US Immigration News

The Biden administration has been urged by Democratic lawmakers to reduce the number of immigrants subjected to a controversial US immigration surveillance program, while also calling for a rethink of the US government’s exclusive contract with the private company managing the program.

 

Concerns are growing over the state of the US immigration court system amid increasing case backlogs and staff shortages. A report published by The Guardian claims that America’s immigration courts are ‘struggling to function at the most basic level’. Meanwhile, figures show that the backlog of cases now stands at more than 1.6 million.

 

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced proposals for a new US immigration public charge rule that would make it easier for immigrants in receipt of US benefits to obtain a green card. The new rule would mark a significant reversal on a 2019 Trump administration policy, which is no longer in effect since Biden took office.

 

US L1B visa denial rates continue to remain high, even without Donald Trump as US President, according to a report published by Forbes. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is reportedly denying a significant number of L1B visas, much to the frustration of employers looking to transfer overseas staff with specialist knowledge to the US.

 

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its mission statement to ‘welcome immigrants’. The new mission statement replaces a Trump-era version that controversially removed the ‘nation of immigrants’ label. The latest version describes the United States as a ‘nation of welcome and possibility’.

 

Amid huge staff shortages caused primarily by the coronavirus pandemic, many US hospitals are looking overseas for healthcare workers. The push among America’s hospitals to hire from overseas comes at a time when an ‘unusually high’ number of US green cards are available for foreign professionals, including nurses, who want to move to the United States.