Department of Homeland Security
Biden’s Reviving Phone-Booth Asylum. Here’s Why It Was a Disaster
The Biden administration is yet again turning to the Trump playbook as it tries to slap together a border crackdown to succeed the end of the Title 42 “public health” order next month. The latest revived Trump-era idea: keeping asylum seekers in Border Patrol custody for longer, and conducting asylum… Read More
DHS Publishes Privacy Document About ATDs and the Data They Collect – Two Decades Late
Written by Raul Pinto and Rebekah Wolf of the American Immigration Council The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published the Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) implementation of Alternative to Detention Programs (ATD) on March 17. ATD programs provide noncitizens in removal… Read More
Where the ‘Migrant Protection Protocols’ Stand, Four Years After Going Into Effect
Last week, a federal court in California issued a decision allowing asylum seekers and other plaintiffs to continue their legal challenge to the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” program, officially (and in true Orwellian fashion) called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). The program—which forced migrants to wait indefinitely in… Read More
Amid a Severe Shortage of Home Health Aides, Immigrants Help Care for Our Seniors
The United States will need to fill nearly three-quarters of a million open jobs for home health and personal care aides every year through 2031. Currently, immigrant workers fill these jobs in outsized numbers. Without more workers joining the workforce, the drastic shortage of aides could leave millions of Americans… Read More
USCIS Faces New Class Action Lawsuit for its Extreme Delays in Processing Waivers
Many families in the United States live in a frightening limbo when processing delays prevent one family member from becoming a lawful permanent resident. A lawsuit was recently filed against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on behalf of 248 people, and a class of tens of thousands more,… Read More
Congress Proposes the Case Backlog and Transparency Act to Tackle USCIS Backlogs
The backlog of pending applications at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has increased exponentially in the last few years. Congress is finally taking notice. The Case Backlog and Transparency Act, introduced by Congressman Tony Cárdenas on October 25, seeks to address the long delays encountered by millions of… Read More
New Report Shows Disproportionate Abuse of Black Immigrants in Detention
Black immigrants in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) disproportionately face abuse while in detention, a report released last week finds. Published by several organizations including the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) and Freedom for Immigrants (FFI), the report argues that this discriminatory treatment of… Read More
Hiring Foreign Seasonal Workers Doesn’t Hurt American Workers, New Study Finds
Do fewer U.S. workers get hired when employers also hire temporary seasonal labor from abroad? A new study of firms applying for H-2B visas suggests that the answer is no. The H-2B visa allows workers from abroad to enter the United States to fill temporary, non-agricultural jobs that… Read More
71% of Immigrants Win Their Cases Thanks to Pro Bono Volunteers with the Immigration Justice Campaign
Every year at the end of October, legal service providers come together to celebrate Pro Bono Week. It is a dedicated opportunity to acknowledge the amazing work that our volunteers do—work that is the foundation of the American Immigration Council’s Immigration Justice Campaign. In an immigration system that is… Read More
Public Records Requests Uncover Details About Flights of Migrants to Martha’s Vineyard
The flights of migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in September refocused attention on a phenomenon that had been unfolding for many months—the relocation of migrants by Republican governors to Democratic-led cities. The sheer callousness of the flights to Martha’s Vineyard caught the attention of a public weary of… Read More
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