Regulations that were implemented during the Obama Administration in 2016 have allowed for certain non-citizen spouses of U.S. citizens to remain in the country whilst pursuing legal status. The purpose behind these regulations was to keep families together and motivate more people to adjust their immigration status. However, the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, has recently revealed how immigration agencies have been making attempts to arrest immigrants as they arrive to their interviews at government offices.
Unsealed documents reveal that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees USCIS and ICE, has used its resources to target immigrants going through legal proceedings for detention and deportation. The documents show USCIS actively worked with ICE to strategically schedule and facilitate arrests at USCIS offices.
Kirstjen Michele Nielsen is an attorney and national security expert who has been serving as the United States Secretary of Homeland Security since 2017. On August 13, 2018, the ACLU filed a class action lawsuit with the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts against Nielson, challenging the arrests of immigrants seeking legal status through marriage. Lilian Calderon, the lead plaintiff in the case, is a Guatemalan woman who was arrested and detained for a month following her interview with USCIS. Calderon was only released after the ACLU had sued.