Page: Citizen

7/27/21 Today the Administration is releasing a blueprint that outlines the next steps Federal agencies will be taking to continue implementing the President’s transformative vision for a 21st century immigration system that secures the border, fairly and efficiently considers asylum claims, strengthens regional migration management efforts in North and Central America, and addresses the root causes of migration from Central America. Success in building this fair, orderly, and humane immigration system won’t be achieved overnight, especially after the prior Administration’s irrational and inhumane policies, but this Administration has a blueprint to get there and is making real progress.

2/18/22 The Supreme Court will hear a proposal by the Biden administration to rescind a controversial Trump-era immigration policy.
Despite the official end of the policy in June 2021, Remain in Mexico was ordered to reinstate the policy by a federal judge in Texas in August 2021. It came after Texas and Missouri filed suit against the Biden administration for its removal, saying that it was improperly terminated. A week after the order, the U.S. and Mexico agreed to restart the program. Since the policy’s restart, 572 people have been deported to Mexico from the United States.

7/16/21 Update from the National Immigration Law Center
– A U.S. district court in Texas today agreed with a group of states, led by Texas, that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is unlawful.
The court ruled that DACA is unlawful and blocked the federal government from granting any new first-time DACA applications. However, the court will continue to allow DACA renewals. People with DACA will not lose their protections. For the time being, pending renewal applications will be adjudicated and current DACA recipients can continue to submit renewal applications. Key Words: NILC

4/28/21 Deference is back! USCIS announced that, effective immediately, it will reinstate its 2004 policy of deferring to prior determinations of eligibility.
Rescinded by the Trump administration, this policy directed officers to “generally defer to prior determinations of eligibility when adjudicating petition extensions involving the same parties and facts as the initial petition.” This means that prior determinations made by USCIS will receive deference unless “there was a material error, material change in circumstances or in eligibility, or new material information” that would have an adverse impact on eligibility.

1/26/21 The Justice Department on Tuesday rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations.
Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson issued the new memo to federal prosecutors across the nation, saying the department would return to its longstanding previous policy and instructing prosecutors to act on the merits of individual cases.

On July 16, 2021, a Texas judge issued a ruling partially ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. While USCIS can accept first-time applications, this decision prevents USCIS from approving or processing them. Therefore, if you choose to submit a first-time application, you will not get a response on this application or be refunded for the $495 application fee. You should consult with an accredited representative or lawyer if you have additional questions about submitting a first-time application.

11/25/19 Many people wonder why all immigrants do not just come to the United States legally or simply apply for citizenship while living here without authorization. These suggestions miss the point: There is no line available for current unauthorized immigrants and the “regular channels” are largely not available to prospective immigrants who end up entering the country through unauthorized channels. Even though most unauthorized immigrants have lived in the United States for nearly 15 years, many could live out the rest of their lives without any opportunity to become legal residents of this country.

12-18 In May 2018, ORR, ICE, and CBP entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) [1] mandating continuous information-sharing on unaccompanied immigrant children beginning when CBP or ICE takes them into custody through their release from ORR
custody. This includes information on the children’s potential sponsors (usually family members), as well as anyone else living with the sponsor. The MOA represents a dramatic change from past practice and is already resulting in severe consequences, including prolonged lengths of stay of children in federal custody, increased costs, family separation, and increased risk of abuse
or trafficking of vulnerable children. The following summarizes the MOA’s changes and their impact on children, families, and the U.S. taxpayer: Key Words: Privacy, data sharing

6/19/18 Historically, denaturalization has been an exceedingly rare occurrence, for good reason: by the time a person is naturalized, she has lived in this country for a number of years and has passed the hurdles of obtaining entry, legal permanent residency, and, finally, citizenship.
…the creation of the task force itself is undoing the naturalization of the more than twenty million naturalized citizens in the American population by taking away their assumption of permanence. All of them (all of us) are second-class citizens now.