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ImmIGRATION NOVEMBER 12, 2021 | The Indian Eye 42
migration in the time of cOViD-19 ebook
– how much has the pandemic really
Shifted the immigration landscape?
cyruS D. mehta migration law and policy re- a case study to demonstrate Mexico for adjudication ically present in India prior
sponses to the COVID-19 how the same tools that im- of their cases, often plac- to traveling having been
anD Kaitlyn BOx pandemic”, by bringing migration advocates have ing them in grave danger. added by the Biden admin-
T ogether with my together a collection of ar- developed to respond to In August, the Supreme istration after publication of
Shoba
co-author,
ticles that “examine and the ever-evolving policies Court refused to overturn the ebook. As discussed in
Sivaprasad Wadhia, assess destination states’ of the Trump administra-
the lower court order that prior blogs, these bans have
Associate Dean for Diver- responses to COVID-19 tion can also be harnessed would revive the program. a disproportionately harsh
sity, Equity, and Inclusion, from the perspective of mi- to address COVID-related Similarly, the U.S. District impact on nonimmigrants,
the Samuel Weiss Faculty gration law and policy, and immigration policies. In Court for the Southern who are no more likely to
Scholar, and Founder and consider how they build particular, we discuss three District of Texas recently transmit COVID-19 than
Director of the Center for upon prior exclusionary re- of CIRC’s central response held that Biden’s immigra- the numerous categories of
Immigrants’ Rights Clinic gimes, offering suggestions tools: short, accessible fact tion enforcement priorities, other travelers exempted
(CIRC) at Penn State Law, for reform of domestic laws sheets and FAQ sheets, which would have focused by the bans. Although the
I recently contributed a in the wake of the pandem- informational “town hall” removal efforts on only bans are projected to be
chapter to the Frontiers in ic.” forums to discuss new im- those noncitizens who were lifted in November, to be
Human Dynamics e-book Our article, entitled migration laws or policies a national security risk, en- replaced with testing and
“Migration in the Time of “COVID-19 and Immi- as they impact the commu- tered the United States on vaccination requirements,
COVID-19: Comparative gration: Reflections From nity, and direct representa- or after November 1, 2020, the harm they created,
Law and Policy Responses”. the Penn State Law Cen- tion of individual clients. or posed a threat to public particularly for nonimmi-
A PDF can be downloaded ter for Immigrants’ Rights One central thread that safety, were a violation of grants who traveled to be
from the Frontiers website. Clinic”, provides a review emerged across the chap- the Administrative Proce- with family at the height of
The e-book “aims to of significant COVID-19 ters of the ebook, as well as dure Act, at least as applied the pandemic and became
provide one of the first -related immigration policy in last week’s book launch to detention cases. How- trapped outside the U.S.,
comparative analyses of changes, and uses CIRC as panel, was the idea of con- ever, the Fifth Circuit has is unlikely to be immedi-
tinuity, both in repressive issued a partial stay of the ately resolved, particularly
immigration policies and S.D. Texas order, allowing in light of lingering vaccine
the responses to them, both the provisions that provide inequality issues.
before and during the pan- guidance on when enforce- Similarly, the suspen-
demic. Although the Trump ment actions should be sion of non-essential travel
administration, marked initiated to go into effect, by land and sea between
by its numerous and dra- among others. The Fifth the United States and Mex-
conian immigration poli- Circuit’s order left in place ico and Canada remains
cy changes, has now been only a handful of narrow in place for a little while
replaced by the Biden ad- provisions in the injunction longer. This suspension
ministration, many Trump- that concern detention. also includes a number of
era policies still live on, The U.S. District Court for exemptions, including for
situating COVID-related the Southern District of U.S. citizens and perma-
immigration policies with- Texas has also held that the nent residents, as well as
in a broader harsh climate DACA program violates certain categories of essen-
for immigration. Recent the APA, which will bar any tial workers. First imple-
federal court decisions, for new applications for the mented in April 2020, the
example, illustrate the re- program. restrictions were recently
m of vival of many of the Trump Many of the COVID-re- extended until at least Oc-
CYRUS D. MEHTA & PARTNERS PLLC administration’s policies, as lated immigration policies tober 21, 2021.
well as its jaundiced view outlined in the chapter con- The chapter also dis-
of immigrants. A federal tinue, at least in some form, cusses the interruptions
judge in Texas, for exam- as well. For the moment, to visa processing that oc-
ple, recently ordered the the slew of COVID travel curred when U.S. embas-
Biden administration to re- bans continue, with the sus- sies and consulates sus-
instate the Migrant Protec- pension on entry into the pended routine services.
tion Protocols, which force United States of nonimmi- When the travel bans are
2 6th Floor
asylum seekers to wait in grants who have been phys- lifted, some consular ser-
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