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How States Expand Access to Driver’s Licenses Ahead of Real ID Deadline
Beginning in December, all New Yorkers will be able to apply for a driver’s license—regardless of immigration status. The Driver’s License Access and Privacy Act, or “Green Light” bill, passed the New York Senate in June. Oregon passed a similar bill, the Equal Access to Roads Act, that month. It will take effect in January 2021. At […]
Read MoreNew Pilot Program in El Paso Rushes Asylum Seekers Through A Deeply Flawed Process
Media reports today indicate that the government has initiated a new pilot program in El Paso, Texas to rush the review of sensitive asylum cases. The reported program, called “Prompt Asylum Case Review,” forces families to navigate the asylum process while detained in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Read MoreJudge Grants Class-Action Status to Thousands of Immigrants Waiting for Access to Their Immigration Records
A federal court in San Francisco certified two nationwide classes of immigrants and attorneys claiming that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have a systemic pattern and practice of failing to provide access to immigration case records within deadlines set by the Freedom of Information Act. The case records, known as A-files, contain information about individuals’ immigration history in the United States. This is the first time a court has certified a class in a lawsuit alleging a pattern and practice of violating FOIA
Read More“Public Charge” Rule Blocked Days Before Going Into Effect
The Trump administration suffered another immigration blow in court last Friday. The new “public charge” rule set to go into effect Tuesday, October 15, was blocked in three separate rulings by judges around the country.
Read MoreHow Trump’s New Healthcare Ban Threatens the Legal Immigration System
President Trump invoked the same legal authority used for the Travel Ban to impose a sweeping new ban on legal immigration last week. Under the new ban, which analysis suggests could block as much as two thirds of all immigrants from coming to the United States, immigrants will be banned from entering unless they can […]
Read MoreLooking for America: El Paso
Media are invited to preview, attend, and cover Looking for America: El Paso, a chapter in a new dialogue and art initiative that is touring six communities across the United States. At a time when Americans are more polarized than ever, especially on the issue of immigration, national and local organizations have partnered together to […]
Read MoreWhat the Safe Third Country Deals Mean for The Future of Asylum in the United States
The Trump administration announced last week that it had signed an “Asylum Cooperative Agreement” with Honduras, following two similar agreements signed with El Salvador and Guatemala. If any of these agreements go into effect, the United States could rapidly deport asylum seekers to a third country, without ever permitting them to apply for protections in […]
Read MoreAmerican Communities Benefit From Welcoming Refugees – The White House Wants to Stop That
For many small towns and rural communities, opening their doors to refugees is part of a local strategy to reverse population decline, stimulate their workforce, and build diverse communities. There are countless examples. Clarkston, Georgia—once a Southern town struggling to keep up with rapid population decline—has accepted over 40,000 refugees in the last four decades. […]
Read MoreFOIA Lawsuit Demands Information About CBP Officers’ Role in Credible Fear Interview Process
This lawsuit seeks to uncover information about the government’s troubling new practice of employing U.S. Custom and Border Protection officers to screen asylum seekers.
Read MoreLawsuit Demands Information on the Expansion of CBP’s Role in the Screening of Asylum Seekers
The American Immigration Council and Tahirih Justice Center filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in federal court to compel the government to release records about the Trump administration’s troubling new practice of allowing U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers to screen individuals seeking asylum in the United States. The lawsuit seeks these documents to shed light on changes to the asylum screening process, CBP’s role in conducting interviews and making determinations regarding an asylum seeker’s “credible fear” of persecution, and the measures taken by CBP, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Department of Homeland Security to implement this new practice.
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