On August 8, 2018, DHS issued a policy memorandum directing USCIS to change the way in which the agency counted the days of unlawful presence for F, M, and J status violators. Under that policy memorandum, F, M, and J nonimmigrants who accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence…
Articles Posted in Deportation & Removal
White House Issues Presidential Proclamation to Tighten Asylum Process
The White House recently issued a Presidential Memorandum to strengthen asylum procedures and safeguard the asylum system against fraud. The Presidential Proclamation specifically orders the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security to take several measures to enhance the security of the asylum system by July 28, 2019. These measures…
House Democrats Introduce Dream and Promise Act 2019
Flickr: mollyktadams House Democrats are making a move to help Dreamers achieve permanent residence. A new bill dubbed HR 6, the Dream and Promise Act, seeks to provide undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children, the opportunity to obtain permanent residence. In addition, the bill includes a…
New Report Indicates Immigration Backlogs Have Reached “Crisis” Levels under Trump
A new policy brief published by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) analyzing USCIS processing times reveals that the agency has reached “crisis” level delays in processing immigrant and non-immigrant petitions. These delays have worsened during the Trump administration. According to the report the most vulnerable populations include immigrant families,…
Immigration Courts feel the pinch of the Government Shutdown
A new report released by CBS news estimates that the immigration court system could face a staggering backlog of more than one million cases, if the government shutdown extends into February and March. According to the report, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky in particular will be the most affected, owing to…
The President Delivers Oval Office Address on Border Wall
This evening the President of the United States delivered his first primetime address from the Oval Office to gain support from the American people to build a border wall along the U.S./Mexico border. The President’s speech comes 17 days into a partial government shutdown that has left thousands of federal…
Government Shutdown enters 13th day, Increasing the Immigration Court Backlog
The government shutdown has now entered its 13th day with no agreement in sight between the President and lawmakers to settle government funding for the President’s wall along the U.S./Mexico border. Today, January 3, 2019, the President awoke to a newly convened House of Representatives, now controlled by the Democratic…
How Will the Government Shutdown Impact Immigration?
Photo credit: Scott Kirkwood/NPCA Today marks the fifth day of a partial government shutdown that began on Saturday. The government was forced into a shutdown after Democrats refused to concede $5 billion dollars to fund the President’s wall along the southwest border. Since then, Democratic leaders in the House and…
This Week in Immigration News: House Proposes to Add Ireland to E-3 Program, Dreamer Negotiations, and More…
The House Proposes to Extend the E-3 Program to Irish Nationals On November 20, 2018, the House of Representatives introduced H.R. 7164, a bill proposing to add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program. Currently, the E-3 visa program is available to American employers seeking to hire Australian nationals to…
This Week at the Southwest Border: Closures at the San Ysidro port of entry
The immigrant caravan from Central America has now reached the Southwest border. Thousands of migrants are now waiting in Tijuana for an opportunity to apply for asylum at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, tensions begin to mount as members of the immigrant…