The White House announced that President Biden will nominate Ed Gonzalez, a sheriff from Texas and critic of the Trump administration’s deportation policies, to lead ICE. ICE has not had a permanent leader since 2017, with six acting successors never receiving confirmation from the Senate. DHS Secretary Mayorkas said of Gonzalez, “With a distinguished career in law enforcement and public service, Sheriff Gonzalez is well-suited to lead ICE as the agency advances our public safety and homeland security mission.” Biden has vowed to reform ICE, specifically by directing the agency to prioritize deporting recent border crossers, those with aggravated felonies, and those who pose a threat to national security.
President Biden’s nominee to lead USCIS, Ur Jaddou, has set fiscal solvency, reduced backlogs, and a technological upgrade to the top of her list of goals for the agency. In addition, Jaddou will work to ensure that USCIS staff “have the resources, support, and leadership they need to carry out their roles,” she told the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing Wednesday. Before joining USCIS as chief counsel, she worked on immigration policy for Rep. Lofgren (D-CA), who chairs the House Judiciary’s immigration subcommittee, and as deputy assistant secretary for regional, global, and functional affairs in the State Dept’s Bureau of Legislative Affairs.
President Biden revoked Presidential Proclamation 9945 of October 4, 2019, which suspended the entry of immigrants who would financially burden the U.S. healthcare system. In his proclamation, Biden noted that the Proclamation “does not advance the interests” of the U.S. The revocation also noted that the 2019 Proclamation is “in tension” with the Biden administration’s newer, migrant-friendly agenda issued Executive Order from February 2, 2021, called Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans.
A DHS spokesperson confirmed that the Biden administration will soon allow up to 250 “particularly vulnerable” immigrants into the U.S. each day. This is an exception to the current policy that blocks most families and single adult migrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Already, CBP has allowed roughly 2,000 vulnerable immigrants to enter the U.S. as they await their immigration hearings, according to the ACLU, which is challenging the administration in court to give all migrants that right. Immigrants considered particularly vulnerable include those who are ill, families with very young children or immigrants who have been threatened or attacked while they wait in Mexico.
The Biden administration announced that undocumented college students will be allowed to access federal COVID-19 relief aid. The step reverses former President Trump’s policy barring them from assistance. The Department of Education will now allow undocumented students, as well as those protected from deportation by DACA, to request aid, as long as they have been enrolled at a U.S. college or university since March 13, 2020. Refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants who are not part of DACA may also apply for COVID-19 aid.
The Biden administration is housing tens of thousands of migrant children seeking asylum in about 200 facilities, according to confidential data obtained by The Associated Press. The number of children in government custody has more than doubled in the last two months, now totaling close to 21,000. The facilities where the children are being held include at least a dozen unlicensed emergency facilities inside military bases, stadiums and convention centers that sidestep regulations and oversight. Attorneys, advocates and mental health experts say while some of the shelters are safe and provide necessary care, others are putting children’s health and safety in danger.
White House announced that President Biden will set a new, increased refugee cap next month after facing a barrage of criticism for announcing the cap would stay at the historically low level set by former President Trump. Earlier today, the president had issued an emergency determination maintaining the refugee admissions ceiling at 15,000.
Posted on April 7, 2021 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
Last night at midnight, former President Trump’s ban on nonimmigrant visas expired. With the expiration of Proclamation 10052, many categories of nonimmigrants will no longer be prevented from seeking entry to the United States. “The nonimmigrant entry ban was based on a false premise that foreign nationals take away jobs and hurt the American economy,” says Jesse Bless, AILA’s Director of Federal Litigation. DOS stated that visa applicants who have not yet been interviewed or scheduled for an interview will have their applications prioritized and processed per existing phased resumption of visa services guidance. Applicants who were refused visas due to the restrictions of the proclamation may reapply by submitting a new application including a new fee.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s statement today that the Biden administration will allow migrant families separated under the Trump administration the option of being reunified either in the United States or their country of origin.
The Biden administration filed a notice to appeal Judge Alison Nathan’s order declaring the government must arrange court hearings for immigration detainees within 10 days of their arrest. Nathan’s Nov. 30 ruling in New York was the first to put a constitutional line on how long ICE detainees had to wait for court hearings. According to government data, 84.2 percent of the initial master calendar hearings held in New York’s Varick Street immigration court came within 10 days of an ICE arrest in December. Nationally, 87 percent of these hearings were held after over 10 days of lockup. Nathan’s ruling currently only applies in New York.
Brian D. Lerner Immigration Attorney & Deportation Lawyer Blog 