Immigration Policy

Washington (CNN) As the United States responds to the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration has made sweeping changes to the country's immigration apparatus, altering daily operations and disrupting the lives of thousands.

In a little over a week, there have been a dozen changes, ranging from postponing immigration hearings to pausing deportation flights to certain countries and suspending refugee admissions. The tweaks to the system are being made incrementally, though rapidly, as the pandemic spreads across the country.

Against the backdrop of the coronavirus outbreak, the Trump administration is also trying to move forward with some of its most restrictionist policies that have struggled to be put into practice, including blocking entry to asylum seekers. Read more >

An unprecedented joint coalition of immigration judges, immigration attorneys, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees asked Tuesday to “immediately and temporarily close all immigration courts nationwide” in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Read more >

Last week, a Cuban asylum seeker called me from a for-profit jail in Louisiana to express the same fear shared by people across the world. The man, whom I’ll call Alberto to protect him from potential retaliation, had more reason to worry about coronavirus than most: He was detained in a crowded room alongside nearly 100 others at a jail run by LaSalle Corrections, a company with a long record of providing shoddy medical care. Read more >

[Mar. Read more >

On Monday, the Supreme Court lifted a lower-court stay on a Trump Administration rule Read more >

The Supreme Court said Monday it will allow the Trump administration to begin enforcing a controversial new policy making it harder for low-income legal immigrants to obtain green cards or visas.  Read more >