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.
New Data: Immigrants Keep Economy Strong, As Congress Considers Wasting Billions on Mass Deportation
New data shows how immigrants are contributing billions of dollars to the U.S. economy, even as the Trump administration and Congress are pushing for unprecedented funding for mass deportation. Read More
What We Know About Trump’s Efforts to Roll Back TPS For Venezuelans and CHNV Parole
From his first day in office, President Trump made clear that part of his immigration agenda was to strip legal protections from people who currently qualify for them, rendering them deportable as “illegal immigrants.” In his first weeks, the administration has made a few opening moves in that effort,… Read More
Biden Keeps Nearly 1 Million People From Losing Legal Status Under Trump – Until Fall 2026
As one of the Biden administration’s final acts on immigration, the Department of Homeland Security has announced that it is extending four grants of Temporary Protected Status – covering nearly 1 million immigrants from Venezuela, El Salvador, Ukraine, and Sudan – through fall 2026. The extensions will allow people… Read More
Testifying on the Catastrophic Economic and Humane Costs of Mass Deportations
The American Immigration Council appeared before Congress to address the catastrophic economic and humane costs of mass deportations. Read More
Documented Dreamers: An Overview
This fact sheet provides an overview of Documented Dreamers, explains how they can age out of immigration status at 21, and summarizes the current federal legislative proposals to protect them from deportation. Read More
Temporary Protected Status: What’s Up With That?
On October 17, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that Secretary Mayorkas was designating the country of Lebanon for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Through this designation, DHS expects that as many as 11,000 Lebanese individuals currently in the country will be eligible to apply for a potentially renewable… Read More
CHNV Parole Won’t Last Forever – But There Are Options for Its Beneficiaries to Stay in the US
In the last two years, nearly 500,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela have arrived in the United States to live and work here legally. They have come under a program known as “CHNV,” named for the nationalities of its beneficiaries. The CHNV program allows people in the… Read More
The 5th Circuit Fight for DACA Is a Personal One
Written by Ilse Ramirez, Paralegal, and Andrea Rathbone Ramos, Digital Communications Specialist The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana, heard oral arguments on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative on October 10. The court is deciding whether DACA is unlawful, potentially paving the way for… Read More
DACA Recipients Need Permanent Protection from Congress
So long as Congress fails to step up and provide a permanent solution, DACA recipients will continue living in constant fear and uncertainty, the Council said today. Read More
Fighting Over Whether Haitian Immigrants Are ‘Legal’ Misses the Point: They’re Legally Vulnerable
As Springfield, Ohio, and its purported (largely invented) problems with its Haitian population have continued to dominate both national news and the presidential campaign, people on both sides have struggled to fit the newly-arrived Haitian population into the conventional boxes of immigration politics: “legal immigrants” versus “illegal” ones. So-called… Read More
