IMMIGRATION/JEFF SESSIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration has sharply curtailed a once-common practice of granting long-term reprieves to immigrants targeted for deportation, a Reuters analysis of court records shows, adding to an already huge backlog of cases in U.S. immigration courts.The trend underscores how the Trump administration’s broad crackdown on illegal immigration has sometimes had unintended consequences. Attorney-General Jeff Sessions had vowed to reduce that case backlog, but the government’s aggressive opposition to reprieves has caused the opposite to happen. Under a procedure known as ‘administrative closure,’ judges can indefinitely shelve deportation cases of immigrants who have lived illegally for years in the United States but have not committed serious crimes and have strong family or other ties in the country. The immigrants are not granted full legal status and their cases can be reopened at any time. In the interim they can remain in the country and often are eligible to work legally.”
–Reade Levinson, “Under Trump, prosecutors fight reprieves for people facing deportation,” Reuters, Mar. 29, 2018 3:10am