Immigration Benefits and Relief
The immigration laws and regulations provide some avenues to apply for lawful status from within the U.S. or to seek relief from deportation. The eligibility requirements for these benefits and relief can be stringent, and the immigration agencies often adopt overly restrictive interpretations of the requirements. Learn about advocacy and litigation that has been and can be undertaken to ensure that noncitizens have a fair chance to apply for the benefits and relief for which they are eligible. Providing avenues for legal status, protection, and family reunification is vital to ensuring humanitarian protection for immigrants. We are leading policy changes that open more opportunities like asylum, visas for victims of crime or human trafficking, and relief for long-term residents. Explore the resources below to learn more.
Did the Supreme Court Hand the Government a ‘Massive Blank Check’ to Put Traveling Green Card Holders in Legal Limbo?
The Supreme Court issued its first immigration opinion of the current term in Blanche v. Lau on Tuesday. The case is about what protections green card holders receive when they come home to the United States after traveling abroad. Muk Choi Lau has been a green card… Read More
Dreaming in Nightmares: DACA Recipients Increasingly Targeted for Detention and Deportation
In 2012, the lives of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the U.S. as young children changed dramatically with the creation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program – an executive action that provided recipients protection from deportation and renewable work authorization. DACA has… Read More
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA): An Overview
This fact sheet provides an overview of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and prior attempts to dismantle the initiative, as well as its current status. Read More
The Trump Administration Stopped Processing Certain Green Card Applications. Our FOIA Found What Happened Next.
Under the second Trump administration, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has repeatedly paused the processing of applications for all types of immigration benefits, including applications for legal permanent residency, commonly referred to as adjustment of status or getting your green card. One of the first suspensions occurred between… Read More
New USCIS Memo May Force More Green Card Applicants to Apply from Abroad, Causing Chaos and Confusion
Update: The text and headline of this post were updated on June 1, 2026, to reflect recent statements made by USCIS. On May 21, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum (PM-602-0199) concerning green card applications filed within the United States. While the Trump… Read More
New Dashboard Reveals Insights Into USCIS Backlogs and Processing Trends
The U.S. immigration system is broken — it’s a phrase heard often in discussions about the state of immigration in the U.S. Now, a new interactive dashboard from the American Immigration Council allows anyone with an internet connection to better understand our dysfunctional system of legal immigration. … Read More
Council and Just Futures Law File FOIA Request Seeking Information on USCIS’ Implementation of “Anti-Americanism” in Adjudicating Benefit Applications
Following the issuance of two executive orders in the early days of the second Trump administration, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 9, 2025 that it would begin considering “anti-Semitic activity” on social media as grounds for denying immigration benefit requests. Shortly thereafter, USCIS claimed also… Read More
Council Challenges USCIS’s Refusal to Release I-213s and Other Immigration Records
An Alien File (A-File) is a record that holds a noncitizens’ immigration history, including Form I-213 which contains any U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) allegations that a noncitizen is deportable. Obtaining Form I-213 and other immigration records in an A-File is a critical part of immigrants applying for immigration… Read More
Prolonged Limbo for Haitian TPS Holders: What Recent Court Decisions Mean
Updates April 13, 2026 — The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments related to Haitian and Syrian Temporary Protected Status (TPS), with oral arguments taking place in late April and a decision later this summer. The court’s ruling will significantly impact the estimated 6,100 Syrian and 330,000… Read More
Capture of Maduro Proves Trump Has Used Venezuelans as Political Pawns in Immigration Policy
With the capture and prosecution of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, the United States’ convoluted—and often contradictory—policies toward Venezuelan immigrants have been thrown into stark relief. And Venezuelans living in the United States continue to feel the whiplash. Over the past five years, Venezuelans fleeing political persecution or economic… Read More
America's story is an immigrant story.
