Latest news with #LauraDevineImmigration
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's new ban dodges pitfalls faced by last attempt, experts say
US President Donald Trump has issued a sweeping new travel ban for people from 12 countries, revisiting a hallmark policy of his first term in office. There are some key differences, however. The original travel ban suffered a series of legal defeats. This time, the policy appears to have been designed to avoid the same pitfalls. Its predecessor, which targeted seven predominantly Muslim countries and was dubbed the "Muslim ban" by critics, was ordered just a week after Trump took office in 2017, during his first term in the White House. The ban was amended twice to overcome court challenges, after opponents argued it was unconstitutional and illegal because it discriminated against travellers based on their religion. A scaled-back version was eventually upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018, which this new ban closely resembles. Legal experts told the BBC that it appeared Trump had learned lessons from his first attempt. Christi Jackson, an expert in US immigration law at the London firm Laura Devine Immigration, said the new ban was more legally robust as a result. While the first lacked "clarity", the new restrictions were "wider in scope" and had "clearly defined" exemptions, she said. While there are some similarities in the nations chosen by the 2017 ban and the 2025 ban, Muslim-majority states are not the express target of the latest order. Barbara McQuade, professor of law at the University of Michigan and former US attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme that, on this basis, it seemed likely to win the approval of the Supreme Court, if it was ever referred up to that level. Trump's travel ban: Follow live updates Everything we know about the ban so far Why are these 12 countries on the list? Trump suspends foreign student visas at Harvard The 12 countries subject to the harshest restrictions from 9 June are mainly in the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean, including Afghanistan, Iran and Somalia. There will be partial restrictions on travellers from another seven countries, including Cuban and Venezuelan nationals. Trump said the strength of the restrictions would be graded against the severity of the perceived threat, including from terrorism. But besides Iran, none of the 12 countries hit by the outright ban are named on the US government's state sponsors of terrorism list. In a video announcing the ban posted on X, Trump cited Sunday's incident in Boulder, Colorado, in which a man was accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators attending a march for Israeli hostages. The alleged attacker was an Egyptian national. However, Egypt does not appear on either list. Trump also specified high rates of people overstaying their visas as a reason for listing certain countries. However, Steven D Heller, an immigration lawyer based in the US, said there was a "lack of clarity" over what threshold had to be met by a country's overstaying rate in order for that country to be placed on Trump's ban list. That could be the basis for a successful legal challenge, he suggested. "If they're relying on this notion of excessive overstay rates... they have to define what that actually means," he told the BBC. Unlike the first ban, which was to last for only 90 to 120 days, today's order has no end date. It has been met with dismay in the targeted countries. Venezuela has described the Trump administration as "supremacists who think they own the world", though Somalia has pledged to "engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised". The original ban spurred mass protests and sowed chaos at US airports. It was repealed in 2021 by Trump's successor, President Joe Biden, who called the policy "a stain on our national conscience."
Observer
24-05-2025
- Business
- Observer
Record number of Americans apply for British citizenship
LONDON — A record number of Americans applied for British citizenship in the first three months of this year, and for the right to live and work in Britain indefinitely, according to official data. In the year to March, 6,618 Americans applied for British citizenship, the highest annual figure since records began in 2004, according to statistics released by Britain's Home Office on Thursday. More than 1,900 of those applications were made between January and March — the highest number for any quarter on record. Immigration lawyers said they had received an increased number of inquiries from people in the United States about possibly relocating to Britain in the wake of President Donald Trump's reelection in November. Muhunthan Paramesvaran, a senior immigration lawyer at Wilsons Solicitors in London, said that inquiries from Americans looking to settle in Britain had risen 'in the immediate aftermath of the election and the various pronouncements that were made.' 'There's been an uptick in inquiries from U.S. nationals,' he said. 'People who were already here may have been thinking, 'I want the option of dual citizenship if I don't want to go back to the U.S.'' The rise in British citizenship applications from Americans took place against a backdrop of similar increases from across the world, but the global rate — 9.5% year-on-year — was far outpaced by the 30% jump from the United States. Zeena Luchowa, a partner at Laura Devine Immigration, a law firm that specializes in American migration to Britain, said she expected further increases in the coming months because of the 'political landscape' in America. 'We've seen increases in inquiries and applications not just for U.S. nationals, but for U.S. residents of other nationalities who are currently in the U.S. but looking at plans to settle in the U.K.,' she added. 'The queries we're seeing are not necessarily about British citizenship; it's more about seeking to relocate.' Separate data published by the Home Office this week showed that a record number of Americans were given the right to settle in Britain in 2024, allowing them to live and work indefinitely in the country as a necessary precursor to citizenship. Of the 5,521 settlement applications granted for U.S. citizens last year, most were for eligible people because of their spouses, parents, and other family links, while a substantial portion were for people who had originally arrived in Britain on temporary visas for 'skilled workers' and want to remain. That figure was up 20% compared with 2023 and marked a record high for Americans granted permission to remain in Britain indefinitely. However, the jump was less than the overall increase in settlement grants for all nationalities, which rose by 37% in the same period. Paramesvaran believes that the rate of settlement applications will accelerate further in the coming months after the British government recently announced that most people would have to live in the country for 10 years, rather than the current five, before they can apply for permanent settlement. 'People are worried about what may be on the horizon in terms of potential changes to qualification periods,' he said. 'It's a case of people wanting to take advantage of the rules and guidance as they exist today.' Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said in Parliament on May 12 that some people might qualify 'more swiftly' for permanent settlement in Britain depending on the 'contribution' they made, but that the exact details would not be finalized until later this year. Marley Morris, associate director for migration at the London-based Institute for Public Policy Research, said there were likely a 'few things going on' behind the overall increase in settlement applications from around the world, with 'political motivations' being among several factors. 'There are a whole load of people who are becoming eligible for settlement, and that is filtering through the system,' Morris added. Successive British governments have been seeking to cut net migration, which halved in 2024, according to figures released Thursday. That decline followed a tightening of restrictions by the previous Conservative administration. This article originally appeared in
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Record Number of Americans Apply for British Citizenship
A record number of Americans applied for British citizenship in the first three months of this year, and for the right to live and work in Britain indefinitely, according to official data. In the year to March, 6,618 Americans applied for British citizenship, the highest annual figure since records began in 2004, according to statistics released by Britain's Home Office on Thursday. More than 1,900 of those applications were made between January and March — the highest number for any quarter on record. Immigration lawyers said they had received an increased number of inquiries from people in the United States about possibly relocating to Britain in the wake of President Trump's re-election in November. Muhunthan Paramesvaran, a senior immigration lawyer at Wilsons Solicitors in London, said that inquiries from Americans looking to settle in Britain had risen 'in the immediate aftermath of the election and the various pronouncements that were made.' 'There's definitely been an uptick in inquiries from U.S. nationals,' he said. 'People who were already here may have been thinking, 'I want the option of dual citizenship in the event that I don't want to go back to the U.S.'' The rise in British citizenship applications from Americans took place against a backdrop of similar increases from across the world, but the global rate — 9.5 percent year-on-year — was far outpaced by the 30 percent jump from the United States. Zeena Luchowa, a partner at Laura Devine Immigration, a law firm that specializes in American migration to Britain, said she expected further increases in the coming months because of the 'political landscape' in America. 'We've seen increases in inquiries and applications not just for U.S. nationals, but for U.S. residents of other nationalities who are currently in the U.S. but looking at plans to settle in the U.K.,' she added. 'The queries we're seeing are not necessarily about British citizenship — it's more about seeking to relocate.' Separate data published by the Home Office this week showed that a record number of Americans were given the right to settle in Britain in 2024, allowing them to live and work indefinitely in the country as a necessary precursor to citizenship. Of the 5,521 settlement applications granted for U.S. citizens last year, most were for people who are eligible because of their spouses, parents and other family links, while a substantial portion were for people who had originally arrived in Britain on temporary visas for 'skilled workers' and want to remain. That figure was up 20 percent compared to 2023 and marked a record high for Americans granted permission to remain in Britain indefinitely. However, the jump was less than the overall increase in settlement grants for all nationalities, which rose by 37 percent in the same period. Mr. Paramesvaran believes that the rate of settlement applications will accelerate further in the coming months after the British government recently announced that most people would have to live in the country for 10 years, rather than the current five, before they can apply for permanent settlement. 'People are worried about what may be on the horizon in terms of potential changes to qualification periods,' he said. 'It's a case of people wanting to take advantage of the rules and guidance as they exist today.' Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said in Parliament on May 12 that some people might qualify 'more swiftly' for permanent settlement in Britain depending on the 'contribution' they made, but that the exact details would not finalized until later this year. Marley Morris, associate director for migration at the London-based Institute for Public Policy Research, said there were likely a 'few things going on' behind the overall increase in settlement applications from around the world, with 'political motivations' being among several factors. 'There are a whole load of people who are becoming eligible for settlement and that is filtering through the system,' Mr. Morris added. Successive British governments have been seeking to cut net migration, which halved in 2024 according to figures released on Thursday. That decline followed a tightening of restrictions by the previous Conservative administration.
