Covid-19 and Immigrants

The immigration system has faced many struggles but not as many as it has been facing recently due to the pandemic. ICE has continued to mistreat immigrants while in custody and fail to give them the proper care when they are sick. According to a recent article published by Immigration Impact, “As of October 22, ICE confirmed a total of 6,743 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed across 99 facilities since the pandemic began in March.

ProBono Work

Individuals who are facing an immigration case many times look for attorneys who offer help for free. It is common for many of these attorney’s to either turn them down or simply are unable to do any work due to the overwhelming amount of work they have on their hands.

Naturalization Fees

USCIS was set to increase its fees after October 2nd. Fees would be put out of the reach of many individuals because many who apply for citizenship live below poverty. According to an article published by Immigration Impact, “if people cannot afford to naturalize as U.S. citizens, they never will earn one of the key privileges of citizenship: the right to vote”.

Not having that privilege to vote is essential.

Ice moves quicker to detain immigrants without court hearings

In recent news the Trump administration has made it so immigrants are deported faster; the new rule allows agents from ICE to expedite deportations without taking into consideration their story.

According to an article posted by CBS news, “Before the enactment of the new policy, which had been held up in federal court until last month, immigration authorities were only allowed to use expedited removal on immigrants apprehended within 100 miles from an international border who failed to demonstrate they legally entered the country and had been in the U.S. for at least two weeks”. Now even those who are able to show legal entry are still at risk of getting deported.

Immigration and languages

Immigration detention centers have very limited staff and do not offer all language translations to the individuals who are being detained. According to an article published by Immigration Impact, “Many people detained by immigration enforcement do not speak English or Spanish.

Immigrants in Need

CBP has recently launched another raid against a camp, which provides help for immigrants who are crossing the border. This camp was recently raided with assault rifles, helicopters, and several marked and unmarked cars. In the opinion of many, this action was very unnecessary and used over force.

Suing Private Prisons

Recently, governor Newsome signed a new regulation that would allow immigrants who are detained in prison, to sue these them if they are mistreated. This comes after all the negligence many face while under custody. “Advocacy and legal groups have long documented the abuses and dysfunction within immigration detention facilities, private prison operators in particular.

Affidavits of support

Bringing family members from foreign countries to the United States is a struggle in itself; recently with a new regulation going into effect, the Trump administration wants to make it even harder for family members to sponsor those who want to come to the States.

Fees Halt

This entire month since the announcement of USICS increasing its filing fees; many people panicked and many worried on whether they would be able to afford to pay these fees if they were unable to file before the deadline of October 2nd. According to Immigration Impact, “The decision in Immigrant Legal Resources Center v. Wolf granted a motion for a preliminary injunction, which prevents the government from going forward with the new rule while the court makes a final decision on the case”.

Many sighed of relief upon knowing USCIS would halt these fees because it will give people some time to submit applications without having to pay the outrages fees USCIS will increase.

Interpretation

Before USCIS implemented that they would provide interpreters at asylum interviews, the person was in charge of finding their own interpreter. Many times it would be a difficult task because one, the person was unable to afford it or two they would not know where to find one.