Press release—January 23, 2018—Yesterday we did not get the protection for DREAMers that 86 percent of Americans, including 79 percent of Republicans want. Nor did we get a long-term budget for other critical needs, just another kick-the-can-down-the-road, three-week extension that nobody wants.

Today is a new day and we start again. “In Minnesota, we don’t let a foot of snow stop us,” said John Keller, executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM). “When it blows and snows, we just keep shoveling. We are not going to let one more bad vote in DC stop us—we will keep on fighting, keep on calling, keep on pushing ahead.”

Dreamers teach our children and care for our family members. They are leaders in our companies and brave members of our military. Every day that passes, another 122 DREAMers lose DACA protection and work permission. Starting very soon, 1,200 Dreamers will fall out of status each and every day, will lose their jobs, and will face deportation to countries they have never known. Every day the shutdown continues without a solution devastates Dreamers, their families, their communities, and our economy.

“This is a national disaster, not a natural disaster,” Keller said. “This disaster is made by politicians, and it can be reversed by political action. We need to keep calling every single Senator and Representative to tell them again: I am one of the 86 percent of all Americans who want legislative protection for DREAMers.”

Congress needs to act NOW. We call on everyone in Minnesota to call every Minnesota Congress member and Senator. Tell them protecting DREAMers is a priority for you and you want them to make a clean DREAM Act their priority, too.

For every DREAMer and every family member and every ally and activist—we are in this battle for as long as it takes.

January 19, 2018—As Washington dithered and debated, dozens of Minnesotans stepped up to help Dreamers pay their renewal application fees. Within a few days of an initial Twitter appeal by immigration attorney Kara Lynum, Minnesotans sent thousands of dollars to help DACA recipients pay the $495 renewal application fee required by the federal government.

The story began when Lynum, speaking in an MPR interview, mentioned the difficulty for DACA recipients in paying the high fee. Someone called her to see how they could help. Lynum put out a call on Twitter, and pledges started rolling in. So she contacted John Keller, executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM), to put together a plan to accept donations for DACA renewal fees. ILCM, the state’s largest non-profit provider of immigration legal services for low-income immigrants, represents many DACA recipients who can now apply for renewal under a federal court order issued earlier this month.

“Minnesotans once again are showing their true colors by responding with amazing generosity and speed,” Keller said. “This entire year, Minnesotans have stood and marched with their Muslim neighbors, with persons facing deportation, and again they’re showing up for Dreamers. It’s a beautiful thing and it brings hope and inspiration to both those giving and those who know there are good Samaritans in our communities and state. We all deeply appreciate each and every person’s support.”

Individual Twitter followers contacted Lynum to offer additional ways to combine small donations to help with the fees.

“The money donated for fees is not tax deductible – which makes the generosity even clearer,” said Keller. “We deeply appreciate the donations people have made through our website to help pay for DACA renewal fees. We are also grateful for those who have made donations directly to ILCM to support our statewide work in these challenging times. We’re currently seeing great demand both in representing DACA renewals and in representing Haitians and Salvadorans who were notified this week that they face a March 19 deadline for renewing their Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for one last 18-month period. Our phone lines have been busier than ever this week and we’re hoping to bring on extra, short-term help with these tight deadlines.”

Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security issued new directives for Haitians and Salvadorans with Temporary Protected Status. The two directives said that both groups must file TPS renewal applications by March 19, in order to keep their TPS and avoid deportation until the 2019 termination dates set by the U.S. government. If they do not file TPS renewal applications by March 19, they will lose TPS status, work authorization, and protection from deportation this year.

“In addition to DACA renewals, any low-income Salvadorans or Haitians with TPS who are Minnesota residents should call the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota for appointments for renewals and screening for any other possible relief,” said Keller.

UPDATED 1 pm, 1/15/18: On Saturday, January 13, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service announced that it would start accepting DACA renewal applications. This is a limited opening, in compliance with the federal court order issued on January 9.

The new order allows anyone whose DACA expires on or after September 5, 2016 to file for a renewal. It also allows people whose DACA expired before September 5, 2016 to file a new initial DACA request. It does not allow people who have never had DACA to file an initial request.

The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) will immediately begin helping Minnesota DACA recipients positively affected under the court order.

The USCIS action in compliance with the federal court order is a limited and temporary move that does not mitigate the urgency of passing a clean Dream Act now, this week.

“Only Congressional action can establish permanent, secure protection for Dreamers,” said ILCM Executive Director John Keller. “Congress needs to act now to provide a path to permanent residence. The future of Dreamers should not depend on an anti-immigrant, anti-DACA administration that right now is trying to overturn the judicial decision ordering it to allow renewals.”

The decision to accept DACA renewals could be reversed at any time. Because this decision does not allow new applications, it offers no relief for young teenagers who, by turning 15 years old, would have qualified to apply for DACA. They continue to live in danger of deportation due to the Trump administration’s September 5 decision to kill DACA.

Congressional action to pass a clean Dream Act now remains crucial. The Immigration Law Prof blog has published a chart comparing the various proposals now before Congress. That chart shows that the bipartisan Dream Act and the “Gang of 8” Graham/Durbin Senate proposal both offer permanent residence and a path to citizenship for Dreamers. the Goodlatte “Securing America’s Future Act” and the Cotton RAISE Act and the Hurd/Aguilar Plan do NOT offer these protections.

The Dream Act is the only “clean” bill. The Graham/Durbin Senate proposal includes border wall funding and various restrictions on immigration, including denial of permanent residence to DACA parents.

Senators brought the Graham/Durbin bill to the president on Thursday, January 11, two days after the president hosted a live television meeting with Congress members in which he promised to sign any DACA bill that was passed. On January 11, Trump denounced the bi-partisan Senate proposal, saying in vulgar and racist language that the United States should not accept immigrants from Africa, Haiti, and El Salvador, but rather should seek immigrants from countries like Norway.

The clock is ticking. Congress must pass some kind of funding bill by Friday, January 19, or the government will run out of money to operate. Democrats can refuse to vote for any funding bill unless it includes a clean Dream Act. That is the leverage that Democrats have to force approval of a clean Dream Act now.

The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, together with Navigate MN, will host a Facebook Live conversation on DACA on Thursday, January 18 at 10:30 a.m. on our Facebook page.

UPDATED 1 pm, 1/15/18 with new time for Facebook Live.

UPDATED 1 pm, 1/15/18

January 15, 2018 – The government announced Saturday night that it would comply with the federal court order and accept DACA renewal applications. That step, while welcome, is a limited and temporary move that does not mitigate the urgency of passing a clean Dream Act now, this week.

“Only Congressional action can establish permanent, secure protection for Dreamers,” said John Keller, executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM). “Congress needs to act now to provide a path to permanent residence. The future of Dreamers should not depend on an anti-immigrant, anti-DACA administration that right now is trying to overturn the judicial decision ordering it to allow renewals.”

Keller also pointed out that the decision to accept DACA renewals could be reversed at any time. This decision does not allow new applications, which means no relief for young teenagers who, by turning 15 years old, would have qualified to apply for DACA. They continue to live in danger of deportation due to the Trump administration’s September 5 decision to kill DACA.

ILCM will immediately begin helping those DACA recipients positively affected under the court order.

“Today,” said Keller, “as we remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honor the dream we share with him, we call on Congress to create a road to citizenship for young Dreamers whose talents and energy and imagination contribute so much to our country.”

The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, together with Navigate MN, will host a Facebook Live conversation on DACA on Thursday, January 18 at 10:30 a.m. on our Facebook page.

UPDATED 1 pm, 1/15/18 with new time for Facebook Live event.

January 12, 2018—”We denounce the appalling racism expressed by President Trump yesterday,” said John Keller, Executive Director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM). “While racism and xenophobia are part of our history, the majority of Americans recognize them as evils to be eradicated. Yesterday’s vile outbursts by President Trump showed his own racist and ignorant views, and his unfitness to speak for America.”

The Board of Directors of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) has members who are immigrants or descendants of immigrants from around the world. Its clients last year came from more than 100 countries. Its staff and supporters are similarly diverse.

“We reject the president’s uninformed and bigoted statements that began when his campaign started and continued through yesterday,” said Enrique Vazquez, ILCM board chair. “His vulgar attack on entire countries and continents is disgusting, but we know that he speaks from his own ignorance and bigotry and does not speak for the majority of Americans or the values of equality and welcome emblazoned on the Statue of Liberty that make the United States unique in the world.”

The president’s comments came during a meeting with Senators who proposed some kind of compromise including relief for DACA recipients, along with other changes in immigration law.

“We need to stay focused and pass a clean, bi-partisan Dream Act now,” said Keller. “Every recent discussion seems to go from bad to worse. Americans in the vast majority expect Congress and the President to welcome and protect Dreamers and reject racism. Now is the time for solutions not distractions. Congress, do your job.”

He’s trying to force out 200,000 Salvadorans with TPS. No president wanted to end humanitarian immigration. Then came Donald Trump.

January 8, 2018 – Today, the Trump administration announced an end to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nearly 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants. TPS holders from El Salvador will be forced out of the United States by September 9, 2019, forced back to a country beset by violence.

The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) has opened our Helpline for Minnesotans affected by this action, with hours from 3-5 p.m. from Tuesday, January 9 through Friday, January 12. The number for the Helpline during those times is 651-287-3715.

“This is more than a human tragedy for the Salvadoran TPS holders, their families, and communities,” ILCM Executive Director John Keller said. “The termination of TPS for Salvadorans, which follows similar terminations of TPS for people from Nicaragua, Sudan, and Honduras, exemplifies the racist and xenophobic anti-immigration policies of this administration. This decision completely disregards the violence within El Salvador and the very real dangers to returnees. It also ignores the length of time that Salvadorans have resided in the United States and the degree to which they are integrated and valuable members of U.S. communities.”

ILCM has worked with hundreds of people with TPS for the last 17 years. We will do everything we can to help those eligible to transition to a different status. That is not possible for most people with TPS, who will need Congressional action to let them stay here.

Of the Salvadorans residing in the United States with TPS:

• About 88 percent are in the work force, paying taxes and contributing to the nation’s economic growth. Many work in the construction industries in Texas, Florida, and California, helping to rebuild after hurricanes and wildfires.
• About one-third own their own homes.
• Half have lived in the United States for at least 20 years.
• About two-thirds have U.S. citizen children.

Only Congressional action can reverse this travesty and allow TPS holders from El Salvador to remain here with their U.S. citizen children, in the homes they own, in the jobs that contribute to the U.S. economy, in the communities where they are essential and valuable members. We urge every Minnesotan to contact members of our Congressional delegation to urge them to support legislation establishing permanent resident status for Salvadoran TPS holders.

January 19 is the next crucial decision date for DACA and Dreamers. That’s when funding for running the government runs out, unless Congress passes an extension. To pass an extension, Republicans need some Democratic votes in the Senate. That gives Democrats leverage to demand a clean Dream Act in exchange for their votes to keep the government open.

Time is running out for DACA recipients – 122 per day, about 14,000 since September 5 are losing DACA protection. After March 5, the number losing DACA protection—and subject to immediate deportation—jumps to about 1,000 per day. Even if Congress passed a Dream Act today, full implementation would take an estimated seven months. In the meantime, no one trusts the Trump administration to hold off on deporting Dreamers, no matter what the law says. Continue reading →

“Family-based immigration” doesn’t sound as scary — or get at the fear of losing control.