Administrative Relief

Biden Announces Parole Program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans

In an effort to dissuade people from coming to the border and requesting asylum (or entering unlawfully), the Biden Administration has released plans for Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan nationals to apply for parole from abroad. These new programs are similar to the one announced for Ukrainians last year and also intended to reunite families in a safer and more orderly way. Sponsor requirements: An individual who holds lawful...

Hopes and Expectations of a Biden Administration

For four long and hard years, the Trump administration has reshaped the United States immigration system through anti-immigrant executive action, proclamations, policy memos, and regulatory changes. The good news is that President-elect Joe Biden and VP-elect Kamala Harris can undo almost every change through the same mechanisms without having to go through the legislative branch. The bad news is that the newly elected administration must have the will to...

California COVID-19 Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, California is providing one-time first-come, first-serve state-funded disaster relief assistance to undocumented individuals who are ineligible for other forms of assistance, including assistance under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and pandemic unemployment benefits. Who is eligible? Eligible individuals must be able to provide information that they (1) are an undocumented adult (person over the age of 18); (2) are...

Quick Immigration Fix: Recapturing Unused Visas

While we all wait for President Obama’s November 20, 2014 executive actions on immigration to take effect, we are hoping that the White House takes swift action to modernize and streamline the legal immigration system. On November 21, 2014, the White House established a task-force to study ways in which the executive branch would take steps, without Congress, to modernize the legal immigration system. Many organizations issued game-changing proposals on how...

DOJ Files Emergency Stay of the Decision In Texas v. U.S.

Today, the Department of Justice asked the federal district court in Texas for an emergency stay of the preliminary injunction that stops the Department of Homeland Security from implementing the deferred action policies announced by the President in November. The DOJ is seeking an emergency stay because it contends that the district court decision will cause irreparable harm to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and prevent it from maximizing its limited...

Five Key Changes to the DACA Program

Beginning on February 18, 2015, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting program for the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Any requests that are pending as of February 18, 2015, will be considered under the new program. Here are some changes to expect to the program as we know it. 1. No upper-level age-cap: President Obama initially offered deferred action to only those undocumented immigrants who...

Traveling Abroad With DACA and DAPA – Pathway to Citizenship?

Traveling abroad is probably the most prevalent question on the minds of many undocumented immigrants who find themselves trapped in the United States, unable to leave the country for fear of triggering the three-year or ten-year bars. Now, thanks to the President’s recent immigration announcement, undocumented immigrants who qualify for and receive Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA), can apply for permission to...

Key Summary: “Immigration Accountability Executive Action”

After months of grassroots actions and demands that the President take executive action on immigration due to his dismal deportation record, President Barack Obama asked Secretary Jeh Johnson and Attorney General Eric Holder to undertake a rigorous and inclusive review to inform recommendations on reforming our broken immigration system through executive action. On November 20, 2014, the President officially announced some reforms that he would be making to the...

DHS To Implement Haitian Family Reunification Parole (HFRP) Program

Due to emergent circumstances and effective advocacy by grassroots organizations, the Obama Administration has created a new program to expedite the entry of intending immigrants from Haiti into the U.S. According to the USCIS website: Starting in early 2015, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will begin implementation of a Haitian Family Reunification Parole (HFRP) Program to expedite family reunification for certain eligible Haitian family members of U.S. citizens...

Time Is Now For Executive Action On Immigration

Today, in Washington D.C., 11 undocumented immigrants formally requested that President Obama expand his expected administrative action on immigration to include the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants. The request was accompanied by another legal memo outlining that the President has the authority to grant relief from deportation to a broad number of people.  The President should authorize the Department of Homeland Security to swiftly grant the deferred action requests filed today, and expand...