Shadow regionalism in immigration enforcement during COVID-19
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Fatma Marouf
Abstract
Stark variations exist in U.S. immigration enforcement. These variations have persisted even during the COVID-19 pandemic, when special measures that should have constrained variations were in place. This Article argues that variations in discretionary enforcement decisions based on resistance to national policies, bias, illegal tactics, or arbitrariness are unjust and should be curtailed. The Article first distinguishes between transparent sources of variation in immigration law and variations that stem from non-transparent, discretionary determinations. Within the category of discretionary determinations, the Article argues that there are just and unjust variations. It contends that unjust variations raise serious constitutional concerns, weaken preemption doctrine, and require us to reconceptualize the immigration federalism debate to account for cooperative and uncooperative behavior within the federal government itself. Finally, the Article offers solutions to help limit unjust variations.
Appendix
ERO Field Officers with Area of Responsibility, Number od Detention Facilities, Average Daily Detained Population (FY19), and Number of “Guaranteed Minimum” Detention Beds
ICE Field Office | Area of Responsibility | Number of Detention Facilities | ADP (FY19) | “Guaranteed Minimums” (FY19) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Atlanta | Georgia, Carolina North Carolina, South | 6 | 2972 | 2482 |
Baltimore | Maryland | 2 | 313 | 40 |
Buffalo | Counties in upstate New York | 3 | 661 | 400 |
Chicago | Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Kansas | 8 | 1444 | 0 |
Dallas | North Texas, Oklahoma | 10 | 1669 | 0 |
Denver | Colorado, Wyoming | 3 | 1169 | 957 |
Detroit | Michigan, Ohio | 6 | 905 | 375 |
El Paso | West Texas, New Mexico | 6 | 3307 | 1464 |
Houston | East Texas | 7 | 3822 | 1500 |
Los Angeles | Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Ventura, Santa San Bernardino, Barbara and San Luis Obispo | 3 | 2181 | 1455 |
Miami | Florida, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands | 7 | 2436 | 1200 |
New Orleans | Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas Mississippi, | 15 | 6171 | 6415 |
New York City | Counties of New York, Kings, Bronx, Richmond, Queens, Dutchess, Nassau, Putnam, Suffolk, Sullivan, Orange, Rockland, Ulster, and Westchester | 1 | 1074 | 0 |
Newark | New Jersey | 3 | 1032 | 285 |
Philadelphia | Pennsylvania, Delaware West Virginia, | 3 | 1051 | 96 |
Phoenix | Arizona | 9 | 4163 | 2048 |
Salt Lake City | Utah, Nevada, Montana, Idaho | 5 | 529 | 0 |
San Antonio (combined with Harlingen) | Central Texas | 14 | 7769 | 7235 |
San Diego | San Diego County, Imperial County | 5 | 1905 | 1640 |
San Francisco | Northern California, Hawaii, Guam, Saipan | 6 | 598 | 320 |
Seattle | Washington, Oregon, Alaska | 1 | 1369 | 1181 |
St. Paul | Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota | 9 | 745 | 300 |
Washington DC | Washington DC and Virginia | 2 | 1012 | 724 |
Reduction in Immigration Arrests by ICE Field Office During the Six Months After ICE Announced Its COVID-19 enforcement Policy (Apr. 2020 – Sept. 2020), Compared to the Prior Six Monthe (Oct. 2019 – Mar. 2020)
ICE ERO Field Office | Total Arrests (Oct. '19– Mar. '20) | Total Arrests (Apr. '20– Sep. '20) | % Decrease in Arrests (All Categories Combined | % Decrease in Arrests (No Criminal History) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Atlanta | 6463 | 3683 | 43 | 93.7 |
Baltimore | 680 | 222 | 67.4 | 89.2 |
Boston | 1070 | 534 | 50.1 | 85.8 |
Buttalo | 582 | 348 | 40.2 | 74.1 |
Chicago | 3877 | 2334 | 39.8 | 78.4 |
Dallas | 8444 | 6186 | 26.7 | 67.9 |
Denver | 1028 | 405 | 60.6 | 85.8 |
Detroit | 1577 | 931 | 41 | 85.5 |
El Paso | 1019 | 655 | 35.7 | 77.1 |
Houston | 6860 | 3322 | 51.6 | 44.6 |
Los Angeles | 2817 | 1566 | 44.4 | 89.6 |
Miami | 4786 | 2611 | 45.4 | 80.6 |
New Orleans | 4311 | 2031 | 52.9 | 67.8 |
New York City | 1190 | 327 | 72.5 | 88.4 |
Newark | 1473 | 626 | 57.5 | 90.5 |
Philadelphia | 1928 | 898 | 53.4 | 90.7 |
Phoenix | 2535 | 1727 | 31.9 | 66.3 |
Salt Lake City | 2068 | 1455 | 29.6 | 60.5 |
San Antonio | 4731 | 2928 | 38.1 | 49.7 |
San Diego | 911 | 398 | 56.3 | 73.1 |
San Francisco | 2112 | 1345 | 36.3 | 80.7 |
Seattle | 1038 | 487 | 53.1 | 86.7 |
St. Paul | 2109 | 1029 | 51.2 | 82.2 |
Washington | 2220 | 665 | 70 | 85.7 |
Average | 2743 | 1530 | 47.9 | 78.1 |
Avg. from Deviation Mean | 1695.5 | 1051.7 | 10.2 | 10.2 |
Reduction in Average Daily Detained Population in FY19–FY21 by ICE ERP Field Office and Detainee Threat Level Classification
All Detainees (All Threat Level Classifications) | No Criminal History (“No Threat”) | Minor Criminal History (“Low Threat”) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ICE ERO | % Change in ADP (FY19–FY20) | % Change in ADP (FY20–FY21) | % Change in ADP (FY19–FY21) | % Change in ADP (FY19–FY21) | % Change in ADP (FY19–FY21) |
Atlanta | 7.3 | –63.4 | -60.7 | -55.0 | -85.0 |
Baltimore | –31.6 | –85.5 | –90.1 | –96.2 | –98.0 |
Boston | –18.3 | –71.0 | –76.3 | –82.1 | –84.3 |
Buttalo | –33.4 | –40.5 | –60.4 | –77.2 | –88.5 |
Chicago | –20.3 | –64.2 | –71.5 | –73.6 | –77.7 |
Dallas | 8.3 | –42.0 | –37.2 | –31.2 | –75.4 |
Denver | –29.3 | –45.4 | –61.4 | –64.0 | –87.2 |
Detroit | –9.6 | –80.2 | –82.1 | –93.4 | –87.3 |
El Paso | –37.4 | –57.7 | –73.5 | –64.8 | –95.3 |
Houston | –33.7 | –57.0 | –71.5 | –65.3 | –90.5 |
Los Angeles | –26.7 | –82.7 | –87.3 | –97.0 | –93.2 |
Miami | –18.1 | –52.6 | –61.2 | –62.5 | –77.3 |
New Orleans | 39.6 | –57.4 | –40.5 | –32.7 | –80.9 |
Newark | –20.8 | –71.6 | –77.5 | –82.5 | –85.7 |
NYC | –30.2 | –85.4 | –89.8 | –83.6 | –93.9 |
Philadelphia | –18.9 | –87.0 | –89.4 | –97.9 | –94.8 |
Phoenix | –17.0 | –36.0 | –46.8 | –35.5 | –89.7 |
Salt Lake City | –3.0 | –47.6 | –49.1 | –35.7 | –78.8 |
San Antonio | –19.6 | –53.8 | –62.9 | –57.9 | –91.0 |
San Diego | –8.0 | –49.9 | –53.9 | –54.9 | –68.5 |
San Francisco | –4,3 | –68.0 | –69.4 | –96.3 | –85.7 |
Seattle | –30.0 | –62.1 | –73.5 | –80.9 | –88.3 |
St. Paul | –13.4 | –65.6 | –70.2 | –84.5 | –80.3 |
Washington | –13.5 | –73.7 | –77.3 | –88.3 | –90.1 |
Average | –15.9 | –62.5 | –68.1 | –70.6 | –86.1 |
Average deviation from meati | 12.2 | 12.4 | 12.2 | 18.0 | 5.7 |
© 2023 by Theoretical Inquiries in Law
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Regionalisms: Shifting Scales Between Cities and States
- Introduction
- Seeing like a region
- The political stakes of regions
- Cities in a world of regions – Remarks from an international law perspective
- Megalopolis bound?
- Can micropolitan areas bridge the urban-rural divide?
- The democratic problems with Washington as the capital
- The science of urban regions: Public-science-community partnerships as a new mode of regional governance?
- Communities of competitors: Toward leveraging the region’s contradictions
- Regionalism as a mode of inclusive citizenship in divided societies
- A typology of the localism-regionalism nexus
- Shadow regionalism in immigration enforcement during COVID-19
- National priority regions (1971–2022): Redistribution, development and settlement
- The challenge of regionalist institutions without regionalist politics
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Regionalisms: Shifting Scales Between Cities and States
- Introduction
- Seeing like a region
- The political stakes of regions
- Cities in a world of regions – Remarks from an international law perspective
- Megalopolis bound?
- Can micropolitan areas bridge the urban-rural divide?
- The democratic problems with Washington as the capital
- The science of urban regions: Public-science-community partnerships as a new mode of regional governance?
- Communities of competitors: Toward leveraging the region’s contradictions
- Regionalism as a mode of inclusive citizenship in divided societies
- A typology of the localism-regionalism nexus
- Shadow regionalism in immigration enforcement during COVID-19
- National priority regions (1971–2022): Redistribution, development and settlement
- The challenge of regionalist institutions without regionalist politics