Immigration-Related Detention: Current Legislative Issues

[Excerpt] As Congress considers reforming the nation’s immigration system, the detention of noncitizens in the United States will likely be an issue. Under the law, there is broad authority to detain aliens while awaiting a determination of whether the noncitizen should be removed from the United States. The law also mandates that certain categories of aliens are subject to mandatory detention (i.e., the aliens must be detained). Aliens subject to mandatory detention include those arriving without documentation or with fraudulent documentation, those who are inadmissable or deportable on criminal grounds, those who are inadmissable or deportable on national security grounds, those certified as terrorist suspects, and those who have final orders of deportation. Aliens not subject to mandatory detention may be detained, paroled, or released on bond. The priorities for detention of these aliens are specified in statute and regulations. In FY2008, on an average day, 31,244 noncitizens were in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) custody. There are many policy issues surrounding detention of aliens. The Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) increased the number of aliens subject to mandatory detention, and raised concerns about the justness of mandatory detention, especially as it is applied to asylum seekers arriving without proper documentation. Additionally, the increase in the number of mandatory detainees has raised concerns about the amount of detention space available to house DHS detainees. Some contend that decisions on which aliens to release from detention and when to release aliens from detention may be based on the amount of detention space, not on the merits of individual cases. Another issue is the Attorney General’s role in the detention of noncitizens. The creation of DHS moved the administration of detention of noncitizens from the Department of Justice’s Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to DHS’s Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Nonetheless, it can be argued that the language in the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296; HSA) has left the Attorney General with concurrent authority over immigration law, including the authority to arrest, detain, and release aliens. The 108th Congress passed P.L. 108-458, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, directing the Secretary of DHS to increase the amount of detention bed space by not less than 8,000 beds for each year, FY2006 through FY2010. Although Congress increased the bed space between FY2006 and FY2010, the number of beds has only increased by approximately 12,000. In the 111th Congress, bills have been introduced covering a range of provisions and perspectives concerning the detention of noncitizens. Several bills—including S. 1505, H.R. 994, H.R. 2406, and H.R. 3308—would mandate that DHS increase the amount of detention space. In addition, other bills (e.g., H.R. 1215 and S. 1594) would codify certain policies at detention facilities, such as access to telephones and medical care, and expand the alternatives to detention program. Other bills, such as H.R. 264, would eliminate the mandatory detention of asylum seekers in expedited removal. This report will be updated as legislative action occurs

Implicit norms

Robert Brandom has developed an account of conceptual content as instituted by social practices. Such practices are understood as being implicitly normative. Brandom proposed the idea of implicit norms in order to meet some requirements imposed by Wittgenstein’s remarks on rule-following: escaping the regress of rules on the one hand, and avoiding mere regular behavior on the other. Anandi Hattiangadi has criticized this account as failing to meet such requirements. In what follows, I try to show how the correct understanding of sanctions and the expressivist reading of the issue can meet these challenges

Immigration-Related Detention: Current Legislative Issues

[Excerpt] As Congress considers reforms to the nation’s immigration system, the detention of noncitizens (aliens) in the United States will likely be an issue. Congressional interest in the policy of detaining noncitizens in the United States while determining whether noncitizens should be removed from the United States tends to be varied. For example, while some want to increase the categories of aliens who are detained and increase the amount of detention space, others want to create alternatives to detention and exempt asylum seekers from mandatory detention. In addition, immigration enforcement activities affect the need for and allocation of detention resources. For example, as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expands programs to locate removable aliens from jails throughout the country, DHS may need additional detention beds in areas of the United States where traditionally there has not been a need for detention space. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides broad authority to detain aliens while awaiting a determination of whether they should be removed from the United States and mandates that certain categories of aliens are subject to mandatory detention (i.e., the aliens must be detained) by DHS. Aliens not subject to mandatory detention may be detained, paroled, or released on bond. “Enemy combatants” at the Guantanamo U.S. military base in Cuba are not under the authority of DHS, nor are noncitizens incarcerated in federal, state, and local penitentiaries for criminal acts. Any alien can be detained while DHS determines whether the alien should be removed from the United States. The large majority of the detained aliens have committed a crime while in the United States, have served their criminal sentence, and are detained while undergoing deportation proceedings. Other detained aliens include those who arrive at a port-of-entry without proper documentation (e.g., fraudulent or invalid visas, or no documentation), but most of these aliens are quickly returned to their country of origin through a process known as expedited removal. The majority of aliens arriving without proper documentation who claim asylum are held until their “credible fear hearing,” but some asylum seekers are held until their asylum claims have been adjudicated. There are many policy issues surrounding detention of aliens, including concerns about the number of aliens subject to mandatory detention and the justness of mandatory detention, especially as it is applied to asylum seekers arriving without proper documentation. Some have raised concerns about the length of time in detention for aliens who have been ordered removed. Additionally, issues have been raised about the amount of detention space available to house DHS detainees or the nationwide allocation of the space

Horticultural markets promote alien species invasions : an Estonian case study of herbaceous perennials

Gardening is a popular pastime, but commercial horticulture is responsible for the introduction of alien species and contributes to invasions in a variety of ways. Although an extensive international literature is available on plant invasions, it is still important at the national level to examine the influence of local factors. Accordingly, 17 nurseries in Estonia that cultivated and sold perennial alien species were selected, and a list of species and prices was compiled. The relationships between species status, and factors such as their abundance in the wild were examined statistically. A qualitative list of the nationally problematic species among herbaceous perennials was also completed. A total of 880 taxa were recorded, of which 10.3% were native and 89.7% alien. In all, 87.3% of the alien species were still confined to cultivated areas. The ecological and socio-economic characteristics of the taxa were described, and lists of the families of casual, naturalised and invasive aliens were provided. Both native and increasing wild alien species have a very similar profile on the market. Alien species that are less expensive, widely available and have more cultivars per species on the market are also more likely to escape. The invasive status and abundance of escaped aliens in an area increases with residence time. In general, socio-economic factors create new and reflect previous propagule pressures from commercial horticulture, which continuously increase the likelihood of alien species surviving and invading new areas. Our findings suggest that these national socioeconomic market-related factors explain much of the invasiveness of various perennial ornamental species, and therefore regional and national authorities urgently need to regulate and control the ornamental plant trade to diminish the risk of new invasions

Unmet Needs of Unaccompanied Minors from Central America: Perceptions of Professionals from Multiple Sectors

Background: In recent years, there has been a significant influx of Central American youth who cross the U.S.-Mexico border without a parent or legal guardian. While federal procedures are established to oversee the treatment and placement of unaccompanied minors, less is known about the needs of unaccompanied minors and available services afterthey are placed in appropriate custody. Methods: Purposive and strategic sampling of professionals from medical, social work, education and legal fields was conducted. Fourteen informants were recruited across the U.S. for confidential semi-structured interviews, which were audio recorded and transcribed in 2016 to 2017. Standard anthropological methods were employed, including immersion and crystallization techniques that incorporated within-case and across-case analytic strategies. Results: Recruited informants had previous or current direct experience working with immigrant minors for three or more years in addition to extensive public health experience. Unaccompanied minors were described as predominantly adolescent boys, ranging from 2 to 18 years old. Children faced unmet mental, medical and psychosocial needs that are interconnected and largely unmet due to children’s legal status and ineligibility to access services in most jurisdictions. The most pressing challenge affecting the health of youth was their immigration status. Across sectors,informants revealed an imbalance between the growing demand for services, including legal counsel, and the limited supply of professionals and well-funded services to meet children’s complex needs. Informants emphasized the value of trauma-informed practice, Spanish language proficiency, child-informed practice and intercultural awareness and humility towards their clients as key features of equipped professionals working with this vulnerable population. Regardless of sector, professionals emphasized the importance of culturally-informed care to immigrant youth. Building these skills is associated with greater confidence to provide services to unaccompanied minors, many of whom have experienced as significant burden of childhood trauma. Conclusions: The health needs of unaccompanied minors are complex and span across medical, social work, education, and legal fields. Interdisciplinary collaboration is needed to address the challenges faced by unaccompanied minors in their efforts to integrate themselves into their new communities and promote their resilience. Promising initiatives include co-location of inter-sector services for increased access and efficiency of services and development of professional trainings and resources for professionals in sectors that serve this population

Biodiversity, management and utilization of West African fishes

Biodiversity, Nature conservation, Fishery management, Fishery resources, Fish, WorldFish Center Contrib. No. 1718, Africa, west,

Bridging the gap between policy and science in assessing the health status of marine ecosystems

Human activities, both established and emerging, increasingly affect the provision of marine ecosystem services that deliver societal and economic benefits. Monitoring the status of marine ecosystems and determining how human activities change their capacity to sustain benefits for society requires an evidence-based Integrated Ecosystem Assessment approach that incorporates knowledge of ecosystem functioning and services). Although, there are diverse methods to assess the status of individual ecosystem components, none assesses the health of marine ecosystems holistically, integrating information from multiple ecosystem components. Similarly, while acknowledging the availability of several methods to measure single pressures and assess their impacts, evaluation of cumulative effects of multiple pressures remains scarce. Therefore, an integrative assessment requires us to first understand the response of marine ecosystems to human activities and their pressures and then develop innovative, cost-effective monitoring tools that enable collection of data to assess the health status of large marine areas. Conceptually, combining this knowledge of effective monitoring methods with cost-benefit analyses will help identify appropriate management measures to improve environmental status economically and efficiently. The European project DEVOTES (DEVelopment Of innovative Tools for understanding marine biodiversity and assessing good Environmental Status) specifically addressed t hese topics in order to support policy makers and managers in implementing the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Here, we synthesize our main innovative findings, placing these within the context of recent wider research, and identifying gaps and the major future challenges