Immigration Weekly Round-Up: New Jersey’s New Governor, Federal Court Challenges to Immigration Enforcement, Global Increase in Business Immigration
– New Jersey’s New Governor. On Tuesday, Democrat Phil Murphy defeated Republican Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno to become the next governor of the State of New Jersey. Throughout the campaign, Murphy stressed his desire to protect the immigrants of New Jersey, including the so-called “Dreamers” who entered the United States at young ages and have been going to school and working in the United States. Mr. Murphy states he “believes that there is no greater tragedy than when we pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to educate a hard-working student through 12th grade, only to tell them that they are on their own.” Murphy plans to improve the lives of immigrants in New Jersey, including those who are undocumented, by providing driver’s licenses and statewide IDs to undocumented people, providing Dreamers with in-state financial aid, providing greater access to professional licenses for immigrants, and raising the minimum wage and improving workplace conditions. When Murphy takes office in January, the NMM Immigration Blog will continue to cover his movement on immigration.
– Court Challenges to Immigration Enforcement. In Texas, several cities sued the state after the state legislature passed a law, known as “SB4,” that made it a criminal offense for local officials to institute the “sanctuary city” policies that protect undocumented individuals by, among other things, refusing to detain individuals for immigration purposes when they would not detain them for criminal reasons. Localities argued that the new law was vague and improperly usurped Congress’ authority to regulate immigration laws and violations. The case will soon be decided by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, seated in New Orleans. Meanwhile, a federal judge in the Western District of Washington ruled that a Dreamer currently with DACA status will be allowed to challenge his detention by ICE enforcement officers. Daniel Ramirez, a DACA recipient, was arrested during an immigration raid – not for any criminal activity – and his DACA status terminated. He argues that the government detained him and ended his benefits under DACA in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner by not following their own administrative procedures. The government argues that the court had no authority whatsoever to review the decision of whether immigration officials can grant or rescind DACA status. Given the judge’s ruling, the case will continue in federal court.
– Global Need for Business Immigration. This week, the international advisory firm SpendEdge released its “Immigration Services Market Procurement Research Report” regarding recent trends that show an increase in immigration across the globe. The report noted that one “of the key growth contributors for the global immigration services market is the increased need to hire a global workforce to have an effective talent acquisition strategy by filling skill gaps and by remaining globally competitive.” As reported in Business Wire, SpendEdge cited numerous factors for the surge in global immigration, including greater worldwide access to the internet, increased need for skilled labor, and population growth. The report advises companies to assess their needs for immigrant labor and review the immigration policies and laws for the countries in which they operate.
If you have questions about this post or other immigration topics, please contact me at wcmenard@nmmlaw.com.
