The Asian Pacific American Heritage month is being celebrated in May.
Special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS): SIJS is an immigration status that allows children who have survived parental abuse, neglect or abandonment to apply for permanent residency in the United States. Congress created SIJS — with its direct pathway to a green card — to provide young people with tools to achieve stability: eligibility for federal financial aid for college, work authorization and protection from deportation. Applicants, however, face multiple years waiting for administrative processing. A group of 400 professionals and child protection organizations, including Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), has written to senior immigration officials requesting action to eliminate the backlog. Read the statement from CLINIC and follow the links to learn more.
Future of DACA. All agree that the Obama administration program for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals was a temporary measure which has remained in effect since 2012 and that Congressional action is needed. The Trump administration tried unsuccessfully to halt the program and the Biden administration has continued it by executive order. Felicia Escobar Carrillo, chief of staff in the office of the director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, spoke in the annual convening of CLINIC and outlined additional proposed administrative action. Ms. Carillo acknowledged the logjam of actions due to staff reductions and COVID-related issues, but assured attendees that the administration was committed to preservation of DACA and had increased budgets for staff. Nonetheless, only Congress can institute real reform. Read more here.
Irwin County Detention Center. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced that it will cancel its contract with a private contractor for detention of immigrants. The cancellation follows allegations of mistreatment of detainees, including hysterectomies for which women had not given consent.
ICYMI – Do you want more? Immigration news and policy modifications are coming from the government daily. Do you want migration action alerts, weekly reviews, updates on webinars, backgrounders and much more? Go to http://justiceforimmigrants.org, scroll to the bottom of any page, and fill out the form. Justice for Immigrants stays on top of changes for you.