January 2024 Immigration Update

Want to keep up with immigration news in the U.S.? Every month, Global Cleveland publishes our immigration update so that you can stay informed about the latest immigration news.

This month’s Immigration Update at a glance:

• TPS Extended for Four Countries
• Proposed Changes to Citizenship Test Canceled
• Courts Deciding Record Numbers of Immigration Cases

• In his last weeks in office, President Biden extended temporary protected status for Venezuela, El Salvador, Ukraine, and Sudan.
• President-elect Trump discussed ending the program altogether, making the extension, which lasts for 18 months, especially significant.
• Those eligible re-enroll include 600,000 Venezuelans, 232,000 Salvadorians, 103,700 Ukrainians, and 1,900 Sudanese.
• https://www.axios.com/2025/01/10/immigration-temporary-protected-status-extensions-biden

• A program announced last year that enables visas to be processed abroad for Afghan refugees began operations in early January 2025
• The Philippines agreed to host the program, with the US agreeing to pay for the costs to refugees.
• The AP reported the program would be limited, only serving about 150-300 applicants.
• https://apnews.com/article/philippines-afghans-us-immigrant-visa-2fbbc522321e3ab71b33d2cbcf58e9ac

• $55 million in fees for the Keeping Families Together initiative will be refunded.
• The initiative, which provided for a path to permanent residency for undocumented spouses of US citizens, was announced last year, but was suspended when a federal judge ruled that “the policy exceeded executive authority.”
• USCIS announced the refunds and said that they would be processed automatically.
• https://www.boundless.com/blog/u-s-refund-55-million-fees-blocked-parole-in-place-expansion/\

• Federal immigration authorities canceled planned changes to the US citizenship test after the proposal received negative feedback
• Public comments on the redesign criticized it for being an ineffective way to evaluate English language skills and was overly difficult for adult learners.
• The naturalization test format in use since 2008 will continue to be used in the future, Boundless Immigration reported.
• https://www.boundless.com/blog/uscis-scraps-trial-new-naturalization-test/

• Tom Homan, tipped as the “border tsar” by President-Elect Trump, said that the use of family detention centers remained on the table.
• The practice, which was used to great controversy during Trump’s first administration, was ended by the Biden administration.
• Homan said it may be necessary to use family detention centers, as it was, in his view, essential to end the ‘catch and release’ policy.
• https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/trump-border-czar-tom-homan-family-detention-centers-deportation-rcna185508

• The US Senate voted to advance the Laken Riley Act with large bipartisan support, 84-9, though some have suggested it may need to be amended before it will have the support for final passage.
• The bill would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take custody of those in the country without authorization who had been charged with theft and other similar crimes.
• The bill was introduced after its namesake, a Georgia nursing student, was murdered, with the suspect in her murder being a Venezuelan man in the country without authorization who had previously been arrested on theft charges.
• While mostly supported by Republicans, many Democratic Senators have also supported the bill.
• https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-laken-riley-act-vote-illegal-immigration-rcna186775

• Massachusetts joins Washington State, Florida, Tennessee, Colorado, Virginia and more as state lawmakers passed a bill to open pathways for foreign-trained physicians in the state
• The Physician Pathway Act was passed as part of a broader economic development bill that was signed by Governor Maura Healy.
• The law will, like the Virginia bill, require physicians to practice in an underserved area for a period of time.
• https://commonwealthbeacon.org/health/new-law-grants-pathway-for-foreign-trained-doctors-to-fill-massachusetts-physician-shortage/

• The rules package passed in the new session of the House of Representatives, including several proposals for new immigration legislation
• The measures include:
  • An amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act
  • The Laken Riley Act
  • Making assaulting a law enforcement officer a deportable offense
  • Imposing criminal penalties for fleeing a pursuing federal officer in a car
  • Restrictions on federal funding for sanctuary cities
• https://rollcall.com/2025/01/02/house-republicans-look-to-tee-up-immigration-bills/

• Tennessee Senator Todd Gardenhire proposed an amendment that would change an earlier law that would exempt School Resource Officers from a requirement that they report a person’s immigration status.
• Senator Gardenhire stated the previous law was poorly written, and that it was wrong to punish children in school.
• The Senator also said if the law wasn’t passed, it would return to the agenda in the Spring.
• https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-politics/republican-sponsored-bill-would-exempt-tn-sros-from-immigration-status-reporting-requirement/

• The Supreme Court found that appeals to revoked visas cannot be heard in federal court because the USCIS is a discretionary agency.
• The Court’s majority opinion, which was unanimous, was written by Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson.
• The court found that USCIS’ decisions to revoke a visa were not mandatory (which would have meant that officials were required to follow specific rules) but discretionary, which they said makes them ineligible for judicial review in federal court
• https://bizlegalservices.com/2024/12/12/supreme-court-confirms-no-judicial-review-for-revoked-visas/

• Amid attempts to reduce a backlog of immigration cases from the outgoing Biden administration, the immigration court system is deciding the most cases it has in years.
• President Biden has implemented a “fast track” system to reduce the backlog which has been estimated at exceeding 3 million cases.
• Syracuse University found that if this pace continues “immigration judges will rule on more deportation cases in 2025 than in any previous year.”
• https://www.axios.com/2024/12/31/biden-immigration-courts-deportations