Immigration 101

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Temporary Protected Status: An Overview

This fact sheet provides an overview of how Temporary Protected Status designations are made, what benefits TPS confers, and how TPS beneficiaries apply for and regularly renew their status.

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  • Blog

Citizenship Backlogs at USCIS Will Block Hundreds of Thousands from Voting in the 2020 Election

September 10, 2020

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants might be prevented from voting in the 2020 election—even though they are just one step away from becoming new Americans. Years of fiscal mismanagement at U.S....

  • Blog

Diversity Visa Ban Struck Down by Judge

September 8, 2020

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to resume issuing diversity visas on September 5. Each year, the State Department uses a lottery system to select visa recipients from a broad...

  • Blog

Immigrant Workers are Essential to the United States Postal Service

August 31, 2020

The United States Postal Service (USPS) will play an outsized role in the 2020 presidential election, as more states focus on mail-in voting to help curb the spread of the coronavirus at polling...

  • Blog

USCIS Cancelled Planned Staff Furloughs, But Budgetary Challenges Remain

August 26, 2020

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) told Congress in May that it was running out of money and would need a $1.2 billion bailout to maintain its operations without major disruptions....

  • Blog

The Lie About Kamala Harris and Birthright Citizenship

August 18, 2020

People born in the United States are American citizens, regardless of what President Trump claims. Birthright citizenship—enshrined by the Fourteenth Amendment in the U.S. Constitution—guarantees...

  • Blog

Updates to USCIS Policy Manual Give Broad Discretion to Issue More Denials

August 11, 2020

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has imposed new requirements on its officers for exercising discretion that will substantially increase time and expense for the agency and...

  • Blog

Why a Shorter Census Timeline Hurts Immigrant Communities

August 6, 2020

The Trump administration announced on August 3 plans to end the 2020 Census one month earlier than previously planned. The change has led to fears that immigrant and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and...

  • Blog

USCIS Fee Hikes Will Go Into Effect for These Applications

July 31, 2020

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released an advance copy of a final rule on July 31 that will impose significant fee increases across many facets of the legal immigration system...

  • Blog

Trump’s Public Charge Rule Is Blocked Again Over Impact of COVID-19

July 30, 2020

A federal judge in New York has once again put the Trump administration’s “public charge” rule on hold, but only for the duration of the COVID-19 national emergency. This rule, which went into...

  • Blog

Canadian Court Rules US Is No Longer a ‘Safe Third Country’ for Asylum Applicants

July 23, 2020

A Canadian court has ruled that the United States is no longer a country to which the Canadian government could safely return asylum seekers who crossed the U.S-Canada land border.  This upends...

  • Blog

Biden Administration Revokes Trump’s Health Insurance Visa Ban

May 18, 2021

President Biden revoked a proclamation issued by former President Trump in 2019 that required nearly all prospective immigrants to demonstrate that they would be covered by private health...

  • Blog

As US Birth Rate Declines, Programs Like Social Security Need Immigration to Survive

May 11, 2021

Birth rates are falling in the United States at the same time more Americans are reaching retirement age. Together, these two trends present enormous economic challenges for the nation. A growing...

  • Letters

Council and Broad Coalition Urge Department of Homeland Security to Withdraw Records Destruction Plans

Publication Date: 
May 3, 2021
In this letter, the Council and a diverse coalition call on the Biden administration to stop and reevaluate plans to destroy immigration agency records documenting abuse and misconduct.
  • Blog

Yes, All Immigrants Can Get the COVID-19 Vaccine—Even Those Who Are Undocumented

April 7, 2021

Since the start of the pandemic, many immigrants have been left out of federal COVID-19 relief packages. Both undocumented immigrants and some people in mixed-status households have been excluded...

  • Blog

Immigration Policies Based on Deterrence Don’t Work

April 2, 2021

Over the last two months, the Biden administration has been pressured to carry out another crackdown at the border as the number of arriving families and children rise. But officials making these...

  • Press Release

Facts About the Current Situation at the Border

March 23, 2021
The nation has turned its attention to the current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, including the rise in immigrant children in U.S. government custody. Much of the conversation has focused on a supposed surge in arrivals under the Biden administration, but the current increase began well before President Biden took office.
  • Fact Sheet

Aggravated Felonies: An Overview

Publication Date: 
March 16, 2021
This fact sheet provides an overview of “aggravated felonies” under federal immigration law and the immigration consequences of being convicted of an “aggravated felony.”
  • Blog

Why We Must Improve Immigration Agency Transparency – And How to Do It

March 15, 2021

The Biden administration must improve transparency in the U.S. immigration system. Such efforts go hand in hand with strengthening democratic institutions. Under the Freedom of Information Act (...

  • Blog

How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Affected Immigration: One Year Later

March 11, 2021

It’s been one year since the COVID-19 pandemic first affected immigration on a global scale. The impact has been swift, devastating, and long-lasting. On March 11, 2020, former President Trump...

  • Blog

Trump’s Citizenship Test Scrapped by USCIS Over Politicization and Complexity Concerns

March 4, 2021

Individuals hoping to become a naturalized American citizen will take a different civics test beginning this week, as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reverts back to a previous...

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