IMMIGRATION ISSUES IN THE MINNESOTA COURTS AND NATIONAL IMPLICATIONS

The Minnesota Annual Judges Conference was held earlier this month, and included education sessions on the impact of immigration in the Minnesota courts. The 3-hour session was presented twice to approximately 70 judges, and included both short presentations and question and answer sessions to address participant concerns about immigration issues. The presenters included representatives from the Center for Public Policy Studies (CPPS), Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Consulate of Mexico in St. Paul, and the Somali community. These educational sessions were part of the CPPS's grant activities in Minnesota; which are directly supported by SJI's Strategic Initiatives Grants (SIG) program.

The following topics were covered during the education sessions:

1. Points of intersection between federal, state, and local immigration law and policy that impact the state courts, including: who the immigrants are and the problems they face in court; the impacts of immigration in the state courts; and future strategies for addressing the most critical problems faced by the state courts in regards to immigration.

2. Federal enforcement issues, including: the role of ICE; ICE interactions with the state courts; local law enforcement, and jails; and ICE holds. During the session the ICE representatives provided an extremely useful summary of their procedures and how these impact the state courts.

3. The potential immigration consequences of state criminal actions, including: roles and responsibilities of the judges; classes of immigrants; what is considered a conviction and a sentence; consequences of state criminal convictions and sentences for admissibility and deportation of different classes of immigrants.

A detailed summary of the meeting can be found on the SJI website: http://www.sji.gov/PDF/MN_Judges_Conference_Summary.pdf

SJI began using the Strategic Initiatives Grants (SIG) program in FY 2008 to address immigration issues in the courts at a national impact level. Two grants were awarded; one to the CPPS; and another to support a collaborative effort between the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the National Judicial College (NJC).