Democratic Senator Alex Padilla is sponsoring a bill that would protect noncitizen veterans of the United States military from deportation and help them and their families gain citizenship, and would allow noncitizen veterans that had previously been deported to return to the US. Over a thousand US military veterans, many of whom saw combat and suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, have been deported to other countries after their service. The proposal would create the Military Family Immigration Advisory Committee, which would review cases, decide the status of immigrant veterans, and help them with their path to citizenship. "Since the founding of our nation," said Senator Padilla, "citizens and non-citizens have served together in the United States military, fighting side by side in defense of our nation and our values. We cannot disregard their service and sacrifice."
Source: Axios; Al Dia
https://www.axios.com/democratic-senators-bill-halt-deportations-us-veterans-44688af8-73bd-4583-802e-04f7677d2c9b.html
https://aldianews.com/articles/politics/sen-alex-padilla-leads-push-pass-bill-preventing-deportation-noncitizen-veterans
The Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, a surveillance program for undocumented immigrants used as an alternative to physical detention centers, has reached a record number of migrants being monitored. Although the ISAP program is touted as a more humane method of tracking immigrants, the program has been shown to have severe health effects on the people it tracks. Immigrants are required to use a phone app or voice reporting system, or wear an ankle monitor, all of which were developed by the GEO group, a private prison trust. Not only do the ankle monitors frequently cause physical harm to those wearing them, all three forms of monitoring have been shown to have negative psychological effects on migrants due to the stress of being tracked at all times. The phone app has also been called into question for security concerns and biases against people of color in the facial recognition software. With the number of immigrants in the ISAP program at an all-time high, immigration reform advocates are calling for the program to be dismantled in favor of methods that focus on aiding immigrants, not incarcerating them.
Source: The Hill
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/581125-record-number-of-immigrants-funneled-into-alternative-detention-programs?amp
Wells Fargo has been denied a dismissal in a lawsuit claiming that the bank discriminated against non-citizen immigrants by not allowing them to apply for accounts and loans online. The lawsuit was brought by a Russian couple living in California who were denied their applications made through the bank's website, based on the fact that they are not US citizens. Wells Fargo argued that, since the plaintiffs could apply in person, the policy was not discriminatory, and moved to dismiss the case. A panel of Ninth Circuit judges denied the motion, however, stating that a policy that targeted individuals based on their immigration status would violate the Unruh Act, California's civil rights law.
Source: Courthouse News
https://www.courthousenews.com/wells-fargo-cant-dodge-immigrant-discrimination-class-action/
A class-action lawsuit against US Citizenship and Immigration Services has been settled in favor of the spouses of immigrant workers. The spouses of H-4 immigrants will receive an automatic extension of 180 days when they file to renew their Employment Authorization Document. In addition, spouses of L-2 immigrants will be automatically authorized to work in the US without having to apply for an EAD. This new policy will help to ease some of the backlog that has been affecting USCIS.
Source: Mondaq; The Hill
https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/general-immigration/1131638/settlement-of-class-action-lawsuit-by-uscis-solves-h-4-and-l-2-lengthy-delays-for-obtaining-employment-authorization-ead39s
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/581007-biden-administration-settles-with-spouses-of-immigrant-visa-holders?rl=1