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On March 9, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced that the public charge rule from the Trump administration will no longer be enforced.  “The 2019 public charge rule was not in keeping with our nation's values,” said Mayorkas in a statement released by the Unit...

Immigration and Customs (ICE) announced earlier this month that it is ending the use of family detention and transitioning to short-term facilities.  This declaration was disclosed on March 5 in filings made in the Flores Settlement Agreement—a 1985 lawsuit settled in 1997 which protects the well...

On March 18, the United States House of Representatives passed two immigration bills: the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021 and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. Both have been passed by the House in previous years, but this is the first time they have been voted on since Democrats gaine...

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Since entering office, President Biden has issued a number of executive actions relating to immigration.  One of these actions overturned a 2017 executive order made by former president Trump which maximized the enforcement priority of all undocumented immigrants. Following this reversal, Acting ...

As part of his justification for tightening U.S. immigration, former president Trump often went on about the criminality and violence of undocumented immigrants. During his first campaign, he went as far as saying that Mexican immigrants were "…bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapi...

On January 20, 2020, Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States of America. Only hours after being sworn into office, President Biden began to implement the changes he promised in his campaign. Many of these promises concerned immigration; in fact, he made a commitment t...

To gain United States citizenship, immigrants must apply for naturalization in a years-long process which culminates in a single test.  The Trump administration has just made this test longer and more difficult.  What exactly is the citizenship test? How has it been updated? The U.S. Citizen an...

Immigration reform can be approached a number of ways.  It can be approached with severity and restriction, as it was under the Trump administration.  Or it can be approached with a commitment to welcoming immigrants and restoring “America's moral leadership,” which is what can be expected of the...

In June, we wrote about the COVID-19 outbreaks in detention centers. Over six months later, the coronavirus pandemic continues to infect the global population, and immigrants held in custody at ICE detention facilities are no exception.  In fact, a new report calls these facilities “hotbeds of in...

The Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit on December 18, 2020 challenging the Trump administration's plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2020 United States Census.  The case, Trump v. New York, No. 20-366, holds great political consequence. As we discussed in this post from last month, ...

In November, a federal judge ruled that Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was unlawfully appointed and that, by extension, he did not have the authority to suspend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in a memorandum issued in July of th...

Even as he approaches his final days in office, President Trump continues to focus his efforts on immigration crack down.  On November 30, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on the president's attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants from the official 2020 Census. The outcome of Trump v. New...

President-Elect Joe Biden has nominated Alejandro N. Mayorkas to be the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  If confirmed by the Senate, Mayorkas would be the first Latino and first immigrant to hold the position.  Biden has promised to prioritize immigration reform within and beyo...

Just as he promised in his 2016 campaign, President Trump brought great changes to United States immigration.  Immigration reform has been a central feature of his administration.  Yet, many of the policies enacted during his tenure, like his April executive order limiting immigration and the Thi...

On November 14, a New York federal judge ruled that Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, was not lawfully appointed and, as a result, his suspension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was invalid.  In July of this year, DACA had been suspen...

On July 6, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that foreign students would no longer be permitted to enter or stay in the United States if their courses were to be offered exclusively online.  The policy was met with significant backlash and a number of lawsuits filed by colleges,...

The coronavirus pandemic has seen to the closure of academic institutions across the country.  As a result, colleges and universities have been forced to determine how they will reopen for the fall semester—do they offer in-person classes? Do they only offer classes online? Or do they opt for a h...

On June 30, U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly struck down a Trump Administration policy that bars migrants from requesting asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.  The policy, which was instituted in July 2019, is often referred to as the “third-country transit asylum ban” because it disqualifies mi...

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of California has ordered the release of all migrant children currently held in custody by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  The ruling, made on June 26, stems from the “unrelenting spread of the coronavirus” and ICE's failure to adequately protect...

In April, President Trump signed an executive order which blocks immigration to the United States. This order, signed on April 22, was set to be in effect until “Whenever appropriate, but no later than 50 days from the effective date of this proclamation” and was to be either continued or modifie...

Since its emergence, the novel coronavirus and its resulting disease, COVID-19, have spread across the globe.  The World Health Organization characterized the viral outbreak as a pandemic on March 11 of this year.  As a result of the pandemic, travel and border regulation has been affected. On Ma...

Detention Centers are far from immune to the coronavirus pandemic.  The La Palma Correctional Facility here in Arizona faces a growing outbreak of COVID-19.  On Tuesday, May 12, the Arizona Republic reported that “the number of detainees at [this] Immigration and Customs Enforcement Eloy facility...

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) administers the country's system of lawful immigration.  It has declared to Congress that it faces unavoidable budget shortfalls due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to a fall in applications for immigration services handled...

he provisional waiver program was implemented on March 3, 2013. Also known as a "stateside" waiver, or an I-601A waiver, this new program offers an exciting opportunity for immigrant families. The provisional waiver program allows spouses of U.S. citizens to apply for their green cards, or lawful permanent residency, without having to leave the United States, and being separated from their families, for long periods of time. It also allows parents of adult U.S. citizens the same opportunity, although the situation for parents, as opposed to husbands and wives, of U.S. citizens, may be a bit different. At Green | Evans-Schroeder, we know how long you have been waiting for this kind of extraordinary opportunity. Our immigration attorneys understand how important it is for you to get your green card as soon as possible. We also know how critical it is for you to avoid spending time away from your family, and we do everything possible to maximize our clients' chances of a smooth and successful application process. Over the years, we have shared in the joy of many of our clients who have won their green card cases through the provisional waiver program--and we look forward to many more provisional waiver green card wins in the future.