Immigration Law in the U.S.

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November 5, 2004: Attendance at a number of Arizona public schools has dropped dramatically in what Latino community leaders are calling a parental response to Proposition 200, recently approved by state voters. The new law requires a person to show proof of citizenship when seeking publicly funded benefits, and mandates that government employees report suspected illegal immigrants who seek benefits.

November 9, 2004: The US Supreme Court rules that a conviction for drunk driving that results in serious bodily injury is not a "crime of violence" that constitutes an "aggravated felony" under the Immigration and Nationality Act and therefore can't lead to the deportation of a permanent resident involved in accident.

November 12, 2004: Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard rules that Proposition 200, the Arizona state initiative aimed at keeping illegal immigrants from receiving public benefits, is limited to certain welfare-related programs.

November 18, 2004: Two immigration reform groups file suit in an Arizona state court seeking to expand the effect of Proposition 200, a state ballot initiative approved by voters earlier this month that would deny certain government benefits to undocumented immigrants.

December 22, 2004: A federal judge lifts an interim hold on Proposition 200, which was originally placed by US District Judge David Burry to determine the constitutionality of the proposition.

February 9, 2005: The White House gives approval to the REAL ID Act, a House bill which would prevent immigrants from being able to use state driver's licenses to board airplanes and entering federal buildings.

February 10, 2005: The US House approves the REAL ID Act, legislation aimed at preventing entry by terrorists into the country.

March 21, 2005: The Pew Hispanic Center, a private research group, releases a report documenting recent massive growth of the illegal immigrant population in the United States.

May 12, 2005: The Arizona State Legislature votes to approve a new bill tightening immigration laws in the state for the thousands of illegal immigrants who enter the state from Mexico annually.

May 12, 2005: Mexico announces plans to oppose recent measures under the Real ID Act signed into law as part of an appropriations package making it harder for immigrants to get state IDs and drivers licenses, and authorizing the extension of US border walls near San Diego.

May 20, 2005: Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano vetoes a series of bills that would have prohibited illegal immigrants from receiving child care assistance and in-state tuition benefits, and given the state police the power to enforce federal immigration laws.

June 10, 2005: The US government plans to fly close to 34,000 illegal Mexican immigrants back to their home country in what officials describe as an effort to reduce deaths resulting from human smuggling.

July 19, 2005: US Senators Jon Kyl and John Cornyn introduce a bill which could force millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States to leave.

August 23, 2005: US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says that the US Department of Homeland Security is preparing to increase its efforts to deal with the problem of illegal immigration after Arizona declared a state of emergency along its borders with Mexico a week earlier.

August 26, 2005: Four California Republican lawmakers announce that they will introduce legislation which would give California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger the ability to declare a state of emergency along the border with Mexico.

September 8, 2005: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger promises to veto a bill approved by the state senate that would create a driver's license for illegal immigrants in the state.

September 12, 2005: The Connecticut Supreme Court rules that an illegal immigrant, suffering from severe pain and diagnosed with acute leukemia, was entitled to Medicaid because he suffered from an emergency medical condition.

October 18, 2005: DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff promises Senators that he would no longer allow non-Mexican immigrants who have entered the United States illegally to be released back into the US if they are apprehended.

October 31, 2005: The US Supreme Court grants certiorari in a case where the Court will clarify the rights of illegal immigrants upon reentering the United States after having been deported.

November 2, 2005: DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff outlines plans to increase security along US borders by hiring more federal agents, constructing additional fences, and ending policies that allow illegal immigrants to be released in the US.

November 4, 2005: Republican legislators have proposed a bill to build a 2,000 mile wall at the border between US and Mexico in order to keep illegal immigrants out.

November 28, 2005: President George W. Bush calls for more stringent Mexican border controls and rejects the idea that his immigration proposals would allow amnesty for illegal immigrants, while at the same time vowing to keep the US "a welcoming society" and a "compassionate nation that values the newcomer."

December 8, 2005: The US House Judiciary Committee approves a complex bill aimed at preventing illegal immigration, allowing a full House vote on the legislation.

December 12, 2005: US District Court Judge Larry Burns rules that DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff had authority to waive all laws and legal challenges to the building of the final 3.5 mile section of a border fence running through coastal wetlands to the Pacific Ocean designed to thwart illegal immigrants in the southwestern US.

December 14, 2005: A federal judge dismisses with prejudice a lawsuit brought by an Idaho county against local employers who allegedly hired illegal immigrants which sought to recover medical, school, and other costs the county said it spent on the workers.

December 16, 2005: The US House of Representatives narrowly approves a tough new border security and immigration bill that includes plans to build a security fence across 621 miles of the Mexican border and authorizes the US Department of Homeland Security to study the possibility of placing barriers across the US border with Canada.

January 11, 2006: The families of fifteen Cubans deported when they failed to reach US soil file suit in US District Court, claiming that the US government's so-called "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy is inconsistent with US and international law.

January 12, 2006: The District Court judge hearing the emergency lawsuit brought by families of a group of Cubans who were deported for failing to reach US land criticized the government's reasoning supporting the deportation order.

January 19, 2006: Lawyers across the country file motions asking immigration judges to reconsider sending illegal immigrants back to Haiti. The motions are in response to the decision of the Department of Homeland Security to continue deporting Haitian immigrants, despite the presence of widespread violence and human rights violations in the country.

February 28, 2006: US District Judge Federico Moreno rules that the US Coast Guard acted unreasonably when it sent 15 Cubans back home after their boat reached an abandoned bridge in January and said that the Cubans had reached US soil.

March 7, 2006: A new report released by the Pew Hispanic Center estimates that the total number of illegal immigrants in the US has risen to some 12 million, saying that a controversial bill passed late last year to tighten border security has only caused immigrant workers from Mexico to stay longer since movement across the US-Mexico border is now more difficult.

March 22, 2006: The US Supreme Court hears oral arguments on whether a federal immigration law authorizing deportation can be applied to illegal immigrants who entered the country before its enactment.

March 25, 2006: More than 500,000 pro-immigration activists take to the streets in Los Angeles to protest Congressional efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.

June 1, 2006: President Bush urges Congress to negotiate a comprehensive immigration reform bill that recognizes that "America can be a lawful society and America can be a welcoming society at the same time."

June 12, 2006: The number of illegal Mexican migrants attempting to cross the US-Mexico border in Arizona has dropped significantly due to US National Guard troops working to extend border fences and repair roads in the area, according to reports by US officials.

June 22, 2006: The US Supreme Court hands down a decision in Fernandez-Vargas v. Gonzales, holding that a federal immigration law authorizing deportation can be applied to illegal immigrants who entered the country before its enactment.

July 5, 2006: Republicans from the US House of Representatives begin a series of immigration hearings in order to assess the threats at the country's borders and the labor needs to combat those threats in preparation for final negotiations on comprehensive immigration reform.

July 7, 2006: The US Department of Homeland Security resumes its repatriation program for illegal immigrants from Mexico with a flight carrying 67 people to Mexico City.

July 12, 2006: House Majority Leader Jim Boehner (R-OH) schedules seven more House hearings through the end of July on comprehensive immigration reform.

August 8, 2006: The Bush administration and the US Department of Homeland Security consider plans to change some immigration rules for Cubans with relatives living in the United States in an effort to improve the immigration process from the island, but may also refuse visa applications for any Cuban caught illegally crossing the border.

August 9, 2006: US AG Alberto Gonzales announces that the DOJ will implement new rules to improve the performance of federal immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals.

August 23, 2006: DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff says that US Border Patrol officials are now detaining nearly all non-Mexican illegal immigrants caught crossing the US-Mexico border for an average of 21 days before releasing them to their home countries.

September 6, 2006: US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) says that negotiations in Congress to implement comprehensive immigration reform will be streamlined to focus on border security and worksite enforcement. Both houses of Congress have passed immigration reform bills and the two versions must be reconciled and voted on before a final bill can be presented to President Bush for his signature.

September 14, 2006: The US House of Representatives votes for a bill providing for the construction of a 700-mile fence along the US-Mexico border designed to curb illegal immigration, called The Secure Fence Act of 2006.

September 22, 2006: The US Department of Homeland Security lays out its plans to put up a "virtual fence" along the US borders with Canada and Mexico during a press conference, announcing that Boeing Corp. has been awarded a $67 million contract to begin the project.

September 28, 2006: Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that it was "deeply worried" about the proposed construction of a 700-mile border fence between the US and Mexico, fearing it would "increase tension in border communities."

September 29, 2006: The US Senate passes the Secure Fence Act of 2006 by a vote of 80-19, authorizing the construction of a 700-mile fence along the US-Mexico border.

October 2, 2006: Mexico urges President Bush to veto the Secure Fence Act of 2006.

October 13, 2006: The Maryland Court of Appeals unanimously upholds a preliminary injunction barring the state from discontinuing Medicaid benefits to approximately 3,000 legal immigrant recipients, all of whom migrated to Maryland within the past five years.

October 26, 2006: President George W. Bush signs the Secure Fence Act of 2006 authorizing 700 miles of fencing along the US-Mexico border.

October 26, 2006: Mexican President Vicente Fox criticizes the Secure Fence Act of 2006, calling the legislation to build a 700-mile fence along part of the US-Mexican border in an attempt to curb illegal immigration "an embarrassment for the United States."

October 30, 2006: US Customs and Border Patrol agents arrested significantly fewer illegal immigrants attempting to cross US borders in fiscal year 2006 than in the previous year, the US Department of Homeland Security reports.

November 7, 2006: Arizona voters overwhelmingly passed four measures directed against illegal immigration, approving each one by about a three-to-one margin across the state.

November 12, 2006: US Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) says that the incoming 110th Congress will review the Secure Fence Act of 2006 and may scrap the plan after the new Democrat-controlled Congress convenes January 3, 2007.

January 3, 2007: Government officials in Mexico approve a plan to issue Mexicans crossing the US border illegally satellite tracking devices to ensure their safe arrival in the United States.

January 10, 2007: Democrats in the Senate renew efforts to pass legislation that would grant temporary legal status to illegal immigrant workers who work in agriculture, after House Republicans stalled bicameral negotiations last year.

January 23, 2007: Over 450 illegal immigrants out of over 750 taken into custody have already been deported by US immigration authorities after a week-long crackdown in southern California, officials at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement announce.

February 21, 2007: Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico's newest ambassador to the US, says his country is launching an intensive lobbying effort to secure an immigration reform agreement between the two nations.

February 28, 2007: An Oklahoma State House of Representatives committee approves a strict immigration bill for a full vote in the Oklahoma House.

March 6, 2007: The state of Washington files a claim against the federal Department of Health and Human Services challenging a regulation that restricts access to Medicaid benefits for infants born to immigrants in the United States.

March 12, 2007: The Idaho State Senate passes a bill in a 29-6 vote that would block illegal immigrants from using most taxpayer-financed public assistance programs.

March 14, 2007: President Bush vows to increase efforts to reform US immigration laws and crack down on illegal drug trafficking during a press conference in Merida, Mexico, with new Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

April 7, 2007: Thousands march through Los Angeles protesting President Bush's latest proposal to grant citizenship to the more than 12 million illegal immigrants in the US.

April 9, 2007: The US Department of Justice only prosecuted about two percent of the individuals arrested on suspicion of illegally entering the country along the US-Mexico border during a five-year period, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal figures on arrests and prosecutions.

April 23, 2007: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom pledges to keep the city a haven for immigrants, saying he will try to keep ICE from conducting immigrations raids.

May 1, 2007: Thousands of protesters across the United States took to the streets for immigration reform which includes facilitated routes to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

May 9, 2007: OK Governor Brad Henry signs the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007 to discourage illegal immigration.

May 10, 2007: San Pablo's Lutheran Church in North Hollywood and Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Los Angeles offer their buildings as shelter to illegal immigrants as part of the New Sanctuary Movement.

May 13, 2007: Voters in Farmers Branch, TX approve a revised version of a city ordinance which requires apartment renters to show proof of US residency.

May 15, 2007: The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the ACLU of Texas requested a temporary restraining order, seeking to block the Farmers Branch anti-illegal immigration city ordinance.

May 17, 2007: US senators and White House cabinet officers reach a tentative agreement on immigration reform.

May 22, 2007: Leaders in the US Senate say that a final vote on an immigration reform agreement reached between senators and the White House will be delayed until June due to opposition from both sides in Congress.

Also, the MALDEF and ACLU of Texas win a temporary restraining order against Farmers Branch’s enforcement of an anti-illegal immigration ordinance.

May 23, 2007: Federal agents conduct a raid on a poultry processing plant in Butterfield, MO, arresting more than 100 employees for immigration violations.

Also, the US Senate votes to keep plans to establish a temporary guest worker program in the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007.

May 24, 2007: The International Boundary and Water Commission says that a controversial 700-mile fence along the US-Mexican border fence, approved by the Secure Fence Act of 2006, may violate the 1970 Boundary Treaty between the United States and Mexico.

June 5, 2007: The restraining order preventing Farmers Branch, TX from enforcing its anti-illegal immigration ordinance is extended to June 19.

June 6, 2007: The New Haven, CT Board of Alderman approves a program to provide a municipal identification card to all residents, including approximately 15,000 undocumented immigrants.

June 7, 2007: The US Senate approves an amendment to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, restricting the temporary guest worker visa program to five years.

June 8, 2007: The US Senate rejects a cloture motion for the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, falling short of limiting the debate on the legislation to thirty-hours and restricting the introduction of new amendments.

June 14, 2007: President Bush tells Associated Builders and Contractors that he supports an immigration bill amendment to provide additional funding for border security, obtained through fines collected from illegal aliens.

June 19, 2007: Republicans introduce the Secure Borders FIRST Act to the US House of Representatives as a challenge to the White House-sponsored immigration proposal.

June 26, 2007: The US Senate votes to revive the comprehensive immigration reform bill.

June 27, 2007: The Senate rejects proposed amendments to the comprehensive immigration reform bill to limit permanent legal residency status only to immigrants who have been in the country at least four years and to require all illegal immigrants to return temporarily to their home countries in order to be eligible for permanent legal status in the US.

June 28, 2007: The Senate votes against limiting debate on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill for a second time.

June 29, 2007: The AZ Court of Appeals rules that immigration reform groups can pursue a lawsuit against Governor Janet Napolitano alleging her administration improperly limited Proposition 200.

July 3, 2007: AZ Gov. Napolitano signs the Legal Arizona Workers Act, requiring employers to verify that employees are in the US legally.

July 24, 2007: New Haven, CT enacts a law offering municipal ID cards, which will allow cardholders to access various municipal services, to undocumented immigrants.

July 26, 2007: US District Judge James Munley declares two anti-illegal immigration ordinances in Hazleton, Pennsylvania unconstitutional and issues a permanent injunction prohibiting enforcement.

August 6, 2007: The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that state legislatures across the US enacted at least 170 immigration-related bills in 2007 to that point, citing the absence of a comprehensive federal reform of the immigration system as the main cause.

August 8, 2007: The NYT reports that Homeland Security is expected to issue stricter guidelines to enhance employer compliance with federal immigration regulations, requiring employers who receive notices from the Social Security Administration of non-matching social security number records to resolve any discrepancy within 90 days.

August 10, 2007: The Bush administration announces new reforms designed to "address border security and immigration challenges."

August 23, 2007: NJ AG Anne Milgram issues a directive to state law enforcement agencies ordering them to alert US Immigration and Customs Enforcement when an undocumented immigrant is arrested in the state.

September 1, 2007: US District Judge Maxine M. Chesney issues a temporary restraining order blocking the application of new DHS rules designed to make it harder for illegal immigrants to obtain US employment.

September 4, 2007: Mexican President Felipe Calderon denounces US immigration policies, insisting that Mexico will continue to advocate comprehensive immigration reform favorable to Mexico and will continue to "categorically reject construction" of a 700-mile fence on the US-Mexico border.

September 5, 2007: The MALDEF files a lawsuit in federal court against the state of AZ claiming that the Legal Arizona Workers Act is unconstitutional.

September 21, 2007: The Puerto Rican LDEF files a lawsuit against ICE saying that ICE agents violently raided homes without first obtaining court warrants.

September 25, 2007: The US Attorney's Office files a federal lawsuit against state of IL in an effort to invalidate a state law that would prevent employers from using the voluntary E-Verify program to verify whether potential employees can legally work in the US.

October 2, 2007: US District Judge Charles R. Breyer extends a temporary restraining order blocking the implementation of DHS regulations requiring employers who receive notice of non-matching records between an employee's name and social security number to resolve any discrepancy within 90 days.

October 10, 2007: Judge Breyer grants a preliminary injunction blocking the implementation of the new DHS regulations.

October 11, 2007: US District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle grants a temporary restraining order enjoining the Bureau of Land Management from building a 1.5 mile US-Mexico border fence until an appropriate environmental impact assessment is completed.

October 16, 2007: The National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders file a federal lawsuit against OK Gov. Brad Henry and OK AG Drew Edmondson, claiming a recently approved state law limiting government privileges allowed to illegal immigrants is unfair to all immigrants.

October 23, 2007: US District Judge James Payne dismisses a federal lawsuit alleging that a recently approved OK law is unfair to all immigrants.

October 25, 2007: The Senate votes against proceeding to a final vote on the DREAM Act of 2007 which would allow certain children of illegal immigrants an opportunity to achieve legal residency.

November 25, 2007: US District Judge Breyer stays until a challenge to the implementation of the contested new DHS regulations March 24.

November 28, 2007: The First Circuit Court upholds dismissal of a lawsuit brought by illegal immigrant detainees over their transfer from MA to TX holding centers following a March 6 factory raid.

December 1, 2007: US District Judge James Cacheris dismisses a lawsuit challenging measures adopted by Prince William County, VA that require local police to check the immigration status of anyone suspected of breaking the law.

December 8, 2007: District Court Judge Neil V. Wake dismisses a lawsuit challenging the Legal Arizona Workers Act, which gives the Superior Courts of AZ power to revoke the business licenses of businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants.

December 13, 2007: A coalition of civil rights groups, including the ACLU and the MALDEF, file a new federal lawsuit challenging the Legal Arizona Workers Act.

January 8, 2008: An OK man files a taxpayer lawsuit challenging the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007, which requires all OK government agencies to verify immigrants' citizenship before conferring benefits, claiming the law is unconstitutional because "it creates a Bureau of Immigration and allows for the appropriation and expenditure of public funds."

January 11, 2007: DHS issues a final rule establishing new minimum standards for state-issued ID cards under the Real ID Act.

January 12, 2007: ICE issues a memo saying that its officers are now required to obtain a judge's approval before a deportee can be sedated in order to facilitate his or her removal from the country.

Januray 15, 2007: ICE Assistant Secretary Julie L. Myers tells the NYT that ICE plans to step up deportation of illegal immigrants serving time in US prisons and jails during 2008.

January 16, 2008: District Judge Alia Moses Ludlum orders the City of Eagle Pass, Texas to temporarily turn over 233 acres of its land to the federal government so it can begin construction of a 670-mile fence on the border between the US and Mexico.

January 17, 2008: Prosecutions reach an agreement with the ACLU and MALDEF to delay bringing cases under the Legal Arizona Workers Act until after March 1.

January 23, 2008: Farmers Branch, TX approves a measure that would require all adults to apply for a city license before they can lease a house or apartment and obliging rental applicants to disclose whether they are a US citizen or a legal alien.

January 28, 2008: District Judge Andrew Hanen orders 10 property owners in Cameron County, TX to provide the federal government access to their land for 180 days to begin surveying for a 670-mile border fence.

February 2, 2008: ICE reaches a settlement with two immigrants who said they were forcibly drugged with sedatives during deportation proceedings.

February 6, 2007: A lawsuit is filed against Farmers Branch, TX claiming the city’s latest anti-immigration measure violated the Texas Open Meetings Act because the City Council passed it quickly and secretly.

February 8, 2008: District Court Judge Neil Wake dismisses a lawsuit filed by business groups challenging the Legal Arizona Workers Act.

February 14, 2008: DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff says that the US government plans to approve the first stretch of "virtual fencing" for border control along the US-Mexico border southwest of Tucson, AZ.

February 19, 2008: District Judge Wake refuses to block enforcement of the Legal Arizona Workers Act while opponents of the law appeal their case to the US Court of Appeals.

February 22, 2008: The US government grants final approval to the first stretch of "virtual fencing" along the US-Mexico border.

February 26, 2008: The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union says that ICE is violating the constitutional rights of US workers by conducting illegal searches and seizures in workplace raids to find illegal immigrants.

February 28, 2008: The 28-mile "virtual fence" along the US-Mexico border is placed on hold due to technical issues.

Also, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upholds a district court's denial of an injunction to block enforcement of the Legal Arizona Workers Act.

March 4, 2008: Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff sends letters to the governors of several states, urging them to comply with an upcoming deadline to bring their state IDs in line with the requirements of the Real ID Act.

March 25, 2008: A city official with Farmers Branch, TX says that city officials have accidentally issued several city rental license applications designed to enforce the anti-immigration measure currently under a temporary restraining order against its enforcement.

March 28, 2008: RI Gov. Don Carcieri signs an executive order requiring state agencies and companies to verify the legal status of their employees.

April 1, 2008: Officials announce that the Bush administration plans to invoke legal waivers to local and environmental laws to push through completion of 267 miles of border fencing.

April 3, 2008: A lawsuit in NJ federal court alleges that ICE officials violated the constitutional privacy and due process rights of suspected illegal aliens by raiding their homes.

Also, DHS announces that all 50 states have been granted extensions to comply with new requirements under the REAL ID Act.

April 8, 2008: The ACLU and MALDEF file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Arizona's Prop. 100, which denies bail to illegal immigrants accused of committing serious felonies.

April 17, 2008: The IA House votes to pass a bill requiring IA employers to verify within 10 business days of hiring a new employee that they are a legal US resident.

April 18, 2008: ME Gov. John Baldacci signs a bill requiring an applicant to show proof of US residency before being issued a state driver's license or ID card.

April 23, 2008: The US government abandons the prototype "virtual fence" along the US-Mexico border.

May 14, 2008: US ICE agents transiting involuntarily sedated immigration deportees through foreign countries have been challenged by local authorities, namely in France and Belgium.

May 17, 2008: The Texas Border Coalition files a lawsuit to enjoin DHS from constructing a fence on the US-Mexico border.

May 24, 2008: Some 270 illegal immigrants, arrested during a US immigration sting at a meatpacking plant in Iowa, were each sentenced to five months in prison.

June 2, 2008: Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse reports that US federal authorities are prosecuting significantly more illegal immigrants than in past years.

June 5, 2008: A federal court in Oklahoma grants a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of employer-related provisions of Oklahoma's controversial immigration law.

June 10, 2008: President Bush signs an executive order directing all federal departments and agencies to require government contractors to use E-Verify to ensure that workers meet federal immigration and work eligibility requirements.

June 12, 2008: The Arizona State Legislature bars the state from implementing the REAL ID Act.

June 17, 2008: Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse reports that US immigration prosecutions increased in March 2008 nearly 50 percent from the previous month and nearly 75 percent from the previous year.

July 2, 2008: A report DHS finds that ICE officials do not always adhere to proper medical protocols.

July 24, 2008: The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holds that the REAL ID Act gives a "reasonable opportunity" for judicial review to those aliens whose removal orders became final before REAL ID entered into effect.

July 25, 2008: The AZ Court of Appeals rules that a state law aimed at prosecuting smugglers hired to ferry illegal immigrants across the border into the US can also be used to prosecute the illegal immigrants.

Also, testimony before the House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary argues that the government process used to arrest and convict illegal immigrants in Iowa in May’s ICE raid on Agriprocessors Inc. was illegal and violated the immigrants' due process rights.

August 1, 2008: The ACLU claims the DOJ pushed immigrants arrested in the raid on an Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Iowa into pleading guilty.

August 6, 2008: ICE launches a new Scheduled Departure Program that allows certain illegal immigrants to coordinate their removal from the US with ICE without the risk of home raids, arrests, or detentions.

August 7, 2008: The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit orders a district court to accept guilty pleas entered by three illegal aliens facing immigration charges which the court had earlier found were not entered in accordance with procedural rules governing pleas.

August 23, 2008: ICE abandons the Scheduled Departure Program, considered by many to be a failure after only eight people turned themselves in.

September 4, 2008: A lawsuit is filed in US District Court for the Northern District of Texas seeking to enjoin the latest version of a Farmers Branch municipal ordinance which prohibits illegal immigrants from occupying leased property.

September 18, 2008: The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on upholds as constitutional an Arizona law which revokes the business licenses of employers who hire illegal immigrants.

September 23, 2008: A US district judge enjoins Farmers Branch, TX from enforcing an ordinance that prohibits illegal immigrants from occupying leased property.

November 5, 2008: Measures affecting illegal immigrants fail in Arizona, Florida, and Oregon, while Missouri’s referendum to establish English as the official state language passes overwhelmingly.

Also, the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas dismisses a suit to change the city council election voting system of Farmers Branch, TX from at-large to district-based in order to pay more attention to Hispanic interests on city council.

November 7, 2008: ICE reports that 2008 showed record deportations of undocumented immigrants in the US.