Weekly Immigration Round-Up: U.S. Embassies to Address Visa Backlog; Family Detention Center Closes; Sweeping Immigration Reform Stalls Friday, March 5, 2021
U.S. Consulates to Prioritize Immigrant Visa Backlog
The Biden administration announced this week that it was directing U.S. embassies and consulates a priority on the processing of fiancé(e) visas and permanent residence visas (better known as “green cards”). The announcement reverses course from the previous administration, which had halted most green card applications filed abroad.
The new directive seeks to reduce an enormous backlog of visa applications currently pending around the world. In large part due to the previous administration’s cessation of visa processing, the backlog grew from less than 100,000 in January 2020 to almost 500,000 in February 2021. While embassies and consulates will continue to give high priority to spouses, fiancés, and children of U.S. citizens, they will also process appl
Americaâs immigrant essential workers need a path to legal status | Column
We need our immigrant essential workers, both documented and undocumented, now more than ever to rebuild, recover and thrive.
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In February 2019, Rubycellia Salnero, Anthony Salnero, 6 months, Angel Salnero, 9, of Tampa pray at a special church service at the Nativity Catholic Church in Brandon. The Diocese of St. Petersburg held a prayer vigil for migrants and refugees led by Rev. Gregory L. Parkes, Bishop of St. Petersburg, with an estimated 1,000 people in attendance from around the community.
Published Mar. 5
Updated Mar. 5
More than 70% of immigrants in the United States work in fields classified as âessentialâ â health care, food production, agriculture and more. They are our front-line workers in nursing homes. They pick the crops we buy from supermarkets. They were delivering food to our doors when no one even knew if it was safe for them. How can we call these worker
House Democrats are pushing two bills that would grant legal status to millions of illegal immigrants in the coming weeks even as the Biden administration scrambles to deal with a rapidly escalating crisis at the southern border.
1 month ago in Agriculture Photo: WNAX
The Farm Workforce Modernization Act legislation, ag labor reform bill has been re-introduced in the U.S. House. The Nebraska State Dairy Association testified last year in favor of that same measure. Association Executive Director Kris Bousquet says they back this bill as well as it will help make reforms to address the current shortage of dairy workers.
He’s optimistic about the chances of getting the legislation passed given the makeup of the new Congress and administration.
Bousquet says other sectors of agriculture are also in need of the ag labor reform this bill brings, including pork and cattle producer groups.
Legislation introduced in early March in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, would reform the H-2A visa program to address the agricultural labor shortage. Among other provisions, it would amend the H-2A program to allow a capped number of visas for farmworkers to work year-round. “The U.S. pork industry is suffering from a serious labor shortage, negatively impacting farms and processing plants.