Kate Melloy Goettel

Great conversation w/ Ben Kieffer yesterday on IPR’s River to River. We discussed recent federal court ruling halting Iowa’s illegal reentry bill as well as Biden’s new policies on parole in place and the border. iowapublicradio.org/podcast/river-…

Iowa Law is thrilled to welcome Kate Melloy Goettel (07JD), a national leader in immigration law and federal court practice, to the faculty this summer. Professor Goettel will start and lead a federal civil rights clinic with an immigration focus. ➡️ ow.ly/ILno50S9YqM

For those trying to understand what the heck is happening with #SB4 (Texas's controversial new immigration law, which is back on hold as of Tuesday night despite #SCOTUS's ruling earlier in the day), I have a summary of how we got here—and what happens next—over at "One First."

1/5: Today, along with @SPLCenter, @ACLU, @ACLUFL, and @Am4ImmJustice, we filed a federal lawsuit challenging Florida's anti-immigrant law #SB1718. immcouncil.co/43puVtr

🌟 MAJOR WIN ALERT 🌟 The Iowa Supreme Court just preserved abortion access in Iowa by blocking a near-total abortion ban from taking effect. This is a resounding victory for Iowans and reproductive freedom. #BansOffOurBodies

@ReichlinMelnick That’s why we sued!

Coincidentally, I was just looking at these statistics earlier today. In the last six years, average processing times for provisional unlawful presence waivers has gone from under 5 months to over 40 months. It's out of control.

NEW: Class Action Filed Against @USCIS for Extreme Processing Delays that Leave American Families Stranded. READ more here: aila.org/advo-media/pre… @immcouncil, @IMMpactLit, @immlawACHall, @ckuck, @blesjm1, @gsiskind, and Gibbs Houston Pauw #601ADelay

Late yesterday, a group of immigrants filed a federal class action lawsuit in #Seattle against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services @USCIS, challenging bureaucratic logjams that have left them in a multi-year limbo. Read More: bit.ly/3R6NC08

This week, #SCOTUS heard oral arguments for the U.S. v. Texas, a dispute over the Biden Administration's authority to set immigration policy. Listen to our senior attorney, Emma Winger, explain the potential impacts of this case w @AndrewCraft @LiveNowFox: youtu.be/sbG66q-AqVw

In a new @washingtonpost opinion piece, @ThePlumLineGS illustrates how lawmakers may be able to protect Dreamers during this lame duck session. In response, our Executive Director @JeremyARobbins shares his thoughts: (1/2)

📢 "Immigration detention centers deny justice" Read the latest from @immcouncil Legal Director Kate Melloy Goettel and Alexandra Miller, Director of our Immigration Justice Campaign in the Dallas Morning News➡️bit.ly/3UhOeR1 @amorganmiller @KateGoettel @JeremyARobbins

#Breaking: Judge Sullivan declared today that #Title42 violates the law. This new judgment should restore normal immigration law at the border, after 2.5 million expulsions in the past two years since the program's inception. Read our full statement ➡️ bit.ly/3gbxPzk

@iowasoccerclub Can you please post weather updates to Twitter?

ISC parents -leave early for Tuma. Parking is backed up already.

@ReichlinMelnick @immcouncil Lucky to have worked with you for 1/3 of your Council tenure! :)

As of this week, I've been at @immcouncil for six years. Joined in September 2016 thinking I'd be suing a future Clinton admin to push forward the cause of immigrant rights. Instead, it was years of desperate defense. But I'm so glad I've been able to do this work.

After 4 years of litigation, today’s order means the government will drop its appeal, making final a court order that required ICE to change its policies on the detention of 18-year-old migrants. This lawsuit was filed with @nijc and @kirkland_ellis. bit.ly/3D6mdXe

#BREAKING: Today, a judge approved our settlement agreement in the Garcia Ramirez lawsuit challenging the unlawful detention of unaccompanied children who turn 18 while in detention. 🧵(1/2) bit.ly/3kuNZDf

For the next week, C.M. had no idea where her son was. She was bounced around several different ICE detention centers. When she finally got a chance to talk to him, he "sounded terrified and heartbroken" and kept asking her when she was coming to get him. Remember, he was 5.

When C.M. realized that the Border Patrol agents wouldn't budge, she turned to her son and had to tell him that he was going to go away and she wouldn't be there. He begged, sobbed, and clutched his mother so hard that Border Patrol agents had to pry him from her arms by force.

C.M. and her son were kept in the cell for two days. She was in constant fear. Then the moment came; a Border Patrol agent entered the cell and told her he was taking her son away. She begged with the agent not to do it. But the agent just laughed and made fun of her accent.

Border Patrol agents then threw C.M. and her son into a freezing cold cell, after first confiscating all of their warm clothes. They were fed only "watered-down broth." Other mothers in the cell told her that their children had already been taken. She spent the night sobbing.