Newsletter Week of July 17

Hochul Shields Migrants from Labor Disputes 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is moving to "shield" migrants from workplace retaliation and removal during labor disputes amid a record influx of asylum-seekers to the state. Hochul announced Tuesday that the New York State Department of Labor has implemented a new process to protect undocumented workers from retaliation or deportation during labor disputes. The new policy is being implemented as part of a partnership between the state government and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, expanding on a procedure implemented earlier this year by the Biden administration.  

USCIS Expands myProgress to Form I-765 and Form I-131 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced today that we are expanding myProgress (formerly known as personalized processing times) to Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, and Form I-131, Application for Travel Document.myProgress provides applicants with access, in their online account, to personalized estimates of their wait time for major milestones on their case, including their final case decision. 

Green Card Backlog Barely Budges in June 

The Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) saw barely no movement in the immigrant visa (IV) backlog, from 354,973 cases in April to 351,821 in June— a 0.9% decrease (the NVC only releases a report every other month). The number of green card applicants whose cases were documentarily complete and ready to be scheduled for an interview decreased slightly, from 396,877 in April to 388,397 in June (a decrease of only roughly 2%). A case that is considered “documentarily complete” is a case in which all the required forms and documents have been submitted and accepted by the NVC, and therefore the case is ready for interview scheduling