Hey friends, join me live tonight. It's it's Saturday night and, um, we're in a new year and
I'm gonna be talking about some immigration news for those of you who are new to me. Welcome to my
channel. Welcome to this live session. I'm attorney Latoya McBean POY and immigration
lawyer in New York, working with folks all over the world on immigration, um, issues, contact us
at McBean law to see, um, how we might be able to assist you. And as you get on tonight, say hello,
and let me know where you're joining me from. Um, I, you know, I wish you guys a wonderful,
wonderful new year and I look forward to, um, what this new year brings for all of us. Okay.
So let's get into it. And by the way, if you're watching this on the replay, um, subscribe to my
channel on McVean immigration TV on YouTube and hit the notification be, uh, before you go.
All right. So who is on tonight? It's nice to see some of few, um, folks are joining. Thank
you so much for being with me tonight. Um, Joanne, um, El L uh, nice to have you Belinda, thank you
so much for being with me, uh, from Brooklyn. Okay. So let's talk about some things, uh, uh,
some good news and, and some other issues in this one, friends, uh, you may have heard about some of
these things they happen during the holiday. And so we're gonna get caught up on some of the things
that has happened over the past couple of weeks with immigration. We're gonna talk about some very
exciting news for healthcare workers, uh, who are now are able to expedite their employment,
authorization document, otherwise known as the E a D uh, they're able to expedite it. We're
gonna also talk about the growing backlog at U S C I S, which is a huge problem for
up to about 9 million people, um, Afghan who have been denied of humanitarian parole.
And then we're also gonna talk about immigration reform because, um, there are some things that,
uh, uh, are, has happened, I should say, over the past couple of days that, um, I wanna share with
you guys. So those are the things that we're gonna talk about tonight. So let me just, um, go into
my presentation here, or my summary, firstly, friends, uh, good news for healthcare workers. Um,
let's see, U S C I S announced that if you're a healthcare worker and you have a
pendant, I 7 65 application for employment authorization, or the E a D. If you have
this pen to an application, you could actually, um, contact them to expedite it. Okay. And this
is for those whose E a D is expiring within 60 days, I'm sorry, 30 days, 30 days or less, or
has already expired. If that's you, you should contact U S C I S at 1-800-375-FIVE 2 8 3
at the contact center to request the expedited processing of your E a D.
Um, and it has to be based on the, that you're a healthcare worker. Um, now they may ask you for
evidence, uh, related to your employment in order for them to approve you of that. Okay.
Okay. Now, um, again, contact them so that you can get your E a D expedited friends. The backlog
at USC I S is, is, is just it's growing. Okay. It's growing according to a report that U S C I S
published or sent to Congress, I should say, um, U S C I S added, uh, about 631 cases to the backlog
resulted in 3.1 million in and net backlog status. But here's the thing. There are a
lot of numbers. There's, you know, there's numbers related to cases that are pen in cases that have
been approved in pen in folks who are just wait listed. There are a lot of numbers out there,
but the biggest thing that, um, the biggest number really is the nine, about 9 million people
are sitting there waiting for their cases to be adjudicated.
And the backlog is, is basically growing. Um, and so this is a huge problem. And the numbers
that we have are numbers going, um, end in fiscal year 2020, the backlog was at 3.1 million cases,
but actually 6.1 million actual pending in cases. And again, like I said, the numbers are
a little confusing because on the one hand Cato Institute is reporting that there are 9 million
people, right on the, both the employment and family side that are caught up in this backlogs.
So it really depends on the methodology. And of course, U S C I S um, you know,
is presenting its information to Congress in a way that, you know, obviously doesn't make it look
too bad. Right. Okay. And I'll just leave it at that. But the bottom line is that there's a
significant number of people in the backlog and U S C I S need to be held accountable for that.
Um, next friend's humanitarian parole for Afghans. Um, 35,000 applications were submitted by Afghans
seeking humanitarian parole or entry into the United States based on the crisis that's happening
in Afghanistan. And U S C I S has denied 470 applications so far, and conditionally approved
more than 140. This is an issue guys. This is a problem. Lawyers, um, are incredibly concerned
about this because the decision letter that U S C I S has, um, sent to folks seem to suggest
that they now have a stronger or higher standard for determining, uh, humanitarian per a role. And
so we're expecting more people to be denied, um, more Afghans to be denied based on the new
standard. All right. Lastly, friends hum. Um, Capitol hill, what's going on
on Capitol hill with respect to immigration reform. When we last left off in 2021, I almost
forgot what year we just came out of in 2021. I ended with some really hard devastated news that
the Senate parliamentarian had rejected planned C um, and then shortly thereafter, Senator mansion
came out and said, he's not gonna support, um, B B B the bill back better act, uh, which is the
reconciliation package. So, um, this, you know, then Congress went on on recess and this is really
their first week back. And so it was very slow. Nothing we is really happening on Capitol hill.
There's no plan D that has been announced yet, but what is happening is this friend, um, some
Democrats are pushing Senator mansion for a slimmer reconciliation package. And advocates are
trying to, to ensure that immigration is included in that slimmer, uh, package, um, mansion on the
other hand is saying, well, I'm not, I have not talked to the white house recently about
anything. We haven't really been in talks. Um, but if a deal happens, some Democrats
push for a vote to disregard the parliamentarian and, um, include one of the earlier immigration
plans that she had rejected. And this is according to Bloomberg government. That's the source here,
according to Bloomberg government, um, Democrats, some Democrats are push into over, um,
disregard the Senate parliamentarian altogether. Um, and so that's one thing to keep in mind. The
other thing to keep in mind is that advocates or advocacy groups are still working. Um, it
was a bit quiet earlier in the week, but they're working and according to Bloomberg government,
they are crafted new language, um, to try to pass muster with the Senate rules, um, official. Okay,
so they're working on new language that would meet some of the Senate rules. Um, and the article goes
on to say that those efforts are tentative for now. Um, as democratic leaders assess how to
move forward on the package and turn their attention to voting rights legislation.
In the meantime, the fate of, uh, the fate of separate provisions that address backlogs in
the legal immigration system also remain to be seen according to Bloomberg government.
They also say that a house democratic aid said the white house and leaders in both
chambers are consulting with key house lawmakers on how to advance immigration.
So this is the latest from, from what I can gather. Um, you know, as I read into what's
going on there and what the reporters are saying, they're now starting to talk again, new language,
uh, is being crafted by the advocacy community. Um, uh, then there's this little push to, uh, have
vote at some point to bypass the Senate parliamentarian. And I did report out to you guys
a few weeks ago that some, um, Senate democratic leaders were supporting that idea. So, you know,
is immigration reform completely dead? Um, I, I don't know yet. Okay. I don't know
yet. Like all of you, let me jump back on here. Like all of you, um, I'm also watching, reading,
praying, you know, um, and seeing what's gonna happen with all of this, but, um, that's the lady.
And so if they're successful guys with, um, having some sort of slimmer reconciliation package who
knows mansion may jump on board, he may support it and they may inject something around immigration.
So, um, it's, it's gonna be a long month, right. Of January watching all of, for these events,
but in any event that's, what's going on. Those are the latest things that I thought I'd share
with you just to kind of get caught up because it's been a couple of weeks since we talked about
immigration news, guys, thanks so much for being with me tonight. It's Saturday night.
And, um, we just survived a nice little snowstorm here in New York. I hope you guys are staying warm
wherever you are. Again, guys, subscribe to my channel, hit the notification bell.
If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook. Um, and obviously I'm on Facebook now,
turn on your notifications so that you'll get notice of my videos, my post, and what we're doing
at the law off is if you need immigration, um, assistance, reach out to us@mcbeanlaw.com or call
or text us at (516) 866-3900 for a consultation. It's really nice to be with you guys again.
And I see, um, a lot of folks in the comment I'll be in the comments
shortly after tonight's broadcast. And, um, guys, thanks so much also, uh, on Instagram
tomorrow, Sunday night, I will open up Q and a, um, my Q and a, um, will be opened up tomorrow
night in my Instagram am story. That's where you'll be able to add your question. And, um,
and so as I go through the questions, I usually do like a little video reply or response. So be sure
to follow me on Instagram and get into my stories so that you could ask your immigration question
there, guys. Thanks so much for being with me and I will see you in the next one. Bye bye.