The Biden administration failed to issue many of the immigrant visas—more commonly known as green cards—that were allotted last year for immigrants who have been sponsored by a U.S. employer or family member. Statistics released by the State Department indicate that 66,781 visas for employment-based immigrants and 141,430 visas for family-based immigrants went unused in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021. Another 35,938 Diversity Visas […]
Walter Ewing, Immigration Impact
Posted inUS
Congressional Democrats Announce One of the Most Progressive Immigration Reform Plans in History
December 15, 2020 – Progressive Democrats in the House of Representatives are gearing up to demand a comprehensive overhaul of the U.S. immigration system when the Biden administration and a new Congress are in place early next year. This reform effort will go beyond reversing the Trump administration’s extreme anti-immigrant policies, with the stated goal of “creating […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Walter Ewing: Your COVID-19 Vaccine Was Likely Made by an Immigrant
December 14, 2020 – The development of a COVID-19 vaccine is a global endeavor. The scientists and entrepreneurs creating the vaccine are of many nationalities and immigration statuses — as are the millions of people impacted by the pandemic who are anxiously awaiting a vaccine. The three pharmaceutical companies with vaccines near-ready for distribution—BioNTech, Pfizer, […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Walter Ewing: USCIS Holds Drive-Thru Naturalization Ceremonies to Work Through COVID-19 Backlog
July 13, 2020 – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) expects, by the end of July, to have worked through nearly the entire backlog of naturalization oath ceremonies put on hold in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency is now providing new ways to take the oath, including drive-thru naturalization ceremonies. The cancellation of oath […]
Posted inUS
State Governments Should Step In to Provide Oversight of Detention Facilities
Sept. 26, 2019 – Immigration enforcement may be a federal responsibility, but state governments have a great deal of power over the conditions under which immigrants are detained. At a time when over-crowded detention facilities are failing to meet even the minimum standards of humane treatment, states must step up and exercise their authority to […]
Posted inUS
Foreign Student Visa Issuance Is Down Over 40 Percent
Aug. 21, 2019 – Recent government statistics indicate that the United States is becoming a less welcoming destination for foreign students. According to data from the State Department, the number of student visas issued annually for education in the United States fell from 677,928 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 to 389,579 in FY 2018—a decline […]
Posted inUS
The Changing Face of Undocumented Immigration
June 21, 2019 – The face of undocumented immigration to the United States has changed significantly over the past decade. For the first time in half a century, less than half of all undocumented immigrants in the country are from Mexico. In contrast, growing numbers are coming from Central America and Asia. Understanding these shifts […]
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USCIS Processing Times Get Even Slower Under Trump
Feb. 4, 2019 – The Trump administration has slowed the processing of immigration benefit applications to a crawl, causing needless harm to immigrants, their families, and their employers. Under President Trump, the backlog of applications at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) doubled in the span of only one year. A recent analysis of USCIS […]
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Vital Industries Could Suffer Significant Damage as Workers With TPS Lose Their Status
Jan. 11, 2019 – The Trump administration’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for migrants from several nations—including El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti—has not only threatened over 300,000 long-term residents with deportation and separation from their families, but created potential workforce turmoil in multiple industries nationwide. The impending loss of workers will have ripple […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Walter Ewing: Trump Claims the Wall Will ‘Pay for Itself’ – That Isn’t True
March 17, 2018 – Contrary to much overblown rhetoric, President Trump’s preeminent symbol of immigration enforcement—The Wall—is not a cost-effective way to enhance the security of the U.S.-Mexico border. The direct costs of the border wall are likely much higher than the Trump administration’s estimates; and indirect economic and social benefits which a wall might […]
Posted inCalifornia
The Federal Government Is Using Immigration Raids as Retaliation Against California
Feb. 9, 2018 – When agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided 77 businesses throughout northern California at the end of January and beginning of February, they were doing more than looking for undocumented immigrants and the employers who hire them. They were also mounting an attack against so-called “sanctuary cities”—or, in the […]
Posted inUS
Immigrants Make up a Smaller Share of the U.S. Population Than They Did 100 Years Ago
Oct. 25, 2017 – The United States has been created by successive waves of immigration over the course of centuries. Each wave of immigrants from different parts of the world has helped to build the U.S. economy and enrich U.S. society. And each wave of immigrants has provoked a chorus of dire warnings from nativists […]
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DHS Wants to Monitor Immigrants’ Social Media. No One Knows What They Will Do With This Information
October 2, 2017 – In a sweeping encroachment upon privacy, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it is planning to dramatically ramp up its surveillance of virtually anyone in the United States who is not a U.S. citizen by birth. In a rule which appeared in the Federal Register on September 18, DHS announced that […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Walter Ewing: America Benefits from Growing Economic Clout of DACA Recipients
June 16, 2017 – Now marking its fifth year, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative has been a much-needed lifeline for more than one million young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. DACA was announced by the Obama administration on June 15, 2012. DACA granted a temporary reprieve […]
Posted inUS
DACA Beneficiaries Pay Billions in Taxes
May 1, 2017 – The fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative has left 1.3 million undocumented immigrant youth in limbo. President Trump has assured DACA recipients that they can “rest easy,” but his administration has simultaneously detained and/or deported a handful of them. In addition to the moral conundrum this nation […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Walter Ewing: The Economic Costs of Ending DACA
Feb. 14, 2017 – The President has left the public in suspense as to what he will do with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative, which grants young immigrants a temporary reprieve from deportation, as well as work authorization. The President has made a variety of comments about what he will do, ranging […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Walter Ewing: Border Residents Agree That the Wall Won’t Work
Oct. 18, 2016 – A border wall is a powerful symbol of exclusion: “We” are going to keep “them” out. And, by doing so, “we” are going to protect our people, our way of life, our society and economy from the threat that “they” represent. It’s a concept that is elegant in its simplicity. It’s […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Walter Ewing: Donald Trump’s Shortsighted Immigration Plans Won’t Secure the Homeland
Aug. 17, 2016 – As any serious national security expert will tell you, trying to find a potential terrorist by treating all immigrants or Muslims as security risks is far too vague to be effective. Accurate intelligence and effective information-sharing across agencies is the key to national security—not profiling. Yet in a bombastic August 15 […]