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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

By Tsion Gurmu, Legal Director at the Black Alliance for Just Immigration and Raul Pinto, Deputy Legal Director of Transparency 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 […] The post Differences in State Sunshine Laws Can Threaten Transparency Around Immigration Detention and Enforcement appeared first on Immigration Impact ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more