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Check out this week's digest of news, resources, faith reflections, and analysis of international migration and refugee protection, brought to you by the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS).
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Houston Chronicle (January 3, 2022)
If Congress passed and the President signed the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act, 408,800 undocumented immigrants in the Houston metropolitan area would be potentially eligible for permanent residence (legalization), according to a new report by CMS. The legislation would give 70 percent of the total US undocumented population and 71 percent of the Houston metro area undocumented population the ability to apply for legal status. The Houston metropolitan area has the fourth-largest population of immigrants who could potentially benefit from the passage of the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act. The CMS report offers estimates of immigrants eligible for legalization under other pending bills: the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, Dream Act of 2021, Farm Workforce Modernization Act, and US Citizenship Act of 2021.
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CMS REPORT | Ready to Stay: A Comprehensive Analysis of the US Foreign-Born Populations Eligible for Special Legal Status Programs and for Legalization under Pending Bills
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National Public Radio (NPR) (January 2, 2022)
At a moment when the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly within the United States, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has not released data on what percentage of the approximately 22,500 detained immigrants in its custody are vaccinated. During the pandemic, ICE has reported 11 COVID-related deaths and 32,137 infections. An ICE spokesperson told NPR that vaccinations are available to detained immigrants upon request and the agency has administered 512 booster shots to immigrants in its custody. “The most important thing to remember about immigration detention is that people who are in detention are awaiting adjudication of their civil immigration cases,” said Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the ACLU's National Prison. “They could very well be waiting [for] these cases in the safety of their homes.”
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CMS REPORT | Immigrant Detention and COVID-19: How a Pandemic Exploited and Spread through the US Immigrant Detention System
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Voice of America News (December 27, 2021)
In the first year of his presidency, the Biden administration succeeded in introducing several reforms to the US immigration system but stalled on enacting others promised during the 2020 presidential campaign. In 2021, the Biden administration reformed interior enforcement priorities, raised the refugee admissions ceiling, and removed the word “alien” from US Citizenship and Immigration Services documents. The Biden administration temporarily halted the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), a program that allows US immigration officials to send asylum seekers to Mexico to wait for their US court hearings. However, the administration later reimplemented MPP in compliance with a federal court order and is again working to dismantle the policy. President Biden endorsed the US Citizenship Act of 2021, immigration reform legislation with a legalization program; however, Congress has yet to pass the bill. Despite the promises of candidate Biden, the administration has not taken any action to revoke Title 42, a policy that has been used to block the admission of asylum seekers and other migrants since March 2020.
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Vatican News (December 31, 2021)
This article recounts Pope Francis’s most impactful moments of 2021, including his three international trips to Iraq, Slovakia, and Cyprus and Greece. During all three trips, the pope sought to accompany people forced to flee and called for the rights and dignity of migrants and refugees to be recognized. In Iraq, Pope Francis met with a refugee who fled the war in Syria and lost his wife and two children in a shipwreck in the Mediterranean. In Slovakia, he condemned ethnic and religious discrimination and said, “the path to peaceful coexistence is integration: an organic, gradual, and vital process that starts with coming to know one another.” After visiting the Reception and Identification Centre of Lesbos, Greece, the Pope pledged to relocate 50 refugees from the center and assist their integration in Italy.
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Border Report (December 17, 2021)
Asylum seekers’ chances of prevailing in their cases vary dramatically based on where they live, according to a Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) report. The report finds that immigration courts in New York, San Francisco, Baltimore, Chicago, and Arlington, Virginia grant asylum at higher rates, based on an analysis of 223,469 total asylum decisions from 62 immigration courts and 492 immigration judges nationwide from 2016 to 2021. Courts in Houston, Atlanta, Oakdale, California, and Los Fresnos, Texas had some of the highest denial rates in the nation. TRAC also offers data on individual judges. “Asylum law is much harsher in some parts of the country and much better in others,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy counsel at the American Immigration Council. “The location that a person seeks asylum matters because case outcomes change depending upon the judge that a person’s case is heard in front of and what state they are in because different law applies in different states of the country depending upon what federal circuit court they reside with.”
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NEW FROM CMS
Researchers at the Colorado School of the Mines have developed satellite monitoring technology to assess changes in nighttime light radiance in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, and Al-Jufaynah Camp in Marib City, Yemen. Women and girls have been known to face an increased risk of gender-based violence in low-lit areas. Visualizing light radiance in these areas allows humanitarian actors to strategically target their community intervention in the medium- and long-term. The technology can be used to monitor and respond to emergency events, such as power outages, as they occur.
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CMS publishes estimates on the size and characteristics of the US undocumented and naturalization-eligible populations at national, state, and sub-state levels. At data.cmsny.org, users can conduct their own queries of these populations. Based on its estimates, CMS has also published numerous reports and articles, including about immigrants eligible for permanent residence (legalization) under pending bills. In addition to its extensive, publicly-available data offerings, CMS also strives to answer individual queries that serve the public good. If you have a data request that goes beyond CMS’s published estimates, we encourage you to reach out to us via this form.
SUBMIT A DATA REQUEST
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POLICY UPDATE
On December 31 and 23, respectively, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the last groups of Afghan nationals temporarily housed at Fort Bliss, Texas and Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia departed from these bases. So far all of the Afghan evacuees who were housed at these bases and another in Fort Lee, Virginia as part of Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) were resettled into communities across the country. OAW is an ongoing effort to resettle at-risk Afghans, including those who worked on behalf of the United States. Fort Bliss, Marine Corps Base Quantico, and Fort Lee are three of eight Department of Defense (DOD) installations supporting the resettlement of Afghan nationals in the United States. So far, over 75,000 Afghans came to the United States through OAW, and more are expected to arrive. Prior to entering the United States, Afghan evacuees must complete rigorous screening and vetting processes, including biometric and biographic screenings, and receive critical vaccines. To date, more than 52,000 Afghan evacuees have been resettled into communities in the United States. DOD continues to provide temporary housing facilities for approximately 22,500 Afghans who are in the process of completing their screening requirements and preparing for resettlement at five military bases: Camp Atterbury, Indiana; Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey; Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico; Fort Pickett, Virginia; and Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. At these military bases, Afghan evacuees have access to services such as medical care and resettlement services and can apply for work authorization.
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On December 30, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it will continue to extend deadlines for certain application-related requests. This policy was first announced on March 30, 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. USCIS will consider a response received within 60 calendar days after the due date set for the following requests, if they were issued between March 1, 2020 and March 26, 2022:
- Requests for Evidence;
- Continuations to Request Evidence (N-14);
- Notices of Intent to Deny;
- Notices of Intent to Revoke;
- Notices of Intent to Rescind;
- Notices of Intent to Terminate; and
- Motions to Reopen an N-400 Pursuant to 8 CFR 335.5, Receipt of Derogatory Information After Grant.
USCIS will also consider a Form I-290B Notice of Appeal or Motion, or a Form N-336 Request for a Hearing on a Decision in Naturalization Proceedings if it was filed within 90 calendar days from the issuance of a decision made any between November 1, 2021 and March 26, 2022.
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On December 28, USCIS updated its guidance to expedite work authorization for healthcare workers. Qualifying healthcare workers who have a pending Form I-765 application for employment authorization can request expedited processing, if their work authorization expires in 30 days or fewer or has already expired. Applicants may qualify if their profession is listed under the “Healthcare/Public Health” section in the DHS Advisory Memorandum on Ensuring Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers’ Ability to Work during the COVID-19 Response. Applicants must provide evidence of their profession and current employment as a healthcare worker. To request expedited processing, applicants can call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 or text 800-767-1833.
LEARN MORE
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ACTUALIZACIÓN DE POLÍTICA
El 31 y el 23 de diciembre, respectivamente, el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS) anunció que los últimos grupos de nacionales afganos alojados temporalmente en Fort Bliss, Texas, y en la Base del Cuerpo de Marinos de Quantico, Virginia, salieron de estas bases. Hasta ahora todos los evacuados afganos que estaban alojados en estas bases y en otra en Fort Lee, Virginia, como parte de la Operación Aliados Bienvenidos (OAW) fueron reubicados en comunidades de todo el país. La OAW es un esfuerzo continuo para reasentar a los afganos en riesgo, incluidos los que trabajaron en nombre de Estados Unidos. Fort Bliss, la Base del Cuerpo de Marinos de Quantico y Fort Lee son tres de las ocho instalaciones del Departamento de Defensa (DOD) que apoyan el reasentamiento de ciudadanos afganos en Estados Unidos. Hasta ahora, más de 75.000 afganos han llegado a Estados Unidos a través de la OAW, y se espera que lleguen más. Antes de entrar en Estados Unidos, los evacuados afganos deben completar rigurosos procesos de selección e investigación, incluyendo exámenes biométricos y biográficos, y recibir vacunas críticas. Hasta la fecha, más de 52.000 evacuados afganos han sido reubicados en comunidades de Estados Unidos. El Departamento de Defensa sigue proporcionando instalaciones de alojamiento temporal para aproximadamente 22.500 afganos que están en proceso de completar sus requisitos de selección y prepararse para el reasentamiento en cinco bases militares: Camp Atterbury, Indiana; Base Conjunta McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, Nueva Jersey; Base de la Fuerza Aérea Holloman, Nuevo México; Fort Pickett, Virginia; y Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. En estas bases militares, los evacuados afganos tienen acceso a servicios como la atención médica y los servicios de reasentamiento y pueden solicitar la autorización de trabajo.
APRENDA MÁS
El 30 de diciembre, el Servicio de Ciudadanía e Inmigración de los Estados Unidos (USCIS) anunció que continuará ampliando los plazos para ciertas peticiones relacionadas con la solicitud. Esta política fue anunciada por primera vez el 30 de marzo de 2020 en respuesta a la pandemia de COVID-19. USCIS considerará una respuesta recibida dentro de los 60 días calendarios después de la fecha de vencimiento establecida para las siguientes solicitudes, si fueron emitidas entre el 1 de marzo de 2020 y el 26 de marzo de 2022:
- Solicitudes de Pruebas;
- Continuaciones para solicitar pruebas (N-14);
- Avisos de intención de denegación;
- Avisos de intención de revocación;
- Avisos de intención de rescisión;
- Avisos de intención de cancelación; y
- Mociones para reabrir un N-400 de acuerdo con el 8 CFR 335.5, Recepción de información derogatoria después de la concesión.
USCIS también considerará un Formulario I-290B de Notificación de Apelación o Moción, o un Formulario N-336 de Solicitud de Audiencia sobre una Decisión en Procedimientos de Naturalización si fue presentado dentro de los 90 días calendario desde la emisión de una decisión tomada entre el 1 de noviembre de 2021 y el 26 de marzo de 2022.
APRENDA MÁS
El 28 de diciembre, USCIS actualizó su orientación para acelerar la autorización de trabajo para los trabajadores de la salud. Los trabajadores de la salud que califiquen y que tengan una solicitud pendiente del Formulario I-765 para la autorización de empleo pueden solicitar un procesamiento acelerado, si su autorización de trabajo expira en 30 días o menos o ya ha expirado. Los solicitantes pueden reunir los requisitos si su profesión figura en la sección "Asistencia sanitaria/salud pública" del Memorando de asesoramiento del DHS para garantizar la capacidad para trabajar de los trabajadores de infraestructuras críticas esenciales durante la respuesta al COVID-19. Los solicitantes deben aportar pruebas de su profesión y de su empleo actual como trabajador sanitario. Para solicitar una tramitación acelerada, los solicitantes pueden llamar al Centro de Contacto del USCIS al 800-375-5283 o enviar un mensaje de texto al 800-767-1833.
APRENDA MÁS
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