Migration News 

Court Upholds Ban on Order Letting States Refuse Refugees
AP
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a ruling halting an executive order by President Donald Trump that gave state and local governments the ability to shut out refugees. The three-judge panel said the executive order that required both state and local entities to give their consent before allowing refugees to be placed in their areas “would cause inequitable treatment of refugees and undermine the very national consistency that the Refugee Act is designed to protect." Church World Service, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and HIAS — a Jewish nonprofit — sued in November of 2019 to block the executive order. The agencies said the executive order was an attempt at a state-by-state ban on refugees.

DHS Publishes Final Rule To End H-1B Visa Lottery
Stuart Anderson, Forbes 
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published its controversial regulation to end the H-1B visa lottery as a “final rule,” leaving it to the Biden administration or a lawsuit to stop a significant change in U.S. immigration policy. The rule, published January 8, 2021, goes into effect in 60 days. The regulation would authorize U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to end the H-1B lottery and instead grant petitions based on registrations starting with the highest salary level and working down. The Trump administration rejected all comments to the rule. Attorneys and businesses argue the regulation violates the statute and makes it difficult to obtain new H-1B petitions for younger workers, particularly international students and information technology professionals.

A New ICE Policy As Trump Is About To Leave Office Could Make It Harder For Immigrant Children To Get Asylum
Hamed Aleaziz, BuzzFeed News 
Beginning Dec. 29, ICE officers were told that they must review whether an immigrant child is still “unaccompanied” each time they encounter the minor, according to a copy of the email and memo sent by Pham. The officers were told to evaluate all available information in determining whether the child should still be classified as unaccompanied, including whether they have since turned 18 and if there is an “available” guardian in the US who can care for them or is already doing so. Such a change could lead to making some children ineligible to have their asylum claims initially heard and processed by an asylum officer at United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Unaccompanied immigrant children in removal proceedings get an opportunity to present their claims to USCIS first and, if denied, get another opportunity in immigration court.

Trump withdraws Chad Wolf nomination to lead Homeland Security hours after he urged president to condemn riot
Amanda Macias, CNBC
President Donald Trump has withdrawn his nomination of Chad Wolf to head the Department of Homeland Security, the White House announced Thursday. The move from the president comes less than three hours after Wolf, who is the acting DHS secretary, urged Trump to “strongly condemn the violence” that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

Worth a Read 

More Immigrants Will Come to the U.S. Under President Biden. That’s a Good Thing.
The New York Times 

‘I can’t believe this is happening to our country’: Minnesota immigrants watch with alarm as Trump insurrectionists attack U.S. Capitol.
Sahan Journal 

For Immigrants Watching a Mob Storm the Capitol, a Sense of Shock and Shame
The New York Times