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.
Once Again, Undocumented Youth Find Themselves in Legal Limbo After Court Decisions
After months of waiting for decisions on the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, hundreds of thousands of undocumented youth are back to where they started—waiting for a legislative fix to their ongoing legal limbo. The Biden administration and the states suing to end DACA continue… Read More
A New Bill Would Allow Millions of Immigrants to Apply for Green Cards
On September 28, Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) introduced a bill in Congress that would allow millions of immigrants who have lived in the United States for many years to become Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs). This pathway to LPR status (also known as a green card) would benefit both long-term… Read More
DACA Is Facing a Crisis That the Senate Can No Longer Ignore
Written by Jorge Loweree and Raul Pinto of the American Immigration Council More than a decade after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) first created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to shield certain undocumented youth from deportation, it remains the subject of ongoing litigation. This has… Read More
Congress Must Ensure a Permanent Solution and Expand Protections for Dreamers as Litigation Over DACA Continues
While DACA will continue to temporarily remain in effect for renewals, the program is on tenuous ground as its legality is again tested before a Texas trial court hostile to immigrants. Read More
Biden Administration Close to Reaching Increased Cap on Employment-Based Green Cards
The Biden administration is close to using all of the employment-based immigrant visas (green cards) allotted for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that as of August 31, a total of 263,510 employment-based immigrant visas had been used this fiscal year (FY)—close to… Read More
Immigration Status Will No Longer Be a Barrier for Aspiring Lawyers in New Mexico
Written by American Immigration Council staff Leani García Torres and Raul Pinto The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative provides certain young, undocumented immigrants with a renewable two-year work permit. However, this work permit does not always mean DACA recipients can go into the profession of their choice. Read More
Biden Moves to Stabilize the Lives of Hundreds of Thousands of DACA Recipients, but Critical Work Remains
Last week, the Biden administration published the final version of a regulation that seeks to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative and provide a modicum of stability to the hundreds of thousands of people living in the United States who benefit from its protections. While this… Read More
Biden Administration Moves to Shore Up DACA Protections but Congress Needs to Act
The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) welcomed newly published regulations that will offer more certainty for the DACA program and represent a positive step towards protecting some Dreamers. Read More
What you need to know about the new proposal to update The Registry
Democrats in the House of Representatives have introduced a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States for at least seven years to legalize their status. The bill would change a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act known as “Registry,” which allows… Read More
USCIS Restores Pathway to a Green Card for TPS Holders
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a new policy memorandum on July 1 that eliminated a barrier for many Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients and restored a pathway many have used to obtain a green card. It also provides beneficiaries with a process for traveling outside of the… Read More
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