Family is important, and it can be difficult to live far away from those you love. When you live far away, you may only be able to visit with certain family members one time in several months or even several years. Fortunately, there can be ways for your family to reunite in the United States. However, your ability to help certain family members can depend on your status in the U.S. Refugee or asylee If you are a refugee or asylee, you may only be able to petition to bring your spouse and children to the U.S. To be able to petition for a family member, you must have entered the U.S. as a refug ..read more

A remarkable poll released by Gallup shows that more Americans support an increase in immigration than at any time since at least 1965. Also, the vast majority of people agree that immigration is good for the country. Since 1965, Gallup has been surveying Americans to ask them if they wanted more immigration, less immigration, or to keep the number of immigrants who enter the U.S. the same. For 30 years, from 1965 to 1995, only 7 percent of those polled said they wanted the U.S. to expand immigration. Far more people said they wanted immigration reduced, peaking at 65 percent in 1995. The la ..read more

More than 649,000 immigrants across the country won't face deportation now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against how President Trump ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). DACA, a program instituted by President Obama, gave temporary legal status to those brought to the United States as children. Also known as "Dreamers," more than a quarter of the U.S.' DACA immigrants live in California. The court ruled 5-4 that it didn't approve of how the Trump Administration tried to end the DACA program. The court didn't rule as to if DACA is a sound policy. DACA, D ..read more

There are more than 183,000 DACA recipients here in California. These are individuals who were brought to the U.S. as young children and are now protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program. Collectively, they pay $2 billion in federal taxes plus about $977.5 million in state and local taxes. They also need to renew their DACA every two years, but are now facing a troubling new reality: a huge fee increase. A 55% increase to the renewal fee In the final months of 2019, the current White House administration’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) proposed a lo ..read more

In late February, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds final rule. Under this rule, immigrants applying for a U.S. green card may be at risk for denial if they use public benefits too often – or are deemed likely to rely on benefits. The new rule is meant to protect benefits for American citizens. However, many who oppose the rule have called it dangerous. Some believe that it’ll encourage immigrants to give up much-needed benefits in order to increase their chances of getting a green card. The rule puts certain people at ..read more

The Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt in 2019 to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The White House now takes a different approach, asking states for drivers’ license information, including birth dates, addresses, race, Hispanic origin, and citizenship status. There was also a request for lists of those who signed up for state-run public programs like food assistance, which is already shared for statistical purposes after it removes personal information. Civil rights advocates Census officials have cried foul over this records request. Even though this infor ..read more

A federal judge in Washington rejected on September 27 the Trump administration’s attempt to fast-track deportations. Initially announced in July, the policy would enable the Department of Homeland Security to quickly deport anyone who has been in the country for less than two years. It had yet to go into effect elsewhere, but it was used for migrants who were arrested soon after crossing the border illegally. U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ruled that “expedited removal” violated the procedural requirements that these migrants are allowed to first by government officials. Other prob ..read more

Moving to the United States as an immigrant is a big undertaking. Many people need to focus on the process of getting the proper documentation before coming. This is undoubtedly important, and it helps to have a team on your side that knows how to work through the process. While that process is ongoing, you have to start to plan for making a move. This presents challenges of its own. Fortunately, you can prepare. If you have family in the U.S., they can help you. Learn at least basic English While there will be times when you can speak in your native language, most people in the U.S. speak Eng ..read more

The Trump administration seems to mount an attack every week on migrants, asylum seekers and refugees seeking a better way of life. This week is no different. The State Department announced that the number of refugees and asylum seekers for the upcoming fiscal year would be 18,000, which is about 5% of the projected 368,000 applicants. This is the lowest number in 40 years of keeping track and down from the previous record low cap of 30,000, which was set in the previous year by Trump. The Obama administration set its cap in 2016 at 85,000. The State Department also released a statement that e ..read more

The school year has started for children here in the United States. Now in a happy turn of events, volunteers created a pop-up school on the sidewalk in Matamoros, Mexico. The idea is to provide migrant kids with some of the stability they would typically have. Matamoros is a border town where tens of thousands of migrant families camp out and wait for the U.S. immigration court to hear their case. Adult migrants and volunteer teachers from the U.S. are holding classes where about 50 children practice their letters, learn their numbers as well as do arts and crafts (they hang these projects fr ..read more