Tucson, Arizona will vote on a ballot measure to establish itself as a sanctuary city. After the measure achieved the required amount of signatures, the Tucson City Council voted Tuesday night to put a measure establishing protections for undocumented people on the ballot in November. These protections would include forbidding police from asking about immigration status and prohibiting […]
The number of Mexicans denied visas on public charge grounds has grown sharply in the last fiscal year. From October 2018 through July 2019, 5,343 immigrant visa applications from Mexican nationals were denied on the grounds that they risked becoming a public charge. During the same year, the total number of immigrant visa denials on public charge grounds […]
Two civil rights groups have filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s policy to fast-track deportations. On Tuesday, August 6, the ACLU, the American Immigration Council, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP filed the complaint on behalf of immigrant organizations which challenges the president’s new policy to fast-track deportations. The rule puts any immigrant at risk for expedited removal […]
ICE agents raided 7 Mississippi worksites, arresting 680 people in the largest single-state enforcement action in U.S. history. On Wednesday, August 7, ICE agents raided 7 worksites in 6 cities, targeting agricultural processing centers and arresting approximately 680 people ICE claims are undocumented. ICE Acting Director Albence announced that some of the people would be prosecuted for crimes, […]
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is reversing internal guidelines on U-visas, allowing greater discretion to deport victims of crimes. Previously, ICE had policies instructing officers to ask USCIS what the likelihood of approval of a certain U-visa petition would be before denying a stay of removal request. If USCIS made an initial positive determination, the ICE officer […]
A pilot program by the Trump Administration aims to “fast-track” family asylum cases. From September 2018 to June 2019, the Department of Homeland Security tracked 56,000 cases across 10 large cities that it wanted to fast-track. For these cases, the timetable is a matter of months, much faster than the average two years for asylum claims. Immigration […]
A federal judge blocked a Trump administration policy that would only allow migrants who entered the U.S. at a port of entry to claim asylum. District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington, D.C. found the policy “inconsistent with” the Immigration and Nationality Act, which states that “any alien who is physically present in the United States or who […]
The USCIS recently released its data related to Receipts, Completions, and REFs (Requests for Evidence) for fiscal years 2015 through 2019 (as of December 21, 2018) regarding nonimmigrant visas. After analyzing the data, the number of applicants receiving REFs or denials has increased in many of the visa categories, including H-1B visas. Applicants for H-1B […]
Many of the important roles played by individuals who have helped the United States during the war in Afghanistan are Afghan citizens. Unfortunately, these individuals face tremendous threats to their lives, health, and safety because of the assistance they have provided to the U.S. government. In recognition of their service to our country, some Afghan […]
With the continued emphasis on immigration reform, very few areas of immigration are immune from Congressional oversight. One particular visa program that has received harsh criticism from some Congressional members recently involves a program that grants visas to foreign investors. The program has also been the subject of lawsuits and allegations of abuse and fraud. […]
