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.
Trump Administration Responds to Tragedy By Putting Hundreds of Thousands of Legal Immigrants’ Lives On Hold
After the tragic shooting of two members of the West Virginia National Guard in DC last week, the Trump administration has taken this opportunity to further escalate its rhetoric against immigrants from countries it deems undesirable. Trump himself blustered that he was going to halt all migration from the… Read More
Council Seeks Information on How USCIS Is Processing FOIA Requests for Immigration Records
An Alien File (A-File) is a record that holds a noncitizens’ immigration history. It includes copies of forms they may have filed, information about their immigration arrests (if they have had encounters with immigration enforcement), and some immigration court records. This file is crucial to immigrants and their legal… Read More
USCIS Will Resume Posting Administrative Appeals Office Decisions on its Website after Lawsuit from the Council and its Partners
The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) is the branch of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that adjudicates appeals filed by noncitizens when they are wrongly denied certain types of immigration benefits. In most cases, the AAO issues non-precedent decisions as the final opinion in these appeals, which the AAO used to post on the USCIS webpage dedicated to these decisions. Practitioners, and… Read More
A Texas-Only DACA? Why This Imminent Ruling Could Upend National Policy
Tens of thousands of DACA recipients in Texas may soon be stripped of their ability to work in the U.S. lawfully—and the consequences won’t stop at the state line. In January 2025, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that portions of a 2022 DACA regulation –… Read More
Legal Groups File Emergency Motion to Stop ICE from Jailing Immigrant Teens in Adult Detention
Washington, D.C, October 4 — Advocacy groups the American Immigration Council and the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) filed an emergency motion on October 4, seeking to enforce a 2021 court ruling (in the Garcia Ramirez v. ICE case) that prevents ICE from illegally locking… Read More
Amicus Brief Argues that Judicial Review is Available When Consular Officer Reclassifies an Immigrant Visa Petition Creating Delay for Applicant
This amicus brief argues that when a consular officer reclassifies an immigrant visa petition based on agency policy, then the consular nonreviewability doctrine does not apply. The brief argues that the consular officer neither denied the visa nor made an individualized discretionary decision—and instead placed the applicant into a… Read More
DACA Recipients Keep Getting Detained, Despite Protections
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin recently told NBC News that “DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country.” Then she went further: any DACA recipient may be detained and deported, and urged them to self-deport. DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,… Read More
Axel, a DACA recipient trying to protect his community
Since President Trump’s election, Axel Herrera has seen a growing number of local police traffic checkpoints popping up across his North Carolina community. As a DACA recipient, Axel has legal protection from deportation, but some of his friends and family members have already been detained or deported following random… Read More
Council and AILA File Lawsuit to Compel DHS and USCIS to Release Details about the Suspension of Processing Asylees’ and Refugees’ Green Card Applications
On March 25, 2025, media reports surfaced indicating that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)—the agency in charge of approving green card applications and other immigration benefits—had stopped processing green card applications filed by asylees and refugees. The suspension impacts tens of thousands of individuals who fled their home… Read More
Department of State Pauses Visa Interview for J, F, and M visitors
On Tuesday, May 27, the international exchange and education community was dealt yet another blow when the Trump administration temporarily paused scheduling new F, M, and J visa appointments.??Politico?reported?that a cable sent to all embassies and consular posts by Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for… Read More
America's story is an immigrant story.
