Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, striking down Trump's executive order

"The administration’s attack on this fundamental right has caused tremendous harm and anxiety in our communities, as parents have lived with fear and uncertainty about their children’s citizenship, security, and future," said ILAP executive director Sue Roche. "While today’s decision affirms the rights of those vulnerable children, we know they still face grave risks of family separation with the Supreme Court’s Temporary Protected Status ruling and the administration’s ongoing mass deportation agenda."

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What Supreme Court decision on protected status for Haitians and Syrians means for Maine

The statewide Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) has helped hundreds of Haitian people get TPS in recent years, according to policy director Lisa Parisio.

“Over the past couple of years we’ve seen people from Haiti moving to Maine and making Maine home,” she said.

Parisio said ICE detention centers are on track to have their deadliest year yet, and that local ordinances are important to public safety and public trust, as many immigrants report being afraid to report crimes and abuse, assist as witnesses, seek protective orders, and send their children to school.

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Jolene McGowan
Maine immigrant-rights groups respond to Supreme Court rulings

Sue Roche, executive director of the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, said that the approximately 1.3 million people in the U.S. enrolled in the temporary protected status program include “at least hundreds of people in Maine. Many people have lived with TPS protection for years and decades, raising families, working essential jobs in our workforce, and becoming indispensable parts of our communities.”

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Immigration advocates say SCOTUS decision puts hundreds of Maine residents at risk of deportation

Lisa Parisio, with the Portland-based Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, said revoking Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, is part of the administration's broader attack on legal immigration pathways.

"Going after people who have existing statuses like TPS holders and seeking to strip them of their protections so that they can increase the numbers of people that they are able to deport," Parisio said.

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Statement from the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) on SCOTUS Decision on Asylum

Maine – On June 25, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that will allow immigration officials to refuse entry to people seeking asylum at the border and prevent them from having the opportunity to apply for asylum protections that they qualify for under our laws. Asylum metering and turnback policies, forcing people to wait in Mexico or find more dangerous routes to enter the United States, are well documented to put already-extremely vulnerable people at more risk.   

 ILAP’s Executive Director, Sue Roche, issued the following statement…

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Statement from the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) on SCOTUS Decision on Temporary Protected Status

Maine – On June 25, the Supreme Court issued a ruling paving the way for the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 350,000 people from Haiti and Syria, which has implications for all TPS holders. 

ILAP’s Executive Director, Sue Roche, issued the following statement…

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