DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

By: Richard Hanus, Esq. April 6, 2024 Most Americans have heard about sanctuary cities, but few really understand what they truly are. I come to this conclusion based on the way this term, along with “open borders”, is thrown around in various media outlets and by certain politicians to strategically rev up emotion among their audience. In today’s world, a 2 sentence tweet carries the same weight as a multi page newspaper article of the pre-social media age, and references to sanctuary cities tend to convey an outsized, inaccurate, message. Toward understanding what a Sanctuary City is, let's start with what [...]

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq. January 11, 2024 Federal lawsuit alleges state overreach as Texas enacts its own immigration enforcement statute Per the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court precedent, it is well established that U.S. immigration law, from the enactment of legislation to the enforcement of such measures, is a function falling exclusively within authority of the federal government.  But what happens when an individual state finds federal government immigration enforcement initiatives so lacking that it deems it necessary to enact their own immigration enforcement provisions and authorizes its own officials to arrest and criminally prosecute offenders?   This very scenario is [...]

By: Richard Hanus, Esq. June 26, 2023 Our nation is home to more than 11 million undocumented foreign nationals, a reality that has taken hold over the course of several decades and a half dozen presidential administrations.   Whether overstaying their visa or entering the U.S. without one, these immigrants, with some exceptions, work hard, pay taxes, and but for their immigration violations, are otherwise law abiding.   Like most of his recent predecessors, President Biden has put in place immigration enforcement priorities, coming to terms with the fact that budgetary constraints and other practicalities, prevent the initiation of deportation proceedings against a [...]