Bipartisan Immigration Compromise Introduced By McCain/Coon Rejected By Trump
- By Alex Schupp
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- 05 Feb, 2018
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Offers Immediate Conditional Permanent Residence to Dreamers
McCain urged his colleagues to accept the compromise in order to move on to other pressing issues, such as the bipartisan budget agreement to lift the caps on defense spending and fund the military. Both Senators see this plan as a " base for negotiators among a wider group of senators". However, Trump opposed this initial plan with a tweet: “Any deal on DACA that does not include STRONG border security and the desperately needed WALL is a total waste of time". The White House is demanding a $25 billion trust fund for a border wall system, a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and an end to a visa lottery program and so-called chain migration, in which immigrants residing in the U.S. sponsor their relatives for visas.
Absent a larger agreement, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he will turn to an immigration debate if the government remains open past Feb. 8 — the current deadline to pass a funding bill and avoid a second shutdown.
The McCain-Coon plan proposes:
- Allocating $110 million annually for five years to enhance coordination between Customs and Border Protection and local law enforcement on the issue of border security.
- Increasing staffing at immigration courts;
- Addressing the root causes of migration in Central America.
- Allowing Dreamers to apply for conditional permanent residence if they meet certain background check, education and criminal history requirements, and, if they maintain good standing, to become lawful permanent residents and then U.S. citizens after a minimum of five years.
Be advised that there are no new changes to the DACA program at this time. USCIS is still accepting and processing DACA renewal applications for eligible DACA recipients who have previously been approved for DACA . No new or initial applications are being accepted for individuals seeking to apply for DACA for the first time.
Eligible DACA recipients who would like to renew their DACA, may do so depending on the circumstances of each case. We encourage DACA renewal applicants to consult with an attorney and submit their applications to USCIS as soon as possible.
The brunt of this new policy will fall upon students, families, professional workers, and many others who have fully complied with the law but whose applications or petitions are denied. Each year, USCIS denies hundreds of thousands of petitions for green cards, applications to change or extend status, applications to waive a ground of inadmissibility, and many other immigration benefit requests. Rather than give these individuals the opportunity to depart the United States on their own, as has long been the practice and as most people do, USCIS will now compel them to appear in immigration court for removal proceedings,
The new memo transforms USCIS into a third enforcement component of DHS, hardly different from ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). This new policy will push thousands of individuals into our already overburdened immigration court system, making it harder for individuals to receive a timely and fair hearing.
We ask our readers to contact your Representatives and urge them to hold the administration accountable for turning USCIS into an enforcement arm of DHS. Please use the American Immigration Lawyers TAKE ACTION link to send a message to your legislators on holding USCIS accountable for its new policies that will shuttle more members of our community into the deportation machine.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin using the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) Signature Confirmation Restricted Delivery service to mail Green Cards and other secure documents beginning April 30, 2018. Applicants must present identification to sign for their documents upon delivery.
This announcement is certainly welcomed as USCIS has thousands of documents returned as undeliverable, they can be stolen or sent to the wrong address. We remind our readers to file form AR-11 online at www.uscis.gov/ar-11 , if they move or change their mailing address.
Starting April 2, 2018, USCIS will destroy Permanent Resident Cards, Employment Authorization Cards and Travel Documents returned as undeliverable by the U.S. Postal Service after 60 business days if USCIS is not contacted by the document’s intended recipient to provide the correct address.
To prevent this, intended recipients must contact USCIS to provide a correct address in a timely manner. USCIS encourages applicants to report a change of address within 10 days of relocation using the procedures outlined at uscis.gov/addresschange.
The agency stated that will reject and return filing fees for all unselected cap-subject petitions that are not prohibited multiple filings.
USCIS will continue to accept and process non H-1B cap petitions filed to:
- Extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the United States;
- Change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
- Allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and
- Allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.
Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke r ecognized the difficulty facing citizens of Nicaragua – and potentially citizens of other countries – who have received TPS designation for close to two decades, and called on Congress to enact a permanent solution for this inherently temporary program.
The following countries are currently designated for TPS: El Salvador , Haiti , Honduras , Nepal , Nicaragua , Somalia , South Sudan , Sudan , Syria , and Yemen.
On September 5, 2017, the Trump administration announced the end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Specifically, the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security rescinded the 2012 memorandum creating DACA and stated that as of September 5, 2017, the government will no longer process any new DACA applications.
While Congress may act and pass a permanent protection for Dreamers, the following points issued by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) outline today's announcement:
1. If You Do Not Have DACA or a DACA Application Pending . You cannot apply. The program has been terminated and new applications are no longer being accepted by USCIS.
2. If You Have DACA That Expires on or Before March 5, 2018 . If you have DACA and a work permit that expires on or before March 5, 2018, you can apply for a 2-year renewal, but your application must be received on or before October 5, 2017. Be advised that you cannot file an employment authorization application more than 180 days before its expiration date.
3. If You Have DACA That Expires After March 5, 2018. If your DACA and work permit expire after March 5, 2018, you are not eligible for an extension and your DACA, work authorization, and protection from deportation will expire on the date shown on your DACA approval notice and work permit.
4. If You Have a DACA Application Pending . If you have a DACA application that was received at USCIS on or before September 5, 2017, your application will continue to be processed.
5. If You Have DACA and a Valid Advance Parole Travel Document . If you have DACA and have a currently valid advance parole document, you may still use the document to travel and return to the U.S. as long as you return BEFORE the document expires. However, even with a valid travel document, CBP can refuse to let you in. At this time, we are not recommending traveling outside the United States.
6. If You Have an Advance Parole Travel Document Application Pending . USCIS will no longer process or approve applications for advance parole for DACA recipients. If you have an application for DACA-based advance parole pending as of September 5, 2017, USCIS will close the application and return the filing fees to you.
7. Your DACA Can Be Terminated at Any Time . Even with valid DACA and a valid work permit, the government can terminate your DACA and work permit at any me if it believes you are no longer eligible or for any other reason.
8. Do Not Talk to a Notario. Notarios are not lawyers and are not trained to fully understand the complex U.S. immigration system. Some notarios will take your money and give you bad advice. Protect yourself and your family by trusting a qualified immigration lawyer with your legal decisions.
Tell Congress Now that is the Time to Protect Dreamers!
Applicants in these categories did not previously require an interview, the agency said, though green card interviews are conducted for marriages when applicable. USCIS Director James W. McCament. “USCIS and our federal partners are working collaboratively to develop more robust screening and vetting procedures for individuals seeking immigration benefits to reside in the United States.” USCIS said plans to “incrementally expand” the interview process to other benefit types as well.
We anticipate that the new interview workload will almost certainly lengthen wait times for all green card applications. As of June 30, USCIS was processing applications received more than six months earlier, according to a tracking tool on the agency’s website.
One option would be to allow DACA to sunset, allowing those who presently have DACA and a work permit (with validity periods up to two years) to be protected from deportation and permitted to work until it expires. In the alternative, DACA could be brought to an end quickly and previously issued deferrals of deportation and work permits would be immediately invalidated, thus placing the nearly 800,000 DACA recipients at risk for deportation. The American Immigration Council has made available a list of tips for DACA beneficiaries to protect themselves should they have an encounter with ICE: http://immigrationimpact.com/2017/08/25/trump-end-daca-need-know/
TAKE ACTION: Urge the President and Congress to Protect Dreamers
En 5 años de DACA, más de 780.000 #DREAMers han podido trabajar y estudiar sin temor a la deportación. Eliminar DACA podría costarle a EEUU cientos de miles de millones en crecimiento económico en la próxima década #SaveDACA