Massachusetts challenges state’s role in immigration detention News
Massachusetts challenges state’s role in immigration detention

The state of Massachusetts [official website] on Tuesday requested [case docket] the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court [official website] find that state authorities lack jurisdiction to detain illegal immigrants. This request [Reuters report] comes after the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency requested courts and law enforcement to hold illegal immigrants in custody for up to 48 hours after their case was resolved. The state of Massachusetts in turn has argued that detaining someone after their case is resolved amounts to a new arrest without sufficient authority. Massachusetts has also argued that state law does not give law enforcement the basis to arrests people based upon deportation proceedings.

Local legislation curtailing immigration enforcement is a rapidly growing trend across the country. Cities enacting these types of laws and policies have been recently called “sanctuary cities” [JURIST op-ed]. Many of these policies are in response to the executive orders issued in January and March by President Donald Trump informing [JURIST report] immigration enforcement measures. Lawmakers in California have also advanced two separate types of bills to impede President Trump’s immigration policies: Senate Bill No. 6 [official text] and Senate Bill No. 31 [official text]. Senate Bill 6 would provide $12 million to pay lawyers for immigrants facing deportation, and Senate Bill 31 would bar state officials from sharing data in the event that the federal government created a Muslim registry.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

Catholic Code of Canon Law revised

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