Many illegal immigrants in the United States face a fear of being deported despite their contributions to the country. Fortunately, many of them are able to avoid deportation through available actions. This has proven to benefit immigrants in Louisiana and all across the nation.
A new court data analysis shows that almost half of immigrants facing deportation are winning their cases in immigration court. Since 2009, the U.S. government, on the other hand, has been losing more immigration cases every year. In 2013, the government only won approximately 52 percent of these cases.
While judges in Louisiana still tend to side with the government on these cases, the overall trend suggests that illegal immigrants have a much better chance of staying in the United States than ever before. Since last October, the start of the 2014 budget year, immigration judges heard over 42,000 cases, and ruled for the immigrants about 50 percent of the time.
However these statistics, which are collected by the Transaction Records Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, or TRAC, do not show how many cases the government has successfully appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals. Experts also point out that it may be too soon to determine what these numbers actually mean in terms of immigration enforcement. There is a backlog of immigration cases; so many of the current cases may actually be from several years ago. According to TRAC, there are currently 360,000 cases pending.
During President Obama’s presidency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has removed close to two million immigrants. However, President Obama created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program which allows young illegal immigrants to apply for a work permit and be allowed to stay in the United States legally for two years. While there is still a lot of progress to be made on the US immigration law front, judges are open to ruling in favor of immigrants when it comes to deportation. Because of this, more illegal immigrants may be able to stay in the United States and get on the path to citizenship.
Whatever their situation or status, an immigration facing deportation or other immigration issues should seek to understand their situation. Gaining advice is not only insightful about the procedures but also provides them with realistic options. This will help them take appropriate actions in their situation.
Source: ABC News, “Report: Immigrants Improve in Fighting Deportation,” Alicia A. Caldwell, Feb. 13, 2014