Thank you for reading and supporting The Insightful Immigration Blog.  Listed below are the top 10 most viewed blogs that were published in 2020.  While these are the 10 most viewed blogs, each blog is a carefully crafted gem, and we invite you to read all of them. Blogs from previous years continued to be widely read in 2020.

2021 ushers in a new dawn with the end of the Trump administration’s hostile policies towards immigrants. We covered much of President Trump’s policies in our blogs, most notably the ban on immigrants and nonimmigrants, and also commented on many of the successful court challenges thwarting or delaying their implementation. Indeed, one of the bright spots was that the courts in 2020 did not allow the Trump administration to get its way, whether it was on rescinding DACA or gutting the H-1B visa program through regulations that provided no advance notice.

In addition to Trump’s cruel immigration policies, Covid-19 also struck in 2020 and disrupted the world. Trump weaponized Covid-19 as a pretext to continue putting road blocks on immigration and asylum. The pandemic also adversely impacted the status of foreign national workers who lost their jobs or had to work under modified terms as well as the ability of green card holders to maintain permanent residence in the US. Our blogs addressed novel issues arising from Covid-19 regarding protecting the status of nonimmigrant workers, ethical issues for attorneys, and how green card holders could still assert they had not abandoned permanent residence even though they were forced to remain outside the US due to Covid-19.  We also wrote on how remote work impacted visa status, as well as how many immigration attorneys were still forced to appear in court, attend interviews for clients, and process and file paper based applications in their offices notwithstanding the risks posed by Covid-19.

The incoming Biden administration ushers in a new dawn on immigration in 2021. President Biden, in sharp contrast to Trump, has loftily proposed big and generous ideas on immigration and we hope that he will live up to these promises.  Our blogs have proposed ideas on how the Biden administration can improve our immigration system through executive actions, which, in addition to rescinding Trump’s actions, can also improve the immigration system and provide relief to many.

A new dawn for immigration in 2021 (Photo by Cyrus Mehta)

Ultimately, true and meaningful reform can only come through Congress. If Congress remains divided when Biden becomes president it will be much harder to push through badly needed reform such as expanding the employment and family based preferences so that would-be immigrants with approved petitions need not be waiting in decades long backlogs. While advancing filing dates in the visa bulletin, like what was done in October 2020, was salutary and allowed tens of thousands of skilled workers to file adjustment of status applications, which we blogged about, that was no substitute for Congressional action that can end discriminatory country quotas and infuse more visas into the system.

Finally, we also look forward to reform in the asylum system, the immigration courts, and due process for noncitizens, which the Trump administration disgracefully curtailed to such an extent that Lady Liberty seemed out of place and at odds with the long cherished idea that America is a nation of immigrants and a beacon for the world’s oppressed.

We look forward to blogging in 2021, albeit on different themes, and wish all our readers a safe and happy New Year. Below are the Top 10 viewed blogs of 2020:

1. Downgrading from EB-2 to EB-3 under the October 2020 Visa Bulletin
2. FAQ for Green Card Holders During the Covid-19 Period
3. Frequently Asked Questions on Filing a Downgrade EB-3 Petition under the October 2020 Visa Bulletin
4. FAQ Relating to Skilled Workers in the Green Card Backlogs During COVID-19
5. Proposal for the Biden Administration Using the Dual Date Visa Bulletin to Allow the Maximum Number of Adjustment of Status Filings
6. FAQ on Changes in Salary and Other Working Conditions for Nonimmigrant Workers in L-1, O, TN, E and F-1 Status Due to Covid-19
7. Proposal for the Biden Administration to Reduce Backlogs: Count the Family Together so that they may Stay Together
8. Killing the H-1B Visa Also Kills the US Economy
9. What if the Job Has Changed Since the Labor Certification Was Approved Many Years Ago
10. LCA Posting Requirements at Home During Covid-19 Pandemic: Do I Post on the Refrigerator or Bathroom Mirror