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.
U.S. Residents Sue USCIS and NARA for Delays in U.S. Citizenship Applications
Thirteen people waiting to become U.S. citizens filed a lawsuit challenging U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ unreasonable delays and failure to process U.S. naturalization applications filed in 2020. Read More
Challenging USCIS To End Naturalization Application Delays
This lawsuit challenges USCIS' unreasonable delay in processing naturalization applications that were filed in 2020 and has prevented applicants from becoming U.S. citizens. Read More
Supreme Court Rejects Review Over Factual Questions in Immigration Removal Proceedings
The Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision on May 16 rejecting federal court review of fact-finding done by immigration courts. The Court’s reasoning could have wide-ranging impacts on many more types of immigration relief. The case—Patel v. Garland—centers around Pankajkumar Patel, a native of India, who erroneously checked a… Read More
Council and Partners Submit Comment on Department of Education’s Proposed Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System Guidance
The Council and 29 other organizations submitted a comment to the Department of Education in response to a notice in the federal register detailing proposed changes to how institutions of higher education report data to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Read More
The US Response to Ukraine Shows We Have the Capacity for Humanitarian Relief
At the beginning of March 2022, as millions of Ukrainians were being displaced by Russian invasion, the U.S. government announced a series of policy changes to assist some of the people impacted by the war. Using many of the United States’ humanitarian protection authorities, the government acted quickly to help… Read More
New Biden Administration Policies Offer Crucial Protections for Immigrant Youth
The government made two important announcements on March 7th affecting immigrant children who have been abused, abandoned, and neglected. The first is a new policy that offers work permits and deportation protection to children with approved Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) petitions. The second is a long-anticipated SIJS regulation, clarifying… Read More
Ukrainians in the United States Who May Qualify for Temporary Protected Status: An Overview
This fact sheet provides a demographic overview of the population of Ukrainians in the United States who may qualify for TPS, and what benefits TPS would confer upon those individuals. Read More
Coalition Urges Biden Administration to Designate Temporary Protected Status to Ukraine
The American Immigration Council joined 177 organizations to request an immediate 18-month designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) and Special Student Relief (SSR) for Ukraine. Read More
U.S. Citizenship Applicants Are in Limbo Because Their Immigration Files Are Locked in Caves Underground
Thousands of applicants for U.S. citizenship have been waiting for well over a year for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to process their applications. But the problem isn’t the usual bureaucratic red tape. In this case, thousands of paper-based immigration records (known as “A-Files”) are locked in man-made… Read More
One Year In: The Biden Administration’s Promises on Immigration Remain Unfulfilled
President Biden announced a welcoming and inclusive vision for immigration in a legislative proposal and a series of executive actions signed on his first day in office. But one year into Biden’s presidency, his promises on immigration remain unfulfilled. Read More
