Immigration Benefits and Relief
The immigration laws and regulations provide some avenues to apply for lawful status from within the U.S. or to seek relief from deportation. The eligibility requirements for these benefits and relief can be stringent, and the immigration agencies often adopt overly restrictive interpretations of the requirements. Learn about advocacy and litigation that has been and can be undertaken to ensure that noncitizens have a fair chance to apply for the benefits and relief for which they are eligible. Providing avenues for legal status, protection, and family reunification is vital to ensuring humanitarian protection for immigrants. We are leading policy changes that open more opportunities like asylum, visas for victims of crime or human trafficking, and relief for long-term residents. Explore the resources below to learn more.
Letter Demands ICE Release Families Detained During COVID-19 Pandemic
The American Immigration Council joined a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security calling on the release of all families held at all three Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) family detention centers. COVID-19 is running rampant in these facilities—which detain children as young as one-year-old. In the Karnes County Residential… Read More
USCIS Wastes Time and Money With Increased Vetting in Citizenship Processing
The Trump administration has justified major changes to citizenship processing to “safeguard” the U.S. immigration system from application fraud. Yet the increased vetting has not lowered the number of approvals over the last few years, indicating an absence of fraud. The time it takes to approve those applications, however,… Read More
USCIS Upends the Lives of Immigrants by Refusing to Print Their Work Permits and Green Cards
Update: On August 3, 2020, a federal court in Ohio granted a temporary restraining order requiring USCIS to print a work permit within 7 days for all individuals who had been approved for one. The Trump administration’s full-on assault on the U.S. immigration system has… Read More
ICE Says International Students Must Take Classes in Person or Leave the Country
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge across the United States, many universities have chosen to temporarily move to online-only classes to protect public health. However, new guidance from the Trump administration will not allow international students to stay in the United States if their classes move online this fall. Read More
USCIS Hasn’t Approved a Single Person for Liberian Legalization Program
A program created in late 2019 to allow certain Liberian noncitizens in the United States to become lawful permanent residents (LPRs) is falling far short of its potential, according to a new report. The program in question is Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF), a provision of the… Read More
The Supreme Court Gave DACA a Lifeline. Now Trump and Congress Need to Create a Path to Citizenship for Dreamers.
The Supreme Court issued its long-anticipated decision in DHS v. Regents of the University of California—the case challenging the administration’s attempt to dismantle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. The Court ruled on June 18 that the administration did not adequately explain its decision to end… Read More
U.S. Supreme Court on DACA: Blocks Trump’s Cruel Attempt to Upend the Lives of 650,000 Community Members Across America
The U.S. Supreme Court today blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a critical initiative that has offered deportation protection and work authorization to hundreds of thousands of young people who arrived in the United States as children. Read More
DACA Made It Possible For Me to Fight Against COVID-19. The Supreme Court May Soon Make That Impossible.
My name is Sonia Martinez. I am a Certified Nursing Assistant working to help treat patients with COVID-19 at University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Colorado. I am also one of the 650,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients in the United States today. According to… Read More
New Report Reveals the Impact of COVID-19 Across the US Immigration System
The American Immigration Council's latest report examines major changes to the U.S. immigration system in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unique challenges the pandemic has created for noncitizens and government agencies. Read More
If the Supreme Court Terminates DACA, President Trump Can Still Fix It
The coronavirus has disrupted all our lives. Native-born Americans and noncitizens across the United States are experiencing many of the same challenges—the disruptions to day-to-day life, the struggle to find work to provide for their families, and the difficulties in obtaining adequate medical care. But many noncitizens are navigating these… Read More
Make a contribution
Make a direct impact on the lives of immigrants.
