International Students Shun U.S. Universities for Canadian Education
U.S. universities have long been a popular choice for international students pursuing higher education and employment opportunities. A drop in enrollment numbers over recent years shows this trend may be changing, as students weigh their options and immigrant-friendlier destinations like Canada become more attractive.
International student enrollment in U.S. schools was already on the decline, further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. A Boundless data report on international students found that U.S. schools experienced a 72% decrease in international enrollment in 2020 compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, international student enrollment at Canadian colleges and universities doubled between 2016 and 2020 based on new analysis from the nonprofit National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP). The analysis cited Canada’s friendlier immigration policies as one explanation: International graduates in Canada jump through far fewer hoops to obtain temporary work visas and permanent residence than their counterparts in the U.S..
Russians and Ukrainians Cross U.S.-Mexico Border to Claim Asylum
Fleeing war and political persecution, a growing number of Russians and Ukrainians are traveling to Mexico, buying old cars, and driving them across the border into the United States to claim asylum.
U.S. Border Patrol agents dealt with 6,400 Russians between Oct. 2021 and January of this year, compared to around 4,100 apprehended at the border during the entire 2021 fiscal year, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data obtained by Reuters. More Ukrainians also entered the country via Mexico — 1,000 between Oct. 2021 and January, compared to roughly 680 during the previous fiscal year.
These figures only include migrants who crossed the border up until January, before Russia invaded Ukraine. Border officials told Reuters they expect these numbers to increase as the war continues and fighting intensifies. Within the last week, Ukrainians were among the top three nationalities among new arrivals.
Since Russia began its invasion on Feb. 24, more than two million Ukrainians have fled the country, in what is becoming the fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II. If history is any guide, the conflict in Ukraine will likely trigger a substantial movement of people, not just out of Ukraine into Central Europe, but to the United States as well.
Families Remain Separated Five Years After Trump’s “Muslim Ban”
Five years after President Donald Trump signed the “Muslim ban,” and despite the ban’s reversal in January 2021, tens of thousands of people remain separated from loved ones.
In January 2017, one week after taking office, President Trump signed his first version of the “Muslim ban,” an executive order prohibiting citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — from entering the United States, as well as temporarily banning refugees from entering the U.S., and indefinitely banning Syrian refugees. The order remained in effect throughout Trump’s presidency, with an estimated 90,000 people directly impacted by the order, as well as potentially tens of thousands of dual citizens.
President Joe Biden reversed the ban on his first day in office, yet five years after the highly criticized policy first went into effect tens of thousands of people remain separated, caught in visa backlogs exacerbated by Embassy and consulate closures beginning during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Department of State has a backlog of around half a million cases, and many consulates are still closed or running on skeleton staff, meaning the backlog continues to grow.
Congress Passes Spending Bill with Limited Provisions on Immigration
The Senate passed a $1.5 trillion dollar government funding package this week, sending the bill to President Biden’s desk for signature.
The bill contains $275 million for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to put towards reducing application processing backlogs, reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and reauthorized the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program. However, the bill also gave $200 million to build two permanent “processing centers” at the border for asylum seekers, a $264 million increase in Border Patrol funding, dropped a plan to recapture unused immigrant visas‘ (often referred to as “green cards”), and removed provisions that would have provided legal assistance to immigrants in immigration court proceedings.
The bill did not include the Afghan Adjustment Act‘, a measure which many hoped would be passed to provide a pathway to residency for tens of thousands of Afghans who were evacuated following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. The bill also gives $458 million to ICE for alternatives to detention programs, and provides funding for roughly 34,000 ICE beds, representing a sharp increase over the 22,000 ICE in use now.
USCIS Work Permit Delays Increase
Processing delays for work permits are worsening labor shortages and causing immigrants to lose out on employment opportunities.
Wait times have skyrocketed during the pandemic as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offices and service centers closed around the country, worsening a backlog that now stands at nearly one million applications.
The average wait time for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD, or work permit) is now eight to twelve months, up from about three months in 2020.