Phil Torrey

An op-ed by Samuel Garcia `19. “Why do you think that you can win as a Democrat in Texas?” This is the biggest question hanging over Justin Nelson, Democratic candidate for Texas Attorney General. His response: “I will withdraw Texas from the DACA suit on my first day in office.” Figures from the Department of Homeland Security show that there are approximately 690,000 children in the United States under the protection of DACA (Deferred Action for Children Arrivals). Although altering immigration policy is usually the responsibility of the federal government, children under the protection of DACA may have their status in this country impacted by the results of the Texas Attorney General race. This is because Texas is the lead plaintiff in a multi-state lawsuit to end DACA...According to Phil Torrey, Managing Attorney of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, the outcome of the Texas Attorney General race may have fatal consequences to the DACA suit since other states may not be willing to put forth the resources necessary to litigate.

"It often happens," says Phil Torrey, managing attorney of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC), “that I’ll get a phone call from criminal-defense counsel somewhere random in the country, like the one last week I got from Tennessee. The lawyer says, ‘Hey, I’m about to go into the courtroom, here’s the plea deal that’s on the table—and my client’s not a U.S. citizen. What’s gonna happen?’” Torrey is addressing the four law students in his “crimmigration” clinic, who are learning how to advocate for criminal defendants who are not American citizens...In addition to its broader Immigration and Refugee Advocacy clinic, HIRC offers Torrey’s crimmigration clinic in the spring: an opportunity for students to gain direct experience working on and contributing to case law in this young field. When she co-founded HIRC in 1984, says clinical professor of law Deborah Anker, it “was at the bottom of the pile”; immigration issues were barely recognized as a subfield of law. But student interest has spiked since the 2016 election, and now, she says, the Immigration and Refugee Advocacy clinic has one of “the longest waiting lists among [HLS] clinics—about 100 students.”...As Nancy Kelly, a clinical instructor and lecturer on law, puts it, Donald Trump “ran on a platform of immigrants being criminals, and now he’s doing his best to make that a reality.”... The clinic hired a staff attorney, Jason Corral, in January 2017 to represent members of the University community; soon after, a number of additional Trump administration executive orders affected various Harvard students and staff members: the ban on travel from seven majority-Muslim countries (HIRC wrote an amicus brief challenging that order), the repeal of DACA (now under challenge in courts), and the revocation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 400,000 immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Nepal, and, most recently, Honduras...If the repeal proceeds without challenge, Corral says, HIRC may consider building asylum arguments for TPS holders.

Earlier this week, Chicago made national headlines when it announced it was suing Attorney General Jeff Sessions over the Department of Justice’s threat to pull some federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities...Phil Torrey, an immigration lawyer and Harvard Law School lecturer, says its likely other cities will follow suit with Chicago and bring similar lawsuits if the Justice Department doesn’t change its tactics. “Chicago has advanced a strong claim that the DOJ’s new restrictions were not contemplated by Congress when it appropriated [Justice Assistance Grant] funds and the DOJ is acting outside of its authority when placing new conditions on those funds that target sanctuary jurisdictions,” Torrey told Boston.com.

Even though the Trump Administration gave Dreamers a bit of a reprieve last week through its continuance of DACA — the Obama-era program that lets certain young people brought to the United States illegally as children to remain in the country and work — Dreamers still shouldn’t get too comfortable...Philip L. Torrey, managing attorney at the Harvard Law School’s Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, raised concerns about the still-tentative nature of DACA. “I think it’s certainly good news for DACA recipients that the administration will be issuing work authorization extensions,” Torrey said. However, Torrey noted that President Donald Trump could alter the DACA policy “at any moment” — which he said shows the need for Congress to act on immigration reform.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s first list of so-called sanctuary cities produced a lot of names — and not a ton of immediate clarity. The reported inaccuracies notwithstanding, the list — released as part of ICE’s first weekly “detainer” report Monday — of self-identified sanctuaries was just that. It included no information about what might happen to the 118 listed localities — including Boston and four other Massachusetts cities — where law enforcement limits their cooperation with ICE efforts to deport undocumented immigrants...However, Phil Torrey, an immigration lawyer and Harvard Law School lecturer, says the report has another purpose. “Trump is trying to shame localities into using their resources to help ICE arrest and deport individuals,” he said.

The Trump administration filed notice Friday that it plans to appeal a preliminary injunction issued this week in Maryland, and it's widely expected to do the same in Hawaii. But no matter the outcome before the federal appeals courts, experts agree that the matter will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court..."This is such new territory and such broad use of that power – it's likely [the court will side with the administration], but it's not a slam dunk," says Phil Torrey, a lecturer at Harvard Law School who specializes in criminal and immigration law.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration released a pair of memos authorizing federal authorities to deport undocumented immigrants more aggressively, directives that are in line with President Trump’s executive orders on border security and immigration. The measures laid out in the memos seek to shorten the sometimes years-long deportation process for many immigrants, often to the detriment of immigrants’ existing due process rights. As the changes roll out, they’ll reverberate throughout the deportation pipeline, affecting the numerous government agencies and courts involved...When government officials try to deport someone, there are two paths they can take. The expedited process, which bypasses the court system, is quicker — it typically takes about two weeks, according to Phil Torrey, the supervising attorney for the Harvard Immigration Project — and is used to deport people who haven’t been in the country very long.

The Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic filed Thursday an amicus brief challenging President Donald Trump’s seven-country immigration order. A team of clinic staff, Law School students, and attorneys at New York-based firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom filed the brief supporting a New York lawsuit against Trump’s order, which has faced legal challenges across the country. They argue that Trump’s order violates federal immigration statutes...Nate MacKenzie '17, a Law School student who directed the team of student researchers who worked on the brief, said the clinic filed it to help the court better understand the various statutory arguments related to the suit...MacKenzie said he worked closely with Phil Torrey, a clinical instructor at the Law School, and Sabi Ardalan, the assistant director of HIRC, along with four student research teams, to send memos to the law firm, which turned the research into the formal brief submitted to the court.

...A "sanctuary", though commonly known as a place of refuge, has no legal definition in the US. "Sanctuary cities" became a term used to describe jurisdictions that employ varying policies of lawful non-cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. Some declared themselves sanctuaries, but not all did. After the 2016 elections, a small number of colleges, including Swarthmore, also declared themselves sanctuaries in opposition to US President Donald Trump's stance on immigration. Like sanctuary cities, these schools employ differing policies of noncompliance with ICE, experts say...Trump's executive order denying federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions also did not clearly define a "sanctuary", which has led to further confusion and fear, says immigration expert Phil Torrey, of Harvard Law School.

By signing an executive order, President Trump has created confusion for many so-called "sanctuary cities" regarding their roles in enforcing federal immigration laws. Many cities, including a few here in Minnesota, are left to wonder what it might mean in terms of federal funding and community safety. MPR News host Marianne Combs spoke with...Phil Torrey, supervising attorney for the Harvard Immigration Project, about the confusion and the potential outcome for families, neighborhoods, communities and their safety.

On the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump promised to punish local governments that don’t comply with federal immigration authorities. In some so-called “sanctuary cities,” officials refuse to hand over illegal immigrants for deportation. ...Police and politicians in these areas say that honoring ICE detainer requirements could scare people away — they don’t want undocumented people to be afraid to contact the police if they need help. “They are relying on folks to not be afraid of the police to report crimes,” said Phil Torrey, a lecturer at Harvard Law School who specializes in criminal and immigration law.