Immigration News Resources

The U.S. Border Patrol had nearly 250,000 encounters with migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico in December 2023.

The post Migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border hit a record high at the end of 2023 appeared first on Pew Research Center.

AILA member Maurice "Mo" Goldman shares insights into why it feels the country is moving away from valuing its history as a "nation of immigrants" and emphasizes the need for immigration attorneys and their clients to share their stories and shift the narrative.

The post Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace first appeared on Blog: Think Immigration.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) finalized its long-awaited fee rule on January 30, which impacts the filing costs for almost all the agency’s applications. The new fees will take effect April 1, 2024. The agency’s fee increases significantly impact the cost for family-based and employment-based applications and petitions. In addition, USCIS is charging a […]

The post USCIS Finalizes Increase in Fees for Immigration-Related Applications appeared first on Immigration Impact.

By Karen Aho and Quinn Bankson Black immigrants not only contribute to America’s rich political and cultural history—think rapper Wyclef Jean, U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, or basketball’s Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon, to name but a very few—they also play an important and growing role in our economy, making outsize contributions in industries facing critical worker […]

The post Data Snapshot: The Number of Black Immigrants in the US Continues to Rise appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Today U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is releasing end of fiscal year (FY) 2023 data that illustrate the agency’s progress in meeting its strategic priorities. The USCIS workforce has worked tirelessly over the past year to uphold America’s promise as a nation of welcome and possibility by reducing backlogs, improving customer experience, addressing humanitarian needs, and strengthening employment-based immigration.

AILA member Liam Schwartz reflects on Department of State cable 99 State 21138 which was spearheaded by the late Stephen K. Fischel; the cable highlights the importance to the visa application process of the working relationship between consular officers and immigration attorneys.

The post 25 Years Ago the State Department Recognized How Visa Consul and Immigration Counsel Can Work Together in the Visa Application Process first appeared on Blog: Think Immigration.

The “Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024” was released on February 4. For months, a bipartisan group of senators negotiated the compromise bill, which proposes significant changes to asylum and border policy to release billions in foreign military aid. The $118 billion bill would provide the president a new emergency expulsion authority that would […]

The post Senate Deal Would Significantly Transform Border Policy appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (OIG) published a report last month finding that nearly one-third of medical procedures performed on immigrants in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody were not properly authorized. The report found that ICE improperly authorized 32% of major surgeries performed on individuals in […]

The post ICE Subjected Immigrants in Detention to Unnecessary Surgeries, Report Finds appeared first on Immigration Impact.

USCIS will conduct system maintenance to the Contact Relationship Interface System (CRIS) on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024 at 11:50 p.m. through Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024 at 2:00 a.m. Eastern.

AILA Law Journal author Jim Nzoguma Mayua shares more about his article in the Fall 2023 edition of the journal, in which he discusses the legal uncertainty stemming from Supreme Court rulings denying asylum seekers due process protection.

The post The Mandatory Detention of Unlawful Entrants Seeking Asylum in the United States and the Due Process Protection first appeared on Blog: Think Immigration.

Immigrants are now far more likely to face the complexities of the immigration court system alone, without an attorney. As of December 2023, only 30% of immigrants with pending cases have secured representation, down from 65% just four years ago.   This new data comes from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). On January […]

The post A Shortage of Immigration Lawyers Is Another Barrier to Integration for Immigrants appeared first on Immigration Impact.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced a final rule to strengthen the integrity of and reduce the potential for fraud in the H-1B registration process, including by reducing the potential for gaming the registration system and ensuring each beneficiary would have the same chance of being selected, regardless of the number of registrations submitted on their behalf.

Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule to adjust certain immigration and naturalization benefit request fees for the first time since 2016.

We are starting a new process for most applicants, petitioners, and requestors, and their attorneys and accredited representatives to pay for certain benefit request forms by mail or remotely instead of in person at a field office.

Amid inaction from the federal government on immigration policy and growing calls for action from localities, some state legislatures are taking a proactive role in welcoming immigrants and refugees. Once again, states are leading the way on immigration policy in the U.S. Despite being less than a month into the 2024 state legislative cycle, state […]

The post 200 Immigration-Related Bills Have Already Been Introduced in State Legislatures in 2024 appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas today announced the extension and redesignation of Syria for Temporary Protected Status for 18 months, from April 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025, due to ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in Syria that prevent individuals from safely returning.

Brian Green and Stephen Yale-Loehr describe the recent oral arguments in two SCOTUS cases which could dramatically affect federal agency review; it is yet unclear whether the decisions will hurt or help immigrants when challenging ambiguous agency decisions or interpretations.

The post Is Chevron Dead? Thoughts after Oral Arguments in Relentless, Inc. and Loper Bright Enterprises first appeared on Blog: Think Immigration.

AILA members César Magaña Linares and Raquel Fernández—a Salvadoran Dreamer with TPS and a second generation Venezuelan American—call for intra-immigrant solidarity.

The post A Bridge We Can All Cross first appeared on Blog: Think Immigration.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced an update to its Policy Manual providing that USCIS, in our discretion and under certain conditions, may excuse a nonimmigrant’s failure to timely file an extension of stay or change of status request if the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances beyond the control of the applicant or petitioner.

Buoy barriers with chainsaw devices in the Rio Grande river. Coils of concertina wire along the riverbank. Armored Humvees blocking access roads. Piles of dirt rendering gates unusable. Governor Greg Abbott’s cruel attempts to booby trap the Texas border to prevent U.S. Border Patrol agents from reaching migrants might be considered comical, if not for […]

The post Biden Administration Can Remove Texas’ Razor Wire Barrier at the Border, Supreme Court Rules appeared first on Immigration Impact.