COVID-19
Farmworkers Need Better Support to Survive COVID-19
The dangers to America’s farmworkers—primarily immigrant men from Mexico with temporary H-2A visas—have long persisted under a system that is ripe for abuse. But those risks have only grown since the coronavirus pandemic erupted in the United States this March. A lack of workplace protections, crowded housing, and no… Read More
COVID-19 Wreaks Havoc on Immigration Courts With No Clear Plan to Stop Spread
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread throughout the United States, immigration courts around the country remain in turmoil. The Executive Office for Immigration Review (“EOIR”) initially postponed all non-detained hearings when lockdowns began in March. However, EOIR refused to close all… Read More
Border Patrol Raids Camp in Retaliation Against Humanitarian Aid Workers
The United States Border Patrol raided a humanitarian aid camp in Arizona on July 31, detaining volunteers and over 30 people receiving care. The camp—known as Byrd Camp—is run by No More Deaths (NMD), an organization that works to end the death and suffering of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Read More
USCIS Fee Hikes Will Go Into Effect for These Applications
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released an advance copy of a final rule on July 31 that will impose significant fee increases across many facets of the legal immigration system. These changes include an astronomical 80% increase to the cost of becoming a U.S. citizen and a first-time… Read More
Trump’s Public Charge Rule Is Blocked Again Over Impact of COVID-19
A federal judge in New York has once again put the Trump administration’s “public charge” rule on hold, but only for the duration of the COVID-19 national emergency. This rule, which went into effect in February after the Supreme Court stepped in, has restricted the ability of low-income immigrants to… Read More
Government Secretly Held Asylum-Seeking Children in Hotels
The Trump administration has been detaining immigrant children in hotels along the Texas-Mexico border and in Arizona. Some of the children are just a year old and are held in the hotels for weeks before being expelled from the United States. A group of immigrant children who were held in… Read More
What You Need to Know About the Partial DACA Rescission Memo
After nearly six weeks of inaction following its stinging defeat before the Supreme Court on June 18, the Department of Homeland Security released a memo gutting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. This will set the stage for a full rescission of the initiative in… Read More
Trump Deployed a Federal Agency With a History of Excessive Force to Police Racial Justice Protests
The May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minnesota police officers rightly sparked public outrage and protests throughout the United States. In response, the Trump administration deployed federal forces from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—which houses federal immigration enforcement agencies including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—to different… Read More
Canadian Court Rules US Is No Longer a ‘Safe Third Country’ for Asylum Applicants
A Canadian court has ruled that the United States is no longer a country to which the Canadian government could safely return asylum seekers who crossed the U.S-Canada land border. This upends more than 15 years of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. On July 22, the Federal Court of… Read More
The Jail-to-Deportation Pipeline Turns Deadly for Immigrants in the Pandemic
Another man has died in immigration detention from COVID-19. His tragic and avoidable death marks the deadly end to a jail-to-deportation pipeline that disproportionately targets Black and Brown people. On July 13, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a press release announcing that Onoval Perez-Montufa had died from… Read More
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No one should face the immigration system alone