Week of June 8–14, 2022

The Metro Council of Nashville has approved nearly $2 million in grant money to aid local immigrants applying for citizenship, a move advocates are calling "life-changing." The money will be divided between the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition and Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors, which will use the funds to provide legal services to those navigating the citizenship process. The funds are part of a larger $3.5 million proposal to the Metro Council and will come from the American Rescue Plan Act. Immigrant advocates say the investment is crucial, as legal services are hard to find and expensive, particularly for those in need. The funds come as Nashville's immigrant community grows, outpacing the resources available to provide legal assistance.

The prospects of passing long-awaited immigration changes ahead of the midterm elections that could flip control of Congress are looking dim, according to Senate negotiators. Despite holding majorities in both chambers of Congress, Democrats may not be able to advance legislation to shore up the legal immigration system and provide a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants without legal status. A bipartisan group of four has been meeting regularly to discuss immigration bills, but the group is unlikely to put forward a proposal before Congress leaves Washington for an August break. Talks have been focused on border security and asylum processing, but a proposal to revise the agricultural visa system and allow some migrant farmworkers to apply for green cards has yet to be introduced. If Congress fails to pass immigration legislation this year, the result of this fall’s midterm elections could determine prospects for action over the next two years.

IMMpact Litigation, a group of immigration-policy attorneys, is planning to file a lawsuit against the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in an attempt to force the processing of thousands of Green Cards to combat backlogs worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The class-action suit will mainly focus on Indian nationals, but the backlogs have been building up for more than two decades, with Congress declining to increase Green Card caps since 1990. The US allocates only 7% of Green Cards to each country, leading some countries to be placed on a backlog. By law, leftover visas must go back to a category reserved for the families of work-visa holders, resulting in a net loss of 100,000 work visas in 2023. IMMpact Litigation aims to ensure that the visa numbers get used, and immigrants can apply for permanent residency without waiting for years.

Employers with workers holding coveted employment visas, such as the H-1B visa, have been warned to keep track of their employees’ location amid the rise in hybrid and remote working. While employers must file an amended petition with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services if their H-1B employee relocates, the worker’s pay may also be affected. Prevailing wage levels vary by location, and because H-1B workers are required to be paid at the higher of the prevailing wage or similarly qualified workers’ wage, payouts to workers may increase. Employers’ established pay policies may conflict with these changes, potentially triggering allegations of unfair treatment. Employers may also need to take into account the prevailing wage components of the H-1B program when posting job advertisements.

Canada's Immigration Minister, Sean Fraser, says the government is developing a program to help accelerate the process of turning immigrants on temporary visas into permanent residents. The previous temporary resident to permanent resident pathway was established for eight months after the pandemic hit in March 2020. It gave essential workers, front-line health care workers, and international students an accelerated path to permanent status. The new program will not be identical to the old one. The Commons has established a tight 120-day timeline to come up with a framework that provides a clear path for those seeking permanent residency who can enter Canada. Canada has a goal of accepting 432,000 newcomers this year. Despite the pandemic, the country is ahead of schedule, and it resettled the 200,000th permanent resident more than a month and a half ahead of any year on record in Canada. Despite the high numbers, concerns remain about processing backlogs and an overly complicated immigration system with too many programs.

On Saturday, a man who was arrested for immigration offences was released on bail after a group of protesters blocked the van he was being transported in from leaving in Peckham, south-east London. The man is reported to be Nigerian and was suspected of overstaying his visa. Video footage posted on social media showed a crowd of about 200 people sitting on the ground in front of the vehicle, while others shouted “let him go”. Metropolitan police officers were called to the scene and found the van was being prevented from leaving. One man was arrested for immigration offences by immigration enforcement officers and has since been released on bail. Some of the protesters alleged that police used heavy-handed tactics to remove them from in front of the van, although the Met did not comment on the allegations. The Home Office spokesperson said that preventing immigration enforcement teams from doing their job is unacceptable, and that blocking or obstructing them will not deter them from carrying out their duties. Several politicians and activist groups have praised the protesters for their actions.

The Biden administration has called for expanded legal pathways to discourage illegal immigration into the US. In a declaration during the Ninth Summit of the Americas, Biden proposed strengthening national, regional, and hemispheric efforts to create safe, orderly, humane, and regular migration, as well as strengthening frameworks for international protection and cooperation. By offering these pathways, the administration aims to discourage illegal entry, recognizing that attempting to end it through enforcement alone has failed for half a century. The declaration was supported by other countries, including Spain and Canada. However, some Biden administration policies appear to make it more expensive or complex to employ temporary workers, which could result in fewer workers being admitted to the US. The best reforms for H-2A, H-2B, and any new visa category are to increase portability for workers and accessibility for employers, according to analysts.

The US Supreme Court has made it more difficult for immigrants to challenge immigration policies in court, ruling that challenges have to be brought individually and not on a class-wide basis. In a 6-3 decision, the court concluded that under a 1996 statute, lower federal courts lack the power to grant injunctive relief to entire classes of immigrants. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito pointed to the language in the relevant laws and said that, taken together, that language "generally prohibits lower courts from entering injunctions that order federal officials to take or to refrain from taking actions to enforce, implement, or otherwise carry out the specified statutory provisions." The challenge, called Garland v. Gonzales, was brought by migrants who brought a class action lawsuit targeting the government's practice of detaining certain immigrations for more than six months. The Supreme Court decided, in a separate case Monday, brought by an individual migrant, that the practice did not violate the relevant immigration law.

A political committee has begun the process to repeal a new law allowing undocumented immigrants in Massachusetts to apply for driver’s licenses, just days after legislators passed the law. Maureen Maloney and Kevin Dube have filed paperwork to create the Fair And Secure Massachusetts committee, which aims to repeal drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants and put the question to voters on the November 2022 ballot. Advocates and lawmakers have held a ceremonial bill signing to mark the new law, which allows undocumented immigrants to apply for a standard state driver’s license beginning July 1, 2023. To apply, immigrants will need to show two documents proving their identity, such as a foreign passport or certified birth certificate. There are an estimated 250,000 undocumented immigrants in Massachusetts.

A group of 14 Republican donors, calling themselves “life-long Republicans,” has urged Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to grant permanent legal status to so-called Dreamers. They argue that the move will help ease inflation and the US labor shortage. In a letter organised by the American Business Immigration Coalition and shared with Politico, the donors outlined the economic contributions of Dreamers and warned that ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme would cause “untold devastation” for every industry that has relied on their work. Although there has been no momentum towards bipartisan agreement on immigration reform, Rebecca Shi, executive director of the American Business Immigration Coalition, believes that the recent bipartisan deal reached on guns has renewed optimism that there is space for both parties to strike a deal on immigration.