Tag Archives: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Associated Press: Lawyers for firefighter ask judge to order his release from ICE facility

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Lawyers for an Oregon firefighter who was taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents while fighting a Washington state wildfire filed a petition in federal court Friday asking a judge to order his release from an immigration detention facility.

The Oregon man, Rigoberto Hernandez Hernandez, and one other firefighter were part of a 44-person crew fighting a blaze in the Olympic National Forest on Aug. 27 when the agents took them into custody during a multiagency criminal investigation into the two contractors for whom the men were employed.

Lawyers with the Innovation Law Lab said during a press conference that his arrest was illegal and violated U.S. Department of Homeland Security polices that say immigration enforcement must not be conducted at locations where emergency responses are happening.

The Bear Gulch Fire, one of the largest in the state, had burned 29 square miles (75 square kilometers) by Friday and was 9% contained.

The Border Patrol said at the time that the two workers were in the U.S. illegally so they were detained. Federal authorities did not provide information about the investigation into the contractors.

Lawyer Rodrigo Fernandez-Ortega said they filed a petition for habeas corpus and a motion for a temporary restraining order that seeks the man’s release from the Northwest ICE detention center in Tacoma, Washington.

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in an email to The Associated Press that the two men were not firefighters — they were working in a support role cutting logs into firewood.

“The firefighting response remained uninterrupted the entire time,” she said. “U.S. Border Patrol’s actions did not prevent or interfere with any personnel actively engaged in firefighting efforts.” A spokesperson for the Border Patrol declined to comment, saying they don’t comment on active or pending litigation.

Six Democratic Oregon Congressional leaders sent a press release late Friday calling on the release of the firefighter. “It’s outrageous for the Trump Administration to trample on the due process rights of emergency responders who put their lives on the line to protect Oregonians’ safety,” said Sen. Ron Wyden. Sen. Jeff Merkley and four representatives said the arrests put communities in danger and stoke fear.

After Hernandez was taken into custody in August, his lawyers were unable to locate him for 48 hours, which caused distress for his family, Fernandez-Ortega said. He has been in the Tacoma facility ever since, they said.

Hernandez, 23, was the son of migrant farmworkers, his lawyer said. He was raised in Oregon, Washington and California as they traveled for work. He moved to Oregon three years ago and began working as a wildland firefighter.

This was his third season working as a wildland firefighter, “doing the grueling and dangerous job of cutting down trees and clearing vegetation to manage the spread of wildfires and to protect homes, communities, and resources,” his lawyer said.

Hernandez had received a U-Visa certification from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon in 2017 and submitted his U-Visa application with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services the following year. The U-Visa program was established by Congress to protect victims of serious crimes who assist federal investigators.

He has been waiting since 2018 for the immigration agency to decide on his application and should be free during the process, his lawyers said.

Lawyers for firefighter ask judge to order his release from ICE facility
Lawyers for an Oregon firefighter who was taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents while fighting a Washington state wildfire are asking a federal judge to order his release from an immigration detention facility.

https://apnews.com/article/firefighters-immigration-ice-7916a6ea4682440e181747e77e0a4525

Fox News: Trump launches $1M Gold Card for US residency status through government website

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President Donald Trump on Friday announced the “Trump Gold Card,” which will allow individuals and corporations to receive rapid residency in the U.S., is now available for purchase with a starting price of $1 million.

The card features a portrait of the president, the Statue of Liberty and the American flag underneath a gold background, with “Trump Gold Card” stamped on the left side.

“For far too long, we have had millions of Illegal Aliens pouring into our Country, and our Immigration System was broken,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “It is beyond time that the American People, and American Taxpayers, are benefitting from our LEGAL Immigration System.”

Individuals are now able to purchase the card for $1 million, and corporations will later be able to purchase a card for $2 million.

“We anticipate THE TRUMP GOLD CARD will generate well over $100 Billion Dollars very quickly,” Trump wrote. “This money will be used for reducing Taxes, Pro Growth Projects, and paying down our Debt.”

Interested parties can apply for the “exclusive privileges” on the official website, trumpcard.gov.

According to the site, applicants will submit their documents and pay a nonrefundable processing fee, triggering an accelerated probe by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

From there, officials will conduct an in-depth background check and vet the potential cardholder.

Once an applicant is approved, a Trump Gold Card will be available for use throughout all 50 states and territories. They will be given lawful permanent resident status as an EB-1 or EB-2 visa holder.

The website notes that the Trump Gold Card status acts as a visa, and may be revoked due to national security and other risks.

The administration also plans to roll out the Trump Platinum Card, which will allow individual applicants to reside in the country for up to 270 days per year, without being subject to tax on non-U.S. income. It will take the place of travel visas.

While the platinum card has not yet been released, the website notes applicants should join the waitlist immediately, as they will be processed on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Only stinking rich white guys need apply!!!

Trump launches $1M Gold Card for US residency status through government website
Trump’s new Gold Card program allows individuals to purchase U.S. residency at a starting price of $1 million, with corporations paying $2 million for similar benefits.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/trump-launches-1m-gold-card-us-residency-status-through-government-website

Rolling Stone: Children’s Hospital Chaplain Jailed by Trump Admin Finally Released

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Ayman Soliman, a beloved former children’s hospital chaplain in the Cincinnati area, was released on today

Ayman Soliman, a beloved former children’s hospital chaplain in the Cincinnati area, has been jailed by Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement since July 9. Soliman was finally released today, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell Rolling Stone. 

Just before 1:15 p.m., Adam Allen — one of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital chaplains who was fired after publicly backing Soliman — said in a brief phone call, “He’s at a mosque.”

The imam’s attorney, Robert Ratliff, confirms that Soliman was released and “headed home,” and that he expects U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to fully reinstate his client’s legal asylum status, which was officially terminated by the Trump administration the month before his arrest. 

Ratliff says he is awaiting written confirmation from the government, but he views this as an unequivocal victory, clearing the way for his client to continue seeking his green card and getting his family members from Egypt to America.

The attorney adds that this morning, a staffer at Rep. Greg Landsman’s (D-Ohio) office called him to let him know that they had heard the termination of legal status would be rescinded imminently, and that Soliman would be let out of the Butler County jail within hours. Then, at 12:13 p.m., Ratliff says, he got confirmation from an attorney for the Trump Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that they had filed a motion to dismiss.

“It is 100 percent [good news], absolutely no downside to it,” Soliman’s lawyer says.

Soliman and his advocates have long claimed that if the U.S. government were to return him to Egypt, he would face political retribution, or even death. For years, Soliman has built a reputation in Ohio and northern Kentucky for his work as a chaplain at his former employer, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where he was widely celebrated for his work that included comforting the parents of severely ill or dying kids.

None of that mattered to Trump and his administration, which jailed him for more than two months, and have been publicly trashing him (based on flimsy so-called evidence) as being connected to Islamist terrorists.

DHS did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Children’s Hospital Chaplain Jailed by Trump Administration Finally Released
Ayman Soliman, a beloved former children’s hospital chaplain in the Cincinnati area, had been jailed by Donald Trump’s administration since July 9.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-ayman-soliman-childrens-hospital-chaplain-released-1235431374

CBS News: Trump administration to add $100,000 fee for H-1B visas

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The Trump administration is adding $100,000 to the existing fee for H-1B visa applications, taking aim at a program that is used to attract highly skilled workers to the U.S. 

President Trump signed an executive order late Friday adding the new visa application fee and barring H-1B workers from entering the U.S. unless they had made the $100,000 payment. 

“We’re going to be able to keep people in our country that are going to be very productive people, and in many cases these companies are going to pay a lot of money for that, and they’re very happy about it,” Mr. Trump said.

The additional charge would impact employers including technology giants such as Amazon, IBM, Microsoft and Google, which have relied on the program to hire foreign workers. 

The plan was reported earlier by Bloomberg News.

H-1B visas are already expensive, with the cost ranging from about $1,700 to $4,500, depending on whether the visa is expedited. The fees are typically considered a business expense for the employer. 

The new fee comes amid a debate over the H-1B visa, which some critics say enables companies to hire foreign applicants at lower salaries than American workers. Some employers also award H-1Bs for entry-level roles rather than for senior positions with greater skill requirements, detractors of the program say.

Tech companies have been among the primary beneficiaries of the visa program. Amazon received the most H1-B visas of any business in 2024, Department of Labor data shows. This year, the online retailer remains the leading recipient of the visas, with more than 10,000 awarded, followed by Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple and Google.

“This will ensure that the people they’re bringing in are actually very highly skilled and that they’re not replaceable by American workers. So it’ll protect American workers, but ensure that companies have a pathway to hire truly extraordinary people and bring them to the United States,” a White House aide said.

Still, Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonpartisan research group, said the plan could backfire if it incentivizes U.S. companies to shift jobs overseas, especially in specialized areas like research and development.

“The second impact will further decrease the number of international students who have an interest in coming to study in the U.S. If there’s no opportunity work in the U.S., it’s much less likely they’ll enroll in U.S. programs,” Anderson told CBS News.

Last year, the most popular type of job for H-1B visas was software developer. To receive an H-1B visa, which is awarded by lottery, an applicant needs to have at least a bachelor’s degree in their field and have been offered a temporary job by a U.S. company.

President Trump plans to order the Labor Secretary to start a new rule-making process that would update wage levels for the program, Bloomberg reported. Currently, U.S. companies must offer the prevailing wage or the actual wage of similarly qualified workers, whichever is higher, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The program is capped at 65,000 new visas each year, although an additional 20,000 can be issued for employees with a master’s degree or higher, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The cap and higher-degree exemption quota is already filled for fiscal year 2026, according to the USCIS. 

The H-1B program is already the most restrictive visa program in the U.S., with about 20% of applications resulting in approved workers, according to a March study from the nonpartisan National Foundation for American Policy. 

Trump administration to add $100,000 fee for H-1B visas
The Trump administration is targeting a visa widely used by tech companies and other employers to hire foreign workers.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-h1b-visa-bill-100000-fee

Washington Post: Military-related work absences at a 19-year high amid deployments

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The number of Americans missing work for National Guard deployments or other military or civic duty is at a 19-year high, adding disruption to a labor market that’s already under strain.

Between January and August, workers reported 90,000 instances of people missing at least a week of work because of military deployments, jury duty or other civil service, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is more than double the number of similar absences in the same eight-month period last year, and the highest level since 2006, when President George W. Bush deployed the National Guard to Iraq, Afghanistan and the Southwest U.S. border in large numbers.

The absences are due at least in part to a growing military presence in American cities. Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has sent thousands of National Guard service members — civilians, many with full-time jobs — to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. He has suggested expansions of those efforts to at least seven more cities, including Chicago, New York, Baltimore and New Orleans, and called for the creation of a new military unit that can quickly mobilize anywhere in the country.

The ramp-up is happening at a vulnerable time for the labor market. Job openings have dropped in recent months, layoffs are picking up and businesses are slow to hire. Companies added just 22,000 new jobs in August, well below economists’ expectations, while the unemployment rate edged up to 4.3 percent.

Military-related absences so far make up just a sliver of overall workplace disruptions. In August, for example, more than twice as many people reported missing work because of labor disputes, and seven times as many said they were out because of bad weather. Economists also caution that the data are calculated using a small subset of responses, which can distort the numbers. Even so, with the president considering expanding National Guard presence to other parts of the country, they warn the burden on workers and employers could deepen.

“Uncertainty over whether you or your employees might be called to National Guard duty and how long that deployment might last is just adding to the chaos” for families and businesses, said Michael Makowsky, an economist at Clemson University whose work focuses on law enforcement. “Anything that makes it harder to make a plan is generally bad for the economy.”

The White House says its efforts are improving the U.S. economy by combating crime and unrest in major cities.

The “President has rightfully deployed the National Guard to cities like Los Angeles, which was ravaged by violent riots … and Washington, DC, while strengthening small businesses and revitalizing our economy,” spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement. “These deployments saved small businesses from further destruction and preserved great American jobs.”

Although military-related work absences tend to fluctuate throughout the year, spiking during hurricane season, for example, they have been consistently higher than in 2024 almost every month this year.

“You can see an elevation in the data, that’s for darn sure,” said William Beach, who headed the BLS during Trump’s first term and is now a senior fellow at the Economic Policy Innovation Center. “It’s more than likely because of a military influence — an increase in reserve duty or an increase in military service.”

The data come from the Current Population Survey, a monthly federal survey that asks Americans whether they missed work in a given week each month, and why. Civil or military duty-related absences include jury duty, Armed Forces reserve duty, National Guard duty or “a similar obligation,” according to the BLS.

National Guard recruitment has recently picked up after years of decline. In an executive order last month, Trump called for the creation of an online job portal to encourage more people to apply to join federal law enforcement efforts, saying they are needed in “cities where public safety and order has been lost.”

Deployment orders are expected to accelerate as the president leans on the National Guard to crack down on what he calls rampant crime in U.S. cities. Although a federal judge last week ruled that the Trump administration’s use of troops to carry out domestic law enforcement in Los Angeles was illegal, he did not require that the administration withdraw the 300 service members who are still in the city.

The Trump administration has appealed that ruling and suggested that it will not hamper plans to send troops to other cities. The White House is also expected to extend the National Guard’s deployment in D.C. — where it has faced criticism for relying on troops for landscaping and trash removal — from mid-September to Dec. 31.

For those who are being deployed, assignments require stepping away from duties at their day jobs. Despite federal protections, some National Guard members say they have trouble finding or keeping work, especially in a labor market weighed down by uncertainty.

“Companies say they’re veteran-friendly until it’s time for you to deploy or there’s a natural disaster, and they realize your time out of the office is going to cost them productivity or they’re going to have to hire someone to cover for you,” said Charlie Elison, a noncommissioned officer in the Army National Guard who also works a day job as an executive director for the city of Philadelphia.

Elison, who until earlier this year worked for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said his career options have been “very limited” because of growing military responsibilities. He spends about 90 days a year out of the office in uniform, and he usually does a year-long deployment overseas every four years. Adding crime-related domestic duties to that list, he said, could add new challenges for troops and employers.

“There’s this unfunded mandate across our country, where Guard and reserve members are asked to do more and more every year,” he said. “And there’s this unfunded requirement for our civilian employers to shoulder that burden.”

Military-related work absences at a 19-year high amid deployments

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/military-related-work-absences-at-a-19-year-high-amid-deployments/ar-AA1M2rvW

News Nation: Report: 14K federal workers, including USCIS, assisting ICE

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The Cato Institute says over 14,500 federal law enforcement officers from other agencies are working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to facilitate raids and make arrests nationwide, including new special agents from USCIS.

The Cato Institute this week reported that ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) is receiving assistance from nearly 17,000 non-ERO agents, according to data given to the nonprofit organization.

That includes diverting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees to help with ICE raids.

The Department of Homeland Security this week announced a new class of USCIS employees had been “newly minted” as special agents to work with ICE.

USCIS personnel will have the authority “to investigate and enforce civil and criminal violations of the immigration laws within the jurisdiction of USCIS. These authorities include, but are not limited to, the issuance and execution of warrants, the arrest of individuals, and carrying of firearms,” according to a notice posted Friday in the Federal Register.

This includes ordering expedited removals. USCIS says it plans to recruit and train special agents for these roles.

“As (Homeland Security) Secretary Noem delegated lawful authorities to expand the agency’s law enforcement capabilities, this rule allows us to fulfill our critical mission. This historic moment will better address immigration crimes, hold those that perpetrate immigration fraud accountable, and act as a force multiplier for DHS and our federal law enforcement partners, including the Joint Terrorism Task Force,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a statement.

Edlow says this will allow his agency to handle investigations from start to finish, instead of referring some cases to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and ERO agents.

The Cato Institute reports that other federal employees diverted to ICE ERO include:

  • ICE HSI: 6,198
  • FBI: 2,840
  • Drug Enforcement Administration: 2,181
  • Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives: 1,778
  • U.S. Marshals Service: 650
  • Border Patrol: 335
  • Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations: 288
  • Department of State – Diplomatic Security: 93
  • CBP Air and Marine Operations: 68
  • Department of Defense: 35
  • IRS: 20
  • Bureau of Prisons: 11
  • U.S. Secret Service: 1

In addition, state and local law enforcement agencies have teamed up with ICE part of the 287(g) program. Cato reports that over 8,500 officers are contributing to ICE operations.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) is opposed to arming USCIS personnel to become an arresting arm.

“The Trump Administration has transformed USCIS into an enforcement agency, weaponizing the immigration system against American families, asylum seekers, and businesses. What’s worse, this rule states they now plan to arm potentially hundreds of agents at USCIS,” AILA President Jeff Joseph said.

“Congress established USCIS after 9/11 to process legal immigration applications. Enforcement actions were left to other agencies to ensure that immigrants felt safe submitting their personal information and appearing for interviews. The administration’s continued attacks on those who are following the rules and going through legal channels will only serve to push people further into the shadows. Their aim of driving people out of the country shows a shocking disregard for the value and contributions that immigrants make to America,” Johnson said.

Report: 14K federal workers, including USCIS, assisting ICE
A national nonprofit says over 14,500 federal criminal law enforcement officers from other agencies are working with Immigration Customs Enforcement agents to facilitate ICE raids and make arrests …

https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/immigration/report-14k-federal-workers-including-uscis-assisting-ice

Fox News: DOJ calls for tips on employers favoring foreign workers in hiring practices

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The Department of Justice is asking people to report illegal visa practices that could come at the expense of American workers.

Citizens are being urged to flag “discriminatory” advertisements for jobs, especially ones that state that the employer prefers people on a seasonal or H-1B visa.

“Are you an American citizen who has been harmed by inappropriate preferences for foreign workers, eg H1-B or other? Follow the link. It’s also a place to report human trafficking of immigrant workers, and Title VII employment discrimination,” Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the DOJ, posted to X on Friday.

The DOJ is also allowing people to send in tips for possible human trafficking violations related to temporary visa programs.

H-1B visas were the subject of debate earlier this year, as many opponents argued they hinder American talent in key sectors like technology, whereas others believe it bolsters the economy.

“The main function of the H-1B visa program and other guest worker initiatives is not to hire ‘the best and the brightest,’ but rather to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, posted to X in January. “The cheaper the labor they hire, the more money the billionaires make.”

H-1B visas for fiscal year 2026 have already hit the legal petition limit with 65,000 that are standard, and an additional 20,000 for those with advanced degrees, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The visas are primarily meant for skilled workers, including “architecture, engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences, medicine and health, education, business specialties, accounting, law, theology, and the arts,” according to the agency’s website.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said the program has “become a total scam” in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Laura Ingraham on Tuesday.

“These companies game the system. You have some of these companies that are laying off large numbers of Americans while they’re also getting new H-1 Bs and renewing existing H-1 Bs,” DeSantis said.

“A lot of times people used to say, ‘Well, you know, we’re getting the cream of the crop from all around the world.’ The reality is that’s not actually what H1Bs are. Most of them are from one country, India. There’s a cottage industry about how all those people make money off this system,” he continued.

Major visa reform is already underway in the U.S., as the Trump administration is reviewing all 55 million visas to make sure people who are in the country are following the law.

“The department’s continuous vetting includes all of the more than 55 million foreigners who currently hold valid U.S. visas,” a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital last week.

A visa could potentially be nixed by the department if there have been “overstays, criminal activity, threats to public safety, engaging in any form of terrorist activity or providing support to a terrorist organization.”

Nothings beats a network of informants — it worked so well in East Germany!

For whatever it’s worth, the formal name of the East German Stasi (secret police) was Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, which translates litterally to “Department of State (Homeland) Security”.

DOJ calls for tips on employers favoring foreign workers in hiring practices

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/doj-calls-for-tips-on-employers-favoring-foreign-workers-in-hiring-practices/ar-AA1LxTxt

Newsweek: Child Protections for Green Card Applicants Reversed: What To Know

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Anew interpretation of immigration law has upended protections for children of long-waiting green card applicants, putting some 200,000 young people—many of whom have spent their entire lives in the U.S.—at risk of losing their legal status once they turn 21.

The change to the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) undoes a Biden-era policy that had shielded thousands of children from “aging out” of green card eligibility, and represents a seismic alteration for children on immigrant families holding H-1B visas.

Why It Matters

The rollback isn’t just a technical tweak to visa calculations—it could decide whether thousands of children stay with their families or are forced to leave the only country they’ve ever known.

The impact will fall hardest on families of H-1B visa holders stuck in the green card backlog. About 200,000 children—mostly from India and China—risk “aging out” when they turn 21, losing dependent status and facing a future of student visas, self-deportation, or exile. For families who have already waited decades, the change highlights both the fragility of existing protections and the broader failures of America’s immigration system to keep families together.

What To Know

The new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rule officially took effect on August 15. From that date forward, only the Final Action Dates chart from the Visa Bulletin will determine a child’s CSPA age.

Families that submit adjustment of status applications before that date will still be protected under the more flexible February 2023 policy, which allowed children to rely on the earlier “Dates for Filing” chart. Those who wait beyond the deadline risk seeing their children age out much faster under the new calculation system.

In practical terms, families who delay filing until after mid-August may lose the protective cushion that previously gave them more time before their children turned 21.

The New Changes and What They Mean

The 2023 policy let families use the Dates for Filing chart to lock in a child’s CSPA age. This gave families valuable time and allowed more children to remain eligible as dependents, even amid long visa backlogs.

Immigration lawer, Carolyn Lee said: “The 2023 policy was an expansive move by USCIS to allow children to stop aging earlier. That is, to be given a broader avenue to remain under 21. However, this move raised other questions because it did not conform with U.S. State Department’s adoption of the “stop aging” point – or “visa availability.” So, the new policy, while snapping back to the less expansive position, aligns with State’s and eliminates confusion in this regard.”

Lee added: “The real problem is that dependents still can get separated from their parents during the lengthy visa adjudication process. Our immigration laws embrace family unity as a public goal, and so while we’re thankful to have CSPA, when faced with clients who face the very difficult outcome of being separated from their little ones, I do wonder whether we can look at this problem through a different lens and come up with a better solution.”

Advocates praised the 2023 policy as fairer, but critics said it conflicted with the State Department’s rules. With the new policy, USCIS is now reverting to Final Action Dates, aligning policies but narrowing protections. Eligibility will now hinge solely on this, and the change could accelerate the point at which children “age out” by turning 21 before receiving their green card.

The result is less flexibility for families, has higher risks for children, and potentially devastating consequences for those who have spent years—sometimes decades—waiting in line for permanent residency.

What Is the CSPA?

The Child Status Protection Act, passed in 2002, was designed precisely to shield families from bureaucratic delays.

Its goal was to allow children to retain eligibility despite the often yearslong wait between filing and approval.

The law calculates a “CSPA age” that subtracts certain delays from a child’s actual age, sometimes keeping them under the age of 21 even after their actual twenty-first birthday passes.

The law, however, leaves room for interpretation, especially around what counts as a “visa availability date.”

Without congressional reform of green card quotas, experts warn that children will continue facing the risk of aging out.

What People Are Saying

USCIS, in an August 8 alert detailing changes to the CSPA, said: “The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) defines a child as a person who is both unmarried and under 21 years old. If an alien applies for lawful permanent resident (LPR) status as a child but turns 21 before being approved for LPR status (also known as getting a Green Card), that alien can no longer be considered a child for immigration purposes.

It added: “This situation is commonly referred to as aging out, and may mean these aliens must file a new petition or application or wait even longer to get a Green Card, or are no longer eligible for a Green Card.”

Immigration lawer, Carolyn Lee told Newsweek via email on August 26 “The Child Status Protection Act is an important ameliorative law [something that improves a situation or reduces harm] that recognizes that delays in U.S. immigration processing can separate parents from their children and addresses that heartbreaking problem. It does so by providing a mechanism—a formula, really—that in its operation may keep children under 21 and thereby retain their derivative status.

What Happens Next

USCIS will open a formal rulemaking process later in 2025, inviting public comments that advocates and families are expected to use to push back against the policy. Legal challenges are also possible, as courts may be asked to decide whether the stricter interpretation conflicts with the CSPA’s purpose of keeping families together.

In the meantime, lawyers are urging families to act fast and document extraordinary circumstances to protect eligibility.

The Trump regime is making changes that will likely force 200,000 children of H-1B visa holders to leave the only country they’ve ever known.

Child Protections for Green Card Applicants Reversed: What To Know
Stricter green card rules may split families because children of visa holders lose protections once they turn 21.

https://newsweek.com/child-protections-green-card-applicants-reversed-what-know-2119952

CBS News: U.S. to resume “neighborhood checks” for citizenship applications

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The Trump administration is reinstating a long-dormant practice of conducting “neighborhood checks” to vet immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship, expanding its efforts to aggressively scrutinize immigration applications, according to a government memo obtained by CBS News.

The neighborhood checks would involve on-the-ground investigations by officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that could include interviews with the neighbors and coworkers of citizenship applicants.

The government investigations would be conducted to determine if applicants satisfy the requirements for American citizenship, which include showing good moral character, adhering to the U.S. Constitution and being “well-disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States.”

To qualify for American citizenship in the first place, applicants typically must have lived in the U.S. for three or five years as legal permanent residents. They must also not have any serious criminal records, and pass a civics and English test. The process is known as naturalization.

The Trump administration’s memo upends a decades-old U.S. government policy. While the neighborhood investigations for citizenship cases are outlined in U.S. law, they can also be waived, which the U.S. government has done since 1991, government records show. Since then, the government has relied mainly on background and criminal checks by the FBI to vet citizenship applicants.

The USCIS memo immediately terminated the “general waiver” for neighborhood checks, directing officers to determine whether such investigations are warranted based on the information, or lack thereof, submitted by citizenship applicants. Officers retain the ability to waive the checks, according to the memo.

The directive said USCIS officers will decide whether to carry out a neighborhood investigation by requesting and reviewing testimonial letters from neighbors, employers, coworkers and business associates who know the person applying for U.S. citizenship. 

The memo suggested that citizenship applicants should “proactively” submit testimonial letters, to avoid receiving requests for more evidence. The agency said failure or refusal to comply with a request for evidence could lead to a neighborhood investigation and “impact” applicants’ ability to show they qualify for U.S. citizenship.

While the Trump administration’s campaign to expand arrests of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally is frequently touted by the president and his top officials, its effort to tighten access to the legal immigration system has been implemented with less fanfare.

Over several months, the second Trump administration has frozen the refugee admissions program, ended Biden-era policies that allowed some migrants to enter or stay in the U.S. legally and added additional layers of vetting for legal immigrants requesting immigration benefits like green cards and U.S. citizenship.

In August alone, USCIS said it would more heavily scrutinize the “good moral character” requirement for U.S. citizenship and probe “anti-American” views and activities of those applying for green cards, work permits and other immigration benefits.

The Trump administration has argued the changes are needed to combat fraud and shore up U.S. immigration procedures that it believes became too lax and generous under Democratic administrations.

USCIS Director Joe Edlow, who was confirmed by the Senate earlier this year, said the new memo will “ensure that only the most qualified applicants receive American citizenship.”

“Americans should be comforted knowing that USCIS is taking seriously its responsibility to ensure aliens are being properly vetted and are of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well-disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States,” Edlow said in a statement to CBS News. 

But pro-immigrant advocates and critics of the Trump administration said its policies are sending a chilling effect to immigrants across the country, legal and illegal alike.

“It sounds to me like the idea is to create a more intimidating atmosphere that discourages people from pursuing naturalization,” said Doris Meissner, who oversaw the Immigration and Naturalization Service during the Clinton administration.

The now-defunct INS adjudicated citizenship requests until USCIS was created in 2003. Meissner said the government had largely discontinued neighborhood checks when she became INS commissioner in the 1990s because they were labor intensive and seldom yielded useful information from neighborhoods or other sources. She also said there are other guardrails in place to prevent bad actors from becoming citizens, including background checks.

“It was viewed as one of those anachronistic processes,” Meissner added.

U.S. to resume “neighborhood checks” for citizenship applications as part of Trump push to heavily vet immigrants
The Trump administration is reinstating a long-dormant practice of conducting “neighborhood checks” to vet immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/neighborhood-checks-citizenship-applications

Visa Lawyer Blog: New USCIS Policy Seeks to Intimidate Immigrants Applying for Green Cards by Threatening Deportation Proceedings

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Until this month, if your family member was in the U.S. legally, you could file an I-130 on their behalf, and they could remain in the U.S. while it was being processed. In a devious underhanded move to increase their deportation numbers, the Trump regime intends to start deporting family members whose visas have expired while their I-130 filings are being processed.

On August 1st the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new policies that could make immigrants applying for green cards through family-based petitions more vulnerable to deportation.

The changes appear in various updates to USCIS’ Policy Manual which states that immigration officials can begin removal proceedings for immigrants who lack legal status and apply to become permanent residents through family-based petitions.

According to the Policy Manual, “if USCIS determines the alien beneficiary is removeable and amenable to removal from the United States, USCIS may issue a Notice to Appear (NTA) [in immigration court] placing the beneficiary in removal proceedings. Petitioners and alien beneficiaries should be aware that a family-based petition accords no immigration status nor does it bar removal.”

The new policy went into effect immediately and applies to pending requests for a green card, and those filed on or after August 1st.

While the practical impact of this policy is yet to be seen, it provides immigration officials with more discretion to initiate removal proceedings even where a green card application is pending with USCIS, for those who entered the U.S. illegally, overstayed a U.S. visa, or otherwise failed to maintain their legal status.

These policy changes underscore the importance of maintaining underlying legal status throughout the green card process. Those who lack legal status or who lost their status during the green card process may be most at risk.

This shift is troubling because under previous administrations, green card applicants were not placed in removal proceedings while their green card applications were pending, except for cases involving serious criminal offenses.

USCIS has defended these policies stating that, “Fraudulent, frivolous, or otherwise non-meritorious family-based immigrant visa petitions erode confidence in family-based pathways to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status and undermine the immigration system in the United States. USCIS must ensure that qualifying marriages and family relationships are genuine, verifiable, and compliant with all applicable laws.”

Overtime, USCIS has become increasingly cooperative with agencies like DHS and ICE—moving from an administrative agency to an immigration enforcement agency placing a growing number of immigrants at risk of deportation.

These policies send a clear anti-immigrant message intended to intimidate and drive undocumented immigrants to self-deport. Green card applicants must not fall into this trap and instead seek legal counsel to fully understand their rights.

New USCIS Policy Seeks to Intimidate Immigrants Applying for Green Cards by Threatening Deportation Proceedings
On August 1st the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new policies that could make immigrants applying for green cards through family-based petitions more vulnerable to deportation. The changes appear in various updates to USCIS’ Policy Manual which states that immigration officials can begin removal proceedings for immigrants who lack legal status and apply…
New USCIS Policy Seeks to Intimidate Immigrants Applying for Green Cards by Threatening Deportation Proceedings