This Week in Immigration - American Immigration Council

Six years ago, the Dallas City Council passed a resolution to make the city more welcoming for immigrants and long-time residents alike. The city council proposed policy recommendations to address the unprecedented challenges immigrants and refugees in the Texas city face. Alongside the resolution, the city, in collaboration with multisector stakeholders, launched the Welcoming Dallas […]

The post Taking Welcoming Work to New Heights in the Lone Star State: Welcoming Interactive 2024 appeared first on Immigration Impact.

On April 29, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a new rule aimed at protecting workers on temporary H-2A visas and strengthening the agency’s oversight of their employers. The rule is set to go into effect on June 28, with a two-month subsequent grace period. The H-2A program allows migrant laborers to work in temporary […]

The post Biden’s New H-2A Rule Expands Protections and Increases Oversight for Migrant Workers appeared first on Immigration Impact.

When someone crosses the border to seek asylum in the United States, they often first go through a credible fear interview (CFI). An asylum officer evaluates a person’s fear of returning to their home country and decides whether they will be allowed to apply for asylum and other forms of protection. Because it determines access […]

The post Volunteers Needed for Credible Fear Interview Preparation in CBP Hotline appeared first on Immigration Impact.

On April 19, forty minutes after the ostensible deadline to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Congress passed H.R. 7888, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA). President Biden quickly signed it into law hours later. RISAA reauthorizes Section 702 for two years, provides modest reforms, and includes several controversial […]

The post Congress Expands Warrantless Surveillance of Immigrants Traveling to the US appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently announced its revision of the race and ethnicity question on federal surveys, including the U.S. census, adding “Middle Eastern or North African (MENA)” as a new category. This welcoming news came ahead of the Arab American Heritage Month in April. “These revisions will enhance our […]

The post Data Snapshot: Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Without fail, each Tax Day a prevalent myth resurfaces that conceals the truth about immigrants’ contributions to federal, state, and local taxes. Bolstered by social media and other outlets, it misleadingly asserts that immigrants, particularly those who are undocumented, evade taxes. The facts don’t back up these claims. Immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, pay taxes. Our […]

The post Immigrants Contribute Billions to Federal and State Taxes Each Year appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Thousands of immigrant workers with pending work permit renewals, and their employers, breathed a sigh of relief last week. On April 8, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a temporary rule that automatically extends the validity period of their work permits for up to 540 days, or about a year and a half. This […]

The post USCIS Re-Issues Temporary Rule to Extend Work Permits for 800,000 Immigrant Workers appeared first on Immigration Impact.

After months of contentious debate and near government shutdowns, Congress approved appropriations for fiscal year 2024, which President Biden quickly signed into law. The spending package contains several important immigration-related appropriations and provisions. Alarmingly, however, $800 million has been cut from the Shelter and Services Program (SSP) under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and […]

The post The Federal Government Is Cutting Aid for Migrant Shelters and Services. What Will States Do Now? appeared first on Immigration Impact.

President Biden signed the final 6-bill “minibus” funding package for fiscal year (FY) 2024 on March 23, which includes funding for the agencies that implement our immigration laws. This was the culmination of months of negotiations mired by attempts to insert restrictive border and immigration policy changes into the budget. While the compromise package doesn’t […]

The post FY 2024 Government Funding Package Is a Mixed-Bag on Immigration appeared first on Immigration Impact.

A recent analysis by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) found that the number of petitions by, or on behalf of, foreign-born workers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) increased following a pair of guidance clarifications the agency made in January 2022. One outlines how foreign-born STEM professionals can qualify for […]

The post STEM-Related Petitions Increase Following USCIS’ Updated Policy Guidance appeared first on Immigration Impact.

By Gwen Short, Staff Attorney at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality and Raul Pinto, Deputy Director of Transparency at the American Immigration Council ABLE and the American Immigration Council published a report on March 19 analyzing data suggesting that the collusion between U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Sandusky Bay station and Ohio law enforcement […]

The post Border Patrol and Ohio Law Enforcement Engage in Racial Profiling in Northern Ohio, New Report Finds appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The Supreme Court issued an important victory for noncitizens seeking cancellation of removal and the principle of judicial review of agency action on March 19. And despite the current court’s tenuous regard for stare decisis – the idea that “today’s Court should stand by yesterday’s decisions” – in Wilkinson v. Garland, the Supreme Court reaffirmed […]

The post Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Judicial Review of Mixed Questions, Even Those That Are Fact Intensive appeared first on Immigration Impact.

On March 8, a federal district court in Texas dismissed a challenge to a parole program set up by the Biden administration to allow 30,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans to enter the United States legally each month, known as the CHNV parole program, allowing the program to stay in place. Judge Drew Tipton of […]

The post District Court in Texas Allows CHNV Parole Program to Continue appeared first on Immigration Impact.

The main way in which the public can access information about what the federal government is doing is through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). However, laws that allow the public to get state public records, also known as sunshine laws or public records laws, are different from state by state. State and local government […]

The post Differences in State Sunshine Laws Can Threaten Transparency Around Immigration Detention and Enforcement appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Six years ago, a man came to the U.S./Mexico border with his five-year-old daughter, looking for safety in the United States.   At home, a rival political faction had been making death threats against him and his family. That compelled him to take his daughter to the United States to seek asylum for them both.   But […]

The post Despite Progress, the Tragedy of Family Separation Can Never Be Undone appeared first on Immigration Impact.

By Kate Melloy Goettel and Juan Avilez  A Texas law that allows local law enforcement to arrest migrants, state court judges to issue removal orders, and state officials to remove migrants to Mexico, is on its way to the Supreme Court.   Texas Senate Bill 4 (SB4), which was signed into law in November and was […]

The post Showdown Between Texas Authorities and the Federal Government Headed to the Supreme Court appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Since its conception in 1977, International Women’s Day has evolved into a global celebration highlighting women’s achievements and the challenges they face. The holiday’s origins can be traced back to the women’s suffrage and labor movements in the early 20th century – predominantly those led by women in the workforce.  Along with U.S.-born women, female immigrants […]

The post On International Women’s Day, We Celebrate the Important Contributions of Immigrant Women in the American Workforce appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, the U.S. has provided certain Ukrainians with temporary authorization, or parole, to remain in the country. However, multiple agencies, including Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), have been involved in this process, which caused concern that there wouldn’t be a streamlined […]

The post USCIS Announces Re-parole for Ukrainians appeared first on Immigration Impact.

A new research report, New Americans in Houston: A Snapshot of the Demographic and Economic Contributions of Immigrants in the Houston Metro Area, released by the American Immigration Council, underscores the crucial role immigrants play in the Houston metro area’s economy. The report was published in partnership with Amegy Bank, Texas Association of Business (TAB), […]

The post New Americans in Houston Report Launched at Regional Event: Houston: Poised to Lead appeared first on Immigration Impact.

For decades, the Catholic nonprofit Annunciation House has worked to support migrants in El Paso, Texas. It’s provided shelter, food and services to countless people who have just arrived in the United States—many of whom have been released directly from government custody after being apprehended and processed by Customs and Border Protection, and many of […]

The post The State of Texas Isn’t Just Creating Chaos and Cruelty at the Border—It’s Trying to Break the Things That Work appeared first on Immigration Impact.