By Walter Ewing, Immigration Impact 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 caves that USCIS […]
By Walter Ewing, Immigration Impact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has begun implementing policies in recent weeks which expand access to lawful immigration status, employment, and humanitarian protections for people who were previously under assault by the Trump administration. ‘ These latest developments include a redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians, a […]
By Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Immigration Impact When President Biden took office, he inherited a legal immigration system that was teetering on the brink of collapse. Delays within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have reached historic levels and some work permit applications are taking so long to process that thousands are losing their jobs. A new […]
Media cover a bittersweet reunion through the US-Mexico fence between DACA recipients and parents who’ve been deported. – Nogales, Ariz. / US – June 11, 2013 (Shutterstock) By Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Immigrant Impact In a blow to the Biden administration, a federal judge in Texas has ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) not to enforce its moratorium […]
By Valentine Brown, Immigration Impact The application fee to apply for U.S. citizenship was due to rise from $640 to $1170 on October 2. Though the fee hike was temporarily blocked in federal court, this is not the first time U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has tried to raise the naturalization application fee. But the increase has never […]
By Walter Ewing, Immigration Impact The Department of Homeland Security has proposed a rule that would make it much more difficult for U.S. citizens and legal immigrants—especially those experiencing financial hardship—to sponsor family members for green cards. If the rule goes into effect, the process of family-based immigration will become even more cumbersome and restrictive. […]
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White agrees with GAO that DHS acting secretary was appointed illegally, therefore ruling his proposals invalid.
LOS ANGELES — The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), the largest immigrant rights organization in California, applauds a federal judge’s decision last night to block the Trump administration’s racist wealth test through fee hikes on asylum, green cards, citizenship, and other benefits. But for the judge’s ruling, these changes, would have gone into […]
On Sept. 18, we updated our policy guidance concerning residency requirements under section 320 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to comply with the requirements of the recently enacted Citizenship for Children of Military Members and Civil Servants Act. Under the new law, a child born outside of the United States acquires automatic […]
By Jorge Loweree, Immigration Impact The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced plans to dramatically expand the personal information that it collects in support of immigration petitions and applications. This new rule will increase the total number of people who are required to submit biometric data from 3.9 million currently to 6.07 million—an increase of more than […]
By Melissa Cruz, Immigration Impact Hundreds of thousands of immigrants might be prevented from voting in the 2020 election—even though they are just one step away from becoming new Americans. Years of fiscal mismanagement at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)—coupled with a series of policy changes under the Trump administration—have led to an enormous backlog of citizenship applications […]