The Immigrant’s Journal - Vol. 130

The Immigrant’s Journal Vol. 130

Our leaders who stood for Unity & Justice

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Protecting God’s Children From Distant Lands

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The Stolen Childhood of Teenage Factory Workers

BY MELISSA SANCHEZ, PROPUBLICA

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didn’t expect this story to become so personal. But as I interviewed young Guatemalan immigrants who work overnight shifts in factories in suburban Chicago, I started seeing the boy I imagine my father once was. Stoic.

Exhausted.

You see, if it wasn’t for child labor, I don’t know if I’d be here.

My father grew up in rural Mexico in the 1950s. It was a life of poverty and hunger. He attended maybe a year of school, learning to read and write and to do some basic math. As the oldest boy of

Beat of the Boroughs: NYC Online

Immigrant teenagers who work overnight shifts in suburban factories dream of a better life for children they don’t yet have. So did the author’s father.

Photo: CTMD

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continued on page 8

Finding Love After Divorce for Men ....17

Economic Recovery from COVID-19 Depends on a Pathway to Citizenship for 11 Million Undocumented Immigrants lion undocumented people currently living in the US. There's no way forward without doing right by the undocumented individuals who are keeping all Americans alive as our country continues to combat the coronavirus crisis.

When it comes to combating this pandemic, immigrants of all backgrounds—including millions of undocumented immigrants—are our nation’s first responders. Farmworkers keep food on our tables, frontline health-

BY ALIDA GARCIA, FWD.US

B

y now, you've seen the viral photos of farmworkers hunched over, working in the fields under an orange sky, inhaling ash from wildfires, doing the skilled and tough labor that has allowed millions of us to keep food on our tables in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. These striking images make it clearer than ever: Our economic recovery from the pandemic is entirely reliant on providing a pathway to citizenship for the 11 mil-

continued on page 2

NPNA Applauds Selection of First DHS Secretary of Latino and Immigrant Origin

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December 3, 2020

ASHINGTON: Presidentelect Joe Biden announced his selection of Alejandro Mayorkas for the position of Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) applauds the President-elect's decision to tap the first Latino and first immigrant to lead the federal agency tasked with implementing

immigration law. The nomination signals a move away from the Trump administration’s deadly, draconian policies and priorities.

“NPNA is encouraged by the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas as DHS Secretary. DHS is in dire need of a course correction, and we welcome its transition from an enforcement-focused continued on page 6

Alejandro Mayorkas Editorial credit: Alex Gakos / Shutterstock.com

EW YORK, N.Y.: Celebrating the diversity of cultural traditions in New York City, the Center for Traditional Music and Dance (CTMD) launched an online series, Beat of the Boroughs: NYC Online, on November 16, to highlight the artistry of 54 of the City’s leading immigrant performers from around the world.

The artists—including several National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Award winners—represent the strength and diversity of the cultural sector in the City’s five boroughs, with traditions hailing from Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Gambia, Haiti, Iraq, Japan, Mongolia, Ukraine, and West Africa, among other areas.

“New York City’s traditional and folk artists have been particularly impacted by both the pandemic and the anti-immigrant political climate in our country.

Amid the pandemic, many of these artists have structural impediments including the digital divide and language barriers to access federal relief funds or private sources of funding. Now more than ever we need to support these artists, who have suffered losses because of canceled concerts, performances, exhibitions, and other events,” said Peter Rushefsky, Executive Director of CTMD. “It is imperative that we come together as a city to support and celebrate our immigrant communities, and Beat of the Boroughs: NYC Online will showcase the immense talents of our artists and further the public’s understanding and appreciation of their work during these trying times.”

Organizers hope the series will build more support for the artists and for CTMD, particularly as the nonprofit continues to highlight the artistic diversity within New York City, where millions of Americans can trace their immigrant ancestors.

After each broadcast, the performances will become part of a collection of combined voices, which will remain available online on CTMD’s website at www.ctmd.org.l

IMMIGRATION MATTERS

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Economic Relief/from page 1 care workers care for our sick loved ones, and scientists search for a vaccine.

Immigrants have helped this country survive an unprecedented global pandemic and economic collapse. The numbers are clear: 69 percent of all immigrants in the labor force, including 74 percent of undocumented workers, are essential workers who are helping our country recover from COVID-19. Immigrants also create jobs, raise wages for US citizens, and strengthen our families and economy.

Without the continued infusion of immigration, and without ensuring the strength and stability of immigrant families, we won’t be able to create the jobs needed to rebuild our economy.

Similarly, cutting immigration has devastating impacts on job creation and economic growth. Simply put, there is no recovery from COVID-19 without the immigrant families who are keeping all of us safe.

Across the country, immigrant communities, along with Black and Latinx communities (which also include millions of immigrants), have suffered a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases and deaths because they have been left behind. Importantly, undocumented people and their US citizen family members have been excluded from federal coronavirus relief and continue to live under the threat of ongoing immigration

enforcement. Threatening immigrant families jeopardizes our shared health and economic recovery. We need all hands on deck to fight this global health crisis. We must protect, support, and empower our communities to respond to the urgent crisis.

The only way that Congress can prevent a future administration from weaponizing our immigration system is through reform that ensures our undocumented community members are able to become citizens.

We should transform our immigration system fundamentally to create a just, humane set of laws that reflect what we

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know our values should be and a system that centers human dignity. Immigration can power the next century of American moral leadership, not just economic leadership.

Strong families are the backbone of our communities and our economy. We should transform our system to prioritize keeping families together and ensure that everyone across the country can fully contribute to the COVID-19 recovery, which will take years. More than 16 million people in the US live in mixed-status families, including over 6 million US citizen kids. More than 200,000 US citizen children have a parent who’s a

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient. Denying them a roadmap to citizenship risks separating millions of families and holds them back from fully participating in the country they know as home. Crucially, we also need to take a new approach to policies around asylum and refugee admissions, expanding opportunities for those fleeing the worst of circumstances to find the United States a welcoming nation that embraces them with open arms.

Allowing immigrant families the opportunity to succeed also means boosting our economy. Immigrants who unify with their family members in the US have higher levels of wage increase and economic success, attract other immigrant entrepreneurs, and expand prosperity for their families and their broader communities. We need individuals to be able to come to the US to contribute across a wide array of industries and skill levels, helping to infuse our country with talent, creativity, and innovative energy from all over the world.

A just, orderly immigration system both keeps our families safe and ensures new and economic opportunities for everyone across the country. We have a unique opportunity to create a better way. Our nation’s health, communities, and economic recovery depend on it.l

Alida Garcia is the Vice President of Advocacy, FWD.us.

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TIME FOR ACTION

3

A New Day for Dreamers: DACA Ruling and Biden Commitments Reflect Consensus of the American People

TEAM Publisher I.Q. INC. Legal Advisor Brian Figeroux, Esq. Managing Editor & Editor-in-Chief Pearl Phillip Assistant Editor Marilyn Silverman Graphic & Website Designers Praim Samsoondar Anvar Sabirov Email immjournal@aol.com

BY AMERICA’S VOICE

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n Saturday, November 16, federal judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf was serving unlawfully when he issued this summer’s memo restricting access to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

As a result, the DACA program may be poised to accept first-time applications from tens of thousands of Dreamers who have been ineligible to newly apply for the DACA program Trump tried to kill off DACA in September of 2017.

Meanwhile President-elect Biden and his team are committed to reinstating the DACA program and pursuing a path to citizenship for Dreamers. This weekend, incoming Biden chief of staff Ron Klain reiterated on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that reinstating DACA was a day one priority.

When Trump was elected president, few would have predicted that Dreamers would emerge from four years of the most xenophobic president in our lifetime in this strong of a position. Led by the courage, organizing and personal testimonials of directly-impacted immigrant youth – as well as the hard work of litigators and allies – Dreamers have secured important commitments from the incoming Biden administration while winning the battle of hearts and minds for the American people.

As this polling roundup shows, by at least a 3 to 1 margin, Americans favor a permanent solution that enables Dreamers to live their lives and plan their futures in the United States.

Since we just came out of a rough and tumble election season, it’s worth noting that for Democrats who support a path to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, essential workers and the entire 11 million population did not suffer as a result.

In 2019, the House of Representatives passed the Dream and Promise Act

Visit www.ijlef.org www.falaw.us www.cawnyc.com www.workersworldtoday.com

Editorial credit: Rena Schild / Shutterstock.com

(HR6) with unanimous support from all Democrats. Based on our 2020 Ad Watch campaign ad tracker, we could only find two races where Republicans tried to hang the HR6 vote for Dreamers around the necks of their Democratic opponents, and both of them – Pennsylvania Democrats Matt Cartwright in PA-08 (see here) and Conor Lamb in PA-17 (see here) – survived the ugly attack ads and won their races.

The other candidate who was attacked for supporting a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants was Joe Biden. Stephen Miller even told Reuters in August that Joe Biden’s immigration stance is “a massive political vulnerability.” Trump attacked Joe Biden in ads and rallies as someone who “supports amnesty for 11 million illegal immigrants.”

But a battleground poll by GSG conducted for AV and others, finds that the attacks are not landing. Few voters, and even fewer swing voters, feel this attack raises doubts about voting for Biden, even though many believe the line to be true. According to GSG, “that’s because voters largely support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.”

According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice: The future of Dreamers was on the ballot in November and Dreamers won. Ending DACA and threatening the deportation of deeply rooted long term members of our society may be popular with the Trumpy hardcore base, but it is very unpopular with everyone else.

On an issue that used to divide the party, Democrats today are remarkably unified and pro-immigrant. Fair and generous immigration policies are shifting from wedge issues to consensus positions backed by a strong multicultural majority. Pushed by a movement to take action, supported by a public that hungers for solutions, and backed by a party that stands united on these issues, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have an opportunity to become a proudly pro-immigrant, prorefugee administration.l The mission of America’s Voice (AV) and America’s Voice Education Fund (AVEF) is to build the public support and the political will needed to enact policy changes that secure freedom and opportunity for immigrants in America.

Priority goal: win reforms that put 11 million undocumented Americans on a path to full citizenship.

Volunteering at THE IMMIGRANT'S JOURNAL LEGAL & EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. Internship positions available throughout the year.

The Immigrant's Journal Legal & Educational Fund, Inc. is an organization dedicated to the educational and economic empowerment of all immigrants and immigrant organizations here in the United States. We at the Journal recognize the enormous contribution of immigrants to this country economically, socially and politically. Since September 11, 2001, however, immigrants have increasingly been discriminated against and Congress has passed legislation curtailing the rights of immigrants here in the U.S., broadly claiming that immigrants are a threat to ''National Security.'' We at the Journal believe that these charges are unfounded, unsubstantiated and exaggerated.

The Immigrant's Journal Volunteer Intern Program was introduced to give our volunteers the opportunity to work in an immigrant friendly environment while developing the necessary skills for college or law school. They assist our staff in resolving immigration and other legal concerns through personal interviews, radio, email and telephone contact. They also assist the public with citizenship applications and in researching whether or not children of naturalized U.S. citizens have derived citizenship from their parents. Some of our volunteers assist our legal staff by engaging in legal research and writing letters on other legal issues. Volunteer interns are also assigned various other jobs in our Youth Programs.

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CIVIL RIGHTS

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Senate Must Focus on COVID-19 Relief, Not Another Trump Appellate Court Nominee

BY CIVILRIGHTS.ORG

I

n January 2016, President Obama nominated Myra Selby to a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Selby, a well-respected former Indiana Supreme Court justice, would have been the first African American and first woman from Indiana to serve on that court, but Senator Dan Coats, R. Ind., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R. Ky., made sure she never received a hearing or vote — and her nomination expired at the end of the 114th Congress.

The seat Selby was nominated to fill was one of more than 100 vacancies kept open by McConnell, who blocked votes on Obama’s judicial nominees during his final two years in office— even when Republican senators wanted their nominees confirmed.

Once Trump took office in January 2017, he wasted no time on judges.

Eleven days after his inauguration, Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court seat that McConnell held open for nearly a year. One month after Gorsuch’s confirmation, Trump sent a Seventh Circuit nomination to the Senate. The nominee to that Indiana seat was not Myra Selby — it was Notre

Dame Law School professor Amy Coney Barrett.

Barrett was one of at least 10 white judicial nominees chosen by Trump who replaced Obama nominees of color. She is representative of this president’s appalling record on judicial diversity. Of Trump’s 53 circuit court judges who have been confirmed, just one is Latino and zero are Black.

And now that Barrett sits on the Supreme Court following a rushed, sham process, Trump has continued his shameful record of diversity by selecting Thomas Kirsch — yet another white nominee — to fill Barrett’s seat.

Kirsch is the fifth nominee — all of whom are white — Trump has named to the Seventh Circuit, which is now the

only all-white federal appeals court in the nation. Judge Ann Claire Williams, a Black woman, retired from the court in January 2018. Williams was the Seventh Circuit’s first judge of color and just the third woman of color to serve on a federal appeals court. Trump replaced her with a white nominee.

This seat was not one Trump should have filled in the first place, and he should not have the chance to fill it twice. If Kirsch is confirmed to the Seventh Circuit, the court — which covers Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin — will remain re-segregated.

Moreover, it is troubling that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham is focused on rushing through this nomination after Trump decisively

lost reelection and while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage on across the country. Let’s be clear: During the lame duck session, the Senate should only be taking up the most important priorities we have — not irresponsibly prioritizing their desire to stack our courts, which has reverberations for generations. There hasn’t been a circuit court confirmation in a lame duck Senate in decades, let alone during a time when the nation needs our leaders to focus on saving lives.

The Senate should be using this time to address the growing concerns of a nation confronting increasing death and illness, severely high unemployment, rampant hunger, insufficient access to health care, and long-term economic uncertainty.

The Senate majority cannot be so reckless and negligent as to fail to pass COVID relief, funding the government, and addressing systemic racism and state-sanctioned violence against Black and Brown people.

We do not support the Senate irresponsibly moving forward on Kirsch’s nomination and urge senators to oppose his confirmation to this all-white federal appeals court. l

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IMMIGRANTS’ CONCERNS

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Paid Sick Leave – Your Right to Fight COVID

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ew York, NY: With COVID-19 increasing in New York City, the Commissioners of Health and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) are reminding New Yorkers of one critical tool in the fight against the coronavirus – paid sick leave.

“Staying home if you don’t feel well is the right thing to do and it’s your right to be paid while you do it,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Dave A. Chokshi.

“Paid sick leave is good policy and it promotes public health. If you feel sick, don’t go out.”

“While fighting to limit the spread of the flu and COVID-19, paid sick leave is more important now than ever and thanks to our recent amendments to the law, newly-hired employees can begin to take paid leave immediately with no waiting period. Paid sick leave can be used to for a broad range of uses, including to get a flu shot, recovery, quarantine, or preventative care relating to COVID-19, to care for a child whose school has been closed as a result of the pandemic, or if their workplace has been closed by an Executive Order relating to the pandemic,” said DCWP Commissioner Lorelei Salas. “Workers with any questions or who need to file a complaint can contact us at nyc.gov/workers or by calling 311.”

One recent study suggested that the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which granted some workers

paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave due to COVID-19, helped reduce the spread of the virus. The researchers, from Cornell University and the KOF Swiss Economic Institute in Zurich, estimated that the policy prevented thousands of people from contracting COVID-19.

The NYC Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law was recently amended to expand worker protections that will go into effect in two phases. The first phase of amendments went into effect on September 30 and eliminates the 120-day waiting period for newly-hired employees to use accrued paid safe and sick leave, among other changes. Starting January 1, 2021, employers with 100 or more employees must provide up to 56 hours of paid leave, an increase from the previous requirement of 40 hours. Employers with between 5-100 employees and those with

four or fewer employees and a net income of $1 million must provide 40 hours of paid leave.

Currently, the NYC Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law requires employers with five or more employees and employers of domestic workers to provide paid safe and sick leave to employees. Employers with fewer than five employees must provide unpaid safe and sick leave. Safe and sick leave is accrued at a rate of one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours per calendar year, and begins on the employee’s first day of employment. For employers who do not front-load safe and sick leave on the first day of a new calendar year, employees must be able to carry over up to 40 hours of unused safe and sick leave from one calendar year to the new calendar year.

Employers and employees can visit nyc.gov/workers or call 311 (212-NEW-

YORK outside NYC) for more information, including the required notice, overviews of the laws or to file a complaint. New Yorkers may also be able to take emergency sick leave to quarantine or recover from COVID-19. Both federal and state law provide additional paid sick leave specifically for those needing to quarantine or remain in isolation.

Eligible workers can use this emergency leave in addition to their NYC paid sick leave. DCWP’s summary of City labor laws for employers and employees during the pandemic (Update about Workplace Laws During COVID-19) includes an overview of local, state and federal sick leave laws.

“We recognize that being diagnosed with COVID-19 or exposed to the virus can be overwhelming for many New Yorkers, and the Take Care program is here to help you navigate the process with a free hotel to isolate, or free resources to safely quarantine at home,” said Director of Take Dr. Amanda Johnson. “As household transmission of COVID-19 can happen fast, no one should hesitate to separate because of concerns about missing work, and together with our partners at Health and Consumer and Worker Protection, the Take Care program wants all New Yorkers to know that the important tool of Paid Sick Leave is available to support them.”l

NYC, masks and social distancing are working!

WHAT’S NEXT

IN THE COVID-19 FIGHT? NOW, WE ALL NEED TO GET TESTED OFTEN, even with no symptoms, to keep reducing the spread.

TO FIND EASY AND SAFE TESTING AT NO COST TO YOU,

VISIT NYC.GOV/COVIDTEST OR CALL 212-COVID19

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IN THE NEWS

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New York City and Philadelphia Lead Coalition of Six Cities Asking Congress to Extend Deadline for Green Card Applications Under Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness

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EW YORK CITY, NY AND PHILADELPHIA, PA — Today, [November 18], New York City and Philadelphia issued a joint letter with peer cities Baltimore, Maryland; St. Paul, Minnesota; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Providence, Rhode Island to urge Congress to extend the December 20, 2020 deadline for green card applications under Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF) for at least one year, until the end of December 2021. LRIF is a provision of an important and fair bipartisan law that passed at the end of 2019, which provides a pathway to citizenship for some Liberians and their immediate family members living in the United States since 2014. Given the stressors of COVID-19, cities have come together to advocate for this extension so more eligible immigrants can apply. This advocacy complements outreach efforts on the ground to inform Liberian immi-

grants about the program and how to apply before the current deadline.

The new letter, signed by leading officials of each jurisdiction, underscores that the extension of the LRIF deadline is necessary due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the hardships experienced in particular by Black communities, and in the interest of advancing racial justice.

The United States and Liberia have a unique relationship. In 1847, the modern state of Liberia was founded by formerly enslaved African-Americans, among others. By extending the deadline for green card applications under LRIF, the United States would honor the historical relationship between the two countries and provide eligible Liberian individuals— many of whom are descendants of enslaved Africans—with the opportunity to complete the LRIF process and adjust their immigration status.

Under Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness, applications for green cards must be filed by December 20, 2020.

Liberian individuals who have a pending green card application based on the LRIF may apply for work authorization.

Spouses and unmarried children may also qualify for green cards, and there is no public charge test for those applying for green cards. For more information on eligibility requirements, please visit the USCIS website.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and its particular impact on Black communities, only a small number of Liberian immigrants have submitted applications to adjust their status to legal permanent residents under LRIF. This is concerning as there is only one month left to apply for a green card under LRIF while the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) designation for Liberia, which many in the community currently rely on to live and work in the United States, is set to end on January 10, 2021.

“We are committed to working alongside our peer cities and community partners to ensure that every eligible Liberian has access to the information and resources they need to apply for LRIF and are given a fair shot to complete an

application,” said Bitta Mostofi, Commissioner of New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.

“We once again applaud passage of this legislation by Congress and the creation of this pathway to residency for our Liberian communities. Today, we urge delegates to recognize the immense economic and health challenges presented

by COVID-19 for this community to avail itself of this relief. Congress must take action and extend a fair deadline for this much-needed program.”

“We are very concerned that many eligible Liberians have not applied because of the economic hardships that the pandemic has caused, among other challenges. It is our responsibility to ask Congress to take concrete actions and give more time to the Liberian community to file their green card applications," said Amy Eusebio, Executive Director of the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.

This provision provides eligible Liberian individuals who arrived in the United States the opportunity to become green card holders and, therefore, a path to citizenship. Also, it gives "hope for people who have been missing from the world" to reconnect with their roots, their past, and the family that they left behind in Liberia, according to Voffee Jabateh, CEO of the African Cultural Alliance of North America—a Philadelphia-area provider of legal, social and health services for African and Caribbean immigrants.

"As the proud son of immigrants, I am intimately aware of how important pathways to citizenship like LRIF are," said City of Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza. "The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted every other aspect of our lives, particularly for our vulnerable immigrant neighbors who disproportionately hold low-wage frontline jobs that keep our economy and society afloat. It is in our interest as Americans to extend the application deadline for our Liberian neighbors seeking citizenship during this time.” l

NPNA Applauds Selection/from page 1 agency to one that prioritizes eliminating barriers in order to achieve greater immigrant and refugee inclusion in our country,” said Nicole Melaku, executive director of NPNA. “We look forward to working with Secretary Mayorkas and the Biden administration to move our country forward, make immediate and urgently needed changes to federal immigration policy, and bring into focus a new vision for how this country treats immigrant and refugee communities.”

The appointment of Mayorkas restores credibility to DHS, bringing decades of experience as a homeland security expert respected by both Democrats and Republicans. As the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) under the Obama administration, Mayorkas developed and implemented the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and expanded fee waivers for naturalization and immigration applications.

Mayorkas would be the first Latino and first immigrant to lead the agency.

The Biden administration will take the reins of DHS at a time when countless reforms to the federal immigration system are needed, including many policy changes that can be carried out administratively.

NPNA has called for DHS, and USCIS more specifically, to take immediate steps to expand access to citizenship, including through reversing the Trump administration’s rules to increase naturalization and immigration application fees and eliminate fee waivers; reducing the backlog of over 744,000 citizenship applications; streamlining the application process; and implementing voluntary, automatic voter registration for all newly naturalized citizens.l The National Partnership for New Americans is a national multiethnic, multiracial organization that represents 41 of the largest regional immigrant and refugee rights organizations in 37 states.

Its members provide large-scale services for the communities, to leverage their collective power and expertise for a national strategy. More information about the New American Voters 2020 campaign is available at http://newamericanvoters2020.org/

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TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

7

Trump Administration Wants to Deny Work Permits to Some People Released From ICE Detention

BY EMMA WINGER

T

he Trump administration announced on November 17 that it plans to start denying work permits to people who have been ordered deported, but who have been released from immigration custody because they cannot—or should not—be deported. A stated purpose of this new rule, published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is to encourage people to selfdeport.

Rather than keep a person with a deportation order locked in immigration detention indefinitely, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must release the person on an Order of Supervision (OSUP). An OSUP allows ICE to monitor individuals with deportation orders without holding them in jail, resulting in cost savings for taxpayers.

There are many reasons why a person with a removal order isn’t deported.

Sometimes foreign countries refuse to issue a travel document or permit its citizens to return. The government cannot

detain someone for an unlimited period of time in such circumstances. Once a person’s removal is not “reasonably foreseeable,” ICE must release him.

In the past, ICE has also released individuals for humanitarian reasons. For instance, ICE has chosen not to detain or deport people with complicated medical issues that can only be treated in the United States. The agency has done the same for single parents with U.S. citizen children.

Right now, people released on an OSUP can apply for permission to work.

This makes sense. People released into the community need to be able to support themselves and their families for as long as they live in the United States.

But DHS wants to change that. DHS has proposed a rule that would prohibit work permits for individuals released from detention on an OSUP unless they fall into an extremely narrow exception.

The new restrictions would not apply to individuals with final deportation orders granted protection in the United States.

If the rule goes into effect, work per-

mits will be available only to people who show that they cannot be removed because all the countries DHS has contacted have affirmatively declined to issue the necessary travel documents for the individual.

This gives deportation officers power to deny people work authorization simply by requesting travel documents from as many countries as possible, even where the person has no connection to that country.

This requirement is designed to be nearimpossible. Historically, countries have been unwilling to issue such affirmative statements in writing.

Even people who fit into this narrow exception would also have to show an “economic necessity” for work authorization. Applicants for work authorization do not typically have to demonstrate economic necessity.

And even those who are eligible for employment authorization will not be able to renew their work permits unless they are employed by a business that uses E-Verify.

E-Verify is an online government program where employers can verify their employee’s work eligibility. But the program suffers from errors. Most importantly, the overwhelming majority of U.S. employers do not use E-Verify, and so the proposed rule would put nearly impossible employment restrictions on the few people still eligible to work while on an OSUP. If this new rule goes into effect, this already vulnerable population—stateless people and those released for humanitarian reasons—will be forced to live life on the margins, without legal permission to work.

The government’s goal—make life so difficult for people that they deport themselves—is despicable. Many people with families to support, including those with young children, depend on the ability to work. The unbearable hardships DHS would be imposing through this regulation will have widespread ramifications.l

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IMMIGRANTS’ VOICES

8

Stolen Childhood/ continued from page 1 nine siblings, his parents expected him to work. First on the family farm. Then, when he was about 15, he went alone to Mexico City to work at a massive recycling facility, he told me when I called to interview him recently. The building was split into three sections: one for paper, one for glass and one for animal bones.

Apparently, the bones were pulverized to make dog food.

Every day he went to a landfill where he bought piles of paper and bones from scavengers and then shoveled the waste onto a truck. He told me about the families he saw at the landfill who raised their children and chickens amid the trash. “It was dirty. You don’t want to know about that,” he said, his way of protecting me still, even though I’m a 36-year-old mom.

Each night, when he finished, his body was caked in the dust from the crushed bones and stank of the landfill. He showered with a hose outside the boarding house where he rented a room.

After several months, my dad returned to his village, wearing crisp blue jeans he’d bought with his earnings. He handed over the rest of his money to his mother. He would go on to do two more stints like this before immigrating to the U.S. when he was 17 with two cousins and a man from a nearby village.

This summer and fall, as I heard Guatemalan adolescents describe their

A recent photo of the author’s father, near his home town in rural Guanajuato, Mexico. (Courtesy of Melissa Sanchez)

immigration stories and their sense of duty to support their families back home, I realized they were around the same age as my father was when he first left home.

I spent a lot of time with these teenagers, mostly on long phone calls between school and work, or on the sidelines at their soccer games, pursuing an idea I had back in March, in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. For about a year, I’d been hearing that more Guatemalan immigrants were showing up on factory floors, and that among them were teenagers who worked overnight while they attended area high schools during the day. I told my editors I thought there might be a story to tell about these immigrant teenagers who were now “essential workers.”

I wasn’t sure what kind of story this

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would be or if it was in fact happening, if I could get people to talk to me. But my gut, and what I knew of my father’s experiences, told me it was true.

I told the teens I met about my father’s story and how that helped me understand, in a small way, something about their own lives. I told them I believed their stories had value. And I told them that the millions of Americans who seemed to pay so much attention to the plight of Central American children at the border just a few years earlier should know how challenging and complicated their lives are today.

Eventually, I gained the trust of more than a dozen of the adolescents and young men I met in Bensenville, where they lived. But having that trust was scary. I didn’t want to cause them harm, and theirs is a complicated story to tell.

These young people work in conditions few Americans can imagine for their own children: cutting and packing meat, scrubbing sharp pieces of metal and hosing down heavy machinery. They sometimes get hurt and are vulnerable to exploitation. The companies that hire them, typically temp agencies, break child labor laws. The government agencies charged with enforcing labor laws don’t investigate because nobody is complaining. And because they work so late, the teens are often too tired to learn much in school.

But they don’t see themselves as victims. They’re not asking to be rescued.

They talked with me on the condition that I wouldn’t identify them or the com-

panies where they work; they’re afraid they or some of their young co-workers could lose their jobs and the ability to support themselves, or that they could face criminal penalties. (We are using only partial names to identify the teens.)

“Maybe [naming the company] won’t impact me, but that could hurt everybody else,” one teen told me. “I wasn’t the only minor there.”

Another worried about the companies he’s worked for. “It’s like you’d be blaming them, saying, ‘This factory put adolescents to work,’” he said. “From my perspective, they’re doing something good because they let us work.”

At their root, their experiences and those of young people like them stem from messy systemic and generational problems, starting with intractable poverty and violence in their home countries with bloody histories that have been complicated by U.S. intervention. Then there’s the fundamentally flawed U.S. immigration system that makes it difficult for people to come here even as American businesses are eager to give them jobs.

And in a lot of the developing world, childhood is a luxury. I asked a scrawny 15-year-old boy who works at a candy packaging facility about how he sees his future. He told me, his voice still cracking from puberty, that he doesn’t want his children “to suffer the way I have suffered.” The comment stayed with me: a child telling me about how he dreams of a better life for children he does not yet have.

But I get it. If his kids are born here, like I was, they’ll have more opportunities than he did in Guatemala. My father probably would have said the same thing 50-some years ago. l Melissa Sanchez is a reporter at ProPublica Illinois who is focused on immigrants and low-wage workers. I hope you’ll read the story. Please share and tell me what you think. Also, if you’re a young immigrant with this kind of background and work experience, or an educator or anybody else who is seeing students like these, I’d love to talk. Email me at melissa.sanchez@propublica.org.

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9

MONEY MATTERS

Student Loan Debt and COVID: FTC Sends Warning Letter to Frank Financial Aid when your financial aid comes in.”

However, in the fine print is the statement that consumers are required to pay back Frank’s cash advance “61 days after the date of disbursement.” Furthermore, despite claims on its website that consumers can get cash advances of up to $5,000 on their student loans with “No interest, no fees – ever,” the company actually charges a fee of $19.90 per month.

BY LESLIE FAIR, FTC

F

or people dealing with student loan debt – your employees, a family member, or maybe you – the CARES Act gives emergency grants to qualifying borrowers. But like other financial assistance programs, consumers need to know key details up front. As part of its ongoing effort to monitor the marketplace for questionable claims arising from the COVID pandemic, FTC staff just sent a warning letter to New Yorkbased Frank Financial Aid, raising concerns about representations regarding CARES Act grants, as well as a cash advance product the company is advertising.

What has FTC staff concerned? Some potentially misleading claims on Frank’s website. One fundamental fact to keep in mind is that for assistance through the Department of Education’s Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund created by the CARES Act, the Department has made it clear that each school has its own unique application process and “decides the criteria for qualified students to receive a grant, the grant amount, and how and when the grant will be disbursed (paid out) to students” –

which raises the issue of what Frank has claimed.

•Frank has said consumers may “apply in 2 minutes for your student emergency grant” through the company’s site and that “Frank emails you everything you need to send to your school.” But according to the FTC, the letters Frank creates aren’t tailored to the application process and documentation requirements of each school.

•Frank has said that to be eligible for emergency relief, students and/or their parents must have experienced one or more of four identified criteria since March 1, 2020 (for example, a firing or furlough). But again, each school determines its own grant eligibility criteria.

•In addition, Frank has said that consumers who get a cash advance through the company (which is separate from any CARES Act relief) can “[p]ay it back

The warning letter advises Frank to take a look at its advertising and marketing – including websites, social media, email, telemarketing, and texts – to ensure the company is complying with the FTC Act’s prohibition on unfair or deceptive acts or practices. The letter also suggests a careful look at disclosures required by the Truth in Lending Act. FTC staff has directed the company to get back to us promptly with the specific actions it has taken to address these concerns.

The message for other marketers is that the pandemic in no way changes established consumer protection principles.

That’s why FTC staff is keeping a careful watch on companies’ claims.l

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11

FAMILY MATTERS

What Does Healthy Co-Parenting Look Like?

BY RICK JOHNSON

U

nfortunately, divorce can bring out the worst in us. The biggest obstacles to successful co-parenting are emotions like anger, resentment, and jealousy. Those kinds of emotions make the challenge of co-parenting with your ex more difficult. However, your children still need their mother and their father—whether they still live together or not. Here are five things to remember to help you successfully co-parent together.

It is not about you…it is about your kids If the adults involved just remember that it is about the kids, there would not be near as many challenges. Commit to putting your children’s well-being ahead of any issues you may have with your ex. It takes maturity and dedication to let go of past wounds and bitterness, but it will make a difficult situation much easier.

Also, encourage your children’s relationship with their new stepparent. Recognize that they are not your rival or replacement, but that you are all in this together in helping raise your children. Often it is easier said than done, but try your best anyway. Attitude and effort count.

Always treat the other parent with respect No matter how difficult this may be, it is imperative you treat your children’s mother with respect—regardless of how she treats you. Not only does this help keep a civil relationship between you and your ex, it also is in the best interests of your children. There is no woman that your children love more than their mother. Bad mouthing or being disrespectful towards her hurts your children, it makes you look bad, and it teaches them negative lessons on what relationships should look like and how people should be treated. It will also turn your children against you. Never allow your children to be disrespectful or speak disrespectful towards their mother--even in the privacy of your home.

Keep lines of communication open with co-parent Effective communication is the number one most important factor in maintaining healthy relationships. Unfortunately, verbal communication is not generally a man’s strong suit. Even after 35 years together my wife is still continually telling me, “use your words.” But you can also communicate in a variety of

see their biological parent. In addition, do not “punish” your ex by withholding their children from them. Your children are not pawns in a game of revenge. By doing that, you are hurting your children more than your ex. They need to spend time with their other parent.

ways such as through email, texting, voicemail, as well as face-to-face conversation. Remember too that voice inflection and body language convey more meaning than verbal communication does. If your tone is sarcastic and your body language aggressive you will send those messages regardless of the words you use. If you do not keep the lines of communication open with your ex, your children will be the ones who suffer most.

Let the kids see their bio parents Your children did not ask for this situation, so do not hurt them any more than they already are by not allowing them to

Keep it business-like A healthy co-parenting relationship looks like a business relationship. Do not bring emotions into it. Do what is best for your kids…always! The question I get most often is “What if my ex has a different value system than I do?” Hopefully you are able to agree on boundaries and behavioral guidelines with consistent rules in each home, but if not, it is vital for children to know that the rules in your home are part of your value system. At the same time, it is important to respect the other parent’s rules in their household (even if they are different from yours).l

Rick Johnson is a sought-after speaker and bestselling author of 11 books on parenting and marriage. He is also the founder and director of Better Dads Ministries.

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JOBS & RECESSION

12

Tips for Turning Seasonal Work into a Full-Time Job

R

eady for a new gig? With the holidays around the corner, many businesses are offering seasonal work. It's not just for people looking to make a few extra dollars. It's a little known fact that some employers often end up offering some seasonal workers a permanent role after the holidays are over.

So whether you're thinking of moving on from your current job, or you're out of work due to the pandemic, seasonal work can be a great way to get your foot in the door.

If you're interested in the idea of leveraging seasonal work into a meaningful career at a company with great benefits, here are some tips and insights to keep in mind as you start filling out those applications.

Look beyond retail: Seasonal work offers opportunities that go well beyond operating a cash register. Many sectors are looking to add thousands to their payroll during the holidays, including transportation, manufacturing and package delivery. For example, did you know that UPS is currently filling over 100,000 jobs for the 2020 holiday season? In the

day.

Make sure the job is right for you: Sometimes, when we're job hunting, we lose sight of the fact that this is a time to test-drive a new role. That's what makes seasonal work such a unique opportunity.

If the company is evaluating you, it's just as important that you evaluate the company. Ask veterans what it's like to work there. Now's a good time to find out what they like about the work, along with any benefits the company offers, and how the company promotes a good quality of life.

past three years, about 35% of their seasonal employees ended up with permanent roles. So keep your eyes open, because you may discover possibilities you may not have considered.

Make your intentions known: If you're interested in making your seasonal job into something permanent, speak up. Tell your boss you'd love to stay on after the holidays. If they don't know you're interested, you may get overlooked when the perfect opportunity opens up. No need to

constantly drop hints, but it's important to raise your hand so they know to consider you.

Give your best effort: Once you're hired on, keep in mind your boss will be looking at the strongest candidates when it comes to offering permanent work. Do your best to show everyone that you're a great employee and colleague. That means showing up on time, being willing to go above and beyond, and bringing a positive, can-do attitude to work every

Looking for a job that pays great and has benefits such as health insurance, vacation time and pension benefits isn't easy.

But for many workers, seasonal work can provide a path to bigger and better things.

Just ask the 123,000 permanent UPS employees who started out in seasonal positions — about a third of their current workforce, including top managers and executives. Maybe you'll be one of them!

Check out the opportunities at UPSJobs.com and apply today.(BPT)l

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EDUCATION

14

US Colleges Report a 43% Decline in New International Student Enrollment, and Not Just Because of the Pandemic

BY DAVID L. DI MARIA THE CONVERSATION

F

or the fourth year in a row, the number of international students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities has declined. This is according to data released this month by the State Department and the Institute of International Education.

The fact that the decline largely took place during Donald Trump’s presidency is no mere coincidence. The Trump administration has tightened restrictions on who can study here and has also sent signals that students from abroad are not welcome.

As the Trump administration comes to an end, the new international enrollment data serve as sort of a failing grade for an administration that claimed international education would be a top priority. The Trump administration also made commitments to increase the number of international students in the U.S. and boasted of having spent more on recruiting international students than any other administration in history.

Important as it is to have global perspectives at American colleges and universities, the steady decline in international enrollment is about more than that.

As a specialist in international education, I know that the continued decrease in students from abroad will negatively affect U.S. students and the American economy.

Still over 1 million There are currently just over one 1 million international students studying in

the U.S. This has been the case since 2015. This current figure includes 851,957 students enrolled at higher education institutions and 223,539 people engaged in Optional Practical Training, a program that allows recent international graduates to remain in the U.S. temporarily to obtain work or volunteer experience related to their major, according to data I analyzed from the Institute of International Education.

The Optional Practical Training is important to consider when you examine trends in international enrollment in the era of Trump. The reason is that the true impact of the Trump administration on international enrollment is masked by Obama-era policies that permitted more international students to remain in the U.S. for longer periods through the Optional Practical Training program.

As these people complete their training programs, the total number of international students will likely once again dip below the 1 million mark.

Where they are from While the students came from more than 220 countries and territories, China and India accounted for 53% of the total, the data show.

About one-third of international students – 34.8% – enrolled in graduatelevel coursework. The next-biggest group was those enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs – 33.1%. Associate degree and non-degree studies accounted for 5.9% and 5.4%, respectively, of international student enrollment in the U.S. The remaining 20.8% were participating in Optional Practical Training.

Just over half of all students from abroad – 52% – pursued majors in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. How they pay for school At the undergraduate level, 83.9% of international students rely on personal and family income to pay for their education in the U.S. Five percent rely on a foreign government or university, and 0.4% rely on a foreign private sponsor. In all, 89.3% are

pumping money from abroad into the U.S. economy, while the remaining 10.7% rely primarily on funding from a U.S. source. At the graduate level, 60.7% of international students rely primarily on international funds, since 36.5% received funding from their college in the U.S. These graduate students usually get this funding in exchange for helping faculty with grant-funded research projects or helping teach undergraduate courses in their discipline. The remaining 2.8% received funding from other U.S. sources.

Most of the money spent by international students – 55% – is spent within the higher education sector. This in turn helps colleges support high-tech academic programs. It also helps keep tuition lower for students from the U.S. But a drop in international students doesn’t hurt just colleges’ bottom lines – it harms local economies as well.

When you subtract all funding from U.S. sources, one analysis found, international students still contributed US$38.7 billion to the U.S. economy in 2019. These dollars supported 415,996 American jobs, based on an economic analysis.

Also, consider that 18% of every dollar spent by international students goes to apartment rentals and other forms of accommodation; 11% goes to restaurants, 9% to retail and the rest to other sectors of the economy.

No matter how you slice the data, the fact remains that international students make positive contributions to the U.S. economy. In fact, 1 in 4 $1 billion startup companies in the U.S. had a founder who first arrived on a student visa.

Looking forward Many international students have reacted positively to the victory of Presidentelect Joseph Biden and Vice Presidentelect Kamala Harris.

Nevertheless, I believe it will take years to reverse the trend of declining international enrollment that intensified under Trump.

It is true that there was a decline during the last year of the Obama administration, but that was mostly due to the fact that the Brazilian and Saudi governments curtailed major study-abroad scholarship programs for their citizens. This resulted in a drop of 10,586 in Brazilian students and 8,670 fewer Saudi students between 2014 and 2016. The situation got worse as the U.S. came to be seen by international students as an unwelcoming nation under Trump.

After the pandemic The Institute of International Education also partnered with nine other higher

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continued on page 16

GENERATIONS

15

10 Steps for Healthy Aging for Seniors

L

iving a healthy lifestyle becomes even more important for better aging. The things we do to keep body and heart healthy—nutritious diet, physical activity, and social connections – also can help promote brain health and wellness. Here are 10 steps for successful aging: 1. Eat Well: Adopt a low-fat diet high on fruits and veggies, like strawberries, blueberries and broccoli. Take daily vitamins. Limit intake of red meats, fried and processed foods, salt and sugar. In general, foods that are “heart healthy” are also “brain healthy.”

2. Stay Active Physical: Activity increases blood flow to the brain and can also help improve mood and overall wellbeing. Brisk walking benefits brain health, while aerobics can boost your heart rate, and weight training builds strength and flexibility.

3. Learn New Things: Challenge your brain by starting a new hobby like playing tennis, learning to speak a foreign language, trying a cooking class, or something you haven’t done before. Even something as simple as brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand stimulates the brain by forcing it to think outside of its normal routine.

4. Get Enough Sleep: Getting a consistent sleep every night is key; at least seven to nine hours is ideal. Having a good sleep environment is also helpful.

Insomnia or sleep apnea can have serious physical effects and negatively affect memory and thinking.

5. Mind Your Meds: Medication can affect everyone differently, especially as you age. When getting a new medication or something you haven’t taken in a while (whether over the counter or prescription), talk to your doctor or local pharmacist.

6. Stop Smoking and Limit Alcohol: Smoking can increase the risk of other serious illnesses, while too much alcohol

can impair judgment and cause accidents, including falls, broken bones, and car crashes.

7. Stay Connected: Social interaction and maintaining an active social life are very important for brain health, cognitive stimulation and mood. Invite friends and family over for a meal, board games, or just to hang out. Engaging in your community and participating in group activities is also beneficial.

8. Know Your Blood Pressure: Blood pressure can impact your cognitive functioning. Visit your physician regularly to check your blood pressure and make sure it is in normal range.

9. See Your Doctor: Maintain checkups.

Health screenings are key to managing chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity, all of which can impact brain health. Speak with your physician about any concerns or questions you have about your health.

10. Get a Memory Screening: Our brains need regular checkups, just as other parts of our bodies do. A memory screening is a quick, easy, non-invasive exam for our brains. Talk to your doctor about getting a screening as part of your annual wellness exam or call the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America at 866-232-8484.

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HEALTH

16

COVID-19 Vaccination Could Start December 11th

Decline in International Students/from page 14

BY CAROLYN CRIST

P

fizer’s coronavirus vaccine could be approved and roll out across the U.S. at the end of the second week in December, Moncef Slaoui, the chief science adviser for Operation Warp Speed, said on several Sunday talk shows.

The first people could receive the vaccine on Dec. 11 or Dec. 12. The goal is to immunize 20 million people by the end of December. Another 30 million could be vaccinated each month after that.

“Our plan is to be able to ship vaccines to the immunization sites within 24 hours from the approval,” Slaoui said on CNN’s State of the Union.

The FDA is scheduled to review Pfizer’s application for emergency use on Dec. 10. Moderna is planning to file its application by the end of November, Slaoui said, which the FDA will evaluate on Dec. 17.

About 70% of the country — or about 230 million people —would need to take a coronavirus vaccine to achieve “true herd immunity,” he said, which could happen by May 2021. But he expressed concerns about people refusing to take a vaccine.

“I’m very, very concerned about the

hesitancy [to receive a vaccine] as it exists, and I think it’s very unfortunate because this has been exacerbated by the political context under which we have worked very hard,” he said on ABC’s This Week.

Slaoui said he felt comfortable with the safety of the vaccines and pledged to make sure the data is transparent. While the vaccine is under FDA review, the CDC is issuing guidance to states about which groups should be first to get it, and the states are determining how to distribute the vaccine at the local level. Health care workers and vulnerable groups who face the highest risks for contracting severe COVID-19 will receive a vaccine first.

“We will have already identified with each state and department of health where they want the vaccines to be located,” he said on NBC’s Meet the Press.

Slaoui also repeated concerns from recent weeks, saying he’s worried about “anything that could derail the process.”

He confirmed on Sunday that he hasn’t yet had contact with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team.

“I hope there is no disruption in any way,” he said. “I have been informed that I should not be saying anything that is confidential to anybody, including anybody who is not part of the [Trump] administration.” l —WebMD Health News Brief

education associations to assess international student enrollment amid the COVID-19 crisis. The most alarming facts from the survey are a 43% drop in new international student enrollment and a 16% reduction in total international enrollment in the fall of 2020. The study also found that 1 in 5 international students are reportedly studying online from abroad, and roughly 40,000 international students have chosen to defer their enrollment to a future term.

All said, the findings reflect a lot of uncertainty for the future of U.S. colleges, which were already – before the COVID-19 pandemic began – anticipating that overall enrollment will drop by more than 15% after the year 2025 because of record-low birthrates in the U.S. that began in 2008 and continue to this day.l David L. Di Maria is an Associate Vice Provost for International Education, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

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LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

17

Finding Love After Divorce for Men

BY JANET HOWARD 311DIVORCE.COM

My heart might be bruised, but it will recover and become capable of

W

hile both women and men have difficulties getting back in the dating game after a divorce, they do seem to have difficulty in different areas. While women take longer to get back in the game than men do, it seems that men have more issues making lasting connections. If you are a man who has recently been divorced, take a moment to breathe, and then make sure that you are ready to make real connections.

Do You Know What Broke Up Your Marriage?

It is easy to say that you broke up because you no longer love each other, or even because one of you was cheating.

However, there are events that led to the divorce, and though at this point you probably have a very clear idea of what happened, you need to know why they happened as well. For example, if it was because you were always working, why were you always working? If you want your next relationship to go well, you need to look into preventing the thing that went wrong in the first place!

seeing beauty of life once more.

It's happened before, it will happen again, I'm sure. When someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive—'ll find love again.

Paulo Coelho, The Zahir

Can You Be Friends With Women?

If you want to date women, you need to be willing to be friends with them as well. A lot of men note the big leap that goes with changing from a fun girlfriend to being a life partner. If you are not ready to be friends with the women that you are seeing, you are not ready to make a lasting connection. Your future life partner is going to be your friend as much as she is your wife, so think about where you are at and what this means.

Are You Feeling Confident?

If you are still feeling hurt or insecure after your divorce, you are not going to get anything out of the dates that you are going on. Anyone can get a date, but keeping a connection going is a lot harder! Get confident. Go to the gym, learn an instrument, or look into something that will improve your mind. It's easier than you think.

Do You Have Solid Friendships In Your Life?

When you want to make a real connection romantically, you need to be someone who is making real connections in other places. Maybe you are very close with your family, or maybe you have friends who take the place of blood family. Solid friendships keep you grounded and help you get where you want to be romantically.

Dating after divorce is harder than you might initially think it is, but with some time and some work, you will be ready to find real love again!l

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WELCOME TO AMERICA

18

New US Citizenship Test Makes It Harder for Immigrants to Become Citizens nal 13 states may now be asked to identify five of the original 13 states.

USCIS says one of the goals of the new test is to ensure applicants learn more about civics and history and aren’t simply learning names and dates.

For example, the old test asked, “What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?” The new test asks, “What does the Bill of Rights protect?”

Similarly, the old test asked, “Who is ‘the father of our country?’” while the new test asks, “George Washington is famous for many things. Name one.”

BY AARON REICHLIN-MELNICK

L

awful permanent residents seeking to become U.S. citizens will now be required to take a more difficult and longer citizenship test. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the change on November 13.

The new test increases the total number of questions from 100 to 128. Applicants will be verbally asked 20 questions and must answer at least 12 correctly, up from six out of 10.

A longer and more challenging test will likely prevent some immigrants from becoming citizens. It will also delay the citizenship process for hundreds of thousands more who are already waiting in months- or years-long backlogs.

The new test will apply to any person who files a citizenship application after December 1, 2020. These changes come on the heels of other targeted efforts that make it harder to become a U.S. citizen, including higher naturalization fees, increased vetting, and backlogs in citizenship applications.

The New Citizenship Test Questions Are More Complicated Some of the questions have been made explicitly more difficult—even though there’s no evidence the old test wasn’t challenging enough.

While applicants previously may have been asked to identify one of the branches of government, they may now be asked to identify all three branches of government. Applicants who may have been asked to identify three of the origi-

Some New Questions Have a Political Slant Other questions have taken on a subtle political stance. For example, two new questions asking “Why did the United States enter the Korean War?” and “Why did the United States enter the Vietnam War?” each have only one suggested answer: “To stop the spread of communism.”

One question in particular raises concerns of politicization. On the old test, applicants could be asked “Who does a

U.S. Senator represent?” The suggested answer was “all people of the state.” On the new test, the suggested answer is “citizens of their state.”

This is not correct. Members of Congress represent everyone who lives within their district, regardless of citizenship status. It’s been that way since the nation was founded.

The Trump administration has tried to change this through executive orders.

One executive order attempted to exclude undocumented immigrants from the official 2020 Census count. Another was designed to help states draw legislative districts based on the number of citizens, not people.

The incoming Biden administration could likely reverse the changes to the test or eliminate some of the more controversial questions. While changes to the citizenship test are periodically made (the last update was in 2008), these significant and politically motivated changes will do nothing but drive up backlogs and make the citizenship process unnecessarily more difficult.l

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This Citizenship Program does not apply to anyone who has ever been arrested since getting their Green Card.

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