Week of September 8–14, 2022

The American Bar Association (ABA) is offering a new scholarship to students looking to increase the number of culturally and linguistically competent legal advocates available to Afghans. Launched by the Commission on Immigration, which coordinates the ABA’s Afghanistan Response Project, the scholarship seeks to support Afghan immigrants and asylum-seekers, who often face significant language barriers when seeking legal assistance. Recipients of the scholarship must speak and write in English and Pashto and/or Dari and have experience helping individuals access legal services. Successful applicants can then undertake the Villanova Interdisciplinary Immigration Studies Training for Advocates, an online programme that trains non-lawyers to become immigrant advocates, who can then represent immigrants and asylum-seekers before the US Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services and the DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. The Board of Governors granted the Commission on Immigration’s request to set up the scholarship program in April 2022.

The Biden administration has issued a new regulation eliminating obstacles for immigrants using some public benefits and seeking legal status. The regulation undoes changes made by the Trump administration to a decades-old regulation known as “public charge,” which would have made it harder for individuals to gain status if they used public benefits like food stamps and housing vouchers. The definition of “public charge” under current regulations refers to someone who is “primarily dependent” on government assistance, with the Trump administration’s policy widening the definition to include more benefit programs. Under the new rule, benefits like cash assistance for income maintenance and long-term institutionalization will be considered, but certain non-cash programs, such as Medicaid and housing benefits, will not. The final rule will take effect on December 23.

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021, currently being considered by a Senate committee after passing the House of Representatives last year, could help alleviate the impact of rising food prices on US consumers. The legislation includes changes to the H-2A agricultural visa program, making it available for nonseasonal workers. Steve Obert, a dairy farmer and executive director of the Indiana Dairy Producers, said the change would have a significant impact on his operations, which already rely on immigrant workers for around 79% of labor. While the impact on food prices would depend on the sector and production costs beyond labor, labor economist Professor Alejandro Gutierrez-Li said the act was "a step towards addressing farm labor shortages."

Many young, undocumented immigrants who are beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative face obstacles in pursuing their desired professions due to state regulations that require occupational licenses. However, some states, such as New Mexico, are taking steps to ensure that DACA recipients can pursue their dream professions. In 2017, New Mexico offered conditional legal licenses for DACA recipients, and in 2020, Senate Bill 137 was passed, removing immigration status as a barrier for licensure or certification. The state's Supreme Court recently issued a rule change that effective October 1, citizenship or immigration status will no longer be considered when granting a license to practice law in New Mexico for individuals who meet other qualifications for admittance to the New Mexico Bar Association. This move is an example of how states can protect DACA recipients from suddenly losing the ability to work in their chosen professions. Despite ongoing legal challenges and congressional inaction, states have the authority to remove barriers to professional licenses and support DACA beneficiaries.

US conservative commentator Tomi Lahren has been criticised for falsely claiming that President Joe Biden wants to give illegal immigrants ID cards to enable them to collect American benefits. PolitiFact has investigated the proposed ID cards and found no evidence that they are designed for immigrants to access benefits or could lead to voter fraud. The ID cards, called Secure Docket Cards, are intended as a digital form of ID for some immigrants entering the US illegally after undergoing national security background checks. ICE is developing the program, which is intended to make the Department of Homeland Security more efficient. Illegal immigrants are ineligible for most federal benefits, and only US citizens can vote in national elections. If non-citizens vote fraudulently, they can be fined, incarcerated and deported.

Hong Kong's shortage of skilled workers has been compounded by a brain drain that is accelerating due to the country's aging population, outdated immigration policies and inadequate vocational education. This has led to employers being unable to fill vacancies, and despite the Hong Kong government's admission schemes for bringing in mainland talent, the city's rivals have been more successful in attracting highly qualified professionals. The UK, Canada, Australia and Singapore have all launched talent acquisition programmes which have been successful in attracting a large number of highly qualified professionals. Hong Kong has been left behind in the global race for talent, but Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has pledged to introduce a bold talent-acquisition scheme to redress the balance.

The Biden administration has finalized a rule that reverses a Trump-era policy which affected the eligibility of immigrants for food and medical aid. Under the Trump administration, immigrants could be denied green cards if they applied for Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The revised public charge rule is a victory for immigrant communities and restores the concept of a “public charge” test which dates back to the 1880s, when it was used to determine whether non-citizens would become dependent on government assistance. While some organizations have welcomed the move, others remain concerned about confusion and fear among individuals seeking access to social services. Despite the Trump-era policy only affecting non-citizens, U.S. citizen children’s enrollment in certain programs declined.

Since President Biden took office, over one million illegal immigrants have been released into the US, costing US taxpayers over $20 billion per year, according to an analysis by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). The group calculates that each illegal immigrant costs $9,232 per year to support. The analysis is based on an estimated 1.3 million immigrants released into the US by immigration officials and around one million “gotaways” or illegal immigrants who have slipped past agents. FAIR calls for stricter border controls as part of a range of broader immigration reforms. The money, the analysis says, could also hire 330,000 teachers, fund and expand the National School Lunch Program, provide Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to more than seven million extra families or provide every family earning less than $50K a year a $410 grocery voucher.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has used nearly all available employment-based immigrant visas for Fiscal Year 2022 and will exhaust the supply of visas by the end of September, according to a court declaration. Congress sets annual limits to the number of green cards or immigrant visas that can be issued, with 366,000 available annually, and specific quotas for each category. There are two main types of green cards: family-based green cards (226,000 available annually) and employment-based green cards (140,000 available annually). Congress also limits the number of available green cards based on country of origin. Applicants from countries with high numbers of applications, such as China, India, Mexico, or the Philippines, may face a substantial wait. In Fiscal Year 2021, USCIS increased the number of employment-based immigrant visas by more than 120,000 due to the number of family-based immigrant visas unused in the previous year. Due to processing delays, more than 66,000 employment-based immigrant visas went unused. In Fiscal Year 2022, there were an additional 140,000+ employment-based immigrant visas due to unused family-based immigrant visas carried over from the previous year.

US Senator Alex Padilla, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Safety, held his fifth hearing entitled “Flatlining Care: Why Immigrants Are Crucial to Bolstering Our Health Care Workforce” on the growing crisis of access to the most basic level of medical care in the United States. Immigrants make up a significant part of the health care workforce, but their potential impact is limited by an outdated immigration system that does not address the current workforce shortages in the health care industry. Studies have confirmed that physician demand in the US will continue to grow faster than supply, leading to a projected total physician shortage of up to 124,000 by 2034. Without reforms, the US will continue to face critically severe and worsening shortages that only compromise the health and wellbeing of all Americans.