News & Views

Advocacy Roundup 6/30/2020

The Supreme Court happily ruled that the administration’s decision to end DACA violated the Administrative Procedure Act, and therefore DACA will continue, not only for those who already have DACA, but will open up for eligible individuals who did not already have DACA.

However, this is only a band-aid; the Supreme Court did not rule that the administration could not end DACA, only that the way it did so was illegal. In addition, DACA is not a path to citizenship, and the administration may attack the work eligibility portion of the program. Congress must still take action to create a path to citizenship.

A federal judge recently ordered that all children held in ICE detention must be released by July to protect against COVID-19 infection. However, since this fell under the Flores settlement, it does not apply to adults. This will possibly become another form of family separation unless ICE releases families rather than only the children. Families Belong Together is calling upon ICE to do just that.

Lastly, the administration has released a number of anti-immigration policies in the last month, including suspending many work visas, and preventing asylum-seekers from working until a year after applying for asylum. However, the worst policy set forward thus far has been the administration’s proposed rules for changing the asylum process, which would make applying for asylum in the US almost impossible. Included in the rules are:

  • barring granting asylum based on gender
  • changing the definition of persecution
  • redefining membership in a social group, making it more difficult for LGBT individuals etc.
  • denying asylum to those who have gone through other countries on their way to US
  • denying many asylum seekers a day in court
  • creating many more bars on eligibility including no longer allowing individuals to apply for asylum more than one year after entry into the US (no matter the reason), or who fail to pay one penny of taxes (no matter the reason)

The Public Comments period ends July 15th. We encourage all to submit comments using this template from AILA, or on the Regulations.Gov website.

TONIGHT (4/20) - Join us ONLINE at the 2023 Golden Door Awards!

Join us ONLINE at 6:45PM TONIGHT, Thursday, April 20th, for HIAS PA's 2023 Golden Door Awards: United for Immigrants!

Happy Passover from HIAS Pennsylvania!HIAS PA is closed in observance of the Jewish holiday of Passover

HIAS Pennsylvania will be closed in observance of the Jewish holiday of Passover from 1PM on Wednesday, April 5th through Friday, April 7th, and on Wednesday, April 12th and Thursday, April 13th.

Join us at the 2023 Golden Door Awards!United for Immigrants

The Golden Door Awards is HIAS Pennsylvania's annual fundraiser. Your generous support helps us serve low-income immigrants from all over the world as they build new lives in our community.

Building closed until further noticeHIAS PA remains open!

HIAS PA’s physical offices at 600 Chestnut Street are CLOSED until further notice due to a burst pipe in the building.

Our organization remains open, and HIAS PA staff continue to work remotely at this time.

Please call (215) 832-0900 with any questions.

Building closed until further noticeHIAS PA remains open!

HIAS PA’s physical offices at 600 Chestnut Street are CLOSED until further notice due to a burst pipe in the building.

Our organization remains open, and HIAS PA staff continue to work remotely at this time.

Please call (215) 832-0900 with any questions.

TONIGHT: Join us at the table!Join us for Thankful Together!

Thankful Together, formerly known as Refugee Thanksgiving, is happening TONIGHT at 6PM!

Register here to join us tonight: https://hiaspa1.wpengine.com/event/thankful-together-2021/

Celebrate our volunteers who make this all possible!Click here at 11:45AM to join our Annual Meeting!

Click here to join our virtual Annual Meeting!

The Annual Meeting starts at noon, but join us at 11:45AM for an informal chat before the event!

POSTPONED! Speed Advocacy: Afghanistan

Today's Speed Advocacy: Afghanistan Facebook Live event has been postponed due to a worldwide Facebook outage. We will update you as soon as possible about rescheduling the event.