Boundless Immigration News Weekly Recap: July 9, 2021
A weekly roundup of need-to-know immigration stories
Jul 9, 2021
4th of July Naturalization Ceremonies
On America’s 245th birthday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) held 170 naturalization ceremonies between June 30 and July 7, including a ceremony at the White House with President Biden and a virtual ceremony for overseas military members. More than 9400 people became citizens in ceremonies nationwide.
Biden Administration Strategizes On Citizenship
USCIS announced its “Interagency Strategy for Promoting Naturalization,” a multi-department working group with the goal of alleviating challenges in the naturalization process, building outreach for legal permanent residents who are eligible for citizenship, and speeding up the process altogether. In May, Boundless filed a public comment urging the government to tackle the massive backlog — there are currently at least 700,000 green card holders awaiting U.S. citizenship.
Canada/U.S. Travel Restrictions Loosen
Pandemic-related travel restrictions between the U.S. and Canada will start to ease, with plans to fully reopen in the next few weeks. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can return to Canada from the U.S., but non-essential travel is still banned between the two countries until at least July 21st.
https://www.boundless.com/blog/boundless-weekly-immigration-news-july-9/
