All posts by Cheng, Cho, & Yee, Immigration Lawyers

Reunification of Parents and Kids Separated at the Border

The Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy for immigrants has resulted in the forcible separation of several thousand children from their parents, and 700 children still remain separated despite the fact that two court-ordered reunification deadlines have passed. A judge ordered the government to reunify the children with their parents by July 26, but the government failed to reunify hundreds. The government claims that it has reunified all of the children whose families were eligible for reunification and that the remaining parents were ineligible.

The Zero-Tolerance Policy

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the administration’s zero-tolerance policy in April. Under the policy, prosecutors were told to file criminal charges against all people who entered the country illegally. In the past, a majority of people went through a civil deportation process instead of criminal prosecution. With the mandated criminal prosecution of all undocumented immigrants, many families were forcibly separated from their children. The children were taken away from the parents because the parents were taken into custody. This resulted in several thousand children getting separated from their parents. Amid a widespread backlash, Trump announced an end to the family separations on June 20. A court then issued a nationwide injunction against family separations and ordered all of the children who had been separated to be reunified with their families by July 26. The separated children were placed in facilities across the U.S., including in Illinois.

Reunification Problems

Despite the deadline, the government did not reunify 700 children with their parents. The government argued that the children who were not reunified had parents who were not eligible for reunification. The government admitted that 431 of the children had parents who had been deported back to their home countries without their children. The court instructed the administration that its order covered families in which the parents had been deported and that the government needed to locate the parents so that they could be reunified with their children. The government also argued that some parents were deemed ineligible because of past criminal convictions or because they were deemed to be unsafe. Immigration attorneys have argued that separating the children from their parents causes extreme emotional harm to the children. Advocates for the deported parents are in Central America to help them to find their children.

What the Surge in H-2B Visas Could Mean for You

There have been far more H-2B visa applications than the number of visas that are available and, for many businesses, the lack of availability will cause irreparable harm. The annual cap for H-2B visas is 66,000. Unfortunately, the current allowance is inadequate to meet the demands of the growing economy. Without additional visas available, many businesses that depend on H-2B workers won’t be able to fill positions. As a result, they may be forced to turn away customers and reduce the level of work for American workers.

Surge in H-2B Visa Applications

H-2B visas are available for seasonal and temporary non-agricultural workers. Industries that rely on these workers include amusement parks, carnivals, construction, landscaping, production, and others. These businesses apply for H-2B visas so they can fill open positions with foreign workers. However, the U.S. Department of Labor announced in February that there had been an unprecedented surge in applications. Many companies that rely on foreign workers may be unable to fill their positions this year.

What Might Happen

Companies that are unable to find U.S. workers to fill their open positions often rely on the H-2B visa program to get the workers that they need. If they are unable to get enough visas, they may not be able to fill all of their open jobs. This could have a negative financial impact on the companies. In February, more than 100 trade groups joined together to send a letter urging Congress to raise the cap on H-2B visas. Congress is able to raise the cap but has not done so this year. According to the trade groups, the unavailability of enough H-2B visas jeopardizes small businesses everywhere. Seasonal and temporary workers help support many other jobs. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that each H-2B worker creates and sustains about 4.64 American jobs

What Businesses Should Do

Employers that know they will need foreign workers next year should submit their H-2B visa applications as soon as possible once the application period opens. Applying early may make it likelier that a company will be able to get enough workers to fill all of their jobs during the next season. Some employers this year have turned to creative recruiting methods in an effort to attract more U.S. workers.

Over 60,000 Hondurans Must Find Other Paths to Remain in the US

The Department of Homeland Security announced it was ending the Temporary Protected Status of 60,000 Hondurans who have lived in the U.S. for nearly two decades and they have until January 5, 2020, to return to their country or find other paths to remain here. The immigrants will have one chance to apply for TPS and after the 18 month period allowed, they will be unable to live or work in the U.S legally and will be vulnerable to deportation.

Hondurans Become the Latest Group to Be Stripped Off of Protection

Hondurans were first allowed to remain and work here in 1998 when Hurricane Mitch hit their country, killing 7,000 people and causing billions in damages. The trump administration is stripping TPS from Honduran immigrants with claims that their country has recovered from the Hurricane and that the basis for TPS designation is no longer substantial. But critics who’ve already filed several lawsuits argue that Honduras is a place plagued by political repression and systemic gang violence and many are actually trying to flee.

The decision continues the administration’s aggressive campaign against immigrants. Several other beneficiaries have had their protection ended, including 20,000 El Salvadorans expected to leave by September 2019, 60,000 Haitians who must leave by July 2019; 5,300 Nicaraguans whose time runs out next January; and 9,000 Nepalis who have until May 2019. More than 400,000 people living in the country legally will have turned into unauthorized immigrants by 2020.

TPS serves as a form of humanitarian relief offered to individuals who fled their country in the aftermath of natural disasters, war, or other humanitarian crises where the conditions made their country unsafe. Ten countries are currently in the program. The beneficiaries are undocumented individuals with some form of temporary immigration status, those who overstayed a visa, or those were already in the country. Although meant to be temporary, previous administrations have continually extended the protection on a yearly basis and the beneficiaries have since established roots, raised families, and opened businesses here.

Hondurans who wish to remain in the United States through the 2020 deadline must re-register and apply for work authorization.

Thousands of Young Immigrants Are Left in Limbo As They Approach Adulthood Without DACA Protections

In Illinois, thousands of young immigrants who are nearing adulthood are currently in limbo as they wait to find out if they will be able to apply for DACA. The Trump Administration announced in Sept. 2017 that the program would end on March 4, 2018, but several lawsuits have been filed against the government to prevent its end. Recently, a federal judge ruled that the government would need to start accepting new applications in addition to processing renewal applications beginning July 24, 2018, unless the federal government can show good cause for why it wants to end DACA.

End of the DACA Program

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program resulted from an executive order that was signed by Obama. This order stated that the removal of young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. by their parents was a low priority, and it also gave them the ability to work and attend college in the U.S. Eligible young people could apply for DACA when they turned 15, but many who were eligible did not do so because of the cost.

The Trump administration announced that it was ending the program by March 4, 2018, unless Congress was able to come up with a legislative fix. Congress did not reach an agreement, and several lawsuits were filed against the government. Two previous federal court decisions ordered the government to resume accepting renewal applications for DACA recipients whose statuses were expiring. However, those courts did not order the government to resume accepting new applications from young immigrants who would be eligible for protection under DACA. On April 24, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. ordered the government to resume accepting new applications as well as processing renewal applications. He stayed his decision for 90 days to give the government time to show good cause for why it decided to end the program. If it fails to do so, it may have to begin accepting new applications.

Even if the government is forced to begin accepting applications at that time, it is likely that the decision will be appealed to the Supreme Court. The ultimate outcome cannot be predicted, and a legislative fix is necessary. If the government does begin processing new applications, eligible immigrants might want to apply.

As TPS Ends, Nearly 4,000 Liberians Search for Other Options

In March, the Trump administration announced an end to the temporary protected status of Liberians, which may force people who have lived and worked in Illinois for decades to leave within one year. Liberians have been granted TPS status since 1991. At that time, there was a violent civil war in the country. Later, the status was extended because of the Ebola outbreak. The Trump administration claims that people should now be forced to leave because the circumstances in Liberia have improved. The move threatens to tear families apart and destroy businesses that Liberian immigrants have built. If the Liberians are deported, their loss will also have a detrimental impact on the economy.

End of TPS Protections for Liberians

Some Liberians have lived in the U.S. legally and have worked since March 1991, when a violent civil war prompted the U.S. to grant them temporary protected status. People who have TPS statuses are allowed to legally live and work in the U.S. until their countries become safe. The Trump administration claims that it is appropriate to end the TPS protection of Liberians because their country is no longer at war and has rebuilt some of its infrastructures. This is the latest African country for which Trump has removed TPS protections. The others include Libya, Somalia, and Chad. In addition to these countries, Trump also ended the TPS protection for several other countries. In January, Trump was heavily criticized after he used a derogatory term in the Oval Office to describe African nations along with El Salvador and Honduras.

Problems With Ending TPS Protections

Since 1991, Liberians who have been allowed to remain in the U.S. and have built lives. Some of the immigrants have established businesses and have had U.S.-born children. If these people are forced to leave or are deported, they may be separated from their children who were born in the U.S. and are citizens. some U.S. citizen children may face an agonizing choice about whether to leave the U.S. or to go with their parents. Businesses may be closed, and the contributions that Liberian immigrants have made to the economy may be lost. Liberians may want to investigate visas for which they might be eligible so that they can remain in the country.