Us Immigration Law

Share of foreign born in US at highest rate in more than a century: Survey

The percent of US residents who were foreign-born last year grew to its highest level in more than a century, according to figures released Thursday from the most comprehensive survey of American life. The share of people born outside the United States increased in 2023 to 14.3% from 13.9% in 2022, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey, which tracks commuting times, internet access, family life, income, education levels, disabilities, military service, and employment, among other topics. International migrants have become a primary driver of population growth this decade, increasing their share of the overall population as fewer children are being born in the U.S. compared to years past. The rate of the foreign-born population in the United States hasn't been this high since 1910 when it was 14.7%, driven by waves of people emigrating in search of a better life around the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century. We kn

US offers citizenship pathway to 550,000 migrant spouses, stepchildren

The programme, named "Keeping Families Together," aims to remove the barriers that have long plagued noncitizen spouses of US citizens

US to expand areas for migrants to apply online for entry from South Mexico

The Biden administration will expand areas where migrants can apply online for appointments to enter the United States to a large swath of southern Mexico, officials said on Saturday, potentially easing strains on the Mexican government and lessening dangers for people trying to reach the US border to claim asylum. Migrants will be able to schedule appointments on the CBP One app from the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, extending the zone from northern and central Mexico, US Customs and Border Protection said. The move satisfies a request of Mexico, an increasingly close partner of the US in efforts to control extraordinary migration flows. The change will spare migrants from traveling north through Mexico to get one of 1,450 appointments made available daily, CBP said. The agency said it will happen soon but did not give a date. We consistently engage with our partners in the Government of Mexico and work together to adjust policies and practices in response to the latest migration

Indian charged for fraudulent admission in US university to return back

A 19-year-old Indian student, who was arrested and charged with falsifying records to gain admission in a US university, will have to return to India under a plea deal entered into with American authorities. Aryan Anand had submitted fake and falsified documents to secure admission into Lehigh University, a private research university in Pennsylvania for the 2023-2024 academic year. A report in the Lehigh University's student newspaper The Brown and White', said last month that a police investigation had found that Anand had falsified admission and financial aid documents. He had even faked his father's death as part of the conspiracy to obtain admission and scholarship, it said. Anand was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Jordan Knisley on June 12, with a bail of USD 25,000. He pleaded guilty to one count of forgery. As part of the plea deal, he was sentenced to one to three months in Northampton County Prison, which amounted to a time-served sentence, lehighvalleylive.com .

RNC turns to immigration, border as key issues for Trump's campaign

Immigration takes centre stage as the Republican National Convention resumes Tuesday, with speakers spotlighting a key element of former President Donald Trump 's political brand that helped endear him to the GOP base when he began his first campaign in 2015. Among speakers slated for Tuesday night were families who've been impacted by violent crime - part of a GOP strategy to link crime to border policies. They include the family of Rachel Morin, a Maryland woman whom prosecutors say was killed and raped by a fugitive from El Salvador and whose story has been frequently highlighted by Trump on the campaign trail. Immigration has long been one of Trump's banner issues, as he has criticized the unprecedented number of migrants entering the country illegally through the US border with Mexico. The numbers of unauthorized crossings have fallen abruptly after President Joe Biden issued a rule suspending many asylum claims at the border. At rallies and other campaign events, Trump has ...

Trump proposes green cards for foreign students graduating from US colleges

Former US President Donald Trump made a departure from his anti-immigration stance and proposed handing out green cards to all foreign students who graduate from US colleges

Half a million immigrants could get US citizenship under new Biden plan

President Joe Biden is taking an expansive, election-year step to offer relief to potentially hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status in the US aiming to balance his own aggressive crackdown on the border earlier this month that enraged advocates and many Democratic lawmakers. The White House announced on Tuesday that the Biden administration will, in the coming months, allow certain spouses of US citizens without legal status to apply for permanent residency and eventually, citizenship. The move could affect upwards of half a million immigrants, according to senior administration officials. To qualify, an immigrant must have lived in the United States for 10 years as of Monday and be married to a US citizen. If a qualifying immigrant's application is approved, he or she would have three years to apply for a green card, and receive a temporary work permit and be shielded from deportation in the meantime. About 50,000 noncitizen children with a parent who is married

Biden's new policy to give deportation protection to spouses of US citizens

President Joe Biden is planning to announce a sweeping new policy Tuesday that would lift the threat of deportation for tens of thousands of people married to US citizens, an aggressive election-year action on immigration that had been sought by many Democrats. Biden was hosting a White House event to celebrate an Obama-era directive that offered deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants and will announce the new programme then, according to three people briefed on the White House plans. The policy will allow roughly 490,000 spouses of US citizens an opportunity to apply for a parole in place programme, which would shield them from deportations and offer them work permits if they have lived in the country for at least 10 years, according to two of the people briefed. They all spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the announcement publicly. The White House on Monday declined to comment on the announcement. Families who would

Biden win would benefit bonds, Trump better for growth: Morgan Stanley CIO

Over the last 12 to 18 months, investors have favored high-quality large-cap stocks that have seen earnings revisions, which in turn generated alpha for these stocks

US restrictions on asylum-seekers may violate international law: UNHCR

The head of the UN refugee agency says he understands that the Biden administration enacted new restrictions on asylum-seekers entering the United States, but cautioned that some aspects of the executive order may violate refugee protection required in international law. Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, spoke to The Associated Press as his agency issued its annual Global Trends report for 2023 on Thursday. It found that the cumulative number of people who have been subjected to forced displacement rose to 120 million people in 2023 6 million more than in the year before. The refugee agency noted that the total count was roughly equivalent to the entire population of Japan. The UNHCR report found that three-fourths of those people forcibly displaced including both refugees driven abroad and people displaced inside their own countries lived in poor or middle-income countries. Grandi insisted that was a sign of how migrant and refugee flows were not just an iss

President Biden faces first lawsuit over new asylum crackdown at border

A coalition of immigrant advocacy groups sued the Biden administration on Wednesday over President Joe Biden's recent directive that effectively halts asylum claims at the southern border, saying it differs little from a similar move during the Trump administration that was blocked by the courts. The lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and others on behalf of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and RAICES is the first test of the legality of Biden's sweeping crackdown on the border, which came after months of internal White House deliberations and is designed in part to deflect political attacks against the president on his handling of immigration. By enacting an asylum ban that is legally indistinguishable from the Trump ban we successfully blocked, we were left with no choice but to file this lawsuit, said Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the ACLU. The order Biden issued last week would limit asylum processing once encounters with migrants between ports of entry .

Biden preparing to stop asylum if daily average of migrants reaches 2,500

The White House is telling lawmakers that President Joe Biden is preparing to sign off on an executive order that would shut down asylum requests at the US-Mexico border once the average number of daily encounters hits 2,500 at ports of entry, with the border reopening only once that number declines to 1,500, according to several people familiar with the discussions. The impact of the 2,500 figure means that the executive order could go into immediate effect, because daily figures are higher than that now. The Democratic president is expected to unveil the actions -- his most aggressive unilateral move yet to control the numbers at the border -- at the White House on Tuesday at an event to which border mayors have been invited. Five people familiar with the discussions on Monday confirmed the 2,500 figure, while two of the people confirmed the 1,500 number. The figures are daily averages over the course of a week. All of the people insisted on anonymity to discuss an executive order

People of Indian origin feel very proud to be Indian, says FIIDS chief

Observing that there has been a paradigm shift in India's stature at the global stage and its all round development in the last 10 years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, the head of a Indian diaspora think-tank on Friday said the global Indian community right now feel very proud to be an Indian. Indian diaspora right now feels very proud to be an Indian and I think a lot of credit goes to the leadership of Prime Minister Modi in these last two terms. It really did a paradigm shift and infused confidence not just on Indian Americans but also people of Indian origin all over the world because they're now getting respected, Khanderao Kand, chief of Policy and Strategy at Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS), told PTI Friday. India is not just strong, but India's position on various issues are really appreciated. India is making awesome progress on the climate side. India is developing its infrastructure. Indian diaspora when visiting India now from ..

H-1B visa holders: Facing layoffs in the US? Here's what you can do

The USCIS outlines various avenues for H-1B visa holders to stay in the US after losing their jobs

Resolution tabled in US Cong condemning attacks on Hindu places of worship

Celebrating the contributions of Hindus and Hinduism to the US, a prominent Indian-American Congressman has introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives condemning Hinduphobia, anti-Hindu bigotry, hate and intolerance. The resolution that was introduced by Congressman Shri Thanedar on Wednesday has been referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. The resolution reads that despite their positive contributions to the United States, Hindu Americans face stereotypes and disinformation about their heritage and symbols, and have been the targets of bullying in schools and on college campuses, as well as discrimination, hate speech, and bias-motivated crimes. According to the FBI's Hate Crimes Statistics Report, anti-Hindu hate crimes targeting mandirs and persons are annually on the rise while in parallel Hinduphobia in American society is unfortunately rising, the resolution said. Noting that the United States has welcomed more than four million Hindus f

Immigrants contribute to economy but there's worry over risks: US citizens

Americans are more worried about legal immigrants committing crimes in the U.S. than they were a few years ago, a change driven largely by increased concern among Republicans, while Democrats continue to see a broad range of benefits from immigration, a new poll shows. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that substantial shares of U.S. adults believe that immigrants contribute to the country's economic growth, and offer important contributions to American culture. But when it comes to legal immigrants, U.S. adults see fewer major benefits than they did in the past, and more major risks. About 4 in 10 Americans say that when immigrants come to the U.S. legally, it's a major benefit for American companies to get the expertise of skilled workers in fields like science and technology. A similar share (38%) also say that legal immigrants contribute a major benefit by enriching American culture and values. Both those figures were down compared

Initial registration period for in-demand H-1B visas to close on March 22

The initial registration period for the H-1B visas, the most sought-after by Indian IT professionals, for fiscal 2025 closes on March 22, a federal agency has said. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. The initial registration period for the most sought-after H-1B visas for foreign guest workers for fiscal 2025 closes at 12 noon Eastern Time (9:30 pm IST) on March 22, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said on Monday. During this period, prospective petitioners and legal representatives must use an online account of US Citizenship and Immigration Services to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated registration fee for each beneficiary. Online account users will also be ab

US needs highly qualified professionals from India, says Congressman

The United States needs highly qualified professionals from India, an influential American lawmaker has said, advocating that the US Congress remove the seven per cent country quota for issuing of Green Cards that has resulted in decades of long wait for professionals from India who have moved to this country. It's so important that Indians are able to immigrate to the United States when they're looking for jobs because the United States depends on high quality, high skilled, very smart people coming from all over the world to work here. It's one of the natural advantages of the United States that we welcome people from all over the world, Congressman Matt Cartwright, who represents the 8th Congressional District of Pennsylvania, told PTI in an interview. Cartwright is supporting the move by Indian American organisations, including the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora (FIIDS) for removing the per country seven per cent quota in issuing Green Cards every year. The problem is

US lawmakers to address Green Card, H-1B issues at immigration summit

Eminent lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties at an immigration summit have called for urgently addressing the Green Card backlog, an issue that is majorly impacting Indian professionals and the issues related to the H-1B visa. At the first-of-its-kind 'Tech Immigration Summit' at the US Capitol on Monday hosted by the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora (FIIDS), the lawmakers pushed for removing the seven per cent country quota when it comes to issuing Green Card or legal permanent residency to foreign guest workers in specialised categories. In the absence of such a move, the Green Card waiting period for Indian immigrants would be more than 20 years and over 70 years in many cases. A Green Card, known officially as a Permanent Resident Card, is a document issued to immigrants to the US as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently. Congressman Ro Khanna, who is also co-chair of the Congressional India Caucus, called f

Programme that allows 30K migrants from 4 nations into US each month upheld

A federal judge in Texas on Friday upheld a key piece of President Joe Biden's immigration policy that allows a limited number of migrants from four countries to enter the U.S. on humanitarian grounds, dismissing a challenge from Republican-led states that said the program created an economic burden on them. U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton ruled in favor of the humanitarian parole program that allows up to 30,000 asylum-seekers into the U.S. each month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela combined. Eliminating the program would undercut a broader policy that seeks to encourage migrants to use the Biden administration's preferred pathways into the U.S. or face stiff consequences. Texas and 20 other states that sued argued the program is forcing them to spend millions on health care, education, and public safety for the migrants. An attorney working with the Texas attorney general's office in the legal challenge said that the program created a shadow immigration ...