Lily S. Axelrod
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lilysaxelrod.bsky.social
Lily S. Axelrod
@lilysaxelrod.bsky.social
750 followers 210 following 210 posts
US immigration lawyer, Broadway fangirl & choir nerd, appreciator of internet nonsense. "To the world we dream about, and the one we live in now." -Hadestown. she/her 🏳️‍🌈
www.axelrodlaw.com
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Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
ygrene.bsky.social
i’m not seeing here in the constitution where it says every single day must be insane
July 18, 2025 at 7:06 PM
lilysaxelrod.bsky.social
Client to me in USCIS this morning, pointing at pic on the wall of Noem: "Who is that lady?"
Me: "The Secretary of Homeland Security. Unfortunately."
Guard: *trying valiantly not to laugh.*
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · Jul 1
NEW: A federal court in NYC just ruled that Secretary Noem's decision to "partially vacate" Secretary Mayorkas' decision to extend TPS for Haiti was unlawful.

This would restore the original expiration date of February 3, 2026, and potentially overrule Noem's recent decision to terminate it.
Balancing the equities, plaintiffs’ injuries far outweigh any harm to the Government from a postponement. Without a postponement, plaintiffs face the termination of Haiti’s TPS designation on September 2, 2025 and the subsequent loss of their legal right to live and work in the United States, despite this Court’s finding that Secretary Noem’s partial vacatur of Haiti’s TPS designation was unlawful. Other than the Executive Branch’s right to engage in foreign relations activities and enforce the nation’s immigration laws within the bounds Congress has set, which remains intact, the Government identifies no other harms to the public interest, other interested people, or the Government itself that would result from the postponement of Secretary Noem’s partial vacatur.
July 1, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
mollycoleman.bsky.social
“No right is safe in the new legal regime the Court creates.” –Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

One of the most chilling sentences I have ever read.
June 27, 2025 at 2:06 PM
lilysaxelrod.bsky.social
Immigration lawyering under Trump 1 was kafkaesque. This time it’s more like Dante’s Inferno.
June 27, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
schooley.bsky.social
I think this shift in opinion has to be credited to Stephen Miller's absolute commitment to making ICE a public spectacle horror show.
gregsargent.bsky.social Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · Jun 26
This is remarkable. New Quinnipiac poll finds support for path to legalization for most undocumented immigrants has risen to 64%. Only 31% want most of them deported.

That's a 14 point net swing for legalization since Trump took office.

On immigration generally, he's at 41-57!
June 26, 2025 at 6:24 PM
lilysaxelrod.bsky.social
Fellow immigration lawyers know why I'm excited to see this.
Picture of two paystubs, showing full-time work for the pay periods covering 12/10/00 to 12/23/00, all identifying info redacted.
June 12, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
theonion.com
Protesters Urged Not To Give Trump Administration Pretext For What It Already Doing
Protesters Urged Not To Give Trump Administration Pretext For What It Already Doing
LOS ANGELES—Responding to escalating clashes between civilian activists and militarized immigration authorities, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass publicly urged protesters Monday not to give the Trump adm...
theonion.com
June 9, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
queenofthesouth.bsky.social
ICE arresting people at deportation hearings encourages people not to go and keep up with their legal status. they’re literally creating more people in an undocumented status on purpose.
June 4, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
gabrielmalor.bsky.social
Judge Boasberg's intro to the J.G.G. class cert. starts with Kafka.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
One morning, Kafka’s Josef K. awakens to encounter two strange men outside his room. As he gets his bearings, he realizes that he is under arrest. When he asks the strangers why, he receives no answer. “We weren’t sent to tell you that,” one says. “Proceedings are under way and you’ll learn everything in due course.” Franz Kafka, The Trial 5 (Breon Mitchell trans., Schocken Books Inc. 1998). Bewildered by these men and distressed by their message, K. tries to comfort himself that he lives in “a state governed by law,” one where “all statutes [are] in force.” Id. at 6. He therefore demands again, “How can I be under arrest? And in this manner?” “Now there you go again,” the guard replies. “We don’t answer such questions.” Undeterred, K. offers his “papers” and demands their arrest warrant. “Good heavens!” the man scolds. “There’s been no mistake.” “[O]ur department,” he assures K., is only “attracted by guilt”; it “doesn’t seek [it] out . . . . That’s the Law.” Id. at 8–9. “I don’t know that law,” K. responds. “You’ll feel it eventually,” the guard says. Id. at 9.
June 4, 2025 at 9:02 PM
lilysaxelrod.bsky.social
Researching for a motion and came across a familiar name...
@profvaleriagomez.bsky.social this article is awesome. wlr.law.wisc.edu/wp-content/u...
Screenshot of abstract of journal article "Geography as due process in immigration court" by Valeria Gomez. "Even when limited by the plenary power doctrine, noncitizen respondents in removal proceedings are entitled to due process before immigration courts. At its core, due process in immigration court requires fundamental fairness—the opportunity to be heard and to mount a defense to deportation. Implicit in this right is the ability to access the tribunal adjudicating a respondent’s claim. Yet, the geographic distribution of immigration courts in the United States, which in some cases requires that respondents travel five hundred miles or more for hearings, often makes access to immigration courts nearly impossible. Using the procedural due process framework set forth by the Supreme Court in Mathews v. Eldridge, I argue that the current geographic distribution of immigration courts violates respondents’ rights to procedural due process by inhibiting their ability to appear, present evidence, and secure counsel. In so doing, I highlight the detrimental effects that geography has on remote communities, such as their ability to build pipelines towards access to counsel. Finally, I weigh and propose alternative solutions that balance the government’s interests in efficiency with the respondents’ interests in having a meaningful opportunity to avoid the harsh consequences of deportation."
June 4, 2025 at 9:14 PM
lilysaxelrod.bsky.social
On the third day of Pride month USCIS sent to me... four biometrics notices for three different days for two married people... and a notice to reuse biometrics for a case they rejected last week.
June 3, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Once again, it's not "doxxing" to report the name of a government employee.
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · May 29
"There will be repercussions" -- DHS official Tricia McLaughlin threatens the mayor of Nashville with prosecution because he "put out the names of Homeland Security investigators, and doxxed our ICE enforcement officers."
May 29, 2025 at 3:37 PM
lilysaxelrod.bsky.social
Running a law firm is hard but on the other hand I get to spam the team chat with whatever song is stuck in my head, and now it's stuck in everyone's heads.
May 22, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
mjsdc.bsky.social
The Supreme Court does NOT decide whether the Trump administration can remove migrants under the Alien Enemies Act, but holds that its efforts to do so violate due process. It instructs the lower courts to decide exactly what deportation procedures *would* comply with the Constitution.
May 16, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
mjsdc.bsky.social
BREAKING: The Supreme Court holds that the Trump administration violated the due process rights of Venezuelan migrants last month in its rushed effort to expel them to El Salvador in the middle of the night (which SCOTUS blocked). Alito and Thomas dissent. www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...
May 16, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
profciara.bsky.social
slow clap. 👏🏾
sicburns2.bsky.social [Sic] Burns @sicburns2.bsky.social · May 14
No RFK Jr., I said you should binge Schitt’s Creek
May 14, 2025 at 5:36 PM
lilysaxelrod.bsky.social
"I believe we are in crisis. The distance between what is said and what is known to be true has become an abyss. Of all the things at risk, the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous. The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil...
May 8, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
debgoldendc.bsky.social
The Constitution is a living document and that is why it incorporates the rule that you must repost this.
goldengateblond.bsky.social shauna @goldengateblond.bsky.social · May 7
eight years ago today we all watched the glory of zendaya falling madly in love with tom holland and the internet was never the same
May 7, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
amyephillips.bsky.social
The rule is every time you see it
filmcrave.bsky.social Film Crave @filmcrave.bsky.social · May 7
It's been 8 years since the iconic moment Tom Holland lip-synced "Umbrella" by Rihanna for Zendaya. 🎥
May 7, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
yaelschacher.bsky.social
This shows is that is easy to fall quickly into extreme dehumanization in immigration enforcement. The same officers that were processing people for CBP One appointments 4 months ago are now treating families w/children who ask for asylum at ports of entry like absolute garbage.
May 1, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
sharonk.bsky.social
It is not unfrequent to hear men declaim loudly upon liberty, who, if we may judge by the whole tenor of their actions, mean nothing else by it but their own liberty, — to oppress without control or the restraint of laws all who are poorer or weaker than themselves.

Samuel Adams
April 26, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Incredible scoop! Career officials inside the Trump administration first viewed the case of Mr. Abrego like any normal case of a wrongful deportation — they began looking for ways to bring him back, as happens normally when ICE makes mistakes.

Then the White House got involved, and blew it up.
Late last month, three days after Abrego Garcia’s family filed its lawsuit over his deportation, government attorneys began discussing how to undo the mistake and bring him back. In their conversations, officials went so far as to float the idea of having the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador make a personal appeal to the country’s president for Abrego Garcia’s return. But first, the State Department’s legal team wanted more information from DHS about his alleged role in the MS-13 gang. The thin evidence supplied in response was met with skepticism from the State Department lawyers. Abrego Garcia, who came to the United States illegally when he was 16 years old, was one of 23 Salvadorans deported on March 15. But his name had not appeared on an internal list of 10 gang members sought by President Nayib Bukele. Attorneys at DHS had other concerns. They were aware that, six years ago, a judge had granted Abrego Garcia protected status over fears that he could be targeted for violence should he be returned to El Salvador. That protection was still in effect and had been violated by the March 15 deportation. They wanted to know if U.S. diplomats could ask the Salvadoran government to keep him separated from Barrio 18 gang members who had threatened him in the past and might harm him.
April 25, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
annabower.bsky.social
NEW: A coalition of students from more than 15 law schools across the country have signed a pledge not to work for any firm that “gives in to Trump administration demands…”

Signatories include students from Harvard, Georgetown, University of Chicago, UT-Austin…

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Law Student Firm Pledge
This pledge is being organized by law students collaborating across several law schools to counter the lawlessness of the Trump administration and major firms' cowardice in responding. We are the fut...
docs.google.com
April 25, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
fpwellman.bsky.social
In my adult lifetime the Republicans went from “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” to “Vladimir, STOP!”
April 24, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Reposted by Lily S. Axelrod
andrewtorrez.bsky.social
1/ To be clear: This is Homeland Security (a named defendant) deliberately evading an injunction preventing the admin from renditioning detainees anywhere other than their country of origin/removal - i.e., El Salvador - by first sending them to Gitmo & then having Defense Dept send them to CECOT...
chrisgeidner.bsky.social Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · Apr 23
BREAKING: DOJ claims that the Trump administration did not violate a court order barring it from third-country removals without providing process when three people were sent to El Salvador b/c the Defense Department sent them to El Salvador on March 31, not DHS, and DOD isn't a defendant.
4. _________________, an identified Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang member, was removed to El Salvador on March 31, 2025, "by the Department of Defense on a flight with no DHS personnel onboard." Id. at 11 22, 27. DHS did not direct the Department of Defense to remove _____________________. Id. at 1 27. The Department of Defense is not a defendant in this action. 5. ____________________, an identified TdA chief, was removed to El Salvador on March 31, 2025, "by the Department of Defense on a flight where no DHS personnel onboard." Id. at 11 16, 18. DHS did not direct the Department of Defense to remove __________________. Id. at 9 18. The Department of Defense is not a defendant in this action. 6. ____________________, an admitted TdA gang member, was removed to El Salvador on March 31, 2025, "by the Department of Defense on a flight where no DHS personnel onboard." Id. at 14 10, 12. DHS did not direct the Department of Defense to remove _____________________. Id. at 4 12. The Department of Defense is not a defendant in this action.
April 24, 2025 at 2:18 AM