U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today published updated policy guidance to change the maximum validity period that may be granted for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) issued to certain applicants, as well as to provide general guidance on adjudicating Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. Starting today, USCIS will generally grant new and renewed EADs that […]
Beginning on January 22, 2022, DHS will require non-U.S. individuals seeking to enter the United States via land ports of entry and ferry terminals at the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and provide related proof of vaccination, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise nationwide. These new restrictions will apply to non-U.S. individuals who are traveling for both essential and non-essential reasons. They will not apply to U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent […]
With the rise in COVID-19 infections due to the Omicron variant, the US Immigration Courts have hit a historic backlog not seen in decades. There are over 1.6 million pending cases. With this backlog, wait times for an asylum hearing are averaging 58 months or just under 5 years. Several Immigration Judges are on […]
Since the start of 2022, COVID-19 cases inside US immigration detention centers have surged by 520%. As of January 15, over 17,000 immigrants were being monitored or isolated due to COVID-19. This number represents 8% of the immigrant population in detention centers. According to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) data, more than 32,000 immigrants have […]
On December 31, 2021 the last group of Afghan nationals temporarily housed at Fort Bliss, Texas as part of the Operation Allies Welcome departed the base. To date, more than 52,000 Afghan evacuees have been resettled in communities across the country. These resettlement efforts are led by the Department of State in close coordination with […]
Starting next year, over 8000,000 legal permanent residents in New York will be eligible to vote in municipal elections. The measure applies to legal residents, including those with green cards, and so-called Dreamers who were brought to the country illegally as children but were allowed to remain under a federal program known as DACA. Although the City Council approved […]
Starting December 28, 2021 USCIS began accepting expedite requests for qualifying healthcare workers with pending Employment Authorization Document (EAD) renewal applications. You may request expedited processing if: You are a qualifying healthcare worker (see the “Healthcare/Public Health” section on pages 7-9 of this Department of Homeland Security advisory memorandum to see if you qualify), and […]
The Department of Homeland Security announced its commitment to adopt a definition of statelessness for immigration purposes and enhance protections for stateless individuals living in the United States. Through the adoption of a standardized definition of statelessness, the Department will ensure it can recognize unique barriers encountered by stateless persons and better identify and protect […]
DHS announced its new “Hack DHS” program. This is a bug bounty program to help identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities within DHS systems and increase the resilience of the department’s cybersecurity. Through Hack DHS, vetted cybersecurity researchers who have been invited to access select external DHS systems (“hackers”) will identify vulnerabilities (“bugs”) that could be exploited by […]
DHS is asking the public for its recommendations on how to permanently protect against the prior administration’s practice of intentionally separating families at the border to deter others from migrating to the United States. The Request for Public Input will publish in the Federal Register on Friday, December 10. Comments will be accepted for 30 days until […]
