On January 20, 2021, our country welcomed a new Presidential administration. While President Biden has already announced some executive actions on immigration policy, please take note that there has been no new immigration reform passed yet. This means there is no “amnesty” or legalization opportunity for undocumented immigrants at this time. Nonetheless, President Biden has announced some important new policies affecting the immigrant community: - The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program will continue and new initial applications and applications for Advanced Parole are being accepted. Please visit our website here for more information and the requirements;
- Certain removals from the U.S. will be paused until April 30, 2021. During this time, enforcement policies will be reviewed*;
- Travel restrictions for certain persons traveling to the U.S. from the United Kingdom, Ireland, several European countries, Brazil, and South Africa have been implemented. To learn more click here;
- The U.S. now requires a negative COVID-19 test or a period of quarantine for persons entering the country;
- Former President Trump’s so-called “Muslim Ban”, which prevented nationals of certain Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S., has been rescinded**;
- There will be no new enrollments in the Migrant Protection Program (MPP) for certain persons applying for admission to the U.S. at the Mexican border;
- Liberians with Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) status as of January 10, 2021 will generally be able to extend that status through June 30, 2022.
* On Jan. 26, a district court temporarily prevented the government from implementing the 100-day pause.
** The travel bans applied to nationals from Burma, Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela, and Yemen.
NOTE: This situation remains fluid and policies can shift rapidly. |
