Courts Immigration

Federal Judge Blocks Increase in Citizenship & Immigration Application Fees

Yesterday, a San Francisco federal judge temporarily blocked an increase in the cost of citizenship and other immigration application fees, an upsurge initiated by the Trump administration. These increases were scheduled to go into effect on Friday, October 2nd, and would raise the citizenship application cost from $640 to $1,160– an 81% increase. The proposal […]

Health Immigration Reproductive Rights

Whistleblower Reveals ICE Facility Practiced Forced Hysterectomies

On Monday, Dawn Wooton, a whistleblower who formerly worked as a nurse at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Georgia filed a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general, detailing medical neglect and a high rate of hysterectomies in the facility. The facility is Irwin Detention Center, run by private corporation […]

Courts Immigration Politics

Federal Court Blocks Trump Order Prohibiting Census from Counting Undocumented Immigrants

Yesterday, a three-judge panel in New York ruled unanimously that President Trump’s executive order to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census count was unlawful.  The President’s July memo stated that undocumented immigrants should not count for purposes of deciding the reapportionment of the House. The court’s decision mandates that his order violates the 14th Amendment […]

Health Immigration

ICE Expels Immigrant Children Even After Negative COVID-19 Tests

The Trump Administration is expelling immigrant children citing COVID-19 concerns, despite the children testing negative for the coronavirus before they are put on planes to their home countries. An article published Monday by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica reveals that the Trump administration had implemented a testing program in which every child is tested for […]

Immigration

Acting Director of ICE Announces Retirement

On Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting director Matt Albence announced his retirement from the agency, after serving in his position for just over a year. Albence began his work in federal immigration enforcement in 1994 and has moved positions over the years. He had briefly led ICE before, between Ronald Vitiello’s departure and […]

Immigration On the Hill

Trump Signs Memo to Exclude Undocumented Immigrants from Census Numbers

President Donald Trump signed a presidential memo Tuesday aiming to exclude the number of undocumented immigrant populations when redistributing congressional seats following the 2020 census. The unprecedented move, which civil rights advocates say is unconstitutional, comes a year after the Trump administration tried and failed to include a citizenship question in the census. If implemented, […]

Immigration

New Applications Rejected Despite Supreme Court DACA Ruling

Although the Supreme Court voted to uphold the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program nearly a month ago, the Trump Administration is still not accepting new applications. Renewals are being accepted and processed, but hundreds of thousands of first-time applicants are left fearful of their future in the United States. The DACA program protects […]

Immigration Violence Against Women

Trump’s Anti-Asylum Rule Will Harm Refugees Fleeing Gender Violence

In June, the Trump administration proposed a new rule that would make it virtually impossible for refugees to obtain asylum status in the United States. If implemented, the new regulation would eliminate gender-based asylum entirely and forbid asylum judges from hearing any cases involving “private” disputes wherein the persecutors are not directly linked to the […]

Courts Health Immigration

17 States Sue Trump Administration Over International Student Visa Rule

Amid rising unrest and uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration issued a directive last week that would endanger the visas of international students whose colleges or universities plan on implementing remote coursework this fall. This directive has forced international students as well as higher education institutions to reconsider their fall plans. This comes […]

Health Immigration

ICE Transfers and Deportations Spread COVID-19 Within Detention Centers, Globally

As lockdowns, social distancing, and mask-wearing become the norm all across the world, ICE continues to detain people, moving them from state to state, often deporting them, which is contributing to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus both domestically and abroad.  The Marshall Project and the New York Times conducted an investigation, published July […]

Immigration

Trump Administration Is Now Blocking Most Legal Pathways to Immigration

In the last four months, the Trump administration has used fear of the coronavirus pandemic to severely restrict most avenues for legal immigration, effectively making it impossible to legally migrate to the United States. In early March, the administration issued a public health order that mandates the immediate removal of migrants, including children and asylum […]

Education Immigration

ICE Says International Students Must Take In-Person Class to Stay in U.S.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced a rule Monday that prohibits international students from staying in the U.S. on their student visas if their college opts to hold courses entirely online. The order will affect F-1 and M-1 visa-holders, forcing students to either take in-person classes or risk deportation. Students in colleges teaching entirely online […]

Courts Immigration

Federal Judge Rules Against Trump Administration’s Strict Asylum Policy

On Tuesday night a federal judge ruled that the strictest asylum policy that the Trump administration created is illegal. This decision comes at the heels of the new Supreme Court decision, made on June 18, to uphold the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.  The “third-country asylum rule,” instituted in 2019, “prohibited immigrants from claiming […]