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New Americans in Portland
New research from New American Economy (NAE) released today in partnership with the City of Portland, highlights how immigrants are both essential to Portland’s rapid response efforts and especially vulnerable due to gaps in our federal relief package, language access barriers, and increased risks of infection associated with frontline and essential work. Key findings from […]
Read MoreWhat Social Justice Movements Can Learn from the Medical Response to the Coronavirus
Across the country, communities are responding to the coronavirus pandemic by working to protect our poor, elderly, and compromised. Critical to the response are the efforts of the medical and scientific community. Thousands of doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals from diverse backgrounds–including reenlisting retirees–are serving on the frontline to treat those who fall ill. […]
Read MoreUSCIS Holds Drive-Thru Naturalization Ceremonies to Work Through COVID-19 Backlog
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) expects, by the end of July, to have worked through nearly the entire backlog of naturalization oath ceremonies put on hold in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency is now providing new ways to take the oath, including drive-thru naturalization ceremonies. The cancellation of oath ceremonies had prevented […]
Read MoreCongress Calls to Decrease ICE Detention as COVID-19 Continues to Spread
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security introduced their proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2021 (beginning October 1, 2020) this week. The budget would have significant implications for U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities—current hotspots of the coronavirus pandemic. In a reversal of previous budget requests, this budget proposes a major decrease in […]
Read MoreUSCIS 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 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 […]
Read MoreOn the COVID-19 Frontlines: Black Immigrants in Healthcare and Other Essential Industries
Building on previous NAE research looking at the role of Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis, we take a look at the role of the one of the fastest growing immigrant groups in the United States today, Black immigrants, in healthcare and other essential industries. Since […]
Read MoreFederal Court Strikes Down Trump’s Asylum Transit Ban in Momentous Victory
On June 30, a federal judge in the District of Columbia struck down the Trump administration’s asylum transit ban, ending a sweeping policy that had shut down asylum for most people entering the United States at the southern border. The court’s decisive action could not have come soon enough, as the rule has been in […]
Read MoreUS Army Commissioned Officer Valdeta Mehanja to Be Honored with American Heritage Award
The American Immigration Council will honor U.S. Army Commissioned Officer Valdeta Mehanja with its American Heritage Award, which recognizes the talents, contributions, and accomplishments of immigrants and their advocates.
Read MoreInspector General Report Overlooks Serious Medical Care Issues Within Border Patrol Custody
The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently published a report analyzing U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) treatment of noncitizens at the border in 2019. While the report critiques the agency for not meeting its own standards, it also allows CBP to avoid meaningful accountability for numerous failures in meeting the […]
Read MoreThe Growing Demand for Healthcare Workers by State
States across the country have faced critical healthcare worker shortages for years, and the coronavirus pandemic has only exacerbated these needs. In 2015, there were about 10 open healthcare jobs for every unemployed worker in the United States. By 2018, even before the current outbreak, this number had risen by more than 30 percent, with […]
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