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Your weekly summary from the Council
LATEST ANALYSIS
- ICE Will Stop Arresting and Detaining Most Pregnant and Nursing People
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will no longer detain most people who are pregnant, postpartum, or nursing. However, ICE did not commit to a total ban, saying that there will still be “very limited circumstances” that will allow the agency to detain pregnant people. Read More »
- Biden Administration Commits to Returning Deported Veterans
The federal government provides an expedited path to citizenship for immigrant servicemembers—but it isn’t automatic and not all who serve qualify. Given how easy it is for the U.S. government to deport immigrants, many former servicemembers—often those suffering the consequences of post-traumatic stress disorder tied to their service—have been deported. Read More »
- The COVID-19 Pandemic Made USCIS Backlogs Go from Bad to Worse
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) operations has made a bad situation much worse. The agency is now experiencing backlogs of applications and petitions “at record levels,” as well as drastically reduced “customer service functions.” Read More »
FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
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The Biden administration on Friday issued a memo directing ICE to stop the detention of pregnant, nursing, and postpartum people. The decision reverses a Trump-era rule that allowed ICE to detain thousands of immigrants in those circumstances.
This complaint filed in September 2017 by the American Immigration Council—in collaboration with partners—with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Office of the Inspector General highlights the disturbing practice of detaining pregnant people. The complaint covers the lack of quality medical care and the agency’s failure to abide by its own existing policy to avoid detaining pregnant people whenever possible.
Read more: Increasing Numbers of Pregnant Women Facing Harm in Detention
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
The Biden administration continued the use of the Trump-era Title 42 expulsion policy to block and expel adult asylum seekers at the border. The Biden administration is now considering exempting families from the policy at the end of July.
“No matter what President Biden does at the border, many will criticize him for it. So he should just do the right thing and take the action that respects the law and allows people to seek protection.”
– Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy counsel at the American Immigration Council
FURTHER READING
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