Yesterday, President Donald Trump unveiled a new immigration policy. This policy would, among other things, require hiring 15,000 new Border Patrol agents and enforce certain laws more strictly, which would allow for more deportations and expulsions from the country. Attorney Paul Cambria spoke to WBEN about this new policy, as well as the edits the President is expected to make to the immigration ban that was struck down by the Ninth Circuit Court. The full interview is available on the WBEN website.
New policy could be challenged legally
Mr. Cambria was asked if this new policy could be challenged legally in the same way the previous immigration ban was challenged. “I don’t think there’s any question that there’ll be a number of people who will challenge anything and everything that the President does with regard to immigration,” he responded. He explained that “the ACLU’s already announced that they’re going to challenge anything that he puts out as an executive order” and that other immigration lawyers have made similar statements.
Deportation guidelines
Under this new policy, deportation guidelines will be followed more strictly. When asked if this will result in illegal immigrants with more minor criminal infractions, such as traffic tickets, being deported, Mr. Cambria responded, “Supposedly, what the Administration says they’re doing having all these agents, they’re saying, ‘Well, we’re just going to continue the policies that Obama had in place as far as handling illegal immigrants.’”
Mr. Cambria went on to say that “they even talked about so-called ‘catch-and-release’, where they would parole them into the country and then have hearings. But it appears that there’s a massive campaign to streamline the immigration system, put people through the process, and follow the law. And a lot of people are going to be unhappy with that.”
Immigration ban updates
WBEN then asked whether, in light of the revised immigration order that is expected in place of the ban the Ninth Circuit struck down, it is a problem that the previous ban is still in place. Mr. Cambria told WBEN that “the first one doesn’t have to be rescinded because the Ninth Circuit […] basically said, ‘you can’t enforce it.’”
“The wise thing for the Administration to do,” Mr. Cambria explained, “rather than try to take it to the Supreme Court, is to just fix the order. It’s obvious that whoever advised them the first time was a little hasty in the way they did it but, now that the Ninth Circuit has sort of laid out a roadmap of the things that you can and can’t do, it should be relatively easy to do an order that’ll comply with the law.”
Mr. Cambria told WBEN that he expects the revised order to comply with the law. “I think they’re going to handle due process, which means they have to give people notice of what they claim they’ve done wrong and they have to give them a hearing so they can challenge that,” he explained. Mr. Cambria also said that he expects that the new order will remove any language regarding religion, “whether it be a preference or a detriment.” This, he explained, will allow those with green card status and others to remain in the country.
About Paul J. Cambria, Jr.
The chair of Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria’s Criminal Defense Trials and Appeals Practice Area, Mr. Cambria advises clients on criminal trials, criminal appeals, constitutional and First Amendment law, zoning and land use, antitrust, and professional licensing defense. He divides his time between the firm’s offices in Buffalo and Los Angeles.
