Completing an Unprecedented 10 Million Immigration Cases in Fiscal Year 2023, USCIS Reduced Its Backlog for the First Time in Over a Decade

Completing an Unprecedented 10 Million Immigration Cases in Fiscal Year 2023, USCIS Reduced Its Backlog for the First Time in Over a Decade

Editorial credit: Michael Vi / Shutterstock.com WASHINGTON— Today U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is releasing end of fiscal year (FY) 2023 data that illustrate the agency’s progress in meeting its strategic priorities. The USCIS workforce has worked tirelessly over the past year to uphold America’s promise as a nation of welcome and possibility by […]

Experts Wrap Busy Immigration Week with Lessons for Political and Policy Debate Moving Forward

Experts Wrap Busy Immigration Week with Lessons for Political and Policy Debate Moving Forward

By America’s Voice | February 9, 2024 Washington, DC —On a press call held today, leaders from immigration and Latino-focused organizations joined with the Congressional Integrity Project to assess the details and implications of a busy week on immigration policy and politics – including what the right lessons are from the failed impeachment vote of DHS Secretary […]

Data Snapshot: The Number of Black Immigrants in the US Continues to Rise

Data Snapshot: The Number of Black Immigrants in the US Continues to Rise

By American Immigration Council Staff | February 9, 2024 Black immigrants not only contribute to America’s rich political and cultural history—think rapper Wyclef Jean, U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, or basketball’s Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon, to name but a very few—they also play an important and growing role in our economy, making outsize contributions in industries […]

USCIS Finalizes Increase in Fees for Immigration-Related Applications

USCIS Finalizes Increase in Fees for Immigration-Related Applications

By Adriel Orozco | Immigration Impact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) finalized its long-awaited fee rule on January 30, which impacts the filing costs for almost all the agency’s applications. The new fees will take effect April 1, 2024. The agency’s fee increases significantly impact the cost for family-based and employment-based applications and petitions. In addition, […]

Senate Deal Would Significantly Transform Border Policy

Senate Deal Would Significantly Transform Border Policy

By Adriel Orozco | Immigration Impact The “Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024” was released on February 4. For months, a bipartisan group of senators negotiated the compromise bill, which proposes significant changes to asylum and border policy to release billions in foreign military aid. The $118 billion bill would provide the president a new emergency expulsion authority […]

GOP’s Language of “Deporting” DHS Sec. Mayorkas Reveals Ugly Truth in Their Anti-Immigrant Extremism

GOP’s Language of “Deporting” DHS Sec. Mayorkas Reveals Ugly Truth in Their Anti-Immigrant Extremism

By Gabe Ortiz | February 6, 2024 | America’s Voice Apparently it’s not enough for House Republicans to continue lurching forward with their baseless, unprecedented impeachment effort against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. It appears they want to kick him out of the country he serves as well. Tucked in Republicans’ final report is language […]

Global Refuge Statement on Bipartisan Senate Immigration Legislation

Global Refuge Statement on Bipartisan Senate Immigration Legislation

Washington D.C. – Senate negotiators have released long-awaited legislative text and summary of a bill linking emergency assistance for Ukraine and Israel to sweeping restrictions on asylum protections and $18.5 billion in funding for border operations, receiving communities, and hiring of additional asylum officers, border agents, and immigration judges. Specifically, the legislation would create a new authority that, with narrow […]

On Senate Bill Text: “Most Important Letters Are the Ones Overhanging this Legislation: D.O.A.”

On Senate Bill Text: “Most Important Letters Are the Ones Overhanging this Legislation: D.O.A.”

By America’s Voice | February 4, 2024 Washington, DC — The following is a statement from Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice, reacting to the introduction of the Senate immigration and border bill: “When poring over the Senate bill text, the most important letters are the ones overhanging this legislation: D.O.A. Donald Trump and many other […]

In City’s Tent Shelter for Immigrants, Illness and Aging Pose Challenges

In City’s Tent Shelter for Immigrants, Illness and Aging Pose Challenges

Editorial credit: Philip Pilosian / Shutterstock.com By Daniel Parra | January 30, 2024 | City Limits “It looks like a coughing choir in that tent,” said Luis Zambrano, 62, who came down with pneumonia this winter while staying at the shelter complex on Randall’s Island, where the city has been housing thousands of newly arrived immigrants. […]