Immigration News Resources

Why has immigration become such a heated issue for those on the right and the left? It’s because many Americans have—without realizing it—sacralized their values and beliefs associated with immigration. This explains in part why the debate has become uncompromising and moralized. What can we do about it? Answers can be found in a new […]

The post Why Has Immigration Become Such a Divisive Issue? appeared first on Immigration Impact.

AILA member Ruth McChesney offers some useful tips about how she regularly reviews financial information to inform her understanding of her firm's productivity and previews the practice management track at the upcoming AILA MidWinter Conference

For years, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has taken a harsh, punitive approach that has ripped families and communities apart. The Trump administration’s approach was particularly cruel and xenophobic, resulting in the highest detention numbers the United States has ever seen. ICE’s new enforcement priorities hopefully signal an important turn from the hate-driven enforcement […]

The post New ICE Enforcement Priorities Represent an Important Shift, But More Change Is Needed appeared first on Immigration Impact.

In this blog post, AILA members and CLINIC attorneys Vickie Neilson and Jonathan Langer describe how the Trump administration's midnight rulemaking has harmed clients, including one rule that prevents judges from reopening old removal orders.

The Second Circuit has found that the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) must publish immigration decisions, reversing an earlier federal district court decision. The case challenged the Department of Justice’s longstanding practice of failing to publish immigration decisions by the BIA—the highest administrative court deciding immigration cases—in any forum that could be easily accessed by […]

The post In a Win for Transparency, Court Orders Board of Immigration Appeals to Make Immigration Court Decisions Public appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Just days before it was due to take effect, the Biden administration has struck down a last-minute deal made between the Trump administration and the union for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The agreement would have given ICE’s union the authority to veto President Biden’s immigration enforcement policies. The union—which endorsed Trump for president […]

The post DHS Strikes Down Trump Deal with ICE Union, Paving the Way for Biden’s Changes to Immigration Enforcement appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Helena Tetzeli, member of the AILA Media Advocacy Committee, shares insights into what the Administrative Procedure Act is and how it impacts implementation or revocation of immigration policy changes.

The Trump administration sent over 70,000 people who came to the U.S border seeking asylum back to Mexico to wait for court hearings. This so-called “Migrant Protection Protocols” (“MPP”) program placed people in serious danger and made it nearly impossible for anyone to win protection. Court hearings under MPP were indefinitely suspended in March 2020. […]

The post Biden Administration Unveils Plan to Process Asylum Seekers Subject to the Migrant Protection Protocols appeared first on Immigration Impact.

At least 76 of the voting members of the 117th Congress are foreign born or have at least one parent born in another country.

The post Immigrants and children of immigrants make up at least 14% of the 117th Congress appeared first on Pew Research Center.

AILA member Hardeep "Dee" Sull shares insights she has gleaned on productivity, motivation, and innovation during this pandemic and our new remote-work world. Learn more on this issue at AILA's MidWinter conference coming up March 2, 2021.

The U.S. Border Patrol has been rooted in institutional racism since its founding in 1924. Almost a century later, the agency continues to commit racially fueled violent acts with near impunity. The American Immigration Council details this history in a new report, The Legacy of Racism within the U.S. Border Patrol. Here are five key […]

The post The Border Patrol’s Culture of Racism Impacts Every Facet of the Agency Today appeared first on Immigration Impact.

AILA member Aaron Kochenderfer highlights the many contributions of immigrant healthcare workers, made more visible to all of us during the pandemic, and urges support for legislation that offers more of these heroes access to lawful permanent status.

In this blog post, AILA Media Advocacy Committee member Tahmina Watson describes an innovative partnership in Washington State that is a win-win model, ensuring immigrants have access to counsel.

For more than 40 years, the law has guaranteed any person who is physically present in the United States a right to seek asylum. In 2019 the Trump administration attempted to effectively eliminate that law by signing so-called “Asylum Cooperative Agreements” (ACAs) with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. On February 6, the Biden administration fulfilled […]

The post Biden Administration Ends ‘Safe Third Country’ Agreements appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Business immigration has already benefited from the change in administrations. On January 25, President Biden issued an executive order directly replacing a Trump-era executive order that wreaked havoc on the H-1B visa category. Biden’s ‘Made in America’ Order The recent executive order adopted “Buy American” policies and revoked President Trump’s “Buy American Hire American” (BAHA) […]

The post The Biden Administration Is Already Supporting Employment-Based Immigration, But Uncertainty Remains appeared first on Immigration Impact.

AILA Director of Federal Litigation Jesse Bless underscores how important it is for President Biden to rescind the non-immigrant and immigrant visa bans, noting in particular how diversity visa lottery winners are being harmed.

On February 2, 2021, following the confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas as secretary of Homeland Security, President Biden signed three executive orders that take steps to further unwind the Trump administration’s restrictions on immigration. The actions build on Biden’s first round of immigration changes, which he signed on Inauguration Day. Here is a summary of the […]

The post Biden Took 3 More Executive Actions on Immigration. Did He Go Far Enough? appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The Biden administration’s immigration reform bill will have a provision that seeks to replace the term “alien” with “noncitizen” in immigration law. The term “alien” in the Immigration and Nationality Act refers to any person who is not a citizen or national of the United States. It dates back to 1798 when it was first […]

The post No Need to Wait for Congress to Begin Using Humanizing Language in the Immigration Space appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Do most immigrants show up for their immigration court hearings? A new report released by the American Immigration Council reveals that the answer to this question is a clear “Yes.” As the Biden administration begins its overhaul of the immigration enforcement system, we must ensure that our policies are based on facts. The report makes […]

The post Immigrants Appear for Their Court Hearings, New Data Shows appeared first on Immigration Impact.

AILA member and longtime volunteer with the Military Assistance Program (MAP) Mo Goldman shared some good news about an Army reservist he was linked up with who just took the oath and became a citizen! Watch the video and if you are inspired you can get more information about volunteering yourself.