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In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government has implemented sweeping revisions to U.S. immigration policy. Many of the changes fail to prioritize the health of immigrants or the general public. Some functions—like processing visas abroad and asylum claims at the border—have come to a virtual standstill. Yet many people applying for immigration benefits […]

The post 5 Ways Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Agenda Gets in the Way of an Effective Coronavirus Response appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The Trump administration has indefinitely extended its ban on immigration at U.S. land borders.  The order was also expanded to include immigrants arriving at coastal ports. The ban is based on an order from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), allowing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to immediately remove migrants from the […]

The post Trump Is Using the Coronavirus Pandemic as an Excuse to Permanently Close the Borders appeared first on Immigration Impact.

AILA Member Kevin Gregg shares his experience during COVID-19 thus far, including the fact that with the time freed up from less travel and commuting, he has started a podcast on precedential immigration decisions.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says it’s running out of money, fast. In a letter to Congress, USCIS declared that the coronavirus pandemic had caused unavoidable budget shortfalls. The agency—normally funded by fees from visa petitions and immigration benefit applications—says it will run out of money by June. It’s asking Congress for an emergency […]

The post USCIS Claims It’s Strapped for Cash, Requests Emergency Funding From Congress appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The coronavirus pandemic has affected day-to-day life for everyone, including foreign nationals who planned to participate in the U.S. Department of State’s Exchange Visitor Program. These programs use on-the-job training and are often planned months in advanced. Many large organizations and companies that sponsor and host exchange visitors—who come to the United States on J-1 […]

The post Exchange Visitor Program Faces Uncertainty as US Opens but Embassies Remain Closed appeared first on Immigration Impact.

68% of U.S. adults say the federal government has a responsibility to provide medical care to undocumented immigrants who have COVID-19.

The post Americans favor medical care but not economic aid for undocumented immigrants affected by COVID-19 appeared first on Pew Research Center.

When the Trump administration implemented mass family separation in 2018, the American public was outraged. Two years later, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is using a different strategy with the risk of a similar result. The agency is now forcing parents at its family detention centers to choose between separation from their children or […]

The post ICE Tells Parents to Separate From Their Children or Risk Indefinite Detention Together appeared first on Immigration Impact.

In response to rumored plans by the administration to tighten nonimmigrant visas, AILA member Doug Penn shares the impact one of his clients has had creating American jobs while in the U.S. on a nonimmigrant visa and why the administration should not block these job creators from the U.S.

U.S. Border Patrol agents expelled or apprehended 15,862 migrants at the southwest border in April, down 47% from March.

The post With U.S.-Mexico border closed, migrant apprehensions fell by nearly half in April appeared first on Pew Research Center.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act on Friday, May 15. The bill directs $3 trillion in stimulus spending and is the latest in a series of bills that Congress has considered in response to the coronavirus. The HEROES Act seeks to relieve some of the […]

The post The HEROES Act Would Provide Aid to Millions of Immigrants Left Out of Other Coronavirus Relief Packages appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the importance of essential workers in keeping America up and running. First-responders, medical staff, meat packers, and domestic, hospitality, and transportation workers have been feeding, caring for, and moving us forward for years. It’s time for the working class in America to be recognized and rewarded for their labor. Yet, […]

The post Essential Workers Are at the Heart of a Diversifying Working-Class America appeared first on Immigration Impact.

AILA Member Alex George highlights how the pandemic has impacted her life and practice as a new attorney, writing, “My ‘wins’ used to look like approval notices and green cards…[now] success looks like making that person feel seen and heard, even when you have to tell them no.”

The coronavirus has disrupted all our lives. Native-born Americans and noncitizens across the United States are experiencing many of the same challenges—the disruptions to day-to-day life, the struggle to find work to provide for their families, and the difficulties in obtaining adequate medical care. But many noncitizens are navigating these challenges while also coping with […]

The post If the Supreme Court Terminates DACA, President Trump Can Still Fix It appeared first on Immigration Impact.

AILA Past President Chuck Kuck highlights the H-1B class action litigation and renews the call for plaintiffs, noting "The only way to stop USCIS from continuing to rewrite immigration law through RFE and denial is to challenge them boldly, fiercely, and publicly in the federal courts."

A long-running lawsuit over a rule allowing certain spouses of highly educated H-1B workers to work in the United States took an interesting twist. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has threatened to take away work authorization for this group of people since the start of the Trump administration, opposed the latest attempt […]

The post Government Takes Surprising Position to Preserve H-4 Work Permits – For Now appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The U.S. government rejects an immigrant’s entire application for a visa or immigration benefit over a single blank field on a form. Applications can be rejected if a box is left unchecked or has a missing line—say, for an apartment number when the applicant lives in a house, or even when a question does not […]

The post Board of Immigration Appeals Green Lights Major Errors on Notice to Appear Forms appeared first on Immigration Impact.

AILA Member Jennifer Schear offers a glimpse into her work and office situation in Tel Aviv, Israel, and shares how during this time she has gleaned some “valuable insights into law firm management, productivity, efficiency, what and who is truly essential.”

The prognosis for people in immigration detention facilities during this global pandemic is grim. On Wednesday, news broke of the first person to die while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after testing positive for the coronavirus. Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejia was a long-time member of the Los Angeles community. He died in […]

The post What ICE Must Do Following the First Coronavirus Death in Its Custody appeared first on Immigration Impact.

AILA member Amy Myers shares why USCIS should proactively address non-immigrants’ (such as students on OPT) concerns about falling out of status, writing "When we are already in a recognized crisis situation, why should discretionary post-situational relief be the only available remedy?”

The Trump administration has used the coronavirus pandemic to justify shutting down the southern border—and much of our asylum system along with it. But long before the pandemic, the administration set up obstacles to asylum. Newly released data shows that one of those obstacles, which made U.S. Border Patrol agents the gatekeepers to the asylum […]

The post New Data Shows Border Patrol Agents Reject More Asylum Seekers appeared first on Immigration Impact.