Republicans
Immigrant Victims Left Waiting After U.S. Reaches U Visa Cap
The federal government has already reached its limit on the number of U visas—a special category for crime victims—available for the 2014 fiscal year. After only two months, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials have already filled the 10,000 visas available this year. Every year since the visa program began in 2008, USCIS has hit the maximum number of visas available, but this year is the fastest the limit has been reached. Reaching the visa cap so soon after the year started is a sign that lawmakers need to increase the number of visas available to help the victims. Read More
House Bi-Partisan Budget Deal Gives Hope to Immigration Activists
One day before Congress left town for the holiday recess, the House of Representatives approved a two-year budget deal by a wide margin. Despite some GOP opposition to the plan, House Speaker John Boehner allowed a vote on the plan, which passed with a majority of Democratic and Republican votes. The budget outline now heads to the Senate for a vote. Before the vote on Thursday, Boehner attacked extremely conservative factions within his party who he said were standing in the way of progress. He told reporters these groups were “misleading” and added, “I think they’re pushing our members in places where they don’t want to be. And frankly, I just think that they’ve lost all credibility.” Read More
House Hearing Misses the Mark on Asylum Claims
The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing Thursday about whether or not abuse of the asylum system is “overwhelming our borders.” What the committee ended up focusing on, however, was the alleged abuse of the credible fear screening process, a preliminary step in the application process for some asylum seekers. Although credible fear is different from asylum, this distinction was lost at times during the hearing despite the best efforts of the witnesses. Read More
USCIS to Offer Stay of Deportation to Certain Military Family Members
Today, USCIS issued guidance that is intended to prevent current and former members of the U.S. armed forces from being separated from their noncitizen family members. The memo indicates that the noncitizen family members may be afforded “parole in place.” “Parole in place” is a discretionary tool that… Read More
House Inaction Escalates Community’s Demands for Immigration Reform
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) reassured a few die-hard anti-immigration reform activists when he said he would never agree to a conference to reach agreement on a House immigration bill and the Senate’s bipartisan immigration that passed in June. But his comments fired up those who want to see Congress improve the nation’s broken immigration system. Despite some in the House dragging their feet on considering immigration reform legislation—House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy told advocates last week there weren’t enough days for them to act on it this year—immigration advocates in Washington, D.C., and across the country continued to push for the House to act on immigration reform. Read More
How Latino and Asian Voters Made the Difference in 2013 Gubernatorial Elections
In a Dickensian tale of two campaigns for governor, the Republican Party watched two very different strategies unfold on how to embrace or reject Latino voters on Tuesday. A majority of Latino voters voted for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as he soundly won reelection, while Ken Cuccinelli lost his campaign to be Virginia’s governor after alienating Latinos with his anti-immigrant positions. As Jordan Fabian at Fusion explains, Christie offered Republicans a path for how to make inroads with Latinos, but “Cuccinelli’s campaign, on the other hand, fell into the same traps that have doomed Republicans in the last two elections.” Read More
Latino Voters Poised to Again Play Key Role in Elections
One year after the 2012 elections, in which the Latino vote played a pivotal role in the re-election of President Obama, the Republican Party is still attempting to figure out how to attract Latinos and new immigrant voters to the fold. Tomorrow, voters head to the polls to decide several state elections and the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, and it looks like how a politician talks about immigration will continue to be a litmus test for Latino and Asian voters—many of whom see immigration as a personal issue. Consequently, the contrast between the Virginia and New Jersey races couldn’t be more telling. Read More
California Republican Becomes First to Join Comprehensive House Immigration Bill
Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) announced over the weekend that he will be the first Republican to become a co-sponsor of HR 15, the comprehensive House immigration bill introduced earlier this month. He confirmed the news to Univision anchor Jorge Ramos during an interview that aired on “Al Punto” Sunday, and he said he was going to urge other members of his party to join the bill as co-sponsors as well. “It’s about coming up with a solution that’s bipartisan; Republicans and Democrats coming together.” Read More
After Government Reopens, Calls for Immigration Reform Build
Now that Congress has ended the government shutdown and narrowly averted hitting the nation’s debt ceiling, it should come as no surprise that immigration reform is back in the news. Supporters of reform are pushing for House leadership to bring a path to citizenship and other immigration bills to the floor for a vote, while President Obama has called on lawmakers to improve the U.S. immigration system by the end of the year. “It’s really important for the country. And now is the time to do it,” Obama said in a recent interview. Read More
Ongoing Government Shutdown Disrupts Immigration Processing
With the shutdown of the government in its second week, many immigration-related agencies continue to be closed, affecting availability of services and information necessary for applications for immigration benefits and litigation of immigration cases. Because multiple federal agencies play a role in contributing to the functioning of the immigration system, the impact of the shutdown varies from case to case and issue to issue, but the cumulative impact is placing additional strain on an already over-burdened system. Read More
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