2022 Grantees Participate in Six Month Case Update Telephone Conversations

The Barbara McDowell Foundation monitors its grants to ensure that the funds granted by the Foundation are used as agreed upon by the social justice organization in their grant agreement with the Foundation and serve as an assurance to donors that their contributions to the Foundation are making an impact. 

All five 2022 Grantees participated in telephone calls with Foundation President, Jerry Hartman, which took place in May 2022. All grantees reported that their cases are proceeding. One of the grantees New Economy Project indicated that their submitted reports reflected their work during the Second Quarter. 

Children’s Legal Center (CLC) shared the update since its originally submitted Six Month written report stating on April 25, 2022 DHS filed a Motion to Dismiss alleging that the claims against the 2006 ICE Memo are barred by a 6-year Statute of Limitations, that Plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that the seizure is unreasonable, that Plaintiffs lack standing and failure to assert a viable Bivens claim. On April 27, 2022, the NDIL struck the April 25, 2022 hearing date and entered a briefing schedule. Plaintiffs must respond to DHS’s Motion to Dismiss by May 20, 2022. DHS’ reply brief is due June 3, 2022.

Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) provided an update to its originally submitted Six Month written report. On April 12, 2022, ASAP attorneys held a status conference in CASA. The court thus declined the government’s request to dismiss our case as moot and ordered a status report on compliance due on May 9, 2022, and a status conference on May 17, 2022. ASAP attorneys communicated with the government in order to develop a plan for ensuring that all asylum seekers will get their initial work permits within 30 days of applying. ASAP has also outlined multiple concerns for the government, including that the instructions for work permit applications contain several misstatements of law. The parties filed a joint status report on May 9, 2022, stating that the government will respond to plaintiffs concerns by June 1, that the next joint status report will be filed by June 6, 2022, and that the status conference will be adjourned until the week of June 13, 2022. The judge has kept the preliminary injunction in place while she decides whether any additional action is necessary to ensure that asylum seekers benefit from the elimination of the Trump-era work permit regulations.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) shared that a moot court was scheduled for the week of May 13, 2022 with Judge Gould, Judge Wardlaw, and Judge Bennett, in which the Washington Attorney General's Office will be presenting arguments against the appeal. NCLR expects a 2-1 result in their favor. 

National Center for Youth Law also shared an update to its original Six Month report that since the start of the third quarter of the grant, the Parties have primarily focused on active settlement negotiations, including an in-person mediation session in Tacoma, Washington in April.