As public health officials look for ways to slow down the spread of COVID-19, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Mar. 18 it will halt most arrests and deportations. Instead, ICE says it will focus only on detaining undocumented immigrants who are...
Month: March 2020
Immigration appointments canceled amidst COVID-19 concerns
Immigration agencies in the United States and abroad are closing their offices to the public and suspending all appointments in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) closed all of its offices as of Mar. 18 and...
Supreme Court hears arguments in landmark asylum case
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on Mar. 2 over the rights of asylum seekers and other vulnerable noncitizens to receive judicial review over expedited deportation orders. The debate before the nation’s highest court follows a ruling last fall by the Ninth...
Seattle immigration court shut down over coronavirus
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) says it will close Seattle’s immigration court until at least April 10 after reports of second-hand exposure to the coronavirus, which caused a temporary shutdown earlier in the week. The EOIR says it will also...
Have you received a notice to appear at a Stokes interview?
When you and your spouse decided to build a life together in Texas, you may have begun by getting married in a church or courthouse and having a celebration with your relatives and friends. Then again, perhaps yours was a simple, quiet wedding day with just the two of...
Appeals court suspends Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy
A federal appeals court has temporarily prevented the Trump administration from requiring asylum-seekers to stay in Mexico while U.S. immigration courts decide their cases. A three-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also put the brakes on another...
Supreme Court permits new ‘wealth test’ rules for green card seekers
The U.S. grants green cards to over one million immigrants each year. Immigration officials choose who will become permanent residents based on a number of factors, including: the applicant’s health, criminal background and whether they may be a security risk. Now,...