This Week in Immigration - American Immigration Council

Borderland: The Line Within, a documentary directed by Pamela Yates and produced by Skylight Pictures, made its theatrical debut on May 3. Borderland takes viewers through a gripping narrative of how immigration enforcement agencies—from the U.S.-Mexico border to places well within our nation’s interior—have created what the film calls the “border industrial complex,” a system […]

The post Borderland: The Line Within Takes Viewers Through CBP’s Raid on a Humanitarian Aid Camp appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The Department of Justice asked a court to partially terminate the decades-old agreement that protects the rights of immigrant children earlier this month. The government argues that the Flores Settlement Agreement is no longer needed because a new Department of Health and Human Services regulation finalized on April 30 will provide sufficient protections to immigrant […]

The post Government’s Move to Terminate Flores Agreement Could Leave Immigrant Children Unprotected appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Iowa is following in the footsteps of Texas with a new law that would allow state officials to arrest, detain, and remove noncitizens who have reentered the United States after being deported—even if the person returned with permission from the federal government or later gained lawful immigration status. Just like Texas Senate Bill 4 (SB4), […]

The post Iowa’s Texas Copycat Immigration Law Challenged in Court appeared first on Immigration Impact.

On May 9, the Biden administration proposed a rule that would allow asylum officers to consider and impose certain restrictions or “bars” to the initial asylum screening process at the border. Currently, these bars are considered later in the asylum process at a full hearing before an immigration judge. Comments are being accepted until June […]

The post Biden Proposes Rule to Quickly Remove Certain Migrants During Initial Screening Process at the Border appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Six years ago, the Dallas City Council passed a resolution to make the city more welcoming for immigrants and long-time residents alike. The city council proposed policy recommendations to address the unprecedented challenges immigrants and refugees in the Texas city face. Alongside the resolution, the city, in collaboration with multisector stakeholders, launched the Welcoming Dallas […]

The post Taking Welcoming Work to New Heights in the Lone Star State: Welcoming Interactive 2024 appeared first on Immigration Impact.

On April 29, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a new rule aimed at protecting workers on temporary H-2A visas and strengthening the agency’s oversight of their employers. The rule is set to go into effect on June 28, with a two-month subsequent grace period. The H-2A program allows migrant laborers to work in temporary […]

The post Biden’s New H-2A Rule Expands Protections and Increases Oversight for Migrant Workers appeared first on Immigration Impact.

When someone crosses the border to seek asylum in the United States, they often first go through a credible fear interview (CFI). An asylum officer evaluates a person’s fear of returning to their home country and decides whether they will be allowed to apply for asylum and other forms of protection. Because it determines access […]

The post Volunteers Needed for Credible Fear Interview Preparation in CBP Hotline appeared first on Immigration Impact.

On April 19, forty minutes after the ostensible deadline to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Congress passed H.R. 7888, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA). President Biden quickly signed it into law hours later. RISAA reauthorizes Section 702 for two years, provides modest reforms, and includes several controversial […]

The post Congress Expands Warrantless Surveillance of Immigrants Traveling to the US appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently announced its revision of the race and ethnicity question on federal surveys, including the U.S. census, adding “Middle Eastern or North African (MENA)” as a new category. This welcoming news came ahead of the Arab American Heritage Month in April. “These revisions will enhance our […]

The post Data Snapshot: Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Without fail, each Tax Day a prevalent myth resurfaces that conceals the truth about immigrants’ contributions to federal, state, and local taxes. Bolstered by social media and other outlets, it misleadingly asserts that immigrants, particularly those who are undocumented, evade taxes. The facts don’t back up these claims. Immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, pay taxes. Our […]

The post Immigrants Contribute Billions to Federal and State Taxes Each Year appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Thousands of immigrant workers with pending work permit renewals, and their employers, breathed a sigh of relief last week. On April 8, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a temporary rule that automatically extends the validity period of their work permits for up to 540 days, or about a year and a half. This […]

The post USCIS Re-Issues Temporary Rule to Extend Work Permits for 800,000 Immigrant Workers appeared first on Immigration Impact.

After months of contentious debate and near government shutdowns, Congress approved appropriations for fiscal year 2024, which President Biden quickly signed into law. The spending package contains several important immigration-related appropriations and provisions. Alarmingly, however, $800 million has been cut from the Shelter and Services Program (SSP) under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and […]

The post The Federal Government Is Cutting Aid for Migrant Shelters and Services. What Will States Do Now? appeared first on Immigration Impact.

President Biden signed the final 6-bill “minibus” funding package for fiscal year (FY) 2024 on March 23, which includes funding for the agencies that implement our immigration laws. This was the culmination of months of negotiations mired by attempts to insert restrictive border and immigration policy changes into the budget. While the compromise package doesn’t […]

The post FY 2024 Government Funding Package Is a Mixed-Bag on Immigration appeared first on Immigration Impact.