Immigration Council News

On September 20, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced measures to accelerate the processing of some work permits and to extend their validity period for particular categories of individuals. These changes are substantial and are likely to have a meaningful impact on the large […]

By Karen Aho and Robin Lundh of the American Immigration Council Today, Hispanic Americans form the largest ethnic group in the United States. The value of Hispanic Americans to the makeup of the United States—demographically, culturally, and economically—has grown every year. This Hispanic […]

A recent Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision bars certain recently arrived noncitizens from becoming lawful permanent residents. In Matter of Cabrera-Fernandez, the BIA held that the petitioner had not been paroled into the United States when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) […]

After weeks of failed negotiations on spending, Congress has less than a week left to avert a potential government shutdown. Members of the House Republicans’ Freedom Caucus have refused to pass any spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unless it contains HR2, their massive […]

Co-Authors: Rich André, Asma Easa, Micaela McConnell, Paloma Ramos Last week, communities across the United States participated in Welcoming America’s Welcoming Week. The annual campaign has rapidly expanded over the years to include more than 650 local events that showcase each community’s […]

Co-Authors: Emily Creighton and Tsion Gurmu In the summer of 2020, after George Floyd’s murder, racial justice protests took hold in cities throughout the country. The massive mobilization reflected a nationwide groundswell of opposition to abusive and deadly policing. The importance of the […]

Since President Biden took office, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been escalating both rhetoric and action in response to a rise in migration across the Rio Grande. Right now, challenges to his latest maneuver—installing 1,000 feet of “marine barrier” in the middle of the Rio Grande—are […]

The Department of Justice has proposed a new rule to protect immigration judges’ ability to administratively close removal proceedings and control their ever-expanding dockets. The proposed rule, published on September 8, would also rescind most of the changes introduced by a 2020 Trump-era […]

“There should be no private prisons, period, none, period. And we are working to close all of them.” Those are the words of President Joe Biden in April 2021, when he was called out by immigrant rights activists at a rally celebrating his 100th day in office. This was a welcome promise to […]

The school year has started, and many college students are returning to campuses nationwide, including undocumented and DACA-eligible students. Data from the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) and analyzed by the American Immigration Council reveals that 408,000 of these students are […]

Co-authors: Micaela McConnell, Paloma Ramos “Don’t forget about us,” is the cornerstone message that will be amplified across the United States this fall as Little Amal, a 12-foot puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl, begins her 6,000-mile journey to 35 different communities. Little […]

On August 24, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a new update to its policy manual clarifying a previous policy change aimed at expanding green card eligibility under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) for children who lost eligibility, or “aged out,” due to […]