While our Thanksgiving dinner tables may look a little different this year, one thing remains the same: Thanksgiving is a time to catch up and reconnect with loved ones. Whether you are doing this by phone, Zoom, or at a social distanced gathering, many of our conversations will reveal that our families and friends hold […]

For years, the Trump administration has argued that limited capacity at ports of entry led to its policy of turning back asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border (the “turnback policy”). But a recent amicus—or “friend of the court”—brief filed in a lawsuit challenging this policy argues that the true justification is racial hostility. In the […]

The Trump administration announced on November 17 that it plans to start denying work permits to people who have been ordered deported, but who have been released from immigration custody because they cannot—or should not—be deported. A stated purpose of this new rule, published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is to encourage people […]

Lawful permanent residents seeking to become U.S. citizens will now be required to take a more difficult and longer citizenship test. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the change on November 13. The new test increases the total number of questions from 100 to 128. Applicants will be verbally asked 20 questions and must […]

A judge has ruled that recent changes to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that were a veiled attempt to gut the program are invalid because Chad Wolf—the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—was not lawfully appointed to his position. The federal judge’s decision may signal that other immigration policies enacted under […]

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently issued a proposed rule that will change the way it selects the registrations of U.S. employers that want to file H-1B petitions subject to the annual “cap.” USCIS will now give preference to jobs with the highest wages. But the law establishing the H-1B visa category does not […]

This article is part of the Moving Forward on Immigration series that explores the future of immigration in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.  President-elect Joe Biden’s plan on immigration stands in stark contrast to the xenophobic agenda the Trump administration has put forward the last four years. Much of Biden’s plan revolves around […]

Immigration detention was dangerous before President Trump took office four years ago. His policies—coupled with a deadly global pandemic—have only made the situation more dire. Immigration detention has expanded in the past decade, driven largely by large private prison companies such as CoreCivic and GEO Group. These companies’ sole motivation is to maximize their profit […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit ruled that certain people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) can apply for green cards without leaving the United States. In Velazquez v. Barr, the Court held that receiving TPS is treated as an “inspection and admission” when someone applies for a green card. These prerequisites are […]

President-elect of the United States Joseph Biden called for national unity in his victory speech on November 7. He said, “It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric. To lower the temperature. To see each other again. To listen to each other again. To make progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemy. […]