Immigration Benefits and Relief

Recent Features

The Dream Act: An Overview

The Dream Act would permanently protect certain immigrants who came to the United States as children but are vulnerable to deportation. 

READ MORE

  • Practice Advisories

Arriving Noncitizens and Adjustment of Status

This Practice Advisory discusses the impact of an interim rule repealing two former regulations which barred all “arriving aliens” from adjusting status if they are in removal proceedings.

All Immigration Benefits and Relief Content

  • Blog

USCIS Upends the Lives of Immigrants by Refusing to Print Their Work Permits and Green Cards

July 15, 2020

Update: On August 3, 2020, a federal court in Ohio granted a temporary restraining order requiring USCIS to print a work permit within 7 days for all individuals who had been approved for one. The...

  • Blog

ICE Says International Students Must Take Classes in Person or Leave the Country

July 7, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge across the United States, many universities have chosen to temporarily move to online-only classes to protect public health. However, new guidance from...

  • Blog

DHS Suggests Asylum Seekers Should Get Used to ‘Homelessness’ After Stripping Work Permits

June 24, 2020

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will finalize a new regulation on June 26 which will strip most asylum seekers of the right to seek work authorization. The rule imposes sweeping new...

  • Blog

The Supreme Court Gave DACA a Lifeline. Now Trump and Congress Need to Create a Path to Citizenship for Dreamers.  

June 18, 2020

The Supreme Court issued its long-anticipated decision in DHS v. Regents of the University of California—the case challenging the administration’s attempt to dismantle the Deferred Action for...

  • Blog

DACA Made It Possible For Me to Fight Against COVID-19. The Supreme Court May Soon Make That Impossible.

June 15, 2020

My name is Sonia Martinez. I am a Certified Nursing Assistant working to help treat patients with COVID-19 at University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Colorado. I am also one of the 650,000...

  • Blog

If the Supreme Court Terminates DACA, President Trump Can Still Fix It

May 14, 2020

The coronavirus has disrupted all our lives. Native-born Americans and noncitizens across the United States are experiencing many of the same challenges—the disruptions to day-to-day life, the...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Makes It Harder for Green Card Holders to Get Relief From Deportation

April 24, 2020

In a 5-4 decision on April 23, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded the types of criminal offenses that bar green card holders from seeking a form of relief from deportation. The case, Barton v. Barr,...

  • Blog

How the Coronavirus Is Disrupting USCIS Processing of Immigration Applications

March 25, 2020

The coronavirus outbreak has significantly disrupted the operations of government agencies around the country, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). USCIS is the agency that...

  • Blog

USCIS’ Change to How ‘Unlawful Presence’ Is Calculated Is Defeated in Court

February 12, 2020

A federal district court stopped U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from drastically changing how the agency determines when a foreign student or exchange visitor is “unlawfully...

  • Blog

Student’s Deportation Shows a Pattern of US Government Targeting Iranians

January 22, 2020

Iranian students coming to the United States are being stopped at airports, having their visas revoked, and are being deported. Advocates warn this trend is emerging less than a month after...

  • Press Release

Immigration Council Urges Broad Interpretation of § 212(h) Hardship Waiver

May 22, 2014

On May 19, 2014, the American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) filed an amicus curiae brief urging the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to

  • Press Release

American Immigration Council Urges Court to Rule that TPS Recipient Is Eligible to Adjust Status

March 13, 2014

Last week, the American Immigration Council and Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) filed an amicus curiae brief urging the court to find that noncitizens granted Temporary Protect

  • Press Release

Immigration Advocacy Groups Urge Supreme Court to Interpret Child Status Protection Act Broadly

November 6, 2013

Washington, D.C.—This week, the American Immigration Council filed an amicus curiae

  • Press Release

Court Approves Settlement in National Class Action Lawsuit on Work Authorization for Asylum Seekers

November 5, 2013

Washington, DC – On Monday, November 4, U.S.

  • Press Release

New “Pocket DACA” Mobile App Helps Young Immigrants Apply for Deferred Action

August 14, 2013

Washington, D.C. - The American Immigration Council, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the Immigration Advocates Network (IAN), and the Own the Dream campaign are pr

  • Press Release

American Immigration Council Commends Decision Expanding Availability of Hardship Waivers to LPRs

August 9, 2013

The U.S.

  • Press Release

American Immigration Council Applauds DOMA Decision

June 26, 2013

Washington D.C. - Today, the Supreme Court unequivocally affirmed that there is no legitimate reason for the federal government to discriminate against married couples on account o

  • Press Release

Agreement Reached in National Class Action Lawsuit on Work Authorization for Asylum Seekers

April 15, 2013

Washington D.C.

  • Press Release

Legal Action Center Welcomes Ninth Circuit’s Decision on Child Status Protection Act

September 28, 2012

An en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of young adults who, due to long delays caused by visa backlogs, lost the opportunity to obtain their green cards before they t

  • Press Release

DHS Announces Application Process for Deferred Action, IPC Provides Data on Where Eligible Individuals Reside

August 3, 2012

Washington D.C. - Today, U.S.

  • Blog

Lawsuit Challenges Delays in U.S. Citizenship Application Processing Due to Cave-Stored Files

June 1, 2022

Thirteen U.S. lawful permanent residents filed a lawsuit to end the delay by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in processing their applications to become U.S. citizens. The...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Rejects Review Over Factual Questions in Immigration Removal Proceedings

May 17, 2022

The Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision on May 16 rejecting federal court review of fact-finding done by immigration courts. The Court’s reasoning could have wide-ranging impacts on many more...

  • Comments

Council and Partners Submit Comment on Department of Education's Proposed Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System Guidance

Publication Date: 
April 26, 2022
The Council and 29 other organizations submitted a comment to the Department of Education in response to a notice in the federal register detailing proposed changes to how institutions of higher...
  • Practice Advisories

Arriving Noncitizens and Adjustment of Status

Publication Date: 
April 25, 2022
This practice advisory identifies who falls under the classification of “arriving noncitizens,” discusses the regulations delineating USCIS vs. EOIR jurisdiction over adjustment applications of arriving noncitizens in removal proceedings and suggests strategies to facilitate the adjustment of status of eligible parolees in removal proceedings before they are removed.
  • Blog

New Biden Administration Policies Offer Crucial Protections for Immigrant Youth

March 18, 2022

The government made two important announcements on March 7th affecting immigrant children who have been abused, abandoned, and neglected. The first is a new policy that offers work permits and...

  • Blog

U.S. Citizenship Applicants Are in Limbo Because Their Immigration Files Are Locked in Caves Underground

January 28, 2022

Thousands of applicants for U.S. citizenship have been waiting for well over a year for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to process their applications. But the problem isn’t the...

  • Press Release

One Year In: The Biden Administration’s Promises on Immigration Remain Unfulfilled

January 19, 2022
President Biden announced a welcoming and inclusive vision for immigration in a legislative proposal and a series of executive actions signed on his first day in office. But one year into Biden’s presidency, his promises on immigration remain unfulfilled.
  • Practice Advisories

Administrative Closure After Cruz-Valdez

Publication Date: 
January 18, 2022
This practice advisory provides a brief overview of administrative closure and explains the impact of that decision on the future availability of administrative closure, as well as on cases that are currently administratively closed.
  • Press Release

Court Does Not Expedite Work Permit Renewals for Asylum Seekers, Leaving Thousands Without Work or at Risk of Losing Jobs

December 23, 2021
A federal court denied preliminary relief in a lawsuit challenging USCIS's extreme delays and failure to process work permit renewals for asylum seekers. The judge declined to order USCIS to process work permit renewal applications within the 180-day automatic extension of employment authorization.
  • Letters

Coalition Letter Calling for Implementation of the Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act provisions

Publication Date: 
December 16, 2021
The American Immigration Council and 13 other organizations urged USCIS to expand premium processing to ensure the agency remains solvent while efficiently and effectively adjudicating all...

Most Read

  • Publications
  • Blog Posts
  • Past:
  • Trending