Immigration Updates

The pandemic ended Public Health Policy Title 42 ended earlier this month on Thursday May 11th. For clarity the summary of the rule from last months update has been reincluded.  

• Fact Sheet: U.S. Government Announces Sweeping New Actions to Manage Regional Migration | Homeland Security (dhs.gov) 
• Biden Plan Aims to Stem Border Migration as Restrictions End (usnews.com) 

On April 27th 2023, The Biden-Harris administration announced a sweeping series of new actions and changes to DHS policy as part of the U.S. Government Adjustment to the end of Title 42 on May 11th, 2023. 

Changes of great note are include:

• Imposing Stiffer Consequences for Unlawful Border Crossings
  • Rapid expulsion of all caught unlawfully crossing the border under Title 8 
  • 5-year ban of legal entry into the United States 
  • Banned from pursuing Asylum Claims 

• Proposed Solutions to Limit Unlawful Crossings 
  • Expansion of Access to CBPOne phone application for asylum appointments 
  • Note: So far, the CBPOne app has mostly been nonfunctional or overwhelmed as reported by multiple independent Media outlets. Long term effectiveness of CBPOne as primary means of seeking asylum in the United States is questionable. 

• Doubling of Refugee Admissions from Western Hemisphere 
• Creation of a family reunification process through Humanitarian Parole for people from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Colombia. 
  • Note: Similar programs have shown effectives in the short-term for migrants from Haiti, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, however there has been strong Republican opposition to these programs and whether this would survive an administration change calls into question long-term viability 

• Humanely Manage Migrant Flows with Partners 
  • Processing Centers in Latin American countries to process people’s claims before they arrive at the U.S Southern Border. First two facilities intended for Colombia and Guatemala
  • Note: This idea may help prevent the overwhelming problems at the U.S. Border long-term and could become an effective part of U.S. Immigration Policy, however there are legitimate concerns about government capacity to do this effectively and without violating due process.  

• Increase anti-smuggling operations and increase deportations for quote “those with no lawful basis to stay in the United States” 
  • Note: The effects this will have in practice remain to be seen. Deportation numbers and apprehension and expulsion of migrants at the border are already at or near all-time highs. Punitive expulsion and deportation policies of shown little effectives in terms of dissuasion under any administration over the last few decades.  

What has happened since the End of Title 42? 

• Unauthorized border crossings and individuals seeking asylum at the border have both gone down since Title 42 ended, likely because of the harsher penalties that the return of Title 8 means for those who cross the border. 
  • With people still waiting in Mexico and arriving in Mexico from Central and South America how long this acts as a deterrent remains to be seen. 

• The long-term effects of the new asylum policies remain to be seen however the rules are being challenged in court by the ACLU. 
• Border Apprehensions remain down more than 3 weeks out from the end of Title 42 

• The State of Texas and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are suing the Federal Government over the use of the CBP One app to allow asylum seekers to get asylum appointments at ports of entry – Original Complaint.pdf (texasattorneygeneral.gov) 
  • The State of Texas is arguing that by providing this option that Federal government is encouraging people without a legal pathway to immigration to come to the United States 

• DHS Announces Upcoming Re-parole Process for Afghan Nationals | Homeland Security 
• On March 5th United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a reporale process for Afghan nationals paroled into the U.S. during Operation Allies Welcomes during late 2021 

• • Without this program tens of thousands of Afghan Allies would have been at risk of losing their legal status and work authorization 
  • To be clear this is NOT an automatic process, Afghans must apply for reparole either online or on paper starting in June 2023. 

• • • Please visit the USCIS website to keep track of updates info on the full process if you need to apply for reparole or are assisting someone applying for reparole 

• USCIS Updates Review Process for the Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans | USCIS 
• 1.5 million apply for U.S. migrant sponsorship program with 30,000 monthly cap – CBS News 
• The parole process for Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians which have been running since January have seen higher than expected demand. 
  • As such USCIS has announced that rather than administering all 30,000 monthly slots for the program on a first-come first-serve basis, they will administer half the slots through a random lottery selecting applications to be reviewed and administer the other half on a first-come first-serve basis.  

• Passed House of Representatives 
• Similar legislation being considered in the United States Senate 

• One key Judicial Case was decided so far this month during the Supreme Court session on whether or not migrants are required to appeal their cases to the Board of Immigration Appeals before they appeal in Federal court. Attached below is a summary of the result explaining the courts decision 
• Supreme Court Declines to Impose New Hurdle on Immigrants Appealing their Cases (immigrationimpact.com) 

On 4/18/2023 Senators Gillibrand and Booker, as well as Representatives Jayapal, Torres, and Meng introduced the Fairness to Freedom Act in both houses of Congress. The Fairness to Freedom Act is a product of a partnership between National Partnership for New Americans and the VERA Institute for Justice. This act being introduced for the first time seeks to accomplish 2 primary goals:

• The establishment of right to counsel in immigration court as a federal right 
• Secondly, to provide funding for and guidelines for the creation of a system to provide individuals in immigration who cannot afford representation with legal representation. 

There is substantial evidence that one of the greatest factors in determining the result of deportation proceedings, asylum hearings, and other immigration court functions is whether or not the migrant has legal counsel. This bill seeks to make a fairer immigration court process and ensure that all regardless of economic status receive fair hearings and equitable results in immigration courts.  

(AIC Explanation) GOP’s Extreme Border Bill Rejects Solutions and Embraces Ending Asylum (immigrationimpact.com) 

The bill has a laundry list of potentially negative provisions, including, but not limited to, the following: 

• Creation of Mandatory Fees for Asylum Applications 
• Forbidding most asylum seekers to apply for asylum if the have not applied for asylum while in transit through 3rd countries
• Increased detention and expulsion of unaccompanied minors 
• Creation of new federal criminal charges for individuals who have overstayed a visa 
  • 1st offense up to 6 months in jail 
  • 2nd offense up to 2 years in prison 

• Forbidding all Asylum claims for those who do not cross at a port of entry 
• Essentially eliminate Humanitarian Parole by redefining to only include individuals with an acute medical need or who need to attend a family funeral 

Representatives Jayapal and Smith, as well as Senator Booker, introduced the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act in the House and the Senate. The objective of this bill is to create new standards for immigration detention that fall in line with international human rights standards and respects the dignity of the human person. 

Below are a list of provisions included in the bill if it were to pass sourced from Rep Jayapal’s website:

• Repeal mandatory detention
• Prohibit the detention of families and children in family detention 
• Phase-out the use of private detention facilities and jails over a three-year period 
• Create a presumption of release and impose a higher burden of proof to detain primary caregivers and vulnerable populations, including asylum seekers, pregnant women, LGBTQ individuals, survivors of torture or gender-based violence, and people under the of age 21
• Prohibit the detention of anyone under age 18 in a facility operated or contracted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
• Require DHS to establish civil detention standards that provide, at minimum, the level of protection in the American Bar Association’s Civil Immigration Detention Standards
• Mandate the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct unannounced inspections with meaningful penalties for failure to comply with standards

In a move over a decade coming, the Biden-Harris announced that DACA recipients will be eligible to get healthcare through the Affordable Care Act.  

• Previously over 1/3 of DACA recipients were uninsured so the expansion of coverage here will help hundreds of thousands across the country

• There are over 100,000 DACA recipients in Ohio 

On April 27th 2023, The Biden-Harris administratio announced a sweeping series of new actions and changes to DHS policy as part of the U.S. Government Adjustment to the end of Title 42 on May 11th, 2023. Access the Fact Sheet.

Changes of note include:

• Imposing Stiffer Consequences for Unlawful Border Crossings 
  • Rapid expulsion of all caught unlawfully crossing the border under Title 8 
  • 5-year ban of legal entry into the United States 
  • Banned from pursuing Asylum Claims 

• Proposed Solutions to Limit Unlawful Crossings 
  • Expansion of Access to CBPOne phone application for asylum appointments 
    • Note: So far, the CBPOne app has mostly been nonfunctional or overwhelmed as reported by multiple independent Media outlets. Long term effectiveness of CBPOne as primary means of seeking asylum in the United States is questionable. 
  • Doubling of Refugee Admissions from Western Hemisphere 
  • Creation of a family reunification process through Humanitarian Parole for people from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Colombia.  
    • Note: Similar programs have shown effectives in the short-term for migrants from Haiti, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, however there has been strong Republican opposition to these programs and whether this would survive an administration change calls into question long-term viability 

• Humanely Manage Migrant Flows with Partners 
  • Processing Centers in Latin American countries to process people’s claims before they arrive at the U.S Southern Border. First two facilities intended for Colombia and Guatemala  
    • Note: This idea may help prevent the overwhelming problems at the U.S. Border long-term and could become an effective part of U.S. Immigration Policy, however there are legitimate concerns about government capacity to do this effectively and without violating due process.  
  • Increase anti-smuggling operations and increase deportations for quote “those with no lawful basis to stay in the United States” 
    • Note: The effects this will have in practice remain to be seen. Deportation numbers and apprehension and expulsion of migrants at the border are already at or near all-time highs. Punitive expulsion and deportation policies of shown little effectives in terms of dissuasion under any administration over the last few decades.  

New Deal for New Americans Act Reintroduced

Global Cleveland is proud to be an endorsing organization on the New Deal for New Americans Act. The New Deal for New Americans proposes a number of significant policy changes including:

• Creating a Federal Office of New Americans whose job it would be to work on and propose solutions to immigrants facing issues
• Establishing multiple grant programs that would provide funding for naturalization and permanent residence applications, English education, and workforce programming
• Increasing refugee admissions levels, remove financial barriers to citizenship, create an automatic voter registration at naturalization, among others

Fairness to Freedom Act to be Introduced in Congress in April

This act being introduced for the first time seeks to accomplish two primary goals:

• To establish the right to counsel in immigration court as a federal right
• To provide funding for and guidelines for the creation of a system to provide individuals in immigration who cannot afford representation with legal representation

There is substantial evidence that one of the greatest factors in determining the result of deportation proceedings, asylum hearings, and other immigration court functions is whether or not the migrant has legal counsel. This bill seeks to make a fairer immigration court process and ensure that all regardless of economic status receive fair hearings and equitable results in immigration courts.

Texas Senator John Cornyn proposing a potential legislative veto on the Process for Cuban, Venezuelans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans

As we mentioned in our January Newsletter, the Biden-Harris administration as part of their effort to relief tension at the border began a new Humanitarian-Parole process for Cubans, Venezuelans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans comparable to the U4U parole process for Ukrainians. Senator John Cornyn is preparing to bring a challenge against this executive action in the legislature. If it were to pass with a simple majority in both houses of congress, than the Process for Cubans, Venezuelans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans would end.

U.S. and Canada Announce Shared new Asylum Policy for the U.S.-Canada Border

This deal contains a large number of details, but fundamentally it means harsher punishments for migrants crossing the border between ports of entry both ways on the U.S. Canada Border. This will mean greater enforcement and more deportations on the U.S. Northern Border It also means that a migrant who arrives in Canada most apply for asylum in Canada and cannot cross to United States and claim asylum, and vice versa. The intent is to discourage border crossings as the rate at the North Border has steadily been increasing over the last year. Its effectiveness remains to be seen. As part of the deal the Canadian government has agreed to accept an additional 15,000 per year migrants from Central and South America. 

Official Gov. Factsheet 

USCIS Redesignates TPS for Somalia 

All Somalians residing in the United States as of January 11,2023 are eligible to apply or reapply for TPS. This redesignation has been implemented as of March 18, 2023 and will expire on September 17, 2024 

Secretary Mayorkas Extends and Redesignates Somalia for Temporary Protected Status for 18 Months | Homeland Security (dhs.gov) 

Reparole of Ukrainians  

Prior to the implementation of the Uniting for Ukraine parole program last summer, over 20,000 Ukrainians were admitted to the United States at the Southern Border. Unlike Ukrainians that came later through the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) program and received a 2-year legal status and work authorization, those who came during March and April of 2022 only received a 1-year legal status and work authorization. The Biden-Harris Administration has announced that they will be reviewing and reparoling Ukrainians who came before U4U was implemented and are at risk of losing their legal status and work authorization this Spring. 

U.S. to extend legal stay of Ukrainian refugees processed along Mexican border – CBS News 

As a reminder, many Afghans who were given 2-year parole after the U.S. Withdrawal in 2021 are facing a similar concern this fall. Tens of thousands of these Afghans have yet to receive a permanent legal status. The Afghan Adjustment Act in congress was supposed to avert this crisis by creating a path to permanent status. However, after it failed to pass last year and it is looking doubtful that it will pass this year, the Biden-Harris Administration may need to step in to avert the crisis of tens of thousands of Afghans losing their work status and deportation protections. 

Potential Resumption of Family Detention Processes

Multiple unnamed sources with the Department of Homeland Security and USCIS leaked to the press that the Biden-Harris administration is considering a resumption of Family detention at immigration facilities along the U.S.-Mexico Border. Family Detention was started by the Obama-Biden Administration in 2014 and continued under the Trump-Pence Administration until the Biden-Harris Administration ended in early 2021.

Many immigration experts believe that the resumption of Family Detention would be a major misstep. It was found to be inhumane, with conditions in facilities being severely lacking, and the program was also very costly.

USCIS Ends Pandemic Related Paperwork Deadline Flexibility

During the COVID-19 Pandemic USCIS provided deadline flexibility for those who filled paperwork with the agency. This flexibility has come to an end as of March 23rd, 2023. Applications for extensions in individual circumstances will still be considered on a case-by-case basis.

USCIS Announces New Service Center

USCIS has announced a new Humanitarian, Adjustment, Removing Conditions, and Travel Documents (HART) Service Center. This center is the sixth USCIS service center and will focus on handling applications and processes related to Humanitarian Visas, status adjustment, removing conditions for visa holders, and issuing travel documents to non-citizens.