Posts From October, 2019

The House passed the “Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants” act in September, which would phase out per-country caps on green cards. Now Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is calling on the Senate to pass the bill. He argues that America is missing out on the “contributions” of highly skilled immigrants who are caught in backlogs due to […]

The “Remain in Mexico” program employed by the federal government sends asylum seekers back to border cities in Mexico while they wait for their immigration hearing dates, often months later. A report by Human Rights First has now argued that the federal government is not using discretion in deciding who will be returned to Mexico. The report […]

A proposed regulation from a September USCIS meeting has shown USCIS considering new fees for DACA recipients, charging multiple fees for asylum applications and documents, and transferring $200 million to ICE. The additional budget for ICE is for “qualifying investigative work.” The specific asylum fees proposed are a $50 fee for the application, a fee for […]

USCIS issued three Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) adopted decisions to clarify its view on the requirements for the Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification. The SIJ classification first requires evidence of a court’s intervention to “provide relief from abuse, neglect or abandonment” and not just a statement that the “juvenile is dependent on the court.” USCIS explained […]

The governor of California signed a bill into law on Friday that bans private prisons in the state, including privately-run immigration detention facilities. The facilities will be phased out, prohibiting the state from renewing or signing contracts with these facilities after January 1, 2020. All private facilities will be out of use by 2028. USCIS currently […]

When acting DHS Secretary McAleenan resigned last Friday, the president said he would choose a new acting secretary this week. Two of his probable picks, acting head of USCIS Ken Cuccinelli and acting commissioner of CBP Mark Morgan, face legal hurdles to getting the job. The Federal Vacancies Reform Act requires that acting cabinet members must be […]

In September, both the Senate and the House passed a measure to end the state of national emergency at the southern border. On Tuesday night, President Trump announced his veto of the measure. It is unlikely that Congress will be able to override the veto. This veto came 7 months after the president’s last veto on the […]

The three countries signed asylum deals with the U.S., but the U.S. previously froze funding until each country did more to reduce the flow of migrants to the U.S. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Pompeo notified Congress that foreign assistance to the Northern Triangle countries will be resumed. The aid will support programs aimed at reducing illegal […]

The United States Department of State has officially begun accepting online registrations for the Fiscal Year 2021 Diversity Visa lottery since October 2, 2019. The deadline for foreign nationals looking to enter the lottery is set for Tuesday, November 5, 2019 at noon, Eastern Standard Time.  The Diversity Lottery program for the 2021 Fiscal Year […]

THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS) HAS PUT FORWARD A PROPOSAL TO COLLECT ALL SOCIAL MEDIA INFORMATION FROM ADJUSTMENT APPLICANTS AS WELL AS OTHER IMMIGRATION BENEFITS APPLICANTS According to a Federal Register Notice published on September 4, 2019, DHS plans to collect all social media information from the past five years of all applicants applying […]