USCIS
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
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
USCIS Wastes Time and Money With Increased Vetting in Citizenship Processing
The Trump administration has justified major changes to citizenship processing to “safeguard” the U.S. immigration system from application fraud. Yet the increased vetting has not lowered the number of approvals over the last few years, indicating an absence of fraud. The time it takes to approve those applications, however,… Read More
USCIS Upends the Lives of Immigrants by Refusing to Print Their Work Permits and Green Cards
Update: On August 3, 2020, a federal court in Ohio granted a temporary restraining order requiring USCIS to print a work permit within 7 days for all individuals who had been approved for one. The Trump administration’s full-on assault on the U.S. immigration system has… Read More
USCIS Holds Drive-Thru Naturalization Ceremonies to Work Through COVID-19 Backlog
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) expects, by the end of July, to have worked through nearly the entire backlog of naturalization oath ceremonies put on hold in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency is now providing new ways to take the oath, including drive-thru naturalization ceremonies. The… Read More
Court Orders ICE to End Its Practice of Unlawfully Detaining Immigrant Youth
Immigrant children who arrive in the United States without a parent are placed in shelters or foster care while their guardianship and immigration process play out. But all too often, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) takes them away as soon as they turn 18 and locks them in an… Read More
USCIS Hasn’t Approved a Single Person for Liberian Legalization Program
A program created in late 2019 to allow certain Liberian noncitizens in the United States to become lawful permanent residents (LPRs) is falling far short of its potential, according to a new report. The program in question is Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF), a provision of the… Read More
Federal Court Strikes Down Trump’s Asylum Transit Ban in Momentous Victory
On June 30, a federal judge in the District of Columbia struck down the Trump administration’s asylum transit ban, ending a sweeping policy that had shut down asylum for most people entering the United States at the southern border. The court’s decisive action could not have come soon enough,… Read More
Inspector General Report Overlooks Serious Medical Care Issues Within Border Patrol Custody
The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently published a report analyzing U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) treatment of noncitizens at the border in 2019. While the report critiques the agency for not meeting its own standards, it also allows CBP to… Read More
Supreme Court Limits Court Oversight for Fast-Track Deportations
The Supreme Court ruled on June 25 that certain asylum seekers forced through a fast-track deportation process at the U.S. border, called “expedited removal,” cannot challenge their deportations in federal court. Foreclosing a critical way to challenge these error-prone deportation orders leaves people even more vulnerable to abuse by immigration… Read More
America's story is an immigrant story.
