CLINIC congratulates 27 Affiliates that were among the 65 organizations across the United States that received a funding award through the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program for 2023.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Yesterday, the Biden administration announced an 18-month extension and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghanistan. This will give approximately 70,000 Afghans residing in the United States the freedom to live and work legally in the United States through May 20, 2025, and also allow those who entered the country more recently to receive vital protection.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland – On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced an 18-month extension and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuela for those who entered the country prior to July 31, 2023. This announcement will provide temporary protection from deportation and work authorization for an additional 472,000 Venezuelans, and extended protection for about 242,700 existing beneficiaries.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland – Yesterday, Judge Andrew Hanen of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled that the Biden administration’s 2022 Final Rule codifying the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was unlawful. While Judge Hanen did not order the termination of the program or its benefits at this time, the ruling puts the program in jeopardy long-term and threatens the safety and security of approximately half a million U.S.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland - Today, August 18, marks 35 years since CLINIC’s founding by the U.S. Catholic bishops in 1988. 

SILVER SPRING, Maryland – Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar in the Northern District of California ruled the Biden administration’s asylum ban illegal.  

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), is horrified by a news report released this week outlining the inhumane treatment of migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — On June 13, the Department of Homeland Security announced its decision to rescind the 2017 and 2018 terminations of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua and extend the TPS designations for those countries for 18 months.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today, Title 42, the COVID pandemic-era health policy, is scheduled to come to an end. CLINIC has long joined other immigration rights groups in advocating for an end to this policy, which has deprived migrants of their right to seek asylum, a right enshrined in U.S. and international law. However, CLINIC remains concerned that the plans to manage border arrivals post-Title 42 include dangerous restrictions on asylum and other harmful policies.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Yesterday, the Biden administration announced a series of new policies to manage the processing of migrants expected to seek entry to the United States following the expiration of Title 42 on May 11. The new measures include expanding refugee processing abroad, creating new processes for family reunification, and raising the number of refugees accepted from the Western Hemisphere. However, the plans also include implementing the proposed asylum ban, rapid expulsions, and other punitive measures.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — A fire in a migrant detention center in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, has killed at least 39 migrants and seriously injured over 20 more. The fire, which started on Monday, March 27, occurred at a National Migration Institute facility, run by the Mexican government.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Biden administration has announced a proposed rule that would restrict asylum eligibility to those who have previously applied for asylum in a country through which they traveled to reach the U.S., with limited exceptions.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — On Jan. 12, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, announced the extension and redesignation of Somalia for Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, from March 18, 2023, through Sept. 17, 2024. This decision will allow Somalis to renew their existing TPS status and will make Somalis who entered the U.S. before Jan. 11, 2023, eligible to apply for TPS.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland – On Jan. 5, 2023, President Joe Biden announced updated border policies that would create new humanitarian parole programs for Nicaragua, Cuba, and Haiti; expand the use of the Title 42 expulsions to Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians; expand the use of expedited removal; and put in place an effective asylum transit ban.

An earlier version of this release used the wrong percentages for the religious worker visa increase. The version below has been corrected.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today, Jan. 3, the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, released a Federal Register Notice which extended and redesignated Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Yemen for an additional 18 months, through Sept. 3, 2024.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland – Last week, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., or CLINIC, received a grant award of $15,000 from the Catholic Communication Campaign of the U.S.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — On Monday, Dec. 5, the Department of Homeland Security announced the extension of Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Haiti for an additional 18 months, through Aug. 3, 2024. It also announced a redesignation of TPS for Haiti, which will expand TPS eligibility to an estimated 100,000 people, providing temporary relief from deportation and authorizing work permits.  

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — On Nov. 15, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan issued a decision vacating and ending the use of the Title 42 health policy to expel migrants rapidly at the U.S. border. Judge Sullivan found the use of the policy “arbitrary and capricious” in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act.  

SILVER SPRING, Maryland - The Biden administration has announced that a Federal Register Notice will be published on Nov. 16, 2022, which will extend Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, and related employment authorization for 18 months for TPS beneficiaries from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, Honduras and Nepal, through June 30, 2024.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — On Nov. 5, 2022, the National Religious Vocation Conference, or NRVC, awarded the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., or CLINIC, and Miguel Naranjo, director of Religious Immigration Services at CLINIC, the Harvest Award for their many years of service to hundreds of religious institutes and their members.  

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today, the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, announced the designation of Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Ethiopia for 18 months — a decision which will protect nearly 30,000 Ethiopian immigrants. 

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a “new migration enforcement process for Venezuelans.” Under a joint agreement with Mexico, Venezuelans who cross the border between ports of entry may now be returned to Mexico under Title 42. The federal government will accept 24,000 eligible Venezuelans under humanitarian parole as part of a sponsorship program similar to Uniting for Ukraine.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Yesterday, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed a lower court’s ruling that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, was unlawful. It remanded the case back to the lower court to rule on the final DACA regulation issued by the Biden administration in August 2022.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Last week, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., or CLINIC, was awarded a $1 million Regional Hub Program grant from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, to support four CLINIC affiliates.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today, Sept. 8, the Department of Homeland Security announced the long-awaited final regulation on public charge. The administration elected to maintain the traditional interpretation of the term ‘public charge,’ and replace the previous administration’s definition of this term. This formal clarification regarding the effect of receiving certain public benefit programs will hopefully reduce confusion for many low-income immigrants applying for lawful permanent residence. 

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today we mark the somber first anniversary of the conclusion of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. During the past year, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., or CLINIC, has worked closely with its affiliates to respond to the needs of Afghans who were evacuated to the United States and who still live in legal limbo as they work to build new lives.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — On Wednesday, Aug. 24, the Biden administration announced a final regulation on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program after issuing a proposed rule one year ago. The rule is an effort by the administration to bolster the legal standing of the DACA program amid various attempts to terminate it.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — On Friday, July 29, the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, announced that it would redesignate and extend Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Syria for 18 months. Syria was first granted TPS in 2012 at the start of the brutal civil war which has displaced at least 13 million Syrians.  

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — In September 2021, people across the United States were shocked as disturbing images of an encounter between U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, agents and Haitian and Black African migrants emerged in the media. The CBP officers on horseback appeared to be chasing Black migrants and using horse reigns to whip them.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that the Biden administration would extend Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Venezuela but would not redesignate the country to allow applications from those who arrived after the initial designation in March 2021.

WASHINGTON — Today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a 5-4 decision in Biden v. Texas, finding that the Secretary of Homeland Security’s termination of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) was lawful.

Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, Sr. Donna Markham, OP, PhD, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, and Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., issued the following statement:

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today should have been a day of relief and hope for so many men, women and children whose access to protection continues to be denied. However, on Friday, a federal district judge in Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction in Arizona v. CDC, temporarily blocking the Biden administration from terminating the Title 42 expulsion policy.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Kicking off the four-day all-virtual conference for immigration legal advocates, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ur M. Jaddou spoke yesterday about her vision for the agency and the work being done internally to rebuild and support USCIS to over 800 attendees at Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc, or CLINIC, Convening 2022.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today, oral arguments will be heard in the U.S. Supreme Court on the Biden v. Texas case to determine whether the Biden administration can officially terminate the illegal and harmful “Migrant Protection Protocols,” or MPP, policy. The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., or CLINIC, rejects MPP, a racist and xenophobic policy that forces people facing dangerous and dehumanizing conditions to navigate a complex legal system with little access to due process or respect for their full human rights.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland – The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., or CLINIC, released a comprehensive toolkit to help state and local lawmakers and advocates put in place well-constructed laws and policies to protect immigrant survivors of violence, and in turn, build stronger communities.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland – The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, or CLINIC — the nation’s largest network of nonprofit immigration legal services organizations — released this statement as Catholics across the world celebrate the season of renewal ushered in by Holy Week and Easter:

“The United States can and must welcome people seeking asylum because it is the law, because it is right, and because we can.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland – We are grateful that the Biden administration has designated Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Cameroon, a decision warranted under both justice and the law.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The keynote speaker for CLINIC Convening 2022 will be Ur M. Jaddou, Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Jaddou was appointed as the Director of USCIS on Aug. 3, 2021, bringing years of administration experience and commitment to immigration law to the role.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today the Biden administration announced the termination of the Title 42 policy, which was misused for over two years at the U.S southern border to illegally expel approximately 1.7 million people under the guise of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

WASHINGTON — NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), today announced the launch of a new initiative and task force, Catholics Against Racism in Immigration, or CARI, which will “[take] action against systemic racism in the U.S. immigration system,” according to their mission statement.

Settlement Follows a 2020 Lawsuit Brought by TPS Beneficiaries and Advocates Over Unlawful Trump-Era Policy

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — On the second anniversary of the implementation of Title 42, CLINIC urges the Biden administration to fully revoke the inhumane policy that has denied asylum seekers the opportunity to seek life-saving protection and returned them to harm.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Department of Homeland Security announced Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Afghan nationals currently living in the United States. This designation will safeguard an estimated 77,000 people who arrived in the United States as of March 15, 2022, from return to the devolving and life-threatening conditions in Afghanistan.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., or CLINIC, commends the Biden administration for making the right decision to designate Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Ukraine.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — CLINIC commends the Department of Homeland Security’s announcements today that it is extending and redesignating Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for South Sudan and newly designating TPS for Sudan. These announcements provide life-saving protection from deportation for South Sudanese and Sudanese nationals already in the United States as well as access to work permits.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today, as the world watches with deep sorrow and concern over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, CLINIC calls on the Biden-Harris administration to extend an immediate 18-month designation of Temporary Protected Status, known as TPS, or Deferred Enforced Departure, known as DED, and Special Student Relief, known as SSR, for Ukraine. In response to this unprovoked attack, Ukrainians will be forced to flee their homes and Ukrainians in the United States must be kept safe from being returned to harm.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., or CLINIC, joins dozens of organizations today in the call for Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Cameroon on the national Black Immigrant Advocacy Day of Action. As founder and steering committee member of the Temporary Protected Status Deferred Enforced Departure Administrative Advocacy Coalition, or TPS-DED AAC, CLINIC has been continuously calling for TPS for Cameroon as conflict and humanitarian crises make safe return to the country impossible.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — CLINIC celebrates the rollout of an updated mission statement and core values for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS. The new mission statement makes a clear announcement that the agency is returning to its congressionally mandated purpose. The new mission statement delivers a vision of inclusion and reminds us that our nation’s strength comes from our diversity.

Hearing livestream: youtube.com/channel/UCljsiF5QnMYgaAU6CCuXOjg

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today, as Vice President Kamala Harris visits Honduras to attend the historic inauguration of President-elect Xiomara Castro, CLINIC calls on the Biden-Harris administration to newly designate Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Honduras.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — A new policy brief from CLINIC outlines recommendations to ensure that essential religious workers are not taken out of service during the pandemic due to backlogs and other issues at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — A coalition of more than 80 Catholic groups that support, protect, and advocate for refugees is calling on U.S. President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, both themselves Catholics, to end the “Migrant Protection Protocols,” (MPP) a cruel and illegal Trump-era policy that was restarted this week, forcing people seeking safety to wait for their immigration hearings in Mexico.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — In response to the Department of Homeland Security’s announcement that it is prepared to restart the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP, program “on or around Monday, Dec. 6” CLINIC issued the following statement:

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — In response to the Biden administration’s announcement that it expects to restart the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP, in the coming weeks, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., or CLINIC, issued the following statement:

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Biden administration issued a memorandum today terminating the so-called Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP, a deadly program that forces vulnerable asylum seekers to live in unsafe conditions in Mexico while they wait for their cases to proceed in the United States.

EL PASO, Texas — In an Oct. 14 court filing, the Biden administration announced its decision to restart the so-called “Migrant Protection Protocols,” also known as “Remain in Mexico,” which forces certain asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border to wait in Mexico for their cases to move forward. The policy is deadly.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — A new report  from CLINIC finds that the Recognition and Accreditation, or R&A, program within the Department of Justice is virtually stalled due to a severe shortage of staff and resources, leading to a lack of legal representation for low-income immigrants seeking asylum or other immigration statuses.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — CLINIC applauds the nomination of David Neal for Director of the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, or EOIR, announced today.

WASHINGTON — 164 Catholic organizations joined together to send a letter to President Biden ahead of the World Day for Migrants and Refugees demanding he end the misuse of Title 42.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today, as the United States marks Citizenship Day, the 234th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, top immigration and education policy experts delivered a set of recommendations to the Biden administration aimed at turning the values celebrated on th

CLINIC, MPI and Georgetown University Law Center virtual event Sept. 27-28, 2-5 p.m. ET

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — It’s September, and that means it’s time for the annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference hosted by Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., Migration Policy Institute and Georgetown University Law Center.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Supreme Court’s Aug. 24 decision to deny a stay that would have temporarily halted the reinstatement of the “Remain in Mexico” policy will “deepen human suffering and continue to erode U.S. law and values at the U.S.-Mexico border,” said Anna Gallagher, CLINIC’s Executive Director.

The following is a statement from CLINIC Executive Director Anna Gallagher:

"The United States has a moral obligation to protect and welcome the Afghan men, women and their families who worked with, supported and cared for our military service personnel during the last two decades. They have risked their lives for us, and we must now make every effort to protect theirs.

WASHINGTON — Today immigration groups and former immigration judges urged the U.S.

The following is a statement from CLINIC Executive Director Anna Gallagher:

“CLINIC staff and volunteers have accompanied and provided legal counsel to thousands of men, women and children who sought safety at our doors, only to be stranded in Mexico in inhumane conditions through MPP. They desperately waited for protection and admission to one of the richest countries in the world, in increasing danger, by design of the U.S. government.

MPP is a national shame.

WASHINGTON — The Senate passed a budget resolution that advanced many economic and other urgent needs. Included in the package was a commitment to creating a path to citizenship for certain immigrants in the United States.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today, the #WelcomeWithDignity campaign expressed solidarity with its member organization, La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), as it holds a ‘chain of protection’ to welcome people seeking asylum in McAllen, Texas. This action comes in response to Governor Greg Abbott’s racist attacks on people seeking asylum and those who seek to welcome them. LUPE and the countless other organizations welcoming people seeking protection are bravely resisting Gov. Abbott’s executive order and campaign of misinformation.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Texas Governor Abbott issued an executive order directing the Texas Department of Public Safety to stop any vehicle “upon reasonable suspicion” of transporting “migrants who have been detained by CBP for crossing the border illegally or who would have been subject to expulsion under Title 42.”

The following is a statement from State and Local Advocacy Attorney Viviana Westbrook:

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Seventy years ago, the United States joined other nations ratifying the “United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees,” and formally committed to providing a safe home for persecuted people across the globe.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Department of Homeland Security announced today the maximum Temporary Protected Status protection for Somalia, with an 18-month extension and redesignation. This decision will provide life-saving protection from the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Somalia to 550 people.

The following is a statement from CLINIC Executive Director Anna Gallagher:

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Department of Homeland Security announced maximum Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, protection for Yemenis in the United States on July 6, 2021.

The following is a statement from CLINIC Executive Director Anna Gallagher:

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The work done by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is vitally important. From asylum to Temporary Protected Status, to green cards and citizenship, USCIS is the gateway to hope and life-changing opportunities for immigrants and their families.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — People move, but sometimes borders do too. Countries disappear, new countries emerge. Tyrannical governments strip some people of their citizenship. Others deny babies access to citizenship at birth. People without a country that claims them are “stateless,” and with statelessness comes a host of constraints that make it nearly impossible for them to travel, prosper, and live free lives.

The following is a statement from CLINIC Executive Director Anna Gallagher:

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Juneteenth is a day of celebration for Black joy. We celebrate Black culture’s presence in every space, and the ways in which Black joy has prevailed against systemic oppression.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has taken another critical step towards restoring access to asylum and welcoming refugees with dignity. This afternoon Merrick Garland vacated three Trump-era Attorney General rulings that gutted asylum protections for people escaping gender-based violence, gang brutality, and persecution against families. Advocates and asylum seekers celebrate this news, which marks enormous progress in the Biden administration’s efforts to rebuild our asylum system.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Welcome With Dignity Campaign responded to reports that the Biden administration will begin fast-tracking the cases of certain families seeking asylum protection in the United States. Among the representatives for the campaign speaking on this issue was Luis Guerra, CLINIC’s strategic capacity officer and interim campaign manager of the Welcome With Dignity campaign:

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — After many months of advocacy from Black immigrant leaders and allies, the Department of Homeland Security announced today it will redesignate Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Haiti.

Backlog for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status green cards leaves thousands of children in legal limbo for years

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — CLINIC Convening is back in an all-virtual format, after a one-year, pandemic-enforced break. Over four days — May 17-20, 2021 — CLINIC affiliates, other non-profit staff, government officials, lawyers and members of the media will learn how to navigate the United States’ complex and ever-changing immigration legal system, network with practitioners and advocates from across the U.S. and strategize in an engaging online conference.

Cuccinelli’s Illegal Appointment Voids Trump Admin’s Extraordinary Agreement Requiring New Admin to Consult with AZ

AZ’s Lawsuit Part of Broader Effort to Defend Unlawful Trump-Era Policies

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Earlier today immigration advocates, domestic violence experts, and asylees gathered on a press call to discuss Trump’s shameful legacy on asylum and urge Attorney General Merrick Garland to restore protections for women and families fleeing persecution and torture. While President Biden has pledged to build our asylum system back better, some of the previous administration’s cruelest policies remain in effect even as the president’s 100th day in office approaches.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Yesterday, twelve jurors did the right thing and convicted former police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. 

This decision does not and cannot erase the pain that Mr. Floyd’s family and friends will feel for their entire lives. It does not heal the hearts of those who love and have lost Daunte Wright, Adam Toledo, Jonathan Price, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbrey, Botham Jean, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Amadou Diallo and so many others whose names we now know by heart. 

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — A coalition of 31 U.S. Catholic organizations is marking World Health Day by announcing unified support to encourage constituents and faith communities to accept vaccination as an act of charity and solidarity with others that will help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and build immunity against the virus.

WASHINGTON — On Sunday, in response to a lawsuit brought by five immigrant justice groups, a federal court stayed an unlawful Trump-era rule that severely restricts immigrants’ access to justice in immigration court. 

WASHINGTON — Immigrant advocates introduced a report today, Pulling Back the Curtain: Analysis of New Government Data on Temporary Protected Status, containing brand new, state-by-state data on people living in the United States with Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today, the Biden administration announced a new designation of Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Burma, in light of a military coup and the deepening humanitarian crisis there.

WASHINGTON — On Friday, a coalition of 314 state, local, and national immigrant, labor, faith, civil rights, and legal organizations sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas to request that they designate or redesignate 18 countries for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Biden administration announced a new designation of Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Venezuela on March 8. This is the first new country to receive this life-saving protection in six years. According to the Department of Homeland Security, approximately 323,000 Venezuelans in the United States will be able to apply for protection from deportation and work authorization.

WASHINGTON — The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Mauritanian Network for Human Rights in the USA, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)  and 160 other civil and human rights groups today urged President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas to immediately grant an 18-month Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Mauritania, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and significant human rights violations in the country.

WASHINGTON — On Monday, five immigrant justice groups filed a motion to stay an unlawful Trump administration rule that went into effect on January 15 and severely restricts immigrants’ access to justice in immigration court.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — With expertise in immigration law, policy and implementation, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. is available to explain and analyze the Biden administration’s slate of executive actions. See below for key topic areas, quotes, and backgrounders.

On Family Separation and Reunification

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Following the confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas to lead the Department of Homeland Security today, the Biden administration began to announce another round of executive actions that respect immigrants’ inherent humanity and begin the process of creating a functional asylum and immigration system. At the same time, expulsions and deportations of asylum-seekers who were not afforded due process under the prior administration continue.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — “CLINIC commends the Biden administration for extending and redesignating TPS for Syria, a decision warranted both under the law and by morality,” said Anna Gallagher, executive director of Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. “Despite ongoing and deteriorating conditions in many TPS-designated countries, no country has received a redesignation of TPS since 2016. Today's decision is significant, not only for the people from Syria who will directly benefit, but because of the message it sends.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Anna Gallagher, executive director at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. said:

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — On Jan. 20, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden took a series of actions that will begin to heal the nation — responding effectively to the pandemic, beginning the long work of ensuring racial justice and repealing policies that denied immigrants’ basic human dignity and denigrated the religion of Islam.

Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. said:

WASHINGTON — Late Monday, five immigrant justice groups filed suit against the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) — which operates the nation’s immigration courts — for issuing an unlawful rule that severely restricts immigrants’ access to justice.

SAN FRANCISCO, California — Today the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction blocking a sweeping Trump administration rule that would gut protections for people fleeing persecution and torture. The injunction halts the new rule’s implementation nationwide ahead of its scheduled effective date of Monday, Jan. 11, while the court considers a lawsuit brought by several immigrant rights groups.

SAN FRANCISCO, California — Four immigrant rights organizations — Pangea Legal Services, Dolores Street Community Services, Inc., Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. welcomes President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris’ renewed leadership of the United States.  

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Today, President-elect Biden made history, nominating the first immigrant to head the Department of Homeland Security. Alejandro Mayorkas has deep experience in immigration policy and administration, having led U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and served as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security in the Obama Administration.

Following is a quote from Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.:

NEW YORK / WASHINGTON / SAN FRANCISCO — On Thursday, a federal judge in the Northern District of California issued a nationwide injunction against the Trump Administration's new rule that would have dramatically restricted asylum eligibility for asylum seekers convicted of low-level offenses and even people who are not convicted of a crime. The changes were scheduled to go into effect on Friday.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO — Four immigrant rights organizations — Pangea Legal Services, Dolores Street Community Services, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (“CLINIC”), and Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition — filed a lawsuit in the U.S.

WASHINGTON — Seven Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries — who live in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and Miami, Florida — and the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in their suit against the Trump administration for unlawfully blocking TPS beneficiaries’ path to permanent U.S. residence.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. applauds U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White’s preliminary injunction blocking the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from increasing fees for people applying for family and employment-based visas, asylum and U.S. citizenship, in a case filed on behalf of CLINIC and seven other plaintiffs.

EL PASO, Texas — Over the past 106 years, the Roman Catholic Church has recognized a world day of migrants and refugees. Pope Francis’ theme for this year’s commemoration, “Forced Like Jesus Christ to Flee,” reminds us of the millions of migrants and refugees on the move around the globe. Three Catholic organizations working in the borderland community of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, offer the following statement for the 2020 World Day of Migrants and Refugees taking place on Sunday, Sept. 27.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Nearly 150 state, local and national organizations sent a letter to the Trump administration calling for an immediate 18-month designation of Deferred Enforced Departure, or DED, or Temporary Protected Status, known as TPS, for Lebanon.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — With immigration policy changes and developments continuing at a rapid pace, this year’s Immigration Law and Policy Conference offers a venue for cutting-edge, expert analysis of the major changes to asylum and legal immigration policy, immigration enforcement, humanitarian admissions and more.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The 9th Circuit decision in Ramos v. Nielsen, linked to another TPS case Bhattarai v. Nielsen, brings the administration one step closer to ending Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for almost all people with TPS in the United States. In addition to dramatically upending hundreds of thousands of people’s lives, the Sept. 14 decision could potentially unleash the next major family separation crisis unless Congress takes immediate action.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule on Sept. 11, 2020, that would dramatically expand the types of biometric data the Department collects on immigrants and U.S.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — ”The administration’s refusal to redesignate TPS for South Sudan is reprehensible. It potentially leaves more than 2,500 people in the United States vulnerable to being sent to a country where their lives are at risk,” said Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Representing the Central American Resource Center and seven people with Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, CLINIC, Democracy Forward, Montagut & Sobral PC and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP sued the Trump administration to block a policy issued by an unauthorized federal executive, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli.

WASHINGTON — Late last night, the Trump administration dismissed its appeal of a federal court’s March ruling that Ken Cuccinelli was illegally appointed as Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced July 31 that it is charging ahead with unprecedented fee increases, expected to price people out of vital immigration benefits, including naturalization and asylum. The rule is scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 2, 2020. 

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The administration announced on July 28 that it is considering rescinding DACA, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling that the previous attempt violated the law.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The administration's efforts to effectively end asylum have been met with a massive outpouring of opposition from the public, particularly the interfaith community. The public comment period closed on July 15, with over 79,000 comments recorded. The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., or CLINIC, gathered nearly 10,000 public comments from faith voices.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The administration’s June 22 extension and expansion of its April proclamation blocking many visa entrants from coming to the United States is a thinly veiled attempt to use the COV

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The June 18 Supreme Court ruling stops the administration from terminating DACA, but Congress must still take immediate action.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Proposed new regulations will eviscerate the American asylum process, making it nearly impossible for asylum seekers to succeed in receiving protection in the United States from dangers in their home countries, said Anna Gallagher, executive director of CLINIC. 

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — On the eve of its expiration on March 30, the White House announced that Deferred Enforced Departure, or DED, for Liberia is extended until Jan. 10, 2021. DED provides protection from deportation and work authorization for thousands of Liberians who have been living in the United States for decades.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Joined by more than 100 organizations, CLINIC called on the Justice Department to freeze the rulemaking process on proposed significant fee increases, in light of the coronavirus/COVID-19 crisis. The increases would apply to fees for appealing decisions and filing applications for relief in the immigration court system.

WASHINGTON — In a case brought by CLINIC and partners, a federal court ruled March 1 that the Trump administration illegally appointed Ken Cuccinelli to serve as acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. As a result, the court concluded that Cuccinelli “lacked authority” to perform the exclusive functions of the director. The court further voided as “invalid and without legal force or effect” two immigration directives Cuccinelli issued that eviscerate important legal protections for asylum seekers.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto has been named to chair CLINIC’s Board of Directors by Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops of Catholic Bishops. Bishop Soto has served on CLINIC’s board since 2002, including a previous term as chairman from 2007-2010. 

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The State Department rushed to implement its new public charge rule —  giving only a weekend’s notice of changed requirements before they were implemented Feb. 24. The agency finalized its new public charge questionnaire and policy guidance late on Friday and made them effective today, giving no time for applicants, practitioners, or consular officers to adjust to the changes.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The federal government’s decision Jan. 17 to extend Temporary Protected Status for Somalia for 18 months allows about 500 people protection from deportation but does nothing to help other Somalis who have arrived in the United States since 2012. 

WASHINGTON — CLINIC joined other legal service organizations Dec. 18 filing a federal lawsuit challenging the “weaponization” of the U.S. immigration court system to serve the administration’s agenda of hostility to immigrants. 

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — A new round of proposed regulations from the administration would make it impossible for most asylum seekers to be permitted to work while their cases are pending.

Proposed regulations released in the Federal Register Nov. 14 would block asylum seekers from applying for work permits for a full year after submitting their asylum petitions.

WASHINGTON — A coalition of leading immigrant rights organizations has condemned the Trump Administration’s proposal to drastically increase the cost of applying for citizenship, a radical policy shift that would prevent millions of green card holders from beginning the naturalization process.

WASHINGTON — Changes to a fee waiver process announced Oct. 25 by the Department of Homeland Security will create significant barriers to citizenship for tens of thousands of non-wealthy applicants each year. CLINIC and a group of organizations that provide legal assistance, social services and other support to immigrants intend to file suit in California on behalf of people and communities who will be harmed by the changes.

MIAMI, FL. — Attorney Whitney Untiedt, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., or CLINIC, and Florida Justice for Our Neighbors, or JFON, are pleased to announce that through their joint efforts, an immigrant who had been blocked from naturalization was able to become a U.S. citizen.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — A federal judge’s Oct. 11 decision blocking implementation of a new “public charge” rule for immigrants confirmed arguments raised by CLINIC and other plaintiffs that the rule is “arbitrary and capricious” and should be blocked nationwide.

“We welcome this common-sense decision,” said Anna Gallagher, executive director of CLINIC. “We hope it will ease the worries of our immigrant brothers and sisters who are fearful of using services to which they and their families have a right.”

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — CLINIC affiliates make up more than one third of grant recipients nationwide for a program that funds citizenship and naturalization programs.

WASHINGTON — More than 100 international, national, state, and local organizations urged Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Directo

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Press coverage is invited for a full day of expert panels and a keynote speaker — Homeland Security Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan — at the annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, Monday, Oct. 7. The conference will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington  D.C. (near Union Station — not the main campus in Georgetown).

WASHINGTON — Today, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration; Niskanen Center; FWD.us; United We Dream; Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.; and 

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — A new package of dramatic increases in the cost to apply for naturalization, get a green card or renew DACA could have devastating consequences for low-income immigrants.

WASHINGTON — Today, on behalf of RAICES and seven asylum seekers, Democracy Forward, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. and Proskauer Rose LLP sued the Trump administration to challenge several unlawful immigration directives issued by Trump appointee Ken Cuccinelli that eviscerate protections for asylum seekers fleeing persecution.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Starting this week, lawyers at major law firms across the country will begin representing immigrants detained by ICE’s raids of poultry plants and facilities, in bond cases. It is estimated that several hundred immigrants remain in detention. Of that, nearly 100 immigrant workers arrested in the raids have requested pro bono legal representation for their bond applications and hearings.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — CLINIC condemns the joint final rule issued Aug. 23 by the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services that allows the federal government to hold immigrant children in family detention indefinitely. 

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — More than 250 faith leaders and organizations urged the federal government to withdraw “a backdoor asylum ban” in the form of a requirement that asylum seekers be turned away from the United States if they don’t first seek protection in countries along their way to U.S. borders.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Department of Homeland Security’s final rule on public charge, which is expected to be formally published Aug. 14, is a direct assault on the American immigration system and threatens one of its core principles: family unity. The new rules are scheduled to take effect 60 days after formal publication.

GREENBELT, Maryland — A Maryland-based federal court granted a temporary restraining order Aug. 2 to protect the rights of thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children seeking asylum. The order by U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel blocks the government’s implementation of a policy that would significantly limit vital protections for children under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA).

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The failure of the administration to redesignate Temporary Protected Status for Syria, along with the 18-month extension of TPS approved Aug. 1, is hardhearted and wrong, according to the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Thousands of people fleeing violence and persecution will be denied safety in the United States under a precedent decision issued July 29 by Attorney General William Barr as the administration continues its attacks on asylum.

WASHINGTON — The political leadership at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has increasingly turned its efforts toward enforcement and away from its congressionally mandated purpose, CLINIC’s Advocacy Director Jill Marie Bussey told the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship July 16.

GREENBELT, Maryland — Four young asylum seekers are suing the Department of Homeland Security saying that a new policy unlawfully limits their ability to seek asylum. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland, the asylum applicants say a May 31 policy by U.S.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — At a time when each day brings news of another example of inhumane and shameful treatment of asylum-seekers at the Mexican border, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. will launch a project to provide legal guidance to people waiting in Juarez, Mexico, to pursue asylum claims.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — Escalating political tensions and protests in Venezuela this week illustrate the threats awaiting Venezuelans currently in the United States should they be forced to return. CLINIC’s new report, Lives in the Balance: Why TPS is Needed for Venezuela Now, summarizes why the law and basic human decency call for the Trump administration to designate Temporary Protected Status.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — An April 11 ruling by a New York federal judge blocking the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians is the second to prevent the administration from ending the program while legal challenges continue. The ruling affirmed arguments made by CLINIC and other advocates for TPS that the administration did not follow the statutory process in terminating TPS for Haiti.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — A California federal judge took an appropriate first step April 8 by issuing a preliminary injunction that temporarily halts the administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, said CLINIC Executive Director Anna Gallagher. The Migrant Protection Protocols, as the administration calls the policy, force non-Mexican asylum applicants to stay in Mexico while waiting for their cases to be heard.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Trump administration’s expansion of the Remain in Mexico policy to El Paso, Texas, piles on to its two-year history of cruel and unjustified attacks on asylum seekers. 

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The administration’s decision not to redesignate Temporary Protected Status for South Sudan, allowing more people to be covered by it is “morally reprehensible,” said Anna Gallagher, executive director of CLINIC.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — More than 500 interfaith leaders and organizations have called on the Department of Homeland Security to end its so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy (Migration Protection Protocols) that requires asylum seekers at the southern border to wait in Mexico for months - or even years -while their asylum cases are processed in the United States. A letter delivered to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Feb.

SILVER SPRING Maryland — As co-counsel to a Mexican immigrant threatened by a drug cartel because of his family, CLINIC filed a brief with the Justice Department Feb.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — CLINIC is calling on the administration to prioritize human lives above its baseless and immoral “Remain in Mexico Plan,” or the Migrant Protection Protocols.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., joined a class action lawsuit, as an organizational plaintiff on an amended complaint, on behalf of the more than 10,000 children currently being held by the Trump administration in detention centers across the country.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Department of Homeland Security’s newest plan to prevent asylum seekers from applying for safety in the United States leaves them in danger, and possibly violates their due process rights, said the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.

“DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen claims that asylum seekers will have access to immigration courts and attorneys while in Mexico, but fails to provide details as to how the plan will be implemented,” said Jeanne Atkinson, CLINIC’s executive director.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — ­­The administration’s proposal to drastically change the way it calculates whether immigrants pose a risk of becoming a financial burden on society is morally and legally flawed, said the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., in a formal comment submitted to the Department of Homeland Security Dec. 9.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — ­­Anna Marie Gallagher, an experienced litigator and immigration law expert, will join the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., as executive director, effective Feb. 1, 2019, announced Bishop Kevin J. Vann Nov. 27. Bishop Vann is chairman of CLINIC’s board of directors and head of the Diocese of Orange in California.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — ­­Today’s presidential proclamation coupled with the publication of an interim final rule will make it more difficult for those fleeing violence an

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — ­­CLINIC and our network of 330 nonprofit immigration legal services providers stand ready to protect the legally guaranteed right to asylum, including for any person who seeks it at our borders or other ports of entry.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — ­­Current events and political rhetoric have pushed the U.S. asylum system into the spotlight. Here are some key facts about the legal grounding of our asylum system.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — ­The decision Oct. 3 by a California federal judge to block the cancellation of Temporary Protected Status for four countries is a welcome step toward protecting about 300,000 people who are facing loss of the status that has allowed them to stay in the United States.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Department of Homeland Security proposal announced Sept. 22, aims to change the policy for who may qualify to become a lawful permanent resident, putting the interests of the wealthy ahead of the needs of poorer families who have waited years to be reunited.

“The administration has sunk to a new level of cruelty with this proposal to punish immigrants who use government assistance to feed, provide medical care for and house their families,” said Jeanne Atkinson, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The administration’s proposed regulations to dismantle the Flores Settlement Agreement are a blatant attempt to make an end run around the agreement that protects the dignity, respect and consideration for the vulnerability of children held in immigration custody. The proposed regulations were published in the Federal Register Sept. 7.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The administration’s decision July 19 to extend Temporary Protected Status for Somalia will give the 500 people it covers 18 months to remain in the United States while providing no protection from deportation for other Somalis who arrived later.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The Department of Justice’s rule on the Recognition and Accreditation of Non-Attorney Representatives is now available at the Federal Register website. The final rule is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Dec. 19. It will take effect Jan. 18, 2017.

The rule makes substantial changes to the Recognition and Accreditation Program, which includes removing the nominal fee requirement and requiring renewal of recognition. The leadership of Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., welcomes the changes.