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By Everard Meade & Mary Meg McCarthy5:55 p.m.Sept. 4, 2014

Sensible, bipartisan immigration reform isnt dead. But if we dont get back to basic constitutional principles, it will drown in cultural politics.

Throughout the Cold War, federal judges of all different stripes blasted the summary and/or arbitrary detention and deportation of noncitizens. They accused the government of trampling the Constitution. Many cited the battle for hearts and minds and the reign of arbitrary imprisonment behind the Iron Curtain.

With less chest-thumping, the federal courts have continued to issue blistering rebukes of U.S. immigration courts and law enforcement, calling upon them to mind the process and the facts of a particular case, not its presumed policy implications.

But the vast majority of immigration claims in the United States are not reviewed by the federal courts. They are litigated and decided entirely within the executive branch, and they are subject to very little public or judicial scrutiny.

Immigrants do not have a right to court-appointed counsel. They are often detained in remote jails, far from family, social, and legal support. If they win relief, the government can appeal, and the attorney general can overrule the Board of Immigration Appeals.

The immigration court system is totally overwhelmed. The current backlog stands at 375,000 cases. This translates into waits of five or more years for a hearing, and a bureaucracy in which many individuals simply get lost.

We spend $18 billion per year on immigration enforcement, but only $360 million on the adjudicatory system. Only 263 immigration judges serve our nation of immigrants.

Casual observers assume that immigration status is more or less obvious. They imagine a person captured by the Border Patrol while sneaking through the desert and wonder why they need much of a hearing.

People in these situations are summarily returned every day. But, in most cases, the circumstances are more complex.

The rest is here:
Fairness should be focus of bipartisan immigration reform

By Puneet Kollipara September 4 at 8:28 AM

Welcome to Wonkbook, Wonkblogs morning policy news primer by Puneet Kollipara (@pkollipara). To subscribe by e-mail, clickhere. Send comments, criticism or ideas to Wonkbook at Washpost dot com. To read more by the Wonkblog team, clickhere.Follow uson Twitter and Facebook.

Wonkbooks Number of the Day:More than 1,900. That's the number of people who have died in the most recent Ebola outbreak, surpassing the death toll in all previous outbreaks combined.

Wonkbooks Chart of the Day:Growth in theunauthorizedimmigrant population has leveled off, a new survey finds.

Wonkbook's Top 5 Stories:(1) The tricky timing of immigration reform; (2) U.S.'s versus others'economies; (3) a new era for health spending?; (4) banking regulators keep regulating; and (5)many Americans aren't eating well despite more jobs.

To delay or not: Timing on immigration reform holds risks for Obama."White House officials calculated earlier this summer that immigration would not play a major role in the elections, except perhaps for the sizable Hispanic population in Colorado, where executive action could boost Democratic Senator Mark Udall. Now other Democratic candidates in tough Senate races are asking the White House to delay. But immigration rights advocates...warn that Hispanics could stay away from the polls in protest if Obama postpones a decision....Obama must weigh the drawbacks of losing support in Latino-heavy states such as Colorado against the risk of energizing right-leaning Republican voters in states such as Alaska, North Carolina, Louisiana, Kentucky, and New Hampshire."Jeff Mason and Julia Edwards in Reuters.

ICYMI:

Obama may or may not act on immigration reform this summer. Steven T. Dennis in Roll Call.

Immigration reform hasn't been such a hot-button issue on the campaign trail lately in pivotal Colorado.Jake Sherman in Politico.

Top Latino Democrat, activists pushObama on immigration reform."Rep. Luis V. Gutirrez and a group of immigrant-rights activists urged President Barack Obama Wednesday to unilaterally reduce deportations before the November elections, despite concerns such action could hurt vulnerable Democrats at the polls....The Illinois Democrat and representatives from several activist groups said the political pluses for the Democratic Party far outweigh the minuses....He said Democrats who are publicly and privately urging caution from the White House have the political calculus wrong."David Eldridge in Roll Call.

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Wonkblog: Wonkbook: Will Obama delay immigration reform?

Need Some Inspiration for our VLInnovators Challenge?
See how one group of immigrants created a web-based app that tells you where your representative stands on immigration reform. Do you have a tech idea? Apply for the #VLInnovators challenge...

By: Voto Latino

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Need Some Inspiration for our VLInnovators Challenge? - Video

Rep. Grijalva on ISIS and Presidential Action on Immigration Reform

By: RaulGrijalvaAZ07

More here:
Rep. Grijalva on ISIS and Presidential Action on Immigration Reform - Video

September 3, 2014 By FAIR Gov't Relations Team 1 Comment

As American children across the country head back to school this fall, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has finally released county level data on the numbers of unaccompanied alien minors who will be joining them after being released to "sponsors" throughout the United States. The table released by HHS last week shows each county where 50 or more minors have been released to [Read More]

September 2, 2014 By Eric Ruark 10 Comments

September is coming and so is the start of a new school year. This year, there will be almost 37,000 unaccompanied alien minors who will be enrolling in public school in the United States. These kids will require special Limited English Proficient (LEP) classes conducted in Spanish, or in other languages indigenous to Central American, as well as other taxpayer funded services, such as free [Read More]

September 2, 2014 By Dan Stein 2 Comments

Texas Guard Troops Assist Border Patrol "As of last week, 400 guardsmen had arrived. A total of 1,000 are expected to gather in the coming weeks, concentrated in this stretch of border on Texas's southernmost tip, running through the Rio Grande Valley from Brownsville to McAllen. This region has been seen as especially vulnerable to illegal crossings," the Washington Post writes in a story about [Read More]

August 29, 2014 By Adrienne Royer 4 Comments

Noted investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson recently spoke with FAIRs president, Dan Stein, about the secretive reactions of the federal government to the border crisis. During the news segment Attkisson explains: The government has abruptly shut down operations at Fort Sill in Oklahoma and two other military bases that sheltered more than 7,700 minors the government refers to as [Read More]

August 29, 2014 By Dan Stein 11 Comments

Warning Issued of Possible Terrorist Activity at Border "Islamic terrorist groups are operating in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez and planning to attack the United States with car bombs or other vehicle born improvised explosive devices (VBIED). High-level federal law enforcement, intelligence and other sources have confirmed to Judicial Watch that a warning bulletin for an imminent [Read More]

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Immigration Reform Blog