The dismantling of the Trump administration´s restrictive immigration policies began on January 20, 2021, the day that Joseph Biden was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States. Below is a summary of some of the new Biden administration´s immigration-related reforms immediately following Inauguration Day.
Abandonment means that an LPR demonstrates the intent to no longer reside in America as an LPR – after the person has departed the United States. The USCIS also provides that if a parent abandons his/her LPR status, that abandonment is imputed to a minor child in the parent’s control and custody.
The Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program is a unique program in that it protects masses of people who could be in grave danger if they returned to their country. Unfortunately, like border and interior enforcement, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and the immigration courts, TPS has also been in focus during the four years of the Trump administration, putting the TPS recipients at risk of losing their status. However, besides the possibility of having a friendlier government to deal with, immigrants, including TPS recipients have been hearing some good news lately.
President Biden is expected to offer relief to the so-called “DACA Dreamers” -- undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children. What form this relief will take is unclear, however. He could undertake more sweeping reform with Congressional support, and one of the options for Congress would be to pass the American Dream and Promise Act. Even without this, Biden could incorporate some of its provisions into an executive order.
The Trump government has come to an end but the decisions taken by it in the name of immigration reform are still being discussed in courts around the country. One such decision was a review of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that concerns almost 650,000 recipients known as ‘dreamers.’
Similar to what the election results have been for both the candidates and their voters, the last few days have also been a rollercoaster ride for foreign nationals and their employers. It all started with a federal District Court vacating the DHS’s public charge rule and ended in an appeals court staying the lower court’s decision of vacation.
It is no secret that the Trump administration has been particularly ruthless towards migrant children. The latest example of this behavior is its move to end deferred action. The Deferred Action for Migrant Children Program (DACA) was introduced in 2012 by the Obama administration. The purpose of this program was to facilitate migrant children, because they did not have a say in their parent’s/ guardian’s decision to migrate and because they have grown up in the country, not in the country of their parents.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), DHS delegated the school certification process to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE, in turn, delegated the responsibility to its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP).
Once an employer received a Notice of Intent to Fine from ICE, the employer has the option to either pay the fine or contest the fine. The Notice of Intent to Fine is the charging document. A charging document lists all the violations allegedly committed by the employer and the corresponding penalties recommended by ICE.
