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This USCIS Policy Change Will Reunite Vulnerable LGBTQ Refugee and Asylum Couples
In February, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reversed Trump administration guidance that limited recognition of marriages performed abroad only to those considered “valid” in the country where they took place. This narrow interpretation of the “place-of-celebration” rule left many refugees and asylees without a way to reunite with their partners because they lacked formal […]
Read MoreCoalition Urges Biden Administration to Designate Temporary Protected Status to Ukraine
The American Immigration Council joined 177 organizations to request an immediate 18-month designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) and Special Student Relief (SSR) for Ukraine.
Read MoreThe New Public Charge Standard Will No Longer Penalize Medicaid and SNAP Recipients
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to clarify the meaning of the “public charge ground of inadmissibility” on February 24. The new guidance will be welcome news for immigrants as well as state governments and immigrant-serving organizations across the country that have worked to combat fear and misinformation around […]
Read MoreThe Dignity Act Could Signal Increasing Support for Immigration Reform on Capitol Hill
Miami Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a freshman Republican from Florida’s 27th congressional district, last week introduced an immigration reform bill that she calls the “Dignity Act.” Rep. Salazar claims the bill will both halt undocumented immigration to the United States and provide a “dignified solution” to the legal status of the more than 10.3 million […]
Read MoreCorrupt US Employers and Smugglers Are Exploiting Migrant Teens for Profit
A skyrocketing number of migrant teens from Central America are finding their way into the undocumented workforce of the United States. They are doing rigorous, grueling work often meant for adults, like operating heavy machinery in food processing plants. Exploitation by unscrupulous employers and a lack of follow-up by U.S. authorities mean many get trapped […]
Read MoreThe House Passes the America COMPETES Act, Including Immigration Reforms to Help the U.S. Economy
The House of Representatives passed an economic competitiveness bill on February 4 that includes several immigration provisions. The bill is called the ‘‘America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology, and Economic Strength Act of 2022’’—or the America COMPETES Act of 2022. This bill (which is more than 2,900 pages long) is intended to boost […]
Read MoreNew Report Shows Immigrants in Passaic County Paid Over $1.3 Billion in Taxes and Held $3.6 Billion in Spending Power in 2019
PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ, February 3, 2022 – New research, New Americans in Passaic County, released today by New American Economy—now the American Immigration Council—in partnership with Passaic County and William Paterson University Small Business Development Center (SBDC), underscores the critical role immigrants in Passaic County play in the community’s labor force, business creation, and STEM […]
Read MoreU.S. Citizenship Applicants Are in Limbo Because Their Immigration Files Are Locked in Caves Underground
Thousands of applicants for U.S. citizenship have been waiting for well over a year for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to process their applications. But the problem isn’t the usual bureaucratic red tape. In this case, thousands of paper-based immigration records (known as “A-Files”) are locked in man-made caves that USCIS says it can’t […]
Read MoreDeclining Immigration Is Leaving US Jobs Unfilled
The labor shortages currently afflicting many sectors of the U.S. economy are being aggravated by the arrival of fewer and fewer workers from abroad. Although immigration has been slowing since 2016, the biggest declines have occurred since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. According to economists at the University of California, Davis, […]
Read MoreState Department Waives Fees for Immigrants Denied Visas Due to the Muslim Ban
The State Department announced a new rule that will waive fees for visa applicants who were denied because of the Muslim and refugee ban. Under the new rule, an immigrant visa applicant who has an approved immigration petition may reapply for a visa without paying the fees if they were refused a visa under the […]
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