Matt Cameron Profile picture
Practicing, teaching, & writing on US #immigrationlaw. Managing @massimmlaw, co-directing @GoldenStairsImm. Triple Gemini. Chaotic Good. Class war criminal.
John Saunders Profile picture 1 subscribed
Sep 25, 2018 16 tweets 6 min read
1/ One of the worst parts of the proposed new DHS "public charge" rule would resurrect a 400-yr-old idea, punish lower-income immigrants, AND deliver a massive new giveaway to Wall Street.

Not seeing much out there on this piece right now, so here's what you need to know: 2/ The idea of a "public charge bond" goes back to the earliest colonial days. If someone coming over from Europe didn't seem like they would be able to support themselves, the ship's captain would have to put up a given amount of money to keep them off the dole or take them back
Aug 27, 2018 4 tweets 1 min read
Appalling, but no surprise here.

No member of Congress should ever be able publicly comment on immigration--alone work on imm legislation--without answering one simple question:

"How does an undocumented person get a greencard?" Not, like, step-by-step but generally what are the paths available under current law. If the answer is any variation on "get in line like everybody else," an automatic 6-month bar on any immigration rhetoric/legislation until finishing a mandatory US Immigration 101 course.
Aug 22, 2018 12 tweets 4 min read
1/ Ten years ago this June a recent immigrant was sentenced to life for the vicious, violent, cold-blooded murder of his wife and infant daughter before trying to flee to his home country.

Here's what *didn't* happen:

wickedlocal.com/news/20180626/… 2/

--@bostonherald didn't run an angry editorial blaming our imm. vetting processes

--No one used this tragedy to call for an end to all British immigration

--The media never used a booking photo; always images like this one to remind us of his wealth & whiteness
Aug 22, 2018 8 tweets 3 min read
If you're ever up for listening in on what your local Deep State is up to, may I recommend one of my favorite eateries in #Boston: the cafe in the JFK fed. building. Decent, reasonably-priced food with a nice view and plenty of space to relax while waiting for #immigrationcourt 1/ Two VA managers are having a lunch meeting nearby, talking through how to deliver faster/better services to a 94-year-old veteran & review implementation of a new process.

A USCIS officer is having a quick salad before another round of immigration interviews. In + out in 10
Aug 4, 2018 6 tweets 2 min read
ICE IS BAD BECAUSE IT IS BAD.

The people running it & the President directing its policies are also bad.

But ICE was still bad when the President was better.

Its purpose is bad.

Its mandate is bad.

Its unaccountability is bad.

Okay, so any questions on that

#AbolishICE SO WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO INSTEAD?

Maybe *not* have a rogue, unaccountable, armed secret police force & threat of indefinite detention in a disgusting American gulag archipelago terrorizing immigrant communities in the name of enforcing civil immigration orders
Jul 30, 2018 32 tweets 5 min read
1/ Live-tweeting from the Boston immigration court's detained docket:

Detainee is on video. I can't see his face but he has a heavy Massachusetts accent--you'd never know he wasn't born here. He is seeking bond. 2/ He has a series of drug-related convictions together with a record consistent with an addiction. Judge leaves his bond at "no bond" without hearing from him.
Jun 27, 2018 18 tweets 8 min read
UPDATE: Client arrested in #EastBoston court still in #ICE custody. Fighting to get him out, but that's not what this thread is about.

This thread is about how @bostonpolice carelessly railroaded an innocent man & handed him to ICE

#AbolishICE #bospoli

BPD maintains a "gang assessment database" with the Boston Region Intelligence Center, "fusion center" which combines the worst information and impulses of local, state, and federal law enforcement. Their intel on suspected gang members is... well, it's bad. It's very bad.
Jun 27, 2018 7 tweets 2 min read
Are you a white person on Twitter who wants to do something to help immigrants? Here's an easy one.

STOP spreading rumors about ICE "checkpoints," "raids," or "patrols." They are 99% false and cause massive harm, trauma, and economic loss to immigrant communities.

#AbolishICE Just try to imagine what it would be like to see that on your phone as you're getting on the bus to your second job. As you're about to take your kids to school. As you're deciding whether or not this fever has been going long enough to visit the ER.
Jun 22, 2018 17 tweets 12 min read
1/ SOS #BOSTON:

Yesterday #ICE physically restrained my client just outside the #EastBoston District Court clerk's office immediately after he made bail. The chief of probation said it was the first time in 40 yrs immigration authorities had actually entered the courthouse. 2/ He is 21 years old. No crim record. 1 month away from a greencard. Facing serious harm if deported.

We had done everything possible to keep him from #ICE, but even the #Boston #TrustAct could not protect him.

This is a problem.

@LydiaMEdwards @marty_walsh @adrianmadaro
Jun 17, 2018 17 tweets 4 min read
WHAT KIND OF PERSON IS WILLING TO STAND BY AND LET THIS HAPPEN?

I just spent more time than was good for my soul getting to know some of them, and I'm ready to report back. Positions and responses below; please deploy as necessary & enjoy your #FathersDay

#KeepFamiliesTogether 1/ "THEIR PARENTS BROKE THE LAW"

A) Like most federal statutes, illegal entry has *never* been criminally enforced en masse
B) Also happening to lawful asylum seekers
C) So did Paul Manafort. For doing far worse *while out on bail*
D) You are a sociopath
Jun 13, 2018 19 tweets 13 min read
The horrific #Goodlatte #immigration bill soon up for debate isn't something to be "compromised" with. It's a harsh, intentional, irrevocable shift Trumpward.

Shred it.

Burn the ashes.

Scatter them upon the Antarctic plains.

Here are just a few of many reasons. (1) CRIMINALIZATION of unlawful presence in the United States: White supremacy writ into law. For past 228 years, simply *being in U.S.* w/o permission was a civil offense w/no consequence other than deportation.
(NB: This was quickly rejected in 2005, but much more likely now)
May 29, 2018 12 tweets 9 min read
WHERE IS #WHEREARETHECHILDREN? A METATHREAD

Maybe #WhereAreTheChildren can't be salvaged, but not much risk of making it any *more* confusing than it is now. Want to try to sort through some the main takes on this mess out there right now?

Oh hey, me neither. Let's *do it* 1) MEDIA: 1472 CHILDREN ARE "LOST"! #WHEREARETHECHILDREN?

The first, and worst, take. The testimony to Congress in April was not that these kids were "lost," but only that #ORR couldn't account for them after release to sponsors. NOT the same thing.

azcentral.com/story/opinion/…
May 27, 2018 12 tweets 6 min read
1/ The conditions which allowed #WhereAreTheChildren to happen were created by the Obama admin. The recent Sessions policy of separating children from parents at the border will make things even worse for one reason no one really seems to be talking about. Let's talk about it. 2/ We have all heard by now that asylum-seeking parents will be separated from their children and detained. But it gets much, much worse.

They will also be legally orphaned.
Apr 20, 2018 16 tweets 6 min read
Today I prepared a beautiful 6-year-old girl in a pink hat for an #asylum interview.

ME: Do you want to go back to El Salvador?

CLIENT [eyes wide]: No!

ME: Why not?

CLIENT [looking down at table]: Because of the bad people.

She'll be deported before her 10th birthday. That tweet above is pretty much verbatim what she'll be saying on Monday; her father will provide the rest. He'll tell the interviewer about the threats of kidnapping & murder, and what gangs do to children of people they extort if they can't escape. She will not receive asylum.
Apr 2, 2018 15 tweets 8 min read
I am proud to announce that I have been certified "dangerous and unprofessional" by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and I'm pleased to say that the feeling is mutual. To be clear: the U.S. government believes it was "dangerous and unprofessional" of me to tell the story of a single mother arbitrarily detained by #ICE with no thought for her 8-year-old son, and to request support for her from my fellow citizens.

I have a problem with this.
Mar 6, 2018 11 tweets 6 min read
1/ BREAKING: @TheJusticeDept has just authorized immigration judges to deny #asylum applications without a hearing. Like most Trump-era administrative violence, it has been unnoticed & unreported.

*sound of Scotch pouring into glass*

THREAD

#TrumpImmigration #HereToStay 2/ Important context: As head of @TheJusticeDept, the Attorney General has final say over all cases before the administrative #immigration courts. AG may snatch a case away from the Board of Immigration Appeals anytime and decide it himself by directing BIA to refer it to him.
Nov 17, 2017 24 tweets 15 min read
1/ Trump admin is actively working to sentence ~200K innocent Salvadorans now legally in US to death. Let's talk about everything wrong with this rank @ICEgov propaganda from @CBSThisMorning & the complicity of these "journalists" in that plan. #SaveTPS

cbsnews.com/news/ms-13-gan… 2/ Let's start with that headline. Why would a crackdown on gangs be "controversial"? Gangs are bad, and few worse than MS-13. But @CBSThisMorning doesn't address it in the story at all, leaving reasonable people to assume that there is no rational counterpoint. But there is.
Oct 3, 2017 23 tweets 6 min read
1/ When I say that @ICEgov lies, this is not lawyer hyperbole. They lie. Constantly. In the face of evidence & good taste. Today's example: 2/ @ICEgov New England PR office released a retaliatory statement last week re: a client who was in the news. (I'm not using his name here)