If you have been keeping up with the news on immigration reform, you must have heard the terms “legal status” and “path to citizenship.” You may have wondered what the fundamental differences between the two are and how these will affect immigrants. Below are some explanations that may bring some clarity upon the differences.
Immigration reform will continue to be debated in 2014 as it was last year. Here are three reasons why some of these bills could actually become law.
In spring of 2013, a group of senators drafted Senate Immigration Bill S.744. This important bill addresses all aspects of the immigration process from border and enforcement issues to legal immigration reforms. A Guide to S.744: Understanding the 2013 Senate Immigration Bill, Immigration Policy Center (July 10, 2013).
If you are a citizen or a student from India planning to live and work in America, it is advisable to pay close attention to the latest bills being debated by the U.S. Congress.
Most people do not know how “prosecutorial discretion” got its start or the role it plays in immigration cases today. “Prosecutorial discretion” is the authority of an agency or officer to decide what charges to bring and how to pursue each case.
Issues of inadmissibility can render a foreign national ineligible for a visa or a green card or even make him/her ineligible to become a Naturalized U.S. citizen.
For many, renewing or obtaining a new state driver’s license in the United States is a mundane task. Non-citizen and citizen applicants alike must gather the requisite documents to prove their identity, residency, and legal status and follow the guidelines at their local department of motor vehicles.
Being the victim of domestic violence is a terrifying experience for anyone, especially immigrants who lack legal status in the U.S. and endure the everyday hardships of living in this country “illegally.”
Over the past few weeks, news sources and political leaders have reacted to political asylum statistics released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). There has been some misunderstanding as to the number of “defensive” asylum claims, those that are made at the ports of entry into the United States, versus those applying for asylum who are already living in the country without authorization.
Amidst all the political wrangling within the current immigration reform bills, there is a push by some American companies to recruit foreign workers and assist them in becoming U.S. citizens.