|
Welcome to the August pilot run of Immigration Daybook. Today's edition includes a clarification from Andrew Kreighbaum, whose Bloomberg Law article was one of yesterday's links. Thanks, Andrew — we love this sort of specific, careful refinement. Produced in part with AI, all mistakes are my own. —David USCIS tightens adjudication as processing slows
Processing delays are leaving millions of people in legal limbo — and some are being arrested by ICE while their cases are pending. Axios found applicants arrested while traveling through airports or attending adjustment-of-status interviews, as well as refugees detained while awaiting green cards. USCIS said stricter vetting and staff losses have contributed to delays, but that it is using new technology and “smarter processes” to reduce backlogs while screening for fraud and public-safety risks. Axios
USCIS restored officers’ discretion to deny benefit requests without first issuing a request for evidence or notice of intent to deny. The Aug. 5 guidance took effect immediately and applies to pending and new cases unless a regulation says otherwise. Officers may still request more evidence, but applicants can no longer assume they will get that opportunity before a denial. USCIS, Erickson Immigration Group
A separate rule now permits asylum officers to refer some affirmative asylum applications directly to immigration court without first interviewing the applicant. The rule took effect July 28. Sahan Journal reports that applicants can lose the chance to explain filing problems or present their stories in a non-adversarial interview before entering removal proceedings; DHS says the change will reduce USCIS’s affirmative-asylum backlog and direct resources toward timely adjudication. Sahan Journal, Federal Register
The latest American Immigration Council analysis found that USCIS processing had already slowed sharply in the first quarter of fiscal 2026. Steven Hubbard’s review of older quarterly agency data found a larger backlog, fewer completed cases, longer waits and higher denial rates than in the first quarter of fiscal 2025. Pending applications and petitions rose from 9.7 million to 11.3 million, while average backlog-clearance time nearly doubled from 9.4 to 18.6 months. American Immigration Council Haitian TPS ends, disrupting families and workplaces
Temporary Protected Status and TPS-based work authorization for Haitians expired July 27, and a federal judge allowed the termination to proceed Wednesday. Former beneficiaries are losing jobs and legal status while confronting possible removal to a country the State Department warns Americans not to visit because of crime, terrorism, kidnapping and unrest. PBS News
The loss of work authorization is already affecting New York elder care. A Westchester nursing home laid off seven Haitian caregivers, most of them nursing assistants who fed, bathed and groomed residents. Providers said replacing trained workers will be difficult amid an existing long-term-care labor shortage. Gothamist
The effects also reach New York’s hospitality sector and Haitian-owned businesses. At a Brooklyn College gathering, elected officials, employers and community advocates discussed the uncertainty facing Haitian families and industries that rely heavily on immigrant labor. The Haitian Times
Yesterday's newsletter said that a court's earlier "injunction" on removing Temporary Protected Status for Haitians was no longer in effect. Andrew Kreighbaum, author of the Bloomberg Law piece we cited, wrote to clarify: "[Judge] Reyes didn’t technically issue an injunction in February—she issued a stay of agency action. The Supreme Court had severely curtailed district courts’ ability to issue universal injunctions before this case. But the stay is a workaround that plaintiffs/courts have found allowing judges to temporarily halt agency actions deemed unlawful under the APA." UpcomingNext four weeks
|
AUG
24
|
DHS wants to raise the cost of applying for US citizenship (Form N-400) from $760 to $1,330 on paper, and $710 to $1,280 online, with the appeal of a denial (Form N-336) going from $830 to $1,475. Reduced fees and fee waivers for naturalisation would end. Anyone can comment for 60 days once the proposed rule is published.
|
|
AUG
25
|
Adults who want to take custody of an immigrant child who arrived without a parent or guardian would have to show more documents — proof of identity, proof of income, and information for background checks — before the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) releases the child to them. Comments on the proposed rule are open until August 25, 2026.
|
|
AUG
28
|
The comment deadline closes on the DHS rule requiring foreign nationals in the US to register with the government and give fingerprints (Form G-325R). DHS is asking whether more immigration filings should count as registration on their own, and whether to change biometrics rules for some travelers; further rulemaking may follow.
|
|
AUG
31
|
DHS is expected to publish a proposed rule on getting a green card by investing in a US business (EB-5). It would change how Regional Centers — entities approved to pool investor money into projects — are designated and terminated, how long money must stay invested, USCIS audit powers, protections for good-faith investors, and automatic revocation of petitions.
|
|
|
Employers using the extra H-2B visas Congress allows for seasonal, non-farm jobs must file a sworn statement (attestation) that they meet the added conditions. The Labor Department is asking the White House budget office (OMB) to renew that collection — the requirement itself is not changing — and comments are open until August 31, 2026.
|
Missing something, or spotted an error? Reply to this email — corrections run at the foot of the next issue. Trump signs birthright-citizenship and birth-tourism orders
President Trump signed two immigration executive orders on Aug. 6. One directs federal agencies not to recognize citizenship in specified circumstances involving foreign-enemy status, certain diplomatic or international-organization employment, attempts to buy or fraudulently obtain birthright citizenship, and some births in US territories or territorial waters where federal law does not confer citizenship. The other directs State and Homeland Security to develop measures aimed at entry via a nonimmigrant visa for the purpose of giving birth. PBS/AP, Reuters
Neither order states a separate effective date. The citizenship order requires public implementation guidance within 30 days. The birth-tourism order authorizes agency measures but sets no deadline. As of Aug. 7, no agency application of either order or lawsuit challenging the new actions had been reported.
ACLU attorney Cody Wofsy says another executive order cannot change the Constitution’s guarantee of birthright citizenship and predicts this attempt will meet the same fate as Trump’s earlier one. The January 2025 order was challenged immediately, blocked by lower courts and never took effect before the Supreme Court rejected it in June. Those cases concerned the earlier order, not the Aug. 6 actions. PBS/AP in English, La Raza/AP in Spanish Around the system
- A federal court’s Friday deadline arrives for the administration to pay nonprofits for legal services already provided to unaccompanied migrant children. The broader representation system remains uncertain after the contract supporting a national network of nearly 100 providers expired July 31 without renewal. Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor
- Federal-local conflict over ICE access is deepening. Federal officials threatened a Minnesota sheriff with prosecution over jail access, while officials in Rensselaer County, New York, face pressure over plans to resist a state order ending a 287(g) agreement. Star Tribune, WAMC
- Detention conditions are drawing renewed scrutiny. Members of Congress are seeking access and answers about conditions at Texas detention facilities, while Pennsylvania lawmakers are pressing officials over reported conditions at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center. ICE’s latest oversight inspection at Moshannon Valley, conducted June 9–11, reviewed 29 standards, reported no deficiencies and rated the GEO Group-operated facility “Superior.” Texas Tribune, PennLive, ODO inspection (PDF)
- ICE’s use of electronic monitoring is expanding. The Guardian reports a sharp increase in people tracked with GPS ankle monitors, while Human Rights Watch warns that technology is widening surveillance across the non-detained docket. The Guardian, Human Rights Watch
- Afghan resettlement and family reunification remain constrained. A report says travel and visa restrictions have shut large numbers of Afghans out of US resettlement, including people who supported American operations and relatives trying to reunite with family already here. KPBS
|
