May 22 - 28 Lawsuit Says Trump Admin’s COVID-19 Immigrtion Order Separates Families with Older Kids NBC News | Julia Ainsley | May 29 “A class-action lawsuit filed in federal court on Thursday alleges the Trump administration's ban on legal immigration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic unfairly separates parents from children who are on the cusp of turning 21 years old...President Donald Trump's April 22 proclamation significantly curtailed legal immigration into the U.S., including limiting entry for immigrants' children who are 21 and older. Advocates say they do not know how many people that specific provision may affect, but the Migration Policy Institute estimates that the proclamation as a whole will affect more than 50,000 over 60 days.” High-Skill Immigration Restrictions Expected Soon from Trump Forbes | Stuart Anderson | May 28 “Showing no sense of irony, the Trump administration is celebrating the expected launch of a SpaceX rocketship at the same time Trump officials plan to restrict H-1B visas, the same type of visa the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, used to begin working in the United States. The new regulatory actions against employers will come days after the White House issued an executive order on “regulatory relief” for businesses. An H-1B visa is typically the only practical way for a foreign national to work long-term in the United States. However, several sources have confirmed the Trump administration will soon implement new restrictions on H-1B visa holders and international students, intracompany transferees and likely even the spouses of high-skilled professionals.” Federal Immigrtion Agency to Furlough Employees Unless Congress Provides Funding CNN | Geneva Sands and Phil Mattingly | May 26 “US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency responsible for visa and asylum processing, is expected to furlough part of its workforce this summer if Congress doesn't provide emergency funding to sustain operations during the coronavirus pandemic. "Unfortunately, as of now, without congressional intervention, the agency will need to administratively furlough a portion of our employees on approximately July 20," USCIS Deputy Director for Policy Joseph Edlow wrote in a letter sent to the workforce on Tuesday. Earlier this month, the agency -- which has 19,000 government employees and contractors working at more than 200 offices -- requested $1.2 billion from Congress due to its budget shortfall. Since then, the agency, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, has been working with members of Congress and their staffs to educate Capitol Hill on the agency's finances and operations.”
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May 15 - 21 America’s Immigration Paradox New York Times | David Nasaw | May 19 “For historians of immigration, the paradox is inescapable and irreconcilable: The United States is and has always been both a nation of immigrants and a nation that periodically wages war against them...Immigration historians are like the blind men in the ancient Indian parable who come upon an elephant. The first man, falling against the animal’s side, proclaims that he has found a wall; the second, feeling the tusk, a spear; the third, grabbling the trunk, a snake.” Immigration Study Finds H1-B Visas Help U.S. College Grads Forbes | Stuart Anderson | May 19 ““H-1B visa holders do not adversely affect U.S. workers,” according to a new study by economist Madeline Zavodny for the National Foundation for American Policy. “On the contrary, the evidence points to the presence of H-1B visa holders being associated with lower unemployment rates and faster earnings growth among college graduates, including recent college graduates. Further, the results suggest that, if anything, being in a field with more H-1B visa holders makes it more likely that U.S.-born young college graduates work in a job closely related to their college major.”” Immigrants Without Legal Status Can Begin Applying for State Coronavirus Relief Los Angeles Times | Matthew Ormseth | May 18 “Californians living in the U.S. illegally may begin applying for disaster assistance payments of $500 per person and up to $1,000 per household. The state government has made available $75 million to help a projected 150,000 immigrants without legal status weather the coronavirus crisis. To qualify, applicants must show that they are ineligible for federal assistance programs stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the CARES Act or federal unemployment benefits, and that they have endured a hardship from the pandemic. Only adults may apply. A state guide to common questions and answers about the program is posted online.” May 8 - 14 With US Naturalization Ceremonies on Hold, Former Refugee Continues to Help Pay Application Fees
VOA | Aline Barros | May 13 “The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has not been conducting in-person interviews and oath ceremonies for immigrants seeking to become naturalized citizens since March due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, legal experts say thousands of people may not be naturalized in time for the U.S. 2020 presidential election. In the meantime, a former refugee from Kenya continues his efforts to help people applying for U.S. citizenship." They Lost Their Jobs. Now They May Have to Leave the U.S. New York Times | Miriam Jordan | May 12 “The lives of tens of thousands of foreign workers on skilled-worker visas, such as H-1Bs, have been upended by the economic fallout from the Covid-19 crisis. Many have been waiting in a backlog for several years to obtain permanent legal residency through their employer, and now face the prospect of deportation. The Trump administration is also expected within the next few weeks to halt the issuance of new work visas such as the H-1B, for high skilled foreigners, and the H-2B, for seasonal employment. The new measures under review, according to two current and two former government immigration officials, would also eliminate a program that enables foreign graduates of American universitiesto remain in the country and work.” Immigrants - Essential, Ignored, Persecuted - are Committed ot the U.S. Where’s Our Gratitude? Washington Post | León Krauze | May 11 “The coronavirus pandemic has shocked America’s economy, and one of the groups that has suffered greatly is the vast Hispanic community. A recent Washington Post-Ipsos poll captured the extent of the anguish: Latinos are almost twice as likely as whites to have been laid off or furloughed during the crisis. Unemployment among Hispanics has risen to 18.9 percent. More than one in five Hispanic men have either lost their jobs or seen their hours reduced.” May 1 - 7 Immigration Review Could Lead to New H-1B Visa Restrictions
Forbes | Stuart Anderson | May 7 “The Trump administration may soon propose another set of immigration restrictions, this time on H-1B visas for foreign-born scientists and engineers. Some observers view these public displays of limiting immigration as an effort to deflect criticism of the administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Before enacting new measures, analysts recommend the administration take into account the restrictions on H-1Bs already in current law, including the low annual limit for new H-1B petitions, and the high denial rates imposed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The latest data show H-1B denial rates are at record levels.” While She Treated Coronavirus Patients, the US Denied Her a Green Card CNN | Catherine E. Shoichet | May 6 “A New York doctor who's been treating coronavirus patients says she's still reeling days after getting a devastating letter: Her green card application was denied. "I'm putting my life on the line every day to do this, and it's just blowing my mind right now that they are not appreciating it or they don't see the value in what I'm offering to do," Dr. Julia Iafrate told CNN's Chris Cuomo on Tuesday. "I'm honestly beside myself. It's like a slap in the face."” COVID-19’s Distinctive Footprint on Immigrants in the United States The Hill | Goldie Mcquaid and Diana Fishbein | May 07 “The transformation of the lives of most Americans into the “new normal” necessitated by the response to COVID-19 is truly unparalleled. But for the most vulnerable members of our society — the impoverished and marginalized — the crisis has only served to further entrench preexisting conditions, constraints and fears...The harsh reality for immigrants is that while they assume valuable positions in our society, they accept lower wages and their work poses greater hazards and fewer protections against injury, including the contraction and circulation of illnesses like COVID-19. Several meat packing plants, where workers include refugees who have immigrated from around the world, have become COVID-19 hotspots; e.g., the plant in South Dakota, where many of their employees are immigrants, comprises over 40 percent of the state’s positive cases.” April 24 - 30 What is at Stake as the Supreme Court Weighs the Future of Immigrant “Dreamers’ Reuters | Ted Hesson | April 30 “Trump, a Republican, moved in 2017 to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. His administration argued the initiative of his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama was unconstitutional and would not withstand legal challenges. Several federal courts blocked Trump’s attempt to terminate the DACA program. The case went to the Supreme Court, which heard arguments in November.” US Can Soon Start Sending People Seeking Asylum to Honduras Associated Press | Ben Fox | April 30 “At the moment, the new agreement would seem to be unnecessary because the U.S. is quickly expelling most people it encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border under an emergency public health order signed by President Donald Trump last month in response to the coronavirus outbreak. That order was renewed for 30 days and is set to expire next month. Critics say both the new agreement and the earlier one with Guatemala, the subject of a legal challenge, represent a retreat by the U.S. from its obligations under international law to provide a sanctuary to people seeking refuge from persecution. Neither Honduras nor Guatemala has the capacity to accept and resettle refugees, so people will likely just return eventually to whatever danger they fled in their home countries, said Yael Schacher, senior U.S advocate for Refugees International.” Internal ICE Reviews of Two Immigrant Deaths Stoke Fears About COVID-19 Care NPR | Joel Rose | April 29 “When Carlos Mejia-Bonilla was detained by immigration authorities a few years ago, he told the health care staff at the Hudson County Correctional Facility in New Jersey that he was taking medicine for a range of conditions, including diabetes, anemia, high blood pressure and cirrhosis of the liver. Ten weeks later, he died of gastrointestinal bleeding. An internal investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement found that Bonilla was denied necessary medical care. The care he did receive in ICE detention was "outside the scope of safe practice," ICE's investigators concluded, and contributed to his death.” Foreign Students Anxious Over Immigration Order VOA | Aline Barros | April 29 “The U.S. government’s recent executive order to suspend the issuance of Lawful Permanent Resident permits (green cards) has left international students at U.S. colleges and universities uncertain about their enrollment and future plans. Though the decision does not directly affect student visas, it left open the option to review nonimmigrant programs “within 30 days of the effective date of this proclamation” and could recommend “other measures to stimulate the United States economy” (during the COVID-19 crisis). Student visas are under the nonimmigrant visa category issued to foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States on a temporary basis.” |
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