This Week in Immigration Reform — Week Ending April 15

Week Ending April 15

This week in immigration: Oral arguments for administrative relief to be heard Monday; USCIS releases new N-400; and deadline for USCIS grant opportunities for citizenship and immigrant integration coming up soon.

NCLR kept the community informed with staff quoted in The Associated Press, The Orlando Sentinel, and El Diario NY.

Groups make final push ahead of next week’s oral arguments on administrative relief: Monday’s oral arguments at the Supreme Court in United States v. Texas will potentially decide the fates of five million individuals currently residing in communities across the country. In preparation for Monday, stakeholders are demonstrating the significance of this case. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus held a press conference earlier today to highlight families affected by the decision. Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez wrote about the need for sensible administrative relief in an op-ed in the Dallas Morning News. The American Immigration Council released a new guide to the case that provides answers to questions about what is at stake, the specific issues at hand, and the long-term impact the decision will have on the country and its future. Education Weekly penned an article about the implications the decision would have on school-age children; Pomona College Dean of Students Miriam Feldblum wrote a similar piece in The Chronicle of Higher Education framing the issue in the context of higher education. Finally, NCLR will join advocacy groups from across the country in front of the Supreme Court on Monday morning at a rally in favor of administrative relief. Follow NCLR on social media for updates from the rally!

USCIS published new edition of naturalization application form: USCIS released its revised Form N-400 this week, aimed at streamlining the application process for the customer. The revised form saves the applicant time if a particular part of the application does not apply to the individual. USCIS also removed the barcode and added language to help identify what evidence should be submitted with the form and what needs to be brought to the interview.

Deadline closes soon for citizenship and integration grants; $1 million to go to first-time recipients: USCIS is offering two types of grants this year to organizations who work on citizenship and immigrant integration. The first will award $9 million to public or nonprofit organizations that prepare eligible permanent residents for citizenship by offering both citizenship instruction and naturalization application services. Additionally, USCIS will award $1 million to first-time recipients in the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program. These funds will help nonprofits establish new citizenship instruction programs or expand the quality and reach of existing ones. The deadline to apply for both grants is April 22^nd. To download the application, organizations can visit the Grants.gov grant search page and search by CFDA Number (97.010). Go here for more information