Immigration

WASHINGTON - The Senate Democratic caucus has sent a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, urging him to bring the bipartisan American Dream and Promise Act, which grants citizenship to so-called dreamers and certain other classes of immigrants, to the... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Monday extended a ban on green cards issued outside the United States until the end of the year and added many temporary work visas to the freeze, including those used heavily by technology... Read More

DETROIT — After years waiting to become American citizens, dozens of immigrants saw their dreams realized Wednesday — though the big moment wasn’t exactly what they had envisioned. They took their oaths in a drive-thru. Without ever leaving their cars,... Read More

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that President Donald Trump does not have the legal authority to abruptly rescind the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a decision that for now will protect about 650,000 young immigrants... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s bid to overturn one of California's so-called “sanctuary” laws, leaving intact rules prohibiting law enforcement from aiding federal agents in taking custody of immigrants as they are released from... Read More

PHOENIX (AP) — Reyna Montoya’s hands get sweaty and her throat feels like it’s closing just talking about the anxiety of every Monday this spring. The immigrant rights activist who's shielded from deportation and allowed to legally work in the... Read More

WASHINGTON - In the past decade, many U.S. states have faced labor shortages that have placed a financial strain on local businesses and economies.  With fewer skilled immigrants entering the country and young people losing interest in blue-collar jobs, key... Read More

WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has requested $1.2 billion in emergency funding due to a drastic decline in green card and other visa applications that could drain its fee-based coffers by this summer, the agency said Monday. USCIS,... Read More

WASHINGTON - While COVID-19 is amplifying conundrums in many policy areas, perhaps nowhere has this been more manifest than in the area of immigrants and the U.S. immigration system.  President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that he had signed an executive... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he will sign an executive order “to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States” because of the coronavirus. “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the... Read More

WASHINGTON - Congress made little progress on immigration reform last year, but state legislatures are keeping the ball rolling. Nearly every U.S. state passed legislation related to immigration in 2019, according to a report by the National Council on State... Read More

A federal judge called on the U.S. government to speed the release of migrant children in detention centers to suitable adult guardians, saying there are serious questions about whether the facilities are safe amid the coronavirus pandemic. In an order... Read More

NEW YORK — The Trump administration can withhold millions in crime-fighting grants from states to force cooperation with immigration enforcement, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. The decision reversed a lower court decision on the money named for... Read More

MIAMI — For Vantanna Tarver — a 37-year-old Tampa resident — the cost of reuniting with her Jamaican boyfriend after he was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody was high. $4,000. That’s the bond amount Tarver had to come... Read More

WASHINGTON — On Dec. 18, immigration reform stalwart Richard J. Durbin’s announcement on the Senate floor about a rare bipartisan breakthrough flew largely under the radar, overshadowed in the chaotic flurry of impeachment. Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, and Republican Sen.... Read More

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump marked the roughly third-year anniversary of his controversial “travel ban” on Friday by adding six African, Central and East Asian countries to the list of those whose nationals face restrictions on travel to the United... Read More

SAN DIEGO — Over the last year, the Trump administration has dramatically changed the way the U.S. asylum system processes many of the people coming to the southwest border to seek protection. The administration has heralded those changes as a... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court split along ideological lines Monday in a decision allowing the White House to proceed with a rule making it harder for immigrants who rely on public assistance to gain legal status. The unsigned order lifts... Read More

TIJUANA, Mexico — It’s 10 a.m., but it’s still pretty early for a group of teenage boys who are just waking up inside a migrant shelter for unaccompanied children along a busy highway in Tijuana. At Casa YMCA de Menores... Read More

MIAMI — Caught between immigration policy changes championed by two very different administrations, a record number of Cubans are now fighting deportation, as they try to gain asylum in the United States. The Trump administration opened deportation proceedings against 25,044... Read More

A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Trump administration executive order that gives state and local officials discretion on whether or not refugees would be allowed to resettle in their jurisdictions. Wednesday’s preliminary injunction, issued by U.S. District Judge Peter... Read More

YAKIMA, Wash. — A man in handcuffs locked to a belt chain trudged up metal stairs, eyes fixed on the door of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement charter plane bound for El Paso, Texas. He turned and brightened when... Read More

MATAMOROS, Mexico — Emma Sánchez waited patiently in line at the foot of a bridge leading across the Rio Grande and into Texas, one of tens of thousands of people stuck on Mexico’s northern border seeking political asylum in the... Read More

p More than 50 members of Congress are calling for an investigation into reports of Customs and Border Protection officials issuing fake court hearing notices to bar asylum-seekers from entering the U.S. even after they’ve been granted asylum. On Friday,... Read More

More than twice as many Cubans were deported this year compared to last year, according to new data released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. On Wednesday, federal officials released its latest deportation statistics, which showed that 1,179 Cubans were... Read More

WASHINGTON — U.S. officials have started to send families seeking asylum to Guatemala, even if they are not from the Central American country and had sought protection in the United States, the Los Angeles Times has learned. In July, the... Read More

EPHRATA, Pa. — The solemn, 18th-century religious cloister that once seeded this Lancaster County town with German immigrants endures as one of Pennsylvania’s most curious historic sites. It’s never more mystical than in December, when otherworldly hymns fill its stark... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security knew it lacked the technology to track more than 26,000 children it expected to separate from their parents at the U.S. southern border in 2018 as part of its controversial “zero tolerance” policy.... Read More

DALLAS — Before falling in love and getting married, Marco Malagon’s chances of obtaining legal status were slim. While his brother is a U.S. citizen and could have petitioned for him, Malagon learned that process would’ve taken years. So in... Read More

WASHINGTON - Eighty-eight mayors representing cities across the country are urging the Trump administration to rescind an executive order that revamped the nation's system for resettling refugees and could entirely curtail the resettlement of refugees in their communities. In a... Read More