Immigration battle between Trump team and Democratic strongholds heats up

For now, these are just threats, but they paint a turbulent picture of the future. “More than us having Denver Police stationed at the county line to keep them out, you would have 50,000 Denverites there. It’s like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston declared defiantly in a recent interview with a local outlet. He was referring to the possibility of the incoming Donald Trump administration deploying federal agents or National Guard troops from other states to conduct immigration raids in Colorado’s capital. As a designated “sanctuary city,” Denver does not cooperate with the federal government on immigration enforcement. “We’re not going to sell out those values to anyone,” Johnston added. “We’re not going to be bullied into changing them.” The response from Tom Homan, a hardliner Trump appointed as his “border czar” after winning the election, came on Monday. Appearing alongside Texas Governor Greg Abbott — a staunch ally of Trumpism — on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show, Homan warned that he would not let Johnston hinder his plans. “Me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing; he’s willing to go to jail. I’m willing to put him in jail,” he said. “It’s a felony if you knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien from immigration authorities. It’s also a felony to impede a federal law enforcement officer. So if he don’t help, that’s fine. He can get the hell out of the way, but we’re going to go do the job.” This standoff is the latest chapter in an escalating battle. Since Trump’s election victory less than a month ago, Democratic governors and mayors nationwide have vowed to resist cooperating with his immigration agenda. Meanwhile, Trump, Homan, and other members of the president-elect’s circle have issued stark warnings to the officials who have spoken out against the Republican’s plan to carry out “the largest deportation operation in American history.” Threats include imprisonment, as suggested by Homan in Johnston’s case; severe cuts to federal funding for defiant states and cities, which could cripple local budgets; and the deployment of thousands of federal agents to enforce immigration laws directly in noncompliant communities. When contacted by EL PAÍS, Mayor Johnston reiterated his stance in a more measured statement. “In Denver, we respect the law and enforce it without fear or favor across every inch of our city. If Donald Trump tries to break the law and abuse his power, he will get no help from us. Denver is proud to be a welcoming city, and we will do everything in our power to protect those who live here. We are considering a number of options to strengthen protections for all our residents, and we continue to provide education about the rights of our immigrant community so they can best protect themselves from any unlawful actions,” the statement said. A spokesperson for the mayor added that Denver would withhold further comment on a federal policy that has yet to be detailed. Denver, Colorado Migrant families in Denver, Colorado, on May 7, 2024. Hyoung Chang (Getty Images) The capital of Colorado has been a prominent target of xenophobic rhetoric from the president-elect and his inner circle since before the election. Aurora, a suburb of Denver, has particularly drawn attention. A few months ago, the town went viral due to allegation that the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua was operating in the area. Trump capitalized on this narrative by naming his strategy to deport undocumented immigrants involved in criminal groups Operation Aurora. However, Denver is far from the only city resisting the Republican’s plans. Last week, Los Angeles officially declared itself a “sanctuary city.” Although California’s largest city has operated under sanctuary policies for decades, this legal codification strengthens its stance by explicitly prohibiting both direct and indirect sharing of data with federal immigration authorities. This move by Los Angeles sparked a strong response from Homan. “If I’ve got to send twice as many officers to L.A. because we’re not getting any assistance, then that’s what we’re going to do,” he said. “We’ve got a mandate, President Trump’s serious about this, I’m serious about this. This is going to happen with or without you.” Similar tensions were seen on the other side of the country. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, herself the daughter of immigrants, has vowed to fight the mass deportation effort. “We are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having large-scale economic impact,” she said. Massachusetts’s largest city has reinforced its commitment through the Trust Act, which prohibits police from stopping or arresting individuals solely for immigration enforcement purposes. Homan, in keeping with his and Trump’s combative tone, lashed out at Wu during an interview on Newsmax, describing her as “not very smart” and reiterating that harboring undocumented immigrants is a federal crime. “Either she helps us [or] she gets the hell out of the way because we’re going to do it,” Homan said. “To those people who say they’re going to stop us from what they’re doing, they will not [...] You’re not going to stop us. But let me give you a word of advice. If you impede us, there’s going to be consequences.” For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Schools are bracing for upheaval over fear of mass deportations

Word spread that immigration agents were going to try to enter schools. There was no truth to it, but school staff members had to find students who were avoiding school and coax them back to class. “People just started ducking and hiding,” Balderas said. Educators around the country are bracing for upheaval, whether or not the president-elect follows through on his pledge to deport millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally. Even if he only talks about it, children of immigrants will suffer, educators and legal observers said. If “you constantly threaten people with the possibility of mass deportation, it really inhibits peoples’ ability to function in society and for their kids to get an education,” said Hiroshi Motomura, a professor at UCLA School of Law. Advertisement The video player is currently playing an ad. That fear already has started for many. “The kids are still coming to school, but they’re scared,” said Almudena Abeyta, superintendent of Chelsea Public Schools, a Boston suburb that’s long been a first stop for Central American immigrants coming to Massachusetts. Now Haitians are making the city home and sending their kids to school there. “They’re asking: ‘Are we going to be deported?’” said Abeyta. Many parents in her district grew up in countries where the federal government ran schools and may think it’s the same here. The day after the election, Abeyta sent a letter home assuring parents their children are welcome and safe, no matter who is president. Immigration officials have avoided arresting parents or students at schools. Since 2011, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has operated under a policy that immigration agents should not arrest or conduct other enforcement actions near “sensitive locations,” including schools, hospitals and places of worship. Doing so might curb access to essential services, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas wrote in a 2021 policy update. The Heritage Foundation's policy roadmap for Trump’s second term, Project 2025, calls for rescinding the guidance on “sensitive places.” Trump tried to distance himself from the proposals during the campaign, but he has nominated many who worked on the plan for his new administration, including Tom Homan for “border czar.” If immigration agents were to arrest a parent dropping off children at school, it could set off mass panic, said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles. “If something happens at one school, it spreads like wildfire and kids stop coming to school,” she said. Balderas, now the superintendent in Beaverton, a different Portland suburb, told the school committee there this month it was time to prepare for a more determined Trump administration. In case schools are targeted, Beaverton will train staff not to allow immigration agents inside. “All bets are off with Trump,” said Balderas, who is also president of ASSA, The School Superintendents Association. “If something happens, I feel like it will happen a lot quicker than last time.” Recent Stories from ABC News symbol 00:00 02:24 Read More Many school officials are reluctant to talk about their plans or concerns, some out of fear of drawing attention to their immigrant students. One school administrator serving many children of Mexican and Central American immigrants in the Midwest said their school has invited immigration attorneys to help parents formalize any plans for their children’s care in case they are deported. The administrator spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Speaking up on behalf of immigrant families also can put superintendents at odds with school board members. “This is a very delicate issue,” said Viridiana Carrizales, chief executive officer of ImmSchools, a nonprofit that trains schools on supporting immigrant students. She’s received 30 requests for help since the election, including two from Texas superintendents who don’t think their conservative school boards would approve of publicly affirming immigrant students’ right to attend school or district plans to turn away immigration agents. More than two dozen superintendents and district communications representatives contacted by The Associated Press either ignored or declined requests for comment. Recent Stories from ABC News symbol 00:00 02:24 Read More “This is so speculative that we would prefer not to comment on the topic,” wrote Scott Pribble, a spokesperson for Denver Public Schools. The city of Denver has helped more than 40,000 migrants in the last two years with shelter or a bus ticket elsewhere. It’s also next door to Aurora, one of two cities where Trump has said he would start his mass deportations. When pressed further, Pribble responded, “Denver Public Schools is monitoring the situation while we continue to serve, support, and protect all of our students as we always have.” Like a number of big-city districts, Denver’s school board during the first Trump administration passed a resolution promising to protect its students from immigration authorities pursuing them or their information. According to the 2017 resolution, Denver will not “grant access to our students” unless federal agents can provide a valid search warrant. The rationale has been that students cannot learn if they fear immigration agents will take them or their parents away while they’re on campus. School districts also say these policies reaffirm their students’ constitutional right to a free, public education, regardless of immigration status. ___ For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Presidents have used immigration ‘parole’ since the 1950s. Now it could disappear under Trump

Image By GISELA SALOMON Updated 6:46 AM PST, November 26, 2024 Share MIAMI (AP) — Cuba’s at one of its lowest points since the 1959 revolution, with nationwide scarcity fueling massive emigration, occasional protests and government crackdowns. Gangs control the streets of Haiti’s capital, firing on arriving jets and forcing delays in elections to replace slain President Jovenel Moïse. Nicaragua’s president has imprisoned protesters, opposition members and Catholic leaders. Severe shortages and one of the world’s highest inflation rates have helped drive nearly 8 million Venezuelans from the petrostate of 28 million people. Image FILE - Cuba’s at one of its lowest points since the 1959 revolution, with nationwide scarcity fueling massive emigration and nationwide blackouts that forced people to cook soup over an open fire in Havana after the failure of a major power plant, on Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File) Image FILE - Gangs control the streets of Haiti’s capital, clashing in street violence that leaves burned cars as sources of parts at a mechanic's shop where people scavenged in the capital, Port-au-Prince, on March 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File) Image FILE - Venezuelan migrant Alvaro Calderini carries his niece across a river near Bajo Chiquito, Panama, after walking across the Darien Gap from Colombia on their way north to the United States, on Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File) Half a million Cubans, Haitian, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans were welcomed by President Joe Biden using a legal tool known as humanitarian parole, granted for seven decades by Republican and Democratic administrations to people unable to use standard immigration routes because of time pressure or their government’s poor relations with the U.S. Advertisement President-elect Donald Trump appears certain to dismantle this legal tool, saying during his campaign that he would end the “outrageous abuse of parole.” Trump made anti-immigration rhetoric a key part of his campaign, warning that he would kick out hundreds of thousands of migrants who entered the country under Biden programs. Related Stories 1 million migrants in the US rely on temporary protections that Trump could target 1 million migrants in the US rely on temporary protections that Trump could target Trump's return to White House sets stage for far-reaching immigration crackdown Trump's return to White House sets stage for far-reaching immigration crackdown Trump victory spurs worry among migrants abroad, but it's not expected to halt migration Trump victory spurs worry among migrants abroad, but it's not expected to halt migration “Get ready to leave because you’re going to be going out real fast,” Trump said. A giant group of people with tenuous legal status formed under Biden and many now expect their protections to vanish with a stroke of a pen. Those protections include Biden’s parole efforts; his support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program; parole for people who entered the country on a border appointment app called CBP One and his expanded use of a law to shield people from deportation — known as Temporary Protected Status. Advertisement What’s the purpose of parole? The U.S. has a thicket of complicated immigration laws that drive many to enter the country illegally but parole allows the president to admit people “for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.” Since 1952 it has been ordered 126 times by every president, except for Trump, according to the pro-immigration Cato Institute. The Trump administration could revoke parole for everyone who has it, said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. Image FILE - Women take cover during a gun battle between police and gang members in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File) Going back is not an option “All immigrants are fearful,” said Manuel Castaño, a 39-year-old human rights activist from Nicaragua whose parole expires in March 2025 and has requested asylum, a process that can take years. Castaño, who works in building maintenance in South Florida, applied for parole in February 2023 after his uncle sponsored him, a requirement under the law. Less than a month later, he arrived at Miami with his wife and their 13-year-old daughter. Image Manuel Castaño, a 39-year-old human rights activist from Nicaragua who works in building maintenance in South Florida, and his daughter Emily, 13, pose for a photo on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, at their home in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) He said he was threatened in his country and feared for his and his family in their homeland. “Going back to Nicaragua is not an option,” he said. Advertisement A focus on Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans More than a million people have been granted parole under Biden, including tens of thousands of Afghans and Ukrainians. Biden introduced parole for Venezuelans in October 2022 and expanded it in early 2023 to include Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans. These countries refuse to take back most citizens deported from the U.S. Under an aspect of parole known as CHNV, up to 30,000 people from the four countries are accepted monthly. They can obtain work authorization for two years and apply online. The goal of the tool is dissuading migrants from crossing the border illegally. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, more than 110,240 Cubans, 211,010 Haitians, 93,070 Nicaraguans, and 117,310 Venezuelans were granted parole through the end of October. Image FILE - Residents walk past a burnt car blocking the street as they evacuate the Delmas 22 neighborhood to escape gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File) The team reshaping the policies under Trump is expected to include former acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Tom Homan, as “border czar;” immigration hardliner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff for policy; and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security. All have been outspoken opponents of Biden’s immigration policies. Kyle Varner, a 39-year-old doctor and real-estate investor from Spokane, Washington, says he has spent $150,000 on plane tickets, housing and other costs for 47 Venezuelans he’s sponsored over the last two years. Now he is desperately saving as much money as possible to pay immigration attorneys that could figure out a way for the Venezuelans to stay after Trump takes office. “I am very alarmed,” Varner said. Advertisement Legal challenges are certain Mass termination of migrants’ two-year parole terms would be subject to legal challenge but the Trump administration could simply halt new admissions and just wait until beneficiaries’ status expired, Reichlin-Melnick said. Another possibility, said Charles Kuck, a former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, is that the Trump administration could find a relatively easy way to deport people granted parole because there are official records of them and their sponsors. “Those are the easiest people to be in rounding up because the government knows where they live,” said Kuck. Image FILE - Migrants from Cuba and Venezuela line up at a Mexican immigration checkpoint as they make their way across the border for appointments to legally apply for asylum in the United States, on Nov. 5, 2024, in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File) Leaving the U.S. before you’re expelled That is why Venezuelan Ireswa Lopez is already thinking of leaving the U.S. when her parole expires in March 2025. Lopez, 48, was having a hard time working at a family butcher shop in Venezuela, where food is scarce and water often contaminated. She learned that there was a program to come to the United States legally, and with a cousin’s sponsorship she flew to Miami in January 2023. Although she has found a job at an Atlanta children’s day care, she says, “I am leaving.” “Staying illegally is not in my plans,” she said. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

USCIS Forms Update Notice

Good afternoon, We recently updated the following USCIS form(s): Form I-941, Application for Entrepreneur Parole 10/01/2024 01:14 PM EDT Edition Date: 10/01/24. Starting Jan. 27, 2025, we will accept only the 10/01/24 edition. Until then, you can also use the 05/06/24 edition. You can find the edition date at the bottom of the page on the form and instructions. For more information, please visit our Forms Updates page.

USCIS Forms Update Notice

Good afternoon, We recently updated the following USCIS form(s): Form G-1055, Fee Schedule 11/20/2024 11:39 AM EST Edition Date: 11/20/24. You can find the edition date at the bottom of the page of Form G-1055, Fee Schedule.

US farm groups want Trump to spare their workers from deportation

Trump, a Republican, vowed to deport millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally as part of his campaign to win back the White House, a logistically challenging undertaking that critics say could split apart families and disrupt U.S. businesses. Homan has said immigration enforcement will focus on criminals and people with final deportation orders but that no immigrant in the U.S. illegally will be exempt. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Report this ad He told Fox News on Nov. 11 that enforcement against businesses would "have to happen" but has not said whether the agricultural sector would be targeted. "We've got a lot on our plate," Homan said in a phone interview this month. Mass removal of farm workers would shock the food supply chain and drive consumer grocery prices higher, said David Ortega, a professor of food economics and policy at Michigan State University. The video player is currently playing an ad. 00:09 'Keep calm and gobble on': Biden issues final turkey pardons. "They're filling critical roles that many U.S.-born workers are either unable or unwilling to perform," Ortega said. Farm groups and Republican allies are encouraged by the incoming administration's stated focus on criminals. Dave Puglia, president and CEO of Western Growers, which represents produce farmers, said the group supports that approach and is concerned about impacts to the farm sector if a deportation plan was targeted at farmworkers. Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt did not directly address the farmer concerns in a statement to Reuters. "The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail, like deporting migrant criminals and restoring our economic greatness," Leavitt said. "He will deliver." Trump announced on Saturday that he would nominate Brooke Rollins, who chaired the White House Domestic Policy Council during his first term, to become agriculture secretary. Agriculture and related industries contributed $1.5 trillion to the U.S. gross domestic product, or 5.6%, in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In his first administration, Trump promised the farm sector that his deportation effort would not target food sector workers, though the administration did conduct raids at some agricultural worksites, including poultry processing plants in Mississippi and produce processing facilities in Nebraska. U.S. Representative John Duarte, a Republican and fourth-generation farmer in California's Central Valley, said farms in the area depend on immigrants in the U.S. illegally and that small towns would collapse if those workers were deported. Duarte's congressional seat is one of a handful of close races where a winner has yet to be declared. Duarte said the Trump administration should pledge that immigrant workers in the country for five years or longer with no criminal record will not be targeted and look at avenues to permanent legal status. "I would like to hear more clearly expressed that these families will not be targeted," he said. 'WE NEED THE CERTAINTY' Farmers have a legal option for hiring labor with the H-2A visa program, which allows employers to bring in an unlimited number of seasonal workers if they can show there are not enough U.S. workers willing, qualified and available to do the job. The program has grown over time, with 378,000 H-2A positions certified by the Labor Department in 2023, three times more than in 2014, according to agency data. But that figure is only about 20% of the nation's farm workers, according to the USDA. Many farmers say they cannot afford the visa's wage and housing requirements. Others have year-round labor needs that rule out the seasonal visas. Farmers and workers would benefit from expanded legal pathways for agricultural laborers, said John Walt Boatright, director of government affairs at the American Farm Bureau Federation, a farmer lobby group. "We need the certainty, reliability and affordability of a workforce program and programs that are going to allow us to continue to deliver food from the farm to the table,” said John Hollay, director of government relations at the International Fresh Produce Association, which represents produce farmers. For decades, farm and worker groups have attempted to pass immigration reform that would enable more agricultural workers to stay in the U.S., but the legislation has failed so far. The risk of enforcement against farms is likely low because of the necessity of the workers, said Leon Fresco, an immigration attorney at Holland & Knight. "There are some very significant business interests that obviously want agricultural labor and need it," he said. But for farmworkers, the fear of enforcement can create chronic stress, said Mary Jo Dudley, director of the Cornell Farmworker Program, which is training workers to know their rights if confronted by immigration officials. If there are again raids on meatpacking plants, immigration enforcement should take precautions to avoid detaining workers in the country legally, said Marc Perrone, international president of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents some meatpacking workers. Edgar Franks, a former farmworker and political director at Familias Unidas por la Justicia, a worker union in Washington state, said the group is seeing new energy from workers to organize. "The anxiety and fear is real. But if we're together, there’s a better chance for us to fight back," he said. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Trump targets temporary protected status. What that could mean for Haitians in the US.

Donald Trump campaigned – and won – on countering illegal immigration. But the president-elect has signaled plans to curb certain immigrants’ legal protections, too. Those include temporary protected status. TPS was designed by Congress to shield immigrants in the U.S. from violence and natural disaster back home. Mr. Trump has said he’d “revoke” it for Haitians. If confirmed by the Senate, his Department of Homeland Security secretary pick, Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, could carry out attempts to end its use. TPS doesn’t provide lasting legal relief like asylum. Still, advocates on the left say it’s an important authority that keeps immigrants safe and lets them work. Critics on the right say the program encourages illegal immigration under the guise of protection, and no longer lives up to the name of “temporary.” Why We Wrote This Temporary protected status allows certain immigrants to stay in the U.S. without the threat of deportation. President-elect Trump plans to challenge its use, particularly for Haitians in Springfield, Ohio. What is temporary protected status? The U.S. Homeland Security secretary may designate a foreign country for TPS when conditions in that country – like armed conflict, natural disaster, or other “extraordinary and temporary” developments – make it unable to receive its nationals safely. In 1990, Congress created this authority and President George H.W. Bush signed it into law. At the time, people fleeing a civil war in El Salvador were the first to benefit. Immigrants who receive TPS are protected from deportation and can obtain a work permit. However, as the name suggests, this status is intended to be temporary. There is no direct path to a green card, much less citizenship, once it expires. TPS can last up to 18 months, which the Department of Homeland Security can decide to extend. Recommended Trust Why many in Ukraine oppose a ‘land for peace’ formula to end the war Importantly, this status is only available to immigrants already in the U.S. as of a certain date. How they arrived here doesn’t typically matter. Currently, 16 countries are designated for TPS, including Afghanistan, Sudan, and Venezuela. Haiti is another. Lynne Sladky/AP/File Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas (right) stands with Sandy Dorsainvil (left), the director of the Little Haiti Cultural Center, May 25, 2021, in Miami. Mr. Mayorkas met with community leaders following the announcement of a new 18-month designation for Haiti for temporary protected status. Have Haitians received TPS before? Yes. Following Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake in 2010, the Obama administration offered TPS to Haitians and repeatedly prolonged it. The Trump administration initially extended TPS for Haitians, then announced its termination. Through litigation, however, Haitians were able to hold on to that status. The Biden administration designated Haiti anew in May 2021, citing “political crisis and human rights abuses” along with other security and health concerns. Two months later, Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated. Chaos, including rampant gang violence, continues. The U.S. this month announced a temporary ban on flights to Haiti due to planes hit by gunfire. The White House has renewed the country’s designation, with current protections for Haitian TPS holders set to last through February 2026. More than 200,000 beneficiaries had that status as of 2023, estimates the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, made headlines as Mr. Trump elevated misinformation about the group, including at a presidential debate. An influx of Haitian immigrants to the city has strained road safety and schools; the immigrants have also filled jobs. Recommended Resilience Howard University hoped to make history. Now it’s ready for a different role. Mr. Trump kept Haitians in the news last month when asked about the community in Springfield. He told NewsNation that, in terms of TPS, “Absolutely I’d revoke it, and I’d bring them back to their country.” About these ads The Trump transition team did not directly respond to a request to clarify. In an emailed statement, spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said voters’ reelection of Mr. Trump is “giving him a mandate” to implement campaign promises. Can Mr. Trump revoke TPS? It’s unclear whether the incoming Trump administration will – or even can, legally – revoke a TPS designation before its scheduled end. Refusing to prolong it would be more standard. It’s likely “more politically expedient, or practically expedient, for an administration to let one lapse,” says Greg Chen, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association. If their TPS isn’t renewed, an immigrant could risk living in the U.S. without authorization – and being deported – unless they apply for another protection that extends their stay. Recommended ‘I’m exhausted by him.’ Why Trump resistance is fizzling. However, “that presumes that an incoming administration would actually follow the law, and respect people’s due process and civil rights,” says Mr. Chen. Immigrant advocates have pushed, unsuccessfully, to secure paths to permanent residence for TPS holders – some of whom have lived in the U.S. for over two decades. Those supporters forget that the “T” in TPS stands for “temporary,” says Ira Mehlman, media director at the Federation for American Immigration Reform. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Trump’s mass deportations could split 4 million mixed-status families. How one is getting ready.

Migrant families and immigration advocacy groups are preparing for millions of families to potentially be separated from each other during the mass deportations planned by President-elect Donald Trump. Aerial view of asylum seekers. Asylum seekers walk along a desert road after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on Sept. 22, 2024 near Jacumba Hot Springs, Calif.John Moore / Getty Images file It is unclear how exactly the deportations will play out and how families will be impacted. But a recent study by the American Immigration Council, a pro-immigration advocacy group, estimated that up to 4 million mixed-status families — where some members are undocumented and some are U.S. citizens — could be separated. Recommended U.S. news Menendez brothers' bid to be freed: Judge delays next month's resentencing hearing Climate change Contentious COP29 deal shows climate cooperation fraying at edges In states like Arizona, Colorado and Pennsylvania, mixed-status families, asylum-seekers and advocates say they are planning for scenarios where children could be separated from their parents. Migrants wait in a processing center at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Dennis DeConcini port of entry in Nogales Ariz. in June. Migrants wait in a processing center at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Dennis DeConcini port of entry in Nogales Ariz. in June. Jae C. Hong / AP Pool In Pennsylvania, Lillie, a U.S. citizen who did not want to use her last name out of concern for her family’s safety, has been married to her undocumented husband from Honduras for 10 years. Last week, she took her U.S.-born children to get their passports and plans to get a power of attorney drawn up in the event her husband gets deported, she said. “If something happens and my husband is detained or he’s deported, it would be very difficult for me to get passports for my children, for our children, to be able to leave the country to go see him,” she said. Private prison stocks soar following election, Trump's promise for mass deportations 03:24 Her husband was detained back in 2017, during the last Trump administration, for about two months. The experience has affected him “mentally and emotionally,” she said. ADVERTISING “He’s made it clear that if it were to happen again, it would not be ‘Let’s stay and fight,’” Lillie said. “It would be ‘Let’s just go,’ because he does not want to stay in detention again.” Throughout his successful 2024 run for the presidency, Trump has rallied supporters on the promise that he would enact the largest mass deportation effort in American history. And while Trump has said he will begin by prioritizing criminal noncitizens for deportation, the former president and his incoming administration have not ruled out separating or deporting families. When asked by CBS News last month if there was a way to carry out mass deportations without separating families, Tom Homan, who has since been named as Trump’s “border czar,” said, “Families can be deported together.” Specific mass deportation plans are still being developed by Trump and his transition team, but sources familiar with the planning told NBC News recently that restarting family detention and potentially building more detention facilities in nonborder U.S. cities are being considered. People hold "Mass Deportation Now!" signs at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee People hold "Mass Deportation Now!" signs at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, on July 17, 2024. Alex Wong / Getty Images Preparations in Arizona and Colorado In Tucson, Arizona, the Coalición de Derechos Humanos, a group of more than 10 nonprofit organizations, is helping undocumented and mixed-status families create “emergency packets” ahead of potential mass deportations. The idea, organizers say, is partly based on past experiences where parents have been detained or deported while their children were in school. “We had cases where they made calls. We had cases where they were not able to get in touch with the mother, their friends,” said coalition co-founder Isabel Garcia. The “emergency packet,” which coalition members are helping families make in local workshops, will include key documents such as a power of attorney for parental authority, family emergency contacts and a child’s school records. Garcia said that community interest in the coalition and its services has peaked since Trump won the 2024 presidential election. “More people have come to our meetings. We have had more people calling us. We are now inundated with people,” Garcia said. Advocacy groups are also bracing for state-level changes to immigration enforcement that could result in deportations. Organizers for Coalición de Derechos Humanos in Tucson say they are bracing for the impact of Proposition 314, a hard-line state immigration and border enforcement law that Arizona voters passed in November. The measure makes it a state crime to enter Arizona between a port of entry illegally and allows local law enforcement to arrest noncitizens and state judges to order deportations. It also adds state penalties to acts like selling fentanyl that lead to the death of another person and presenting false information to an employer or a public benefits program. Proposition 314 is one of multiple immigration-related state laws passed in the U.S. to address what supporters say is a record-high number of illegal border crossings under the Biden administration. Scenes of asylum-seeker encampments in nonborder cities as well as high-profile crimes committed by immigrants contributed to immigration becoming a key issue in this year’s election in states like Arizona that helped Trump return to the White House. A woman with a young child boards an ICE Air flight back to Honduras Wednesday in Harlingen, Texas. A woman with a young child boards an ICE Air flight back to Honduras in Harlingen, Texas in 2023.Gabe Gutierrez / NBC News Some sections of Arizona’s Proposition 314 cannot go into effect until similar laws currently held up in court, like Texas’ Senate Bill 4, are in effect for at least 60 consecutive days. And some Arizona sheriffs have expressed concerns about having to enforce the full extent of Proposition 314. “It would create distrust in the community,” said Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway, referring to the predominantly Latino jurisdiction he oversees. “They wouldn’t want to call 911. They would be hesitant to call us.” Hathaway, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent, says he’s also worried about the lack of training and funding related to the new law. He’s worried that his workforce of 40 deputies will be overextended if he asks them to take on immigration duties on top of general crime in the area. “We have no training to become immigration officers, and I’m going to stick with the same basics of law enforcement as every one of the 3,000 elected sheriffs across the U.S.,” Hathaway said. “Coincidentally, I’m located on the border, but my priorities are still the same as any other sheriff in the U.S.” Fear in Colorado In Denver, Yoli Casas runs a nonprofit that has assisted thousands of the more than 19,200 migrants who have arrived in the city since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott started busing migrants to the area in May 2023. While the number of daily arrivals has diminished significantly in recent months, Casas says her team has received a surge of emails and texts from the community that “has not stopped” since Election Day. Casas says she has gotten messages from families asking whether they could grant her organization power of attorney to do things like put children on planes in the event of a separation. The nonprofit leader says she’s beginning to meet with lawyers and families to talk through what’s possible and how best to answer such questions from the community. She said that children in the after-school programs she operates are posing questions as well. “They’re even asking, ‘Are we going to get deported?’” she said. “And other children are saying, ‘Is my friend going to be deported?’” For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Foreign nationals propel U.S. science. Visa limits under Trump could change that

Foreign-born workers account for about half of the doctoral-level scientists and engineers working in the U.S. Many were initially hired under H-1B visas, which are granted to as many as 85,000 highly skilled specialists each year, allowing them to work in the U.S. for up to six years. But the incoming Trump administration has signaled that it will crack down on H-1B visas, which could make it harder for universities, research institutions, and tech firms in the U.S. to find enough highly educated workers. The result could look like what happened in the U.K. after Brexit made it harder for European scientists to work there, says Raymundo Báez-Mendoza, who runs a lab at the Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen, Germany. Sponsor Message "A lot of countries in Europe benefited from Brexit, in the sense of capturing really amazing scientists that were working in Britain," he says. In the world of science, Báez-Mendoza says, "top talent is very mobile." His own resume demonstrates that. Báez-Mendoza was born in Mexico City, got his master's in Tübingen, Germany, his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., then worked (under an H-1B visa) as a postdoctoral researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard before returning to Germany. Báez-Mendoza's lab is equally international. It includes scientists from five countries, including the U.S. Visas under Trump In 2017, just months into his first term as president, Donald Trump spoke at Snap-on tools in Kenosha, Wis. Standing in front of a flag made of red, white, and blue wrenches, he unveiled a plan to restrict visas for foreign scientists and engineers. "Widespread abuse in our immigration system is allowing American workers of all backgrounds to be replaced by workers brought in from other countries to fill the same job for sometimes less pay," he said. "This will stop," he added. Trump singled out H-1B visas in his speech, perhaps unaware that Snap-on used them to hire some of its employees. Sponsor Message Soon, he was issuing executive orders designed to restrict H-1B visas. And in 2020, he suspended new H-1Bs and some other temporary work visas. President Biden would reverse many of these measures. But the events made an impression on Leili Mortazavi, a brain scientist who was born in Iran and is now completing a doctoral program at Stanford University. "I really like Stanford, people here are great, the resources [are] amazing," she says. "But I would have to see what kinds of changes happen under Trump." Mortazavi almost missed her chance to attend Stanford because of an executive order in early 2017 that became known as the "Muslim ban." It temporarily closed the border to most people with an Iranian passport. Mortazavi got a Canadian passport at the last moment. Then, during COVID, Trump announced a plan that would have deported her and many other international students who were attending all classes virtually. "There was talk about asking all the international students to go back home, which was a very, very stressful time," she says. "Luckily it didn't go through, but I still remember that very, very vividly." Mortazavi says with a second Trump administration about to begin, she's worried about getting a visa to work in the U.S. One reason is that Trump has named as a deputy Stephen Miller, the major architect of the president's immigration strategy during his first term. So Mortazavi is looking at jobs in other countries. "University of Toronto has a lot of great labs relevant to my work," she says. "I also visited Oxford and University College London last summer and would really be interested in working with them." Research institutions quiet for now During Trump's first term, businesses and universities went to court to challenge some of the changes to H-1B visas. Sponsor Message For the moment, though, these institutions are staying mum about the prospect of more restrictions. Half a dozen universities and research institutions contacted for this article either did not respond or declined to make any public comment. The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for information about the president-elect's plans for H-1B visas. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

H-1B Revamp Languishes in Biden’s Unfinished Immigration Agenda

H-1B regulations codifying prior deference policy still pending Backlog of work permits threaten employment eligibility The Biden administration has only until the start of the new year to wrap up rulemaking on high-skill employment visas and put more staff behind a steep backlog of work permits, among other items still on its to-do list. With only two months until Donald Trump’s inauguration Jan. 20, the White House will have to target efforts to get rules over the finish line, priorities that are getting a final push from immigrant advocacy groups and business immigration practitioners. The Trump administration will focus on immigration enforcement, so those groups want to see Biden officials take any remaining steps they can to buttress access to visas for foreign talent and legal work authorization for immigrants with temporary status. Organizations like the American Immigration Lawyers Association are also pressing the administration in public letters and meetings with agency officials to make stateside visa renewal options for H-1B workers permanent, and to extend relief for immigrants that the incoming administration has signaled it will scale back like Temporary Protected Status. “We’re doing as much as we can to protect some of the wins that we’ve had in this administration,” said Shev Dalal-Dheini, director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association. In recent weeks, the administration has made progress on rules closely watched by business immigration practitioners, including the announcement of a temporary final rule authorizing the release of 64,000 supplemental seasonal non-farm work visas. It’s also sent a rule adding new worker protections for H-2A and H-2B visa programs to the White House for review. But its heaviest remaining regulatory lift will mean finalizing plans to streamline the visa program most typically used by employers to hire international college grads or key foreign talent for specialized occupations. High-skilled Workers The Biden administration over a year ago released a proposal to revamp the annual lottery system for H-1B specialty occupation visas and add more flexibility for many users of the program. While it completed the lottery overhaul this past spring to give each prospective worker an equal chance of selection, the rest of the proposed changes remain pending. The proposal was controversial among immigration attorneys who said in public comments on the rule that a provision that would tie a foreign worker’s field of study to their area of employment could make it much harder for many H-1B petitions to get approval. That language alone, if not dropped in the final rule, is enough for some to call for the rule’s withdrawal. Leaving it in the final rule would allow for the “invisible wall” to immigration benefits under the first Trump term even easier to erect again, said Tahmina Watson, an attorney at Watson Immigration Law PLLC. Provisions welcomed by immigration lawyers include codifying deference to prior agency decisions on visa petitions. That policy significantly reduces the workload of visa adjudicators by allowing them to extend previously approved beneficiaries of employment-based visas without additional scrutiny. A decision by the Trump administration to drop the policy—reversed by USCIS four years later— resulted in added wait times and requests for evidence from the agency. The rule would also lower the bar for nonprofit research organizations to secure cap-exempt H-1B visas without entering the annual lottery, and make it easier for recent college graduates to change status from a student visa to an H-1B without interruption. USCIS would have to publish the H-1B rule in the Federal Register by mid-December because of a statutory requirement that final regulations don’t become effective in less than 30 days absent an exception like an emergency. The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment on plans to finalize the regulations. “If this rule were finalized before the next administration, then it would make on the whole significant improvements to the H-1B process,” said Bo Cooper, a partner at Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP. H-1B workers are also anxious to see the State Department restart a pilot program allowing them to renew visas in the US and skip appointments at foreign consulates that could delay their return for weeks or months if they travel abroad. A spokesperson said the agency is still analyzing results of a pilot that concluded in April, but had no announcements to make about a possible expansion. Backlogs, Temporary Protections Both businesses and Democratic lawmakers led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) began pressing USCIS to prioritize visa backlogs well before the November elections. Wait times for new work permits and renewals are the top concern for members of the Asylum Seekers Advocacy Project, said Conchita Cruz, ASAP’s co-executive director. “They’re worried about being able to continue supporting themselves and their families here in the US while their asylum applications are pending,” she said. Immigrants with a range of visa statuses or humanitarian protections have to apply for employment authorization documents. In many states, their access to health insurance or drivers licenses, not just work eligibility, is tied to the validity of those documents. A spokesperson for Warren said there has been no response from USCIS on recent progress on the backlog. A spokesperson for the agency said USCIS has processed a record number of work permits in the past year. It’s also expanded online filing options and extended the duration for certain applicants from two to five years, they said. Still, a large swathe of immigrants could lose work eligibility and legal status in the country without action by the DHS in the coming weeks, advocates warn. More than 40,000 recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals have renewal applications pending at USCIS. Another 650,000 people with removal protections and employment authorization through Temporary Protected Status come from countries whose designations expire within the first six months of the Trump administration—including some the incoming administration has promised to drop from the program. An influx of new work authorized immigrants through pathways like TPS and parole have been credited with boosting economic growth. Renewing those DACA grants and extending TPS protections for an additional 18 months for countries like El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Haiti are among the steps Biden’s DHS should take to shield immigrants from indiscriminate enforcement, said Adriel Orozco, senior policy counsel at the American Immigration Council. “So many folks are potentially at risk of losing those protections and their work permits that it’s going to put a lot more strain on communities across the country,” he said. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

USCIS Updates Guidance on Determining Custody for Children Acquiring U.S. Citizenship

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration and Services is issuing guidance regarding the legal and physical custody requirements for purposes of acquisition of U.S. citizenship under section 320 and naturalization under section 322 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). We are also expanding guidance on derivation of citizenship before the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, under former INA section 321. The update clarifies and expands the current guidance on determining legal and physical custody of children of U.S. citizens for acquisition of citizenship purposes. Specifically, the updated guidance: Expands guidance on when USCIS considers a child to be in the legal custody of the U.S. citizen parent, clarifies the effect of a nunc pro tunc (retroactive) correction of a custody order, and clarifies when USCIS may recognize private custody agreements; Clarifies that USCIS considers a U.S. citizen parent who has actual uncontested custody of a child to have legal custody for purposes of acquisition of citizenship when there is no judicial determination on legal custody and the relevant jurisdiction’s law does not determine which parent has legal custody of the child; Provides that a U.S. citizen parent has physical custody of a child when the child resides or physically lives with the parent; Expands guidance on adjudicating derivation of U.S. citizenship claims before the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, by providing detailed clarification on each of the requirements of former INA section 321, including the legal custody requirements; and Clarifies that USCIS cannot issue a Certificate of Citizenship to any applicant who does not take the Oath of Allegiance and is not eligible for a waiver of the oath. This guidance is effective immediately and applies to applications pending on or after Nov. 19, 2024. For more information, see Volume 12, Part H of the USCIS Policy Manual. This update will help ensure consistent determinations of legal and physical custody for adjudication of citizenship claims and provide more detailed guidance on how to determine legal and physical custody for eligibility for a certificate of citizenship in these cases. USCIS is also implementing these changes consistent with Executive Order 14012, Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans, and the goals of removing barriers to citizenship. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

20 Years Ago, Congress Passed An Immigration Bill Raising H-1B Visas

In 2004, Congress raised the H-1B annual limit by exempting 20,000 students a year who earned a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. university. The immigration bill was the last time lawmakers increased access to high-skilled foreign nationals. Without the law, up to 400,000 highly skilled individuals with a master’s degree or higher would never have been allowed to work in the United States. The 1990 Immigration Act Set A Low Annual Limit On H-1B Visas When Congress passed The Immigration Act of 1990, it established two numerical restrictions that proved frustrating to employers and high-skilled foreign nationals: a 65,000 annual limit on new H-1B petitions and a 140,000 yearly ceiling on employment-based green cards. Every year for the past two decades, employers have exhausted the supply of H-1B visas, and over one million Indians now wait in the first, second and third employment-based green card categories, according to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis. Before 1990, going back decades, employers could use H-1 visas, including for high-skilled professionals, without a numerical limit. Warren Leiden, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association when the 1990 Act became law, said the H-1B provisions in 1990 were “protectionist.” In addition to imposing new requirements on employers, the law, as noted, set a low annual limit that failed to anticipate the impact of technology. PROMOTED The internet, and later smartphones, AI and other developments, boosted the demand for highly skilled labor far beyond 65,000 new foreign nationals a year. More than 70% of the full-time graduate students in electrical engineering and computer and information sciences at U.S. universities are international students. Leiden recalls that the 65,000 number was not based on a thoughtful analysis of future economic needs but instead was “pulled out of the air.” The Immigration Bills In 1998 And 2000 Temporarily Increased H-1B Visas In 1998, Congress passed the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act, which increased the H-1B annual limit to 115,000 in FY 1999 and 2000 and 107,500 in FY 2001. Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI), who I worked for at the time, authored the legislation. He believed greater access to high-skilled foreign nationals would help drive innovation and keep the United States competitive in a technology-based economy. His House counterpart, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), wanted to impose new restrictions on high-skilled immigration. The two men reached a compromise. The Clinton administration negotiated further changes with Senator Abraham until a final product was reached and passed by Congress. MORE FOR YOU Who Went Home On ‘Dancing With The Stars?’ Semi-Finals Recap And Scores New Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge Warning—Do Not Shop On These Websites Trump’s Cabinet And Key Jobs: Linda McMahon Expected For Secretary Of Education, Dr. Oz Picked For Top Medicare Role The need for the 1998 legislation became apparent when companies reached the 65,000 annual limit for the first time in FY 1997. However, the increase Congress passed in 1998 proved inadequate: Companies exhausted the H-1B supply of 115,000 in FY 1999 and FY 2000. CEO: C-suite news, analysis, and advice for top decision makers right to your inbox. Email address Sign Up By signing up, you agree to receive this newsletter, other updates about Forbes and its affiliates’ offerings, our Terms of Service (including resolving disputes on an individual basis via arbitration), and you acknowledge our Privacy Statement. Forbes is protected by reCAPTCHA, and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. In 2000, Congress passed the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act, which increased the H-1B annual limit to 195,000 for FY 2001, FY 2002 and FY 2003. Senator Abraham, Rep. Smith and the Clinton administration once more came to a compromise on Abraham’s initial legislation. symbol 00:00 03:36 Read More In FY 2001, 163,600 of the 195,000 H-1B petitions were utilized. However, due to an economic downturn, employers used only 79,100 H-1B petitions in FY 2002 and 78,000 in FY 2003, despite the 195,000 annual limit in those years. Companies argued it showed they hired H-1B visa holders based on the demand for labor, not because, as some critics charged, individuals with H-1B status worked for less money. The H-1B annual limit returned to 65,000 in FY 2004. GEORGE W. BUSH ANNOUNCES FINAL CABINET APPOINTEES Senator Spencer Abraham, George W. Bush's appointee for Secretary of Energy, addresses the press ... [+]Sygma via Getty Images The 2004 Immigration Legislation That Increased H-1B Visas After employers exceeded the H-1B annual limit in FY 2004, companies lobbied for an H-1B increase. After an economic downturn and the terrorist attacks of September 2001, the mood on immigration turned less favorable in the United States. Still, the need for tech talent remained. “We would have loved for the H-1B cap to return to 195,000 a year,” said Lynn Shotwell, who served as executive director of the American Council on International Personnel. Senator Abraham, who chaired the Senate immigration subcommittee, lost his race for reelection in November 2000, so discussions began with Rep. Lamar Smith, chair of the House immigration subcommittee, and his staff about increasing the H-1B cap. Shotwell recalls that Smith’s chief of staff expressed interest in helping to find a legislative solution. “We hoped emphasizing the need for highly qualified workers and the 20,000 exemption for graduate students would be a stepping stone for green card reform,” said Sandy Boyd, who chaired the Compete America coalition and was vice president of human resources policy at the National Association of Manufacturers. Former Intel CEO Craig Barrett had argued for stapling a green card to the diplomas of international students in science and engineering fields. Tech companies launched a public education campaign with a “passport to prosperity” featuring outstanding immigrants. Companies explained that when recruiting for permanent positions on U.S. campuses, most of the people they encountered in advanced degree programs were international students. Technology companies had started expanding again after the dot-com bust, and members of Congress worried about American competitiveness. Those in the business community who participated in the effort recall a pivotal moment came at a Semiconductor Industry Association breakfast meeting with several Republican members of Congress, primarily Judiciary Committee members with jurisdiction over immigration. After company executives provided data on engineering graduate-level graduation rates on campuses in those members’ districts and told stories about the need for talent, the members of Congress expressed shock and were receptive to changing the law. Participants recall that Rep. Smith did not appear to expect significant support from other Republicans to raise the H-1B cap. However, the opposite was the case, as one Republican member present even suggested giving green cards to every graduating engineer. The meeting indicated that Rep. Smith acted as a brake against more favorable measures that could have passed on high-skilled immigration. That became clear as the legislation developed. Rep. Smith was interested in reestablishing the enforcement provisions from the 1998 and 2000 bills. In 1998 and 2000, when Sen. Abraham negotiated a new fee for scholarships and job training with Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and additional enforcement measures with Rep. Smith and the Clinton administration, he insisted these provisions be temporary since the increase in H-1B visas was temporary. That turned out to be crucial because it provided leverage for an increase in H-1B visas. It meant that when the annual H-1B cap returned to 65,000 in FY 2004, the scholarship and training fee on H-1B petitions and the new attestations on recruitment and nondisplacement disappeared. That set up a legislative compromise. The most significant measures in the bill that emerged and became law included: - An exemption of 20,000 from the H-1B annual limit for foreign nationals who “earned a master’s or higher degree” from a U.S. university. - Making permanent recruitment and nondisplacement attestations from the 1998 and 2000 laws. - Creating permanent authority for the Secretary of Labor to investigate abuses of H-1B visas without a complaint filed after meeting certain requirements. - Making permanent provisions from the 1998 and 2000 laws to require employers to pay a fee towards scholarships and job training. The law raised most employers’ fees from $1,000 to $1,500. - Creating a $500 fee on H-1B and L-1 visas for “fraud prevention and detection.” - Changing the L-1 visa category to ensure that intracompany transferees worked one year abroad (rather than six months) before working in the United States. The bill restricted using L-1 visas to “provide labor for hire.” The 2000 law had exempted from the 65,000 annual limit H-1B petitions for U.S. universities and nonprofit and government research institutions. Congress passed the “L-1 Visa and H-1B Visa Reform Act” on November 20, 2004. President George W. Bush signed it into law as part of omnibus legislation on December 8, 2004. Randel Johnson, who worked on immigration policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce during this period, said it’s unfortunate the business community could not expect to see in today’s environment the type of immigration liberalization embodied in the 1998 and 2000 laws that increased H-1B visas. He considers the relative narrowness of the H-1B increase in 2004 showed how difficult increasing immigration had become even four years after the 2000 legislation. “Back then, we had a bipartisan consensus that business immigration was good for the country, and we worked with Rep. Lamar Smith and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA),” said Lynn Shotwell. Rep. Lofgren played a critical role in ensuring Democratic support and helping to smooth the way for including the bill in the omnibus package, according to Sandy Boyd. House Committee Considers Contempt Citation For Bolton And Miers Chairman of U.S. House Judiciary Committee Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) (L) talks with Rep. Lamar Smith ... [+]Getty Images The Immigration Legacy Of The H-1B Increase In The 2004 Bill The legacy of the 2004 bill remains mixed. By becoming law, the bill has allowed up to 400,000 graduates of U.S. universities to gain H-1B status and remain to work in the United States. Many of these individuals have likely become U.S. citizens and contributed to the American economy as professionals, researchers and entrepreneurs. Over the past two decades, employers have paid more than $6 billion in H-1B fees that have funded approximately 100,000 scholarships for U.S. students in science and technology fields and job training for U.S. workers, according to an NFAP analysis. Despite the 20,000 exemption for advanced degree holders, the H-1B annual limit has remained inadequate. The 85,000 annual limit (65,000 plus the 20,000 exemption) equals only 0.05% of the U.S. labor force. According to USCIS, the agency received H-1B registrations for 442,000 unique beneficiaries for FY 2025, five times more than the 85,000 ceiling. That means USCIS, in effect, was forced to block 300,000 to 350,000 high-skilled foreign nationals from working in the United States in 2024 due to the annual limit under U.S. law. Research by economist Britta Glennon concluded restrictions on H-1B visas result in more jobs leaving the United States. Economist Giovanni Peri and colleagues found that the H-1B annual limit has prevented employers from creating hundreds of thousands of jobs for U.S. workers, including by discouraging investment. Since 2004, immigration reform bills have included liberalizing reforms for business immigration on H-1B visas and employment-based green cards. Those bills failed to become law. In some cases, it was due to disagreement over addressing the fate of individuals living in the country in unlawful status in comprehensive legislation. During the Trump administration, new restrictions resulted in skyrocketing H-1B denial rates and many costly Requests for Evidence for companies until a legal settlement compelled Trump officials to end actions that judges found unlawful. A second Trump administration could enact those or other policies to restrict employer access to high-skilled foreign nationals. While some have blamed “Congress” for the lack of additional immigration legislation, it is individual members who often prevent a bill from becoming law. In 2022, in what became the CHIPS and Science Act, the Democratic majority in the House passed a startup visa and an exemption from annual green card limits for foreign nationals with a Ph.D. in science and technology fields and those with a master’s degree “in a critical industry.” However, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), then the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, blocked the provisions from becoming law in a conference committee. In January 2025, Grassley is expected to resume his position as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

USCIS Updates Guidance on Determining Custody for Children Acquiring U.S. Citizenship

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration and Services is issuing guidance regarding the legal and physical custody requirements for purposes of acquisition of U.S. citizenship under section 320 and naturalization under section 322 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). We are also expanding guidance on derivation of citizenship before the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, under former INA section 321. The update clarifies and expands the current guidance on determining legal and physical custody of children of U.S. citizens for acquisition of citizenship purposes. Specifically, the updated guidance: Expands guidance on when USCIS considers a child to be in the legal custody of the U.S. citizen parent, clarifies the effect of a nunc pro tunc (retroactive) correction of a custody order, and clarifies when USCIS may recognize private custody agreements; Clarifies that USCIS considers a U.S. citizen parent who has actual uncontested custody of a child to have legal custody for purposes of acquisition of citizenship when there is no judicial determination on legal custody and the relevant jurisdiction’s law does not determine which parent has legal custody of the child; Provides that a U.S. citizen parent has physical custody of a child when the child resides or physically lives with the parent; Expands guidance on adjudicating derivation of U.S. citizenship claims before the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, by providing detailed clarification on each of the requirements of former INA section 321, including the legal custody requirements; and Clarifies that USCIS cannot issue a Certificate of Citizenship to any applicant who does not take the Oath of Allegiance and is not eligible for a waiver of the oath. This guidance is effective immediately and applies to applications pending on or after Nov. 19, 2024. For more information, see Volume 12, Part H of the USCIS Policy Manual. This update will help ensure consistent determinations of legal and physical custody for adjudication of citizenship claims and provide more detailed guidance on how to determine legal and physical custody for eligibility for a certificate of citizenship in these cases. USCIS is also implementing these changes consistent with Executive Order 14012, Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans, and the goals of removing barriers to citizenship.

What will Trump’s immigration policy really look like?

FIRST THINGS FIRST — President-elect Donald Trump is planning to make good on his campaign trail promise that immigration would be a day one priority in his second administration. Today, he appeared to confirm on social media that he would declare a national emergency to embark on a mass deportation campaign. But reshaping immigration policy — and sending hundreds of thousands of people out of the country at minimum — won’t be as simple as putting a pen to paper and ordering it to be done. Pro-immigration groups around the country are ready to stand up legal defenses. And Trump will have to contend with a judiciary that has been skeptical of his immigration actions in the past — most notably when he attempted to push through a travel ban targeting Muslim-majority countries (though the Supreme Court, in particular, looks considerably different than it did in 2017). It makes for a looming showdown as soon as Trump takes office. Republicans (and many Democrats as well) largely agree that immigration reform is necessary. But the question is how far to go. Some in Trump’s inner circle are pushing for large scale bans or scaling down legal immigration, in addition to mass deportations. Yet there are also Trump loyalists who believe there should be limits to how restrictive Trump’s policies will be, given that America is in desperate need of highly skilled workers from other places around the world. Nightly turned to POLITICO reporter Betsy Woodruff Swan, who recently has explored these topics in detail, to give us a better sense of what’s to come. This interview has been edited. What’s the biggest hurdle Trump is facing right now to his plans to overhaul immigration in the U.S.? Trump will quickly bump into a few logistical issues: the government’s capacity to detain immigrants and foreign countries’ resistance to repatriating people (especially those convicted of violent crimes). What would the kind of wholesale changes that Trump wants to make actually look like on the ground? To state the obvious, I’d expect significantly more arrests by ICE, probably more worksite enforcement (including targeting employers who hire undocumented workers), expanded detention capacity, and heightened pressure on local law enforcement agencies to cooperate on immigration enforcement. The immigration courts, which are part of the executive branch and housed in the Justice Department, will also face significant scrutiny from Trump’s White House immigration-focused personnel. Are there different factions within the incoming Trump administration who have different ideas about immigration priorities? The biggest split will likely involve visas for high tech workers. People with backgrounds on Wall Street and Silicon Valley have long argued that America’s high-tech workforce isn’t big enough to support demand, and that we need foreign workers to fill jobs. But the more restrictionist-minded advisers say that’s factually incorrect and that giving visas to tech workers drives down the wages. That fight is inevitable and it will pit two very powerful factions against each other — hardline anti-immigration advocates versus burgeoning tech interests among Trump loyalists. How will Trump’s plans affect U.S. relations in Latin America? The US will need to pressure Mexico to restart the “Remain in Mexico” policy that kept people seeking asylum in the U.S. from immediately being granted entry. We don’t know what Mexico will seek in return. The U.S. may also need to negotiate with Latin American countries to repatriate deportees. That can cause friction. Do his campaign promises hold much real chance of success? From your reporting, what looks like a flight of fancy right now, and what looks like it really will happen on Day 1? There are a series of executive actions Trump can take on Day One that will have real impact, including throwing out a memo [Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro] Mayorkas issued that made ICE agents be more deliberative about who to deport. He can also quickly end temporary protection from deportation available to people from multiple countries –– including Haiti and Venezuela — who currently have Temporary Protected Status as immigrants in the U.S. due to armed conflicts in their home countries. And he can immediately stop using the CBP One app, which was designed to make it quicker and easier for people to seek asylum (though it’s drawn significant criticism across the board). His biggest constraints will be funding-related. For that he’ll need Congress. But congressional Republicans are likely to be very accommodating. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at cmchugh@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @calder_mchugh. A message from AARP: America’s 48 million family caregivers spend over $7,000 a year to care for older parents, spouses and other loved ones. They need a tax credit. With a new Congress, it’s time to act on the Credit for Caring tax credit. What'd I Miss? — Trump confirms he will deploy the military for mass deportation plan: Donald Trump confirmed today that he plans to declare a national emergency and use the military for the mass deportations of immigrants in the country illegally. Trump posted “TRUE!!!” in response to conservative activist Tom Fitton, who wrote in his own Truth Social post about the incoming administration’s preparation to use the military for deportation efforts. As the president-elect plans to begin the process of deporting immigrants in the U.S. illegally in his first 100 days, Trump’s team is working to craft executive orders that can withstand legal challenges from immigration advocates to avoid a defeat like the one his 2017 Muslim ban faced. — Eastern Seaboard scrambles to deal with drought and fire: Governors in New York and New Jersey have begun warning their residents to save water as an unusual drought grips the region. Even with some rain in the forecast this week, it likely won’t be enough to bring relief. A bleak picture is only worsening. Both states’ governors have alluded to long-term forecasts that suggest the winter ahead may be drier than normal too. It is nothing like California, where wildfires routinely destroy hundreds of thousands of acres a year. But raging fires — which prompted local evacuations this weekend and smoke wafting into New York City — have given residents and political leaders alike another taste of West Coast life in a warming climate. Last year, the region’s air was dangerously polluted by smoke from fires in Canada. — Martin O’Malley announces bid as DNC chair race kicks off: The race is on for the next chair of the Democratic National Committee, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is the first official entrant. O’Malley kicked off his bid today with a post on social media that said: “We must connect our Party with the most important place in America — the kitchen table of every family’s home. Jobs, Opportunity, and Economic Security for all. Getting things done. Hope. A 50 state strategy. Now.” O’Malley is resigning as head of the Social Security Administration, effective Nov. 29, to run for the role, he confirmed to POLITICO. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

The industries that could be hardest hit by Trump's immigration crackdown

President-elect Trump's vow to deport millions of undocumented immigrants could eliminate workers from U.S. industries already projected to face shortages and cut up to 6.8% of the national gross domestic profit. The big picture: While undocumented laborers make up a relatively small percentage of the total U.S. workforce, they have outsized roles in fields like construction, agriculture and hospitality. Zoom in: Construction and agriculture workforces had the highest shares of undocumented workers as of 2022, per the American Immigration Council. Among the undocumented workforce: 39% of plasterers and stucco masons; 36% of drywall installers, ceiling tile installers, and tapers; 36% of roofers; and 31% of painters and paperhangers. 28% of graders and sorters for agricultural products were undocumented, as well as 25% of miscellaneous agricultural workers. Most U.S. voters (75%) said undocumented immigrants mostly fill jobs that American citizens don't want, according to an October Pew Research report. Industries like hospitality, service, health care, construction and agriculture would face labor shortages without immigrant labor, according to the Center for Migration Studies. Immigration status of U.S. agricultural workers Two-year surveys of at least 1,500 farm workers conducted 1989-90 to 2021-22 A line chart that illustrates the immigration status of U.S. agricultural workers. Workers were surveyed in two-year batches from 1989-90 to 2021-22. The share of unauthorized workers peaked at 55% in 1999-2000, while citizen workers reached a high of 45% in 1989-1990. In 2021-2022, 32% of those surveyed were citizens, 42% were unauthorized, 18% had other work authorization and 8% were legalization applicants. CitizenUnauthorizedOther work authorizationLegalization applicant 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 1991-92 1997-98 2003-04 2009-10 2015-16 2021-22 Data: National Agricultural Workers Survey; Chart: Axios Visuals Zoom out: A one-time operation to deport undocumented immigrants would cost at least $315 billion, according to an October report from the American Immigration Council. Mass deportations could lead to a loss of about 4.2% to 6.8% of annual GDP, per the report, amounting to between $1.1 trillion and $1.7 trillion. For comparison, the national GDP declined 4.3% during the 2007-09 Great Recession. Mass deportations would also bring a heavy human toll. About 4 million mixed status families could be separated, affecting 8.5 million U.S. citizens with undocumented family members. It could slash the incomes of their households by an average of nearly 63%, or about $51K per year, the report found. Reality check: From 2003 to 2022, unauthorized immigrants made up a relatively narrow range of all U.S. workers — between 4.4% and 5.4%, according to a July Pew Research report. This number is higher than the 3.3% of unauthorized immigrants in the total U.S. population because most undocumented people in the U.S. are workforce-aged, per Pew. Context: Trump's deportation plans would use obscure laws, military funds and law enforcement officers from all levels of government to deport millions of people. Fast-track deportations would be expanded to apply to anyone who illegally crossed the border and couldn't prove they'd been living in the U.S. for more than two years. Currently, they're just for recent crossers encountered near the border. Trump's proposals would also curb legal immigration and limit asylum, the New York Times reported. He repeatedly tried to restrict access to asylum during his first term. The latest: Trump on Monday said that he will declare a national emergency and use the U.S. military to carry out mass deportations. This month, he tapped Tom Homan, the former acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as "border czar" for his next term. Homan, who had a role in the controversial family separation policy during Trump's first administration, has been a strong supporter of Trump's mass deportation plans. He also led the deportation branch within Immigrations and Customs Enforcement under former President Obama. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Trump plans the ‘largest deportation’ ever. Here’s how it might start.

Donald Trump vowed during his campaign to enact “the largest deportation operation in American history,” possibly involving the military. Can he? Legal and logistical barriers may stymie his plans. The president-elect also pledged more deportations during his first term than he delivered. And yet, a second Trump administration is armed with lessons learned from his prior administration and hard-line loyalists who shaped his border policies before. Among those are Tom Homan, Mr. Trump’s newly announced “border czar,” and Stephen Miller, an immigration adviser who will take on a deputy chief of staff role. Trump advisers are discussing declaring a national emergency to help facilitate immigration detention and deportation, and potentially open up the use of military bases to hold immigrants, The Wall Street Journal reports. On Monday, Mr. Trump called similar reports “TRUE!!!” on his Truth Social account. Why We Wrote This President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly called for mass deportations. As he moves to make good on a campaign pledge in the name of security, the future of unauthorized immigrants is unclear. For their part, many immigrants and their advocates are bracing for major change. Their fears include more separations of mixed-status families and potential hits to industries like agriculture, which economists say could raise prices across the United States. The scale of deportations may depend on what Mr. Trump wants to accomplish, says David Thronson, immigration law professor at Michigan State University. “If he wants headlines,” says Professor Thronson, he could order mass roundups at the limits of the law – and let courts decide “what violates due process or not.” Recommended Creativity They took up arms to fight Russia. They’ve taken up pens to express themselves. What are Trump’s deportation priorities? Congress hasn’t made major changes to the country’s immigration laws since the 1990s. Yet the application of those laws depends on who’s in office, as presidents set priorities. That includes which immigrants to focus on for “removal” – a legal term for deportation. During the Biden administration’s first year, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to focus on the removal of noncitizens who threaten national security, public safety, and border security. He counseled against spending resources on those posing no threat. The incoming administration similarly says it will first target criminals who pose security risks. But Mr. Trump will likely broaden that scope to other unauthorized immigrants. Entering the country illegally, for example, is a misdemeanor on the first offense. Residing in the U.S. without proper authorization, such as by overstaying a visa, is a civil violation. Mr. Homan, tapped to oversee the mass deportation effort, has confirmed to press that workplace roundups would resume. He also told conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk that the operation should be transparent, with a weekly briefing to the public. Former acting director of ICE under the first Trump term, who pitched the “zero tolerance” policy that resulted in family separation, Mr. Homan says transportation and shelter help from the Department of Defense may be necessary. He’s also mentioned outreach from “thousands” of military and law enforcement retirees willing to assist. Recommended Resilience Ukraine’s Pokrovsk was about to fall to Russia 2 months ago. It’s hanging on. “If you’re in the country illegally, you shouldn’t be comfortable,” he told The New York Times. “You should be concerned because you broke our laws.” About these ads That concern is felt by a small-business owner in Colorado. She overstayed her tourist visa and now lives here without authorization. “It’s scary for us,” says the woman, who preferred not to have her name published for privacy. There are “not many options for us to come here in the ‘right’ way.” Mr. Trump’s win was “something we didn’t expect to happen,” she says. Her family plans to remain in blue-state Colorado and avoid visiting relatives in Florida. She considers the Republican-led state more supportive of Mr. Trump’s agenda. Veronica G. Cardenas/AP/File Guatemalan migrants are searched before boarding a deportation flight in Harlingen, Texas, May 5, 2023. Some polls suggest the majority of Americans support mass deportations. Yet other survey questions hint at more nuanced views held by the U.S. public – like strong desires for both border security and increased pathways to citizenship. How many unauthorized immigrants are currently in the country, and subject to deportation, is unclear. As of January 2022, the government estimates, there were 11 million unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. (That’s roughly a quarter of the foreign-born population.) Recommended Resilience Women in construction find solidarity as ‘sisters in the brotherhood’ However, many immigrants have since entered illegally, and it’s unknown how many have stayed. At the southern border, from the beginning of the Biden presidency through June, the administration has released into the country some 4.6 million individuals who lacked prior permission to enter, estimates the Migration Policy Institute. By contrast, under 1 million were released under Mr. Trump’s first term. The Department of Homeland Security includes people with temporary protections from deportation in its “unauthorized” count. That’s another reason it’s hard to pinpoint exact numbers eligible for removal. Mr. Trump has spoken of ending those temporary protections, however. About these ads No matter how dramatically Mr. Trump scales up removals, though, infrastructure will need to scale up, too. What are the logistical and legal hurdles? Removals involve ICE officers, detention space, court bandwidth, and charter flights. One pro-immigrant group has put the price tag of mass deportations at $315 billion, if not more. Yet the businessman returning to the Oval Office dismisses the cost. “When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here. There is no price tag,” Mr. Trump told NBC News. To carry out his plan, Mr. Trump speaks of tapping into military might, including the National Guard. But there are legal limits around how presidents can use those troops to enforce laws. Recommended What Trump’s historic victory says about America Immigration lawyers point to the Constitution’s due process protections that extend to immigrants on U.S. soil. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has said he’ll invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. During times of war or invasion, the law makes subjects of enemy nations “liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and removed, as alien enemies.” The president-elect and his allies have repeatedly said that illegal immigration is an “invasion.” How immigration judges decide cases – including defenses to deportation, like asylum – may also change based on who’s installed as attorney general. That’s because the country’s immigration courts and judges operate within the Department of Justice. (One of Mr. Trump’s former attorneys general, Jeff Sessions, for instance, decided victims of domestic or gang violence generally weren’t eligible for asylum. The Biden administration reversed this.) Last week, Mr. Trump announced his nomination of Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, a lawmaker staunchly opposed to illegal immigration, as attorney general. About these ads Moreover, Mr. Trump may benefit from a legal victory handed to Mr. Biden last year. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas and Louisiana lacked standing to challenge the government’s immigration enforcement priorities. In some ways, the incoming president is “in a stronger legal position” than before, and can “push the envelope on other things,” says Professor Thronson. The Republican administration can expect challenges from elected officials, however. Some Democratic governors, like those in Illinois and Massachusetts, have already pledged to limit cooperation, based on protecting their state residents and democratic norms. Selene Rodriguez, a campaign director at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, argues that places with “sanctuary” polices are only “aiding and abetting crime committed by illegal aliens.” She says liberal leaders “need to get out of the way” and let the government do its job. Another roadblock for Mr. Trump will be diplomatic. Despite the president-elect’s frequent disparagement of Venezuelan immigrants, including suspected gang members, Venezuela doesn’t currently accept deportees from the U.S., reports Axios. Recommended Worries rise over a Trump ‘warrior board’ to remove officers ‘unfit for leadership’ How will this affect communities? In Oklahoma City, immigration lawyer Kelli Stump is fielding fearful calls from people worried they’ll get deported. Potential mass deportation is a “wait-and-see situation,” which makes it hard to counsel clients, says the president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Still, Ms. Stump hopes she’s right in thinking that mass removals “can’t happen overnight.” About these ads Beyond human impacts, however, there may be economic ones. Given the country’s reliance on unauthorized immigrants for labor, some economists worry mass deportations could spike prices. “I think we can learn a lot from that first term,” when agricultural employers were largely spared, says Rick Naerebout, chief executive officer of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association. That’s because the impact of mass deportation on rural economies, often reliant on agriculture, would be “devastating,” he says. In sectors like his, employers may compete for workers more than workers compete for employment. Idaho’s September unemployment rate was 3.6% – below the nation’s 4.1%. “Our jobs are not jobs that Americans have filled for decades now,” he says. Recommended The Monitor's View A graceful renewal of Notre-Dame Cathedral Not since the 1980s, under Republican President Ronald Reagan, have unauthorized workers benefited from mass amnesty. In as soon as two months, Americans may see what mass consequences are possible. Editor’s note: This article was updated Nov. 18, the same day as publication, to add Mr. Trump’s comments on mass deportation plans. Read these companion articles: Trump calls for mass deportation. How would that work? The Republican Party has sought to capitalize on voter concerns over record-high illegal immigration during the Biden years. Here we look at the feasibility of a pillar of Donald Trump’s plan for addressing that influx and disincentivizing such crossings. Deepen your worldview with Monitor Highlights. Your e-mail address By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy. Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads. Deportation 101: How removing people from the US really works Deportation sounds like a straightforward term, but it’s complicated in practice. Here’s context for understanding the rise in deportations under President Joe Biden and Republican proposals calling for more. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.

Trump’s immigration crackdown is expected to start on Day 1

In his first 100 days, President-elect Donald Trump plans to begin the process of deporting hundreds of thousands of people. He is expected to end parole for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. And he is likely to undo a policy that significantly constrained deportations for people who weren’t deemed threats to public safety or national security. Trump’s team is already thinking about how to craft executive actions aimed to withstand the legal challenges from immigrants’ rights groups — all in hopes of avoiding an early defeat like the one his 2017 travel ban targeting majority-Muslim nations suffered. This time, Trump may have friendlier arbiters. These fights will be refereed by a federal judiciary that he transformed during his first term, including by appointing more than 200 federal judges himself. And at the very top — the ultimate decider of these questions — is the Supreme Court, to which he appointed three conservative justices. But legal fights aren’t the only long-term challenge Trump’s ambitious immigration agenda will face. The logistical challenges of mass deportation are a little harder to predict. The speed at which Trump could remake deportation policy depends on surmounting tactical challenges like expanding detention capacity and cutting through a massive immigration court backlog. Trump has already tapped South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who has little experience with the Department of Homeland Security, to lead the sprawling agency. From inside the White House, Stephen Miller, widely seen as the architect of Trump’s first-term restrictionist agenda, has an expansive role over domestic policy. And Thomas Homan, a former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Trump, is returning to be the administration’s border czar. Through it all, Trump’s immigration team will face intense and sustained scrutiny from the president himself. Here are some of the immigration initiatives Trump’s team is expected to roll out quickly, and the hurdles they could face: Ramping up deportations Trump campaigned on mass deportation — something that could affect large swaths of the 11 million people DHS estimates are in the U.S. without legal authorization. But deporting millions of people could run into some logistical problems. According to DHS, the largest number of yearly removals came in FY 2013 during the Obama administration, when more than 430,000 people were removed from the U.S. Trump’s advisers have indicated they would prioritize people with criminal convictions and final removal orders for deportation. In 2022, according to the pro-immigration American Immigration Council, about 1.19 million people had those orders — meaning their cases had worked their way through immigration court and judges decided they must leave. Just removing the people in that category could take years. Finding, detaining and removing those people would be resource-intensive, said John Sandweg, acting director of ICE from 2013 to 2014. Detention capacity alone would be a costly and immediate challenge. Lawmakers need to appropriate the funding, and even if they do, the administration would need to hire, vet and train more officers — no easy feat. ICE currently employs 7,000 officers who conduct 250,000 deportations a year, according to the agency. If Trump’s administration wanted to quadruple this number, as Trump has promised, training academies couldn’t handle a deluge of new hires. “It is just a resource game, but it’s a hard game to play,” Sandweg said. Regardless of the hurdles and impediments, Trump has been unequivocal. “It’s not a question of a price tag. It’s not — really, we have no choice,” he told NBC News on Thursday. “When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here. There is no price tag.” The names of several Cabinet positions, including Chief of Staff, Ambassador to the United Nations and Education Secretary, along with the headshots of people who have been appointed, nominated or confirmed to those positions in the second Trump administration. Trump Transition of Power 2025 Tracking Trump’s Cabinet picks By POLITICO Staff | November 12, 2024 10:49 AM Ending parole for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela Another Biden administration program that’s likely to end fast: a special visa-free humanitarian parole process for some residents of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The Biden administration, to discourage migrants from trying to cross the border illegally, offered a way for some people from these countries to enter the country legally if they were vetted and had an American-based sponsor. As of August, nearly 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans had traveled to the U.S. via the program and were granted permission to live and work in the U.S. for two years. Trump, meanwhile, campaigned on expelling many of them. Over the summer, he spread baseless claims that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people’s pets. And he promised to revoke Haitians’ eligibility for Temporary Protected Status — another program that shields some people from countries with unsafe conditions from deportation and grants them work permits. Many Haitians can work in the U.S. legally because of TPS, a tool secretaries of Homeland Security have used since 1990. “All that stuff is going to end very fast, almost immediately,” said Dan Stein of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a restrictionist group. Stein’s group is closely allied with Trump’s team and became a feeder for personnel during the first Trump administration. “They basically hired half our staff,” he said. Mark Krikorian, of the restrictionist Center for Immigration Studies, agreed that the temporary provision of TPS work documents to people from certain countries deemed dangerous would likely be constricted dramatically. MOST READ election-2024-trump-39349.jpg Republicans suddenly think the economy’s great and the election wasn’t rigged Trump’s immigration crackdown is expected to start on Day 1 Matt Gaetz feels the heat No Sex, No Dating, No Babies, No Marriage: How the 4B Movement Could Change America ‘Papa’ Gaetz on his son’s AG pick: ‘I have someone in Washington on speed dial’ Currently, DHS makes this program available to people from 16 countries, including El Salvador, Ukraine, Syria, Somalia and Haiti. During Trump’s first term, his administration tried to end TPS status for more than 300,000 people. But immigrants sued, arguing the move was made out of racial animus. They secured a nationwide injunction that lasted through the Trump administration. Rolling back the Mayorkas memo Early in the Biden administration, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a memo laying out priorities for which immigrants to deport. It emphasized people who threaten national security and public safety, and it directed ICE officers to learn “the totality of the facts and circumstances” about criminal convictions before deciding whether to deport someone — rather than solely using a conviction as a basis for deportation. Immigration restrictionists expect that guidance will be one of the first things to go. “That stuff’s going to end obviously, right away,” said Krikorian, whose work was frequently cited by the first Trump administration. Another person close to Trump’s transition, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive plans, said Mayorkas’ memo could be revoked as soon as Day One, possibly as part of a broader package of executive actions intended to reduce “bureaucratic” hurdles that impede deportations. Deactivating the CBP One app The Biden administration rolled out a mobile phone application called CBP One that migrants could use to set up appointments to seek asylum. While Democrats hoped it would create more order around the border, Republicans said the initiative was a way to rush in people who shouldn’t be allowed to enter the United States. Amnesty International, meanwhile, said it violates international law by restraining where and how people could seek asylum. Either way, under Trump, according to the person close to the transition, it’s likely toast. President-elect Donald Trump arrives to speak. In the first 100 days, Trump’s immigration team will likely assess which countries they deem most problematic and decide whether to threaten sanctions. | Alex Brandon/AP Ramping up immigration diplomacy Another tool the Trump administration may use quickly is threats to countries that resist repatriating unwanted migrants. One challenge for rapid deportations is that the home countries of many migrants — particularly those convicted of violent crimes — don’t always want to take them back. So those people sometimes stay in jails or immigration detention centers in the U.S. indefinitely. To pressure those countries, the U.S. government can threaten to restrict visas for certain categories of applicants. The Trump and Obama administrations both deployed this option because of this recalcitrance. But the Biden administration has not. In the first 100 days, Trump’s immigration team will likely assess which countries they deem most problematic and decide whether to threaten sanctions. “I think you’re going to see a significant increase and you’re going to see it early,” Krikorian said. “I’m pretty certain it would be in the first hundred days — there’s no reason you’d wait three months to do something.” The moves would require cooperation from the State Department, which issues visas. So Trump’s immigration-focused advisers will likely ensure that candidates for top roles at State are simpatico with the administration’s immigration policy — and Sen. Marco Rubio is widely expected to be Trump’s pick for secretary of State. “That’s going to be a condition for their appointment,” said Jessica Vaughan, also of the Center for Immigration Studies. “They’re not going to appoint someone and want to be surprised later on — ‘I don’t know, we’re not going to play our role.’ It’s in the job description.” Trump has also said he would restore his Remain in Mexico policy — officially called Migrant Protection Protocols — that required some asylum-seekers to stay south of the U.S.-Mexican border while they await immigration court hearings. But this will require the Trump administration to reach a deal with Mexico to restart the program. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.