Week of January 8–14, 2022

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), a division of the US Department of Justice responsible for immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), has issued its latest statistics for removal-related cases. In FY 2021, the grant rate for asylum applications filed by aliens apprehended at the US border and subject to “credible fear” interviews fell, but so did the denial rate. Between December 2020 and December 2021, asylum officers received 57,405 credible fear cases, with credible fear found in 38,713 cases, equating to a rate of approximately 67.4%. In FY 2021, immigration judges granted asylum to 2,417 aliens in removal cases that originated with a credible fear claim, which was the lowest grant rate since FY 2017. Denial rates also fell, with the rate of denials in FY 2021 the lowest since FY 2016.

Cambria County in Pennsylvania is experiencing a shortage of workers, with over 1,000 jobs open in various industries. The decline in population, which the 2020 United States Census recorded as the 100th year in a row, has led to a struggle for business owners in the area to find staff. Taylor Clark, co-owner of Coney Island along Clinton Street, revealed that his establishment has gone from 27 employees to just eight in six months, with current workers on split shifts and double shifts. The proposal to attract "legally vetted immigrants" to the region has been made by Vision Together 2025, which is exploring the feasibility of hosting immigrants from around the world, not just from one particular country or group of people.

Frozen foods producer and distributor Buddy's Kitchen has agreed to pay $40,000 in civil penalties and change its employment policies to settle claims of discrimination against non-US citizens. The Department of Justice initiated an investigation into the Minnesota-based company over concerns it was violating the Immigration and Nationality Act’s (INA) anti-discrimination provision, which prohibits employers from asking for unnecessary documentation or specifying the type of documentation a worker should present to prove permission to work in the US based on citizenship, immigration status, or national origin. The Department's investigation found that Buddy's Kitchen routinely discriminated against non-US citizens, primarily lawful permanent residents, by asking them to provide specific, Department of Homeland Security-issued documents to prove permission to work while making no such requests of US citizens. The settlement also requires Buddy's Kitchen to train employees responsible for verifying workers' permission to work in the US.

A report by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) reveals that US taxpayers in 50 cities are estimated to pay $5.6 million towards the legal defense of illegal immigrants against deportation. The 22 state and local governments identified by the report work with the Vera Institute of Justice, which provides one-time grants to support initiatives that provide legal services to non-citizens facing deportation at no or reduced cost. The programs are considered an “insult” to law-abiding American citizens by Dale L. Wilcox, the executive director and general counsel at IRLI. Under US law, illegal immigrants and non-citizens do not have a right to legal representation because immigration law is not a criminal matter. The report claims that Vera aims to make the programs permanent and that taxpayers are often forced to pay for them.

The US Supreme Court has heard arguments on whether immigrants detained while fighting deportation are entitled to hearings to decide whether they may be released on bond as their cases move forward. The decision will affect thousands of immigrants detained for many months while their cases are decided by immigration courts facing long backlogs. The case in question was Antonio Arteaga-Martinez, a citizen of Mexico who entered the US unlawfully, fleeing what he said was gang violence against him and his family. After he was arrested in 2018, an asylum officer made a preliminary finding that he had a reasonable fear of persecution if he was returned to Mexico. Lower courts ruled in his favour, and an immigration judge ordered his release. The federal government sought Supreme Court review, saying that the governing statute did not require bond hearings before immigration judges.

Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who passed away on December 28 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, began his political career as an immigration hawk who voted against President Ronald Reagan’s 1986 amnesty. Reid introduced the Immigration Stabilization Act in 1993, which aimed to curb criminal activity by aliens, protect American workers from unfair labor competition, and relieve pressure on public services by strengthening border security and stabilizing immigration into the US. The bill would have reduced legal immigration by two-thirds, capped refugees at 50,000 per year, and prevented birthright citizenship. Reid's bill went nowhere, but by George W. Bush’s second term, he had made a policy 180-degree turn on immigration and backed the Republican president’s amnesty effort. Today, elected Democrats are unanimously in favor of mass amnesty, increasing legal immigration, and opposing any form of border security or interior enforcement.

Data from Statistics Canada shows that Vancouver, Toronto, and Edmonton have the highest immigrant retention rates in Canada. The agency analyzed immigrants who arrived in the country in 2014 and filed taxes in 2019. Five years after their arrival, 86.1% of immigrants who first settled in Vancouver stayed, the highest retention rate of any metropolitan area, followed by Toronto (85.5%) and Edmonton (84.6%). Vancouver also had the highest retention rate for family-sponsored immigrants and refugees while Edmonton had the highest for economic immigrants. The data also showed that most tax-filing immigrants stay in the province where they were admitted, with Ontario having the highest retention rate (93.7%), followed by British Columbia (89.7%) and Alberta (89%). Provinces in Atlantic Canada had the lowest retention rates.

Advocates are seeking an extension to the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act (LRIF), after few of the estimated 10,000 eligible Liberians in the US applied for legal status before the Dec. 20, 2021 deadline. The LRIF act, which was passed in December 2019, provided Liberians who could prove they had continuously resided in the US since November 20, 2014, immediate access to apply for legal status and obtain a green card. However, the program was launched under the Trump administration, which was known for its aggressive anti-immigration policies. In addition, the application fees associated with the program exceed $1,000 per person, creating a financial barrier for some individuals. Congressman Dean Phillips (D-MN) recently introduced H.R. 6233, the Liberian Refugee Fairness Extension Act, which would extend the deadline to apply for relief under LRIF by another year, to Dec. 20, 2022.

Suzanne Clark, CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, called for the federal government to double the size of legal immigration to address worker shortages during the Chamber's State of American Business address. Clark also advocated for legal relief for "Dreamers," undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. Business leaders support a plan by congressional Democrats to offer lawful status to millions of undocumented immigrants residing in the country and reduce backlogs for those applying for immigration relief. Meanwhile, COVID-19 infection rates among detainees at immigration detention centers in the US have increased by over 500% since the start of the year. The uptick in cases has put a spotlight on vaccination rates in prisons, where only one-third of immigrants entering detention have been vaccinated. Attorneys have urged the release of detainees with medical conditions that put them at greater risk. Finally, the US Supreme Court heard two immigration cases on the rights of detainees to have a bond hearing before an immigration judge following six months of detention.

Novak Djokovic, a Serbian tennis player, has had his temporary visa to Australia cancelled by the Australian Minister for Immigration, Alex Hawke. The cancellation was made on “health and good order grounds” and in the public interest, according to the minister. Djokovic’s visa had originally been granted overseas, but he was detained by Australian border agents upon landing due to his refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine, which meant he had to apply for a medical exemption. Following a court-ordered release, Djokovic was given a chance to appeal the decision to cancel his visa, but it is uncertain whether any relief is possible outside of a finding of procedural error as the Minister for Immigration has extensive powers to cancel visas. Djokovic may be barred from returning to Australia for three years if Hawke's decision stands.