the chosen few being processed by US officials at the border, representatives from the groups Pueblo Sin Fronteras and Human Rights First said Monday night.

Her plan had been to claim asylum, given the danger to her life and her children in Honduras. Still, she knew all along, it held no guarantees.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said. “I cannot go back to my country.”

CNN’s Leyla Santiago and Khushbu Shah contributed to this report.

 

blueline1

US Appeals Court Upholds Texas’ Ban on ‘Sanctuary Cities’

The law allows police officers to ask people during routine stops whether they’re in the U.S. legally

A federal appeals court Tuesday upheld the bulk of Texas’ crackdown on “sanctuary cities” in a victory for the Trump administration as part of its aggressive fight against measures seen as protecting immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.

The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans allows Texas to enforce what critics call the toughest state-level immigration measure since Arizona passed what critics called a “Show Me Your Papers” law in 2010.

The law allows police officers to ask people during routine stops whether they’re in the U.S. legally and threatens sheriffs with jail time for not cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

The ruling comes a week after the U.S. Justice Department — which had joined Texas in defending the law known as Senate Bill 4 — sued California over state laws aimed at protecting immigrants.

“Dangerous criminals shouldn’t be allowed back into our communities to possibly commit more crimes,” Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in response to the decision.

Leading the lawsuit were Texas’ largest cities— including Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin — in a state where the Hispanic population has grown at a pace three times that of white residents since 2010.

Under the Texas law, local authorities who fail to honor federal requests to hold people jailed on offenses that aren’t immigration related for possible deportation can be fined. Police chiefs, sheriffs and constables could also now face removal from office and even criminal charges for failing to comply with such federal “detainer” requests.

Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, said they were disappointed in the ruling and will closely monitor how the law is implemented. The only part of the Texas law removed by the court was a portion prohibiting local officials from “endorsing” policies that limit immigration enforcement.

“This is the toughest state law in the country,” he said.

Copyright Associated Press

 

U.S.

US police chiefs are fighting the crackdown on “sanctuary cities”

Vox Thu, Aug 17 10:00 PM PDT

Judge dismiss Paxton lawsuit

 

 

 

Judge dismisses Paxton lawsuit oversanctuary citieslaw | The…

www.texastribune.org/2017/08/09/judgedismissespaxton-sb4-lawsuit/

by Julián Aguilar Aug. 9, 2017 Updated: 3 hours ago

 

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks on Wednesday dismissed the state of Texas’ lawsuit against Travis County and other defendants over the state’s new immigration enforcement law.

Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a pre-emptive lawsuit shortly after the bill was signed in May seeking a ruling that the controversial measure is constitutional. Among the defendants named in Paxton’s suit were the city of Austin; Travis County and its sheriff, Sally Hernandez; and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Cruel part of life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Houston voted to join sanctuary cities lawsuit

 

Houston City Council voted Wednesday to sue the state over its new “sanctuary cities” law, joining Texas’ three other largest cities in challenging the controversial measure.

Council voted 10-6 to join San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, El Paso County and several other local governments and nonprofits in a consolidated case challenging the state. Councilman Jack Christie abstained.

A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Monday.

“This is not an issue of our choosing,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said. “But when it ends up on your plate, you have to address it.”
  1. San Antonio Sues Texas Over SB4 Immigration Law – NBC News

    www.nbcnews.com/news/…/san-antonio-sues-texas-over-sb4

    A major Texas city is challenging Texas‘ new immigration enforcement law, SB4. … San Antonio Sues Texas Over SB4lawsuit that the law, signed by Texas Gov …

  2. Houston City Council votes to join lawsuit over SB4

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    San Antonio has another city joining its lawsuit against the state. Austin officially filed its complaint Friday in federal court, taking on the law against so-called …

  4. Lawsuit over Texas sanctuary cities bill is just a matter of …

    www.texastribune.org/2017/05/04/lawsuit-over-sb4

    A group of students against SB4, the “sanctuary cities” bill, sit in the rotunda of the Texas Capitol as the bill is being debated in the Texas House on April 26, 2017

  5. Texas Civil Rights Project Sues To Prevent Anti-Immigrant SB4

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    May 22, 2017 · Texas Civil Rights Project Sues To Prevent Anti-Immigrant SB4 From Taking … The Texas Civil Rights Project’s lawsuit is the latest SB4-0pposed litigation …

  6. San Antonio, Austin join growing lawsuits against draconian …

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    San Antonio, Austin join growing lawsuits against draconian Texas immigration bill Legal challenges argue SB4 is unconstitutional and will put residents in danger.

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