Alessandra
@alessnrs.bsky.social
immigration attorney & cat mom. she/her.
Reposted by Alessandra
The RFK, jr effect.
December 13, 2025 at 9:40 PM
The RFK, jr effect.
Reposted by Alessandra
18 days later, Justice Kavanaugh would write: “If the person is a U. S.
citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter.”
citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter.”
WOW. The lead plaintiff is a Latino man who's been here legally for 24 years. He was grabbed off the street by plainclothes federal agents who didn't even ASK about his status.
He was detained overnight and only released once a supervisor realized he had been illegally arrested.
He was detained overnight and only released once a supervisor realized he had been illegally arrested.
September 27, 2025 at 10:48 PM
18 days later, Justice Kavanaugh would write: “If the person is a U. S.
citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter.”
citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter.”
Reposted by Alessandra
Really glad to see disabled students centered and profiled in this article on changing cultures at schools and the shift toward stricter rules, which really harm many people with varying disabilities from ADHD to those needing to step out of class for medical needs.
Strict rules can foster calm classrooms. But some students pay the price
An Indiana charter school network has won praise for its strong academics. But some students with disabilities struggle to follow the school system's discipline policies.
www.npr.org
September 25, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Really glad to see disabled students centered and profiled in this article on changing cultures at schools and the shift toward stricter rules, which really harm many people with varying disabilities from ADHD to those needing to step out of class for medical needs.
Reposted by Alessandra
"Harvard can't use race as a factor in admissions, but ICE can use race as a factor in detentions" is a retrenchment essentially to a pre-Civil War understanding of the Constitution. It's vanishingly few steps removed from "Latinos have no rights which the white man is bound to respect."
September 9, 2025 at 4:44 PM
"Harvard can't use race as a factor in admissions, but ICE can use race as a factor in detentions" is a retrenchment essentially to a pre-Civil War understanding of the Constitution. It's vanishingly few steps removed from "Latinos have no rights which the white man is bound to respect."
Reposted by Alessandra
Justice Sotomayor, not mincing words, also says that today's decision will lead to the "creation of [] a second-class citizenship status" for Latinos, who now will have the burden to "carry enough documentation to prove that they deserve to walk freely."
September 8, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Justice Sotomayor, not mincing words, also says that today's decision will lead to the "creation of [] a second-class citizenship status" for Latinos, who now will have the burden to "carry enough documentation to prove that they deserve to walk freely."
Reposted by Alessandra
Ann Arbor folks, Rocky got out of our yard this morning. Please lmk if you see him.
September 7, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Ann Arbor folks, Rocky got out of our yard this morning. Please lmk if you see him.
Reposted by Alessandra
Two things both true:
The loved ones of Venezuelans are celebrating that they are no longer in CECOT; some are celebrating their return home.
And.
It is a violation of international law to cause someone to be returned where they’ll be persecuted. Most of them never got a chance to make that case.
The loved ones of Venezuelans are celebrating that they are no longer in CECOT; some are celebrating their return home.
And.
It is a violation of international law to cause someone to be returned where they’ll be persecuted. Most of them never got a chance to make that case.
July 19, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Two things both true:
The loved ones of Venezuelans are celebrating that they are no longer in CECOT; some are celebrating their return home.
And.
It is a violation of international law to cause someone to be returned where they’ll be persecuted. Most of them never got a chance to make that case.
The loved ones of Venezuelans are celebrating that they are no longer in CECOT; some are celebrating their return home.
And.
It is a violation of international law to cause someone to be returned where they’ll be persecuted. Most of them never got a chance to make that case.
Reposted by Alessandra
This decision is bad enough on the merits. But it also gives the government relief in a case in which it defied the district court at least *twice.* That’s quite a message to send to the government with respect to the costs of its litigation behavior in other cases—or the complete lack thereof.
June 23, 2025 at 8:53 PM
This decision is bad enough on the merits. But it also gives the government relief in a case in which it defied the district court at least *twice.* That’s quite a message to send to the government with respect to the costs of its litigation behavior in other cases—or the complete lack thereof.
Reposted by Alessandra
Rümeysa Öztürk wrote an op-ed critical of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. She was arrested by ICE and was in detention for six weeks. This white nationalist student wrote a paper that argued the Constitution applies only to white people. He won an award.
A White Nationalist Wrote a Law School Paper Promoting Racist Views. It Won Him an Award.
www.nytimes.com
June 21, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Rümeysa Öztürk wrote an op-ed critical of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. She was arrested by ICE and was in detention for six weeks. This white nationalist student wrote a paper that argued the Constitution applies only to white people. He won an award.
Reposted by Alessandra
Everything that’s happened over the past six months has been a response to an imaginary crisis. There is no immigrant invasion. No trade crisis. No scientific or governance crisis. Just people completely high off their own supply trying to fundamentally reorder society. None of this had to happen.
June 9, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Everything that’s happened over the past six months has been a response to an imaginary crisis. There is no immigrant invasion. No trade crisis. No scientific or governance crisis. Just people completely high off their own supply trying to fundamentally reorder society. None of this had to happen.
Reposted by Alessandra
Just as a reminder, ICE has arrested, detained and deported hundreds of US citizens in the past. www.gao.gov/products/gao...
April 17, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Just as a reminder, ICE has arrested, detained and deported hundreds of US citizens in the past. www.gao.gov/products/gao...
Reposted by Alessandra
Even if you (wrongly) believe that some immigrants lack due process rights, what’s to stop the government from claiming that *you* are an undocumented immigrant; removing you to El Salvador; citing an “administrative error”; and refusing to do anything to bring you back?
The answer is due process.
The answer is due process.
April 15, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Even if you (wrongly) believe that some immigrants lack due process rights, what’s to stop the government from claiming that *you* are an undocumented immigrant; removing you to El Salvador; citing an “administrative error”; and refusing to do anything to bring you back?
The answer is due process.
The answer is due process.
Reposted by Alessandra
Adam Unikowsky, a partner at Jenner Block, wrote bluntly about what it means for a law firm to settle with the government (and outlines the myriad of ways the EOs violate the constitution). 77/
April 10, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Adam Unikowsky, a partner at Jenner Block, wrote bluntly about what it means for a law firm to settle with the government (and outlines the myriad of ways the EOs violate the constitution). 77/
Reposted by Alessandra
Mine, in Democracy Journal: Trump has dissolved DHS's civil rights office, for all the very bad reasons you'd expect. democracyjournal.org/arguments/wh...
What’s Behind DHS's Abuses
DHS was created with a civil rights office to prevent the abuses we’re seeing now. Funny thing—Trump shut it down.
democracyjournal.org
April 7, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Mine, in Democracy Journal: Trump has dissolved DHS's civil rights office, for all the very bad reasons you'd expect. democracyjournal.org/arguments/wh...
Reposted by Alessandra
- 32,809 have been arrested by Ice during Trump 2.
- German tourist Jessica Brösche spent more than a month in detention, including eight days in solitary confinement, suffering one of the worst human rights violations
- Rebecca Burke (UK) was trying to leave but was detained for 19 (!) days
- German tourist Jessica Brösche spent more than a month in detention, including eight days in solitary confinement, suffering one of the worst human rights violations
- Rebecca Burke (UK) was trying to leave but was detained for 19 (!) days
I was a British tourist trying to leave America. Then I was detained, shackled and sent to an immigration detention centre
Graphic artist Rebecca Burke was on the trip of a lifetime. But as she tried to leave the US she was stopped, interrogated and branded an illegal alien by ICE. Now back home, she tells others thinking...
www.theguardian.com
April 5, 2025 at 1:30 PM
- 32,809 have been arrested by Ice during Trump 2.
- German tourist Jessica Brösche spent more than a month in detention, including eight days in solitary confinement, suffering one of the worst human rights violations
- Rebecca Burke (UK) was trying to leave but was detained for 19 (!) days
- German tourist Jessica Brösche spent more than a month in detention, including eight days in solitary confinement, suffering one of the worst human rights violations
- Rebecca Burke (UK) was trying to leave but was detained for 19 (!) days
Not only is this bad for our communities, but it also deters crime survivors from pursuing victim-based relief (U visas, T visas, etc) that have reporting requirements. Those visas are pathways to green cards. This chilling effect will be tragic in many ways.
THIS is why many local police departments choose not to share some information with ICE. This woman's decision to report her assault to the cops led to her being arrested by ICE and likely deported.
The message this sends to people is they shouldn't report crimes. That's bad for our communities.
The message this sends to people is they shouldn't report crimes. That's bad for our communities.
March 31, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Not only is this bad for our communities, but it also deters crime survivors from pursuing victim-based relief (U visas, T visas, etc) that have reporting requirements. Those visas are pathways to green cards. This chilling effect will be tragic in many ways.
Reposted by Alessandra
Countries that have issued a travel advisory this year warning their citizens about visiting the United States:
Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Netherlands
New Zealand
United Kingdom
Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Netherlands
New Zealand
United Kingdom
March 27, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Countries that have issued a travel advisory this year warning their citizens about visiting the United States:
Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Netherlands
New Zealand
United Kingdom
Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Netherlands
New Zealand
United Kingdom
Reposted by Alessandra
There is a real, genuine 1st Amendment crisis in the United States right now.
The government is openly retaliating against anyone with a viewpoint it doesn't like: Pro-Palestinian protesters, law schools teaching Black History, pro-immigration public service loan forgiveness seekers.
The government is openly retaliating against anyone with a viewpoint it doesn't like: Pro-Palestinian protesters, law schools teaching Black History, pro-immigration public service loan forgiveness seekers.
March 9, 2025 at 11:22 PM
There is a real, genuine 1st Amendment crisis in the United States right now.
The government is openly retaliating against anyone with a viewpoint it doesn't like: Pro-Palestinian protesters, law schools teaching Black History, pro-immigration public service loan forgiveness seekers.
The government is openly retaliating against anyone with a viewpoint it doesn't like: Pro-Palestinian protesters, law schools teaching Black History, pro-immigration public service loan forgiveness seekers.
Reposted by Alessandra
ICE can't unilaterally revoke someone's green card, even if some ICE agents think they can. ICE agents in general don't know much about immigration law because they don't have to. They just detain people and let the courts sort it out.
March 9, 2025 at 11:46 PM
ICE can't unilaterally revoke someone's green card, even if some ICE agents think they can. ICE agents in general don't know much about immigration law because they don't have to. They just detain people and let the courts sort it out.
Reposted by Alessandra
As HHS General Counsel from June 2022 to December 2024, I frequently advised CDC on its public health authorities. Here, I argue that it would be unlawful for Trump and Stephen Miller to restrict immigration on the pretext of invoking those authorities.
buttondown.com/sbagen/archi...
buttondown.com/sbagen/archi...
Using Public Health as a Pretext to Restrict Immigration Would Violate the Law
Doing his best impression of Inspector Javert, Donald Trump’s henchman Stephen Miller is apparently spending the time before the inauguration turning over...
buttondown.com
January 10, 2025 at 4:59 PM
As HHS General Counsel from June 2022 to December 2024, I frequently advised CDC on its public health authorities. Here, I argue that it would be unlawful for Trump and Stephen Miller to restrict immigration on the pretext of invoking those authorities.
buttondown.com/sbagen/archi...
buttondown.com/sbagen/archi...
Reposted by Alessandra
The Laken Riley Act is a sweeping assault on legal immigration. It would subject immigrants *authorized to live and work here* to indefinite detention without a criminal conviction. And it would let a federal judge ban ALL visas from entire countries at a state's request. slate.com/news-and-pol...
This New Immigration Bill That’s About to Pass Is a Horrifying Trojan Horse
If Democrats cannot recover their nerve and stand up to this extremism, they will be complicit in the devastating consequences of its passage.
slate.com
January 10, 2025 at 5:34 PM
The Laken Riley Act is a sweeping assault on legal immigration. It would subject immigrants *authorized to live and work here* to indefinite detention without a criminal conviction. And it would let a federal judge ban ALL visas from entire countries at a state's request. slate.com/news-and-pol...
Reposted by Alessandra
More birthright citizenship knowledge:
The Fourteenth Amendment's Birthright Citizenship provision was intended to address--and repudiate--the Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott, which said that those descended from African slaves were not citizens, regardless of where they were born.
The Fourteenth Amendment's Birthright Citizenship provision was intended to address--and repudiate--the Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott, which said that those descended from African slaves were not citizens, regardless of where they were born.
Please arm yourself with knowledge. Birthright citizenship is not a policy choice it is a constitutional imperative (14th Amendment). It can no more be signed away by Executive Order than the First Amendment.
Now that attacking birthright citizenship has become a Day 1 project for the incoming Trump admin, I dug out this rather comprehensive piece I wrote in 2011. It includes the source of Sen. Lindsay Graham’s emergence as the pitch man on this issue. politicalresearch.org/2011/03/01/c...
December 9, 2024 at 11:18 AM
More birthright citizenship knowledge:
The Fourteenth Amendment's Birthright Citizenship provision was intended to address--and repudiate--the Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott, which said that those descended from African slaves were not citizens, regardless of where they were born.
The Fourteenth Amendment's Birthright Citizenship provision was intended to address--and repudiate--the Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott, which said that those descended from African slaves were not citizens, regardless of where they were born.
Reposted by Alessandra
Yep. There will likely be a renewed travel ban or two in the first couple of weeks and some of them will cover student visas. So yeah, get here first.
November 24, 2024 at 2:17 PM
Yep. There will likely be a renewed travel ban or two in the first couple of weeks and some of them will cover student visas. So yeah, get here first.