Welcome to the Garfinkel Immigration news roundup, where every month we will summarize and provide links to the latest stories impacting U.S. immigration.
Below is the January 2025 edition of the Garfinkel Immigration news roundup:
Latest updates about President Trump’s executive order changing birthright citizenship: Federal judge temporarily blocks order
President Donald Trump issued an executive order on the first day of his second term in the White House entitled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.” If enacted, the order would alter birthright citizenship in the United States.
The order, which has an effective date of Feb. 20, almost immediately faced legal challenges shortly after it was signed by Trump, and a federal judge in Seattle paused its enforcement nationwide as a result of a lawsuit filed by four states, Washington, Illinois, Arizona and Oregon, who argued the measure violated the 14th amendment.
A separate lawsuit from 18 other states related to the executive order was also filed earlier this month in federal court in Massachusetts.
Senate confirms Kristi Noem as Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security
Kristi Noem was confirmed as the new Secretary of Homeland Security this month by the U.S. Senate in a 59-34 vote. She previously served in the House of Representatives and as the Governor of South Dakota.
“Noem is set to lead the department poised to be at the center of President Trump’s plans to crack down on immigration, including the various deportation efforts, visa changes and border security measures kicked off by the slew of executive actions signed by Trump since his return to office,” a story from NPR about Noem’s confirmation read. “Noem, 53, has been a vocal advocate for Trump’s immigration agenda, as she explained to senators during her confirmation hearing.”
There are more than 260,000 employees inside of DHS, according to NPR, including all of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Read the full story from NPR here.
7 big questions about Trump’s immigration crackdown – and why they matter
This story from CNN examines some of the immigration executive orders President Trump has issued during the early days of his second term in the White House, as well as what impacts they may have moving forward.
“An executive order Trump signed this week paved the way for a new spate of travel bans. But we don’t know yet which countries will be impacted,” the story read. “The order directs officials to respond in 60 days with recommendations identifying countries throughout the world for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.”
Asylum, refugee, H-1B visa: What different immigration terms mean
This story from the Dallas Morning News provides a detailed explanation about different immigration-related terms. The piece expounds on the definitions of “asylum-seeker,” “temporary protected status (TPS),” “humanitarian parole,” and more.
“President Donald Trump’s immigration policies affect a wide range of people who arrived in the United States through various ways,” the story read. “It can be confusing to grasp which group of immigrants are affected by the executive orders and directives as dozens of federal statuses are in effect.”
Read the full story from the Dallas Morning News here.
Hundreds of U.S. visa appointments canceled in Colombia
Many visa appointments were canceled at the U.S. Embassy in Colombia earlier this week after a “dispute between President Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro over deportation flights from the U.S.,” as documented in this story from the Associated Press.
“Dozens of Colombians arrived at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá and were handed letters by local staff that said their appointments had been canceled ‘due to the Colombian government’s refusal to accept repatriation flights of Colombian nationals’ over the weekend,” the story read.
The story added: “In Colombia it can take up to two years to get a visa appointment at the U.S embassy in Bogotá, which has also been handling visa requests from neighboring Venezuela for several years. Those who had their Monday appointments cancelled will likely have to wait several months for a new appointment.”