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Asylum seekers subject to the Migrant Protection Protocols—or the “Remain in Mexico” program—in Laredo and Brownsville, Texas attend their court hearings in tents known as “port courts.” The government announced these secretive courts would finally be opened last week, but the public still does not have full access. For the past year, this program has […]

The post Tent Immigration Courts Are Still Not Fully Open to the Public appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The new process for petitioning for highly educated H-1B workers will officially begin on March 1, 2020. For the first time, a U.S. employer who wants to file a petition that is subject to the annual limits must first register with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The agency then must select the registration before […]

The post What We Know About USCIS’ New H-1B Cap Registration System appeared first on Immigration Impact.

After more than four years of gathering evidence of the substandard conditions in the government’s short-term detention facilities in Arizona’s Tucson Sector, a case challenging these conditions called Doe v. Wolf went to trial on Monday. Over the course of the trial, plaintiffs will show how individuals held in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) short-term […]

The post On Trial: Inhumane Conditions in Customs and Border Protection Facilities in Arizona appeared first on Immigration Impact.

People who come to the United States in search of protection must be allowed to work during the often-lengthy asylum application process. They need to be able to support themselves and their families. Yet the Trump administration wants to make it harder for asylum seekers to get a work permit. The Department of Homeland Security […]

The post Changes to Work Permit Eligibility Leave Asylum Seekers Without a Job appeared first on Immigration Impact.

AILA member Kursten Phelps shares a recent volunteer experience with asylum seekers and urges that we all resolve to engage, writing, "There are naturalization clinics to staff, border assistance projects to plug into, translations, remote CFI and bond hearing assistance to support."

The government closed out the decade with yet another person’s death in immigration detention. Fiscal year 2019 was one of the most fatal years on the books for immigrants held in the custody of both Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Eight people died while in ICE custody in fiscal […]

The post The Decade Ends with Another Death in Immigration Detention appeared first on Immigration Impact.

In yet another move to gut asylum protections in the United States, the Trump administration proposed a rule last month that would add severe new restrictions on asylum access. The restrictions would apply to people convicted of—and in some cases, merely accused of—a wide range of criminal offenses. If enacted, the rule would create seven […]

The post What Are the Proposed New Bars to Asylum? appeared first on Immigration Impact.

A growing number of governors and mayors—both Democrats and Republicans—are notifying the U.S. State Department that they will continue to resettle refugees who have fled to the United States to escape persecution and violence in their home countries. The pledges of support are a response to an executive order President Trump signed in September 2019. […]

The post Republican and Democratic Officials Continue to Accept Refugees, Rejecting Trump’s Executive Order appeared first on Immigration Impact.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) recent proposal to increase most of their fees has been met with strong opposition. The proposal drew widespread attention, garnering nearly 10,000 comments. The agency claims the new fees will help reduce the growing application backlog. Yet the agency offers no solution as to how that will be achieved. […]

The post 4 Ways USCIS’ Proposed Fee Increase Fails to Solve the Agency’s Problems appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Many New Yorkers had a reason to celebrate on December 16, as they were permitted to apply for a driver’s license for the first time, even if they lacked permanent immigration status. Now, thanks to a new law passed on December 19, their neighbors in New Jersey will be able to benefit as well. The […]

The post New Jersey Caps Off A Tremendous Year for Expanding Access to Driver’s Licenses appeared first on Immigration Impact.

AILA BOG member Ally Bolour describes the impact of the administration's travel ban, using the example of Iran to show how and why the ban is "cruel and unnecessary." He urges everyone to "continue to fight against it for all those impacted, their families, American businesses, and our communities."

The defense spending package for the fiscal year 2020 will allow thousands of Liberians living in the United States to gain green cards. The $738-billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was signed into law by President Trump in December. About 4,000 Liberians may now have a path to citizenship under this new law. Many Liberians […]

The post Defense Spending Act Allows Thousands of Liberians to Apply for Permanent Residency appeared first on Immigration Impact.

This blog post highlights the most-read blog posts and most-watched videos AILA produced and published in 2019 - take a look, and see you in 2020!

In this blog post, part of the Diversity and Inclusion Blog Post series, AILA Member Sarah Pitney describes how taking 30 seconds to discuss pronouns with a client or colleague can ensure your firm is more welcoming and inclusive.

In this blog post, AILA member Dominique Pando Bucci explains how Germany, through measures such as The Skilled Immigration Act, is opening its arms to foreign workers.

When people who immigrate to the United States are enabled to become U.S. citizens, everyone benefits. Citizenship allows people to have more stable lives by granting access to better work, housing, health care, and education. This leads to a stronger, safer, and more prosperous country for foreign- and native-born Americans alike. Yet the Trump administration […]

The post 3 Ways Our Immigration System Can Eliminate Barriers to Becoming a US Citizen appeared first on Immigration Impact.

In this blog post, AILA member Rebekah Wolf explores some of the hurdles asylum seekers are facing in El Paso, Texas and how to help push back by getting involved with the Immigration Justice Campaign and the El Paso Immigration Collaborative (EPIC).

In a landmark decision last week, a federal court in Utah ordered the U.S. government to extend birthright citizenship to people born in the U.S. territory of American Samoa. In a lengthy decision, Judge Clark Waddoups declared that his decision was “required by the mandate of the Fourteenth Amendment as construed and applied by Supreme […]

The post Federal Court Orders Government to Recognize American Samoans as US Citizens appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Government officials were aware of the harm family separation would cause and were critical of the practice years before the Trump administration established it as an official policy. Advocates unearthed this and other details about the “zero tolerance” policy in response to a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed in April 2018. […]

The post Trump Implemented Family Separation After Government Officials Raised Red Flags appeared first on Immigration Impact.

A recent federal court ruling in California could allow hundreds of thousands of immigrants currently and previously detained by private prison companies to demand compensation and damages for work completed behind bars under threat of retaliation. The decision follows a series of lawsuits filed against GEO Group, the largest private prison corporation in the United […]

The post Thousands in ICE Detention Sue Private Prison Company for Forced Labor appeared first on Immigration Impact.