Category Archives: Immigration

One of the various misguided arguments against immigration is the “public charge” rhetoric about foreigners becoming primarily dependent on welfare or other economic benefits provided by the United States government. The “public charge” term comes from Title 8 of the Federal Code, which details various factors of inadmissibility. While it mostly applies to family-based immigration, …Read More

In June 2024, United States President Joe Biden made two crucial announcements about executive actions his administration is taking to alleviate the immigration crisis. One of the actions has a name suitable for future federal law: Keeping American Families Together. The other action specifically mentions the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which President …Read More

In March 2024, Governor Jay Inslee of Washington signed a state bill allowing immigrants without green cards to apply for professional licenses in fields such as accounting, education, dental technology, and many others. Instead of using alien registration numbers or I-551 receipt numbers that are subsequently used to issue green cards, applicants in Washington can …Read More

In March 2024, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unveiled a new online dashboard with quarterly data on the numbers of migrant detentions, deportations, and removals conducted by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents. The dashboard features a category for reentry violations by foreigners caught in the U.S. after being deported or removed. In …Read More

When President Joe Biden delivered the 2024 State of the Union address in March, he urged Republican members of Congress to agree to a legislative compromise on border security and a few immigration matters. The compromise was crafted by political leaders on both sides of the aisle because many Republicans feel nothing short of comprehensive …Read More

The immigration crisis that has been hotly debated in American political circles in recent years is also a mental health crisis. Since 2021, more than six million “migrant encounters” have been reported by the United States Border Patrol. Out of this number, only 384,000 asylum applications have been processed by adjudicators from U.S. Citizenship and …Read More

The migrant crisis at the border between the United States and Mexico has ignited political discord at the highest levels of Congress over the last two years, but there’s another aspect of this phenomenon that merits discussion. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the migrants who arrived at the southern border as part of caravans …Read More

In late 2023, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an update to its myProgress tool, an online platform that will eventually replace the Check Case Processing Times web page and perhaps merge with the Case Status Online tool, which you can currently access with or without a myUSCIS account. The new USCIS myProgress …Read More

In late 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a plan to allow undocumented migrants to obtain healthcare services through the state’s Medi-Cal program. A similar approach is being considered by New York City for 2024. These developments caught the attention of lawmakers such as United States Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who issued a press …Read More

Some of the most chaotic years in the history of the American immigration system unfolded during the Trump administration. One of the campaign promises that helped to get Trump elected was his idea of a “deportation force” that would bust down doors to round up undocumented immigrants who were facing pending removal proceedings. During these …Read More