Canada is a popular destination for many Americans, whether it is for business meetings, tourism, or family visits. While visiting Canada is as easy as driving through the border, if you have a criminal record, things could be much more complicated.
The post Can I go to Canada with a Felony on my Record? appeared first on Canadim.
$715 Million in Taxes, $2.5 Billion in Spending Power at Risk
WASHINGTON, DC, August 6 — A new report released today by the American Immigration Council details the sweeping economic and humanitarian toll of the Trump administration’s June 2025 travel ban, which restricts immigration from 19 countries. In 2022, nearly 300,000 people from these countries came to the United States, filling critical jobs and paying up to $715.6 million in taxes.
“Those affected by this travel ban are students, workers, and family members who pay taxes, support local economies, and fill jobs in industries facing massive shortages. We’re throwing all of that away, to the detriment of our communities and the U.S. economy,” said Nan Wu, research director of the American Immigration Council.
According to 2023 data, of the 300,000 people from countries affected by the travel ban, 82 percent were working, especially in industries already strained by labor shortages, including hospitality, construction, and manufacturing. The manufacturing industry alone is projected to experience a shortage of 1.9 million workers by 2033.
“The United States absolutely needs strong screening procedures to protect national security, but this travel ban isn’t how you do that. The Trump administration is trying to sell this policy as a security measure, but when you dig into the justifications, they don’t add up,” said Jeremy Robbins, executive director of the American Immigration Council. “Many of the targeted countries had fewer than 500 visa overstays last year. This isn’t about keeping America safe, it’s about keeping certain people out.”
While the 2017 travel ban prompted a swift and forceful public outcry, the report notes that the 2025 version has been met with a more muted reaction, largely due to its more gradual rollout and expanded exemptions. But that doesn’t mean the damage is any less severe.
“This quieter version of the ban is deeply harmful,” added Robbins. “It separates families, blocks international talent, and hurts communities across the country. The absence of airport protests doesn’t mean the harm isn’t real, it’s just happening more quietly and more bureaucratically.”
With reports indicating the administration is considering adding an additional 36 countries to the travel ban, should this happen, tens of thousands of more people from those countries could be barred from entering the United States, escalating the economic, social, and diplomatic fallout.
Countries affected by the travel ban include:
All travel banned
Visas sharply restricted
The post New Report Reveals Devastating Impact of Trump’s Expanded Travel Ban appeared first on American Immigration Council.
If you are an American citizen with a felony on your record, don’t wait until you are at the border to find out that you may not be allowed entry into Canada.
The post Can I go to Canada with a Felony on my Record? appeared first on Canadim.
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 23, 2025 — A special report released today offers a sweeping analysis of the Trump administration’s first six months back in office, revealing an unprecedented transformation of the U.S. immigration system that strikes at the foundation of American democracy. While some voters may have supported a “tougher” approach on immigration when voting for Trump, the report describes how the administration’s extreme actions go far beyond policy shifts: they are corrosive to the rule of law itself.
The report, titled Mass Deportation: Analyzing the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Immigrants, Democracy, and America, published on July 23 by the American Immigration Council, lays out how the administration has executed a radical, multi-front attack on immigrants and the immigration system.
These actions have included limiting who can come to the United States, stripping legal protections from those already here, and ramping up enforcement to historic levels. And in the process, the Trump administration has dismantled long-standing legal protections, defied the authority of Congress and the courts, and weaponized government power against immigrants and dissenters alike.
“This isn’t just a hardline immigration agenda,” said Nayna Gupta, policy director at the American Immigration Council and co-author of the report. “It’s a wholesale effort to use immigrants and the U.S. immigration system to attack core tenets of our democracy and exercise unchecked executive power to realign the American government around exclusion and fear.”
Key findings from the report include:
The report includes powerful firsthand accounts:
The report warns that while some policies may shift based on legal challenges in court, the administration’s broader agenda is clear: to permanently redefine who belongs in America, and how power is wielded by the federal government.
“The administration’s policies are reshaping the immigration system in ways that are unfair, unlawful, and out of step with core American values,” said Dara Lind, senior fellow at the Council and co-author of the report. “We’re seeing real harm to families, communities, and the rule of law, and the public deserves to understand what’s at stake.”
The full report is available here. Interviews with experts and impacted individuals are also available.
The post New Report: Trump’s Second Term Ushers in Extreme Immigration Overhaul that Threatens Our Democracy appeared first on American Immigration Council.
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 19, Saturday, 2025 — After 125 days imprisoned in El Salvador’s notorious “megaprison,” the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), Venezuelan nationals Edicson Quintero Chacón and Jose Manuel Ramos Bastidas were released yesterday and placed on a U.S.-brokered flight to Venezuela, alongside approximately 250 other Venezuelans whom the United States paid to detain at CECOT. Counsel for both men expressed profound relief at their release, and emphasized the urgent need for accountability from the U.S. Government for disappearing them to CECOT in the first place.
The U.S. government sent the men to CECOT on March 15, 2025, where they were held incommunicado and without charges in a facility widely condemned for mass arbitrary detention and inhumane treatment. Both Mr. Quintero and Mr. Bastidas had previously been ordered removed from the United States, after which they told a federal court that they just wanted to return home to Venezuela. The U.S. government sent them to CECOT instead. The terms of the agreement with El Salvador specify that the U.S. would send “members” of a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA), but there is no evidence linking the men to TdA. Their return to Venezuela was part of a prisoner swap deal that included the release from Venezuela of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.
“This news of flights to Venezuela was like being hit with a bucket of cold water because my family had absolutely no idea this was happening,” said a member of Mr. Quintero Chacón’s family, who asked to remain anonymous. “Edicson should never have been sent to CECOT in the first place. No one should. He was treated cruelly and inhumanely when all he wanted was safety. This so-called prisoner swap doesn’t undo the injustice he suffered, nor the pain and terror that my family has had to endure in the past several months with no idea of whether we’d ever see him again.”
“We have been waiting for this moment for months, and I feel like I can finally breathe, knowing that Jose Manuel is now free from CECOT and on his way home,” said Roynerliz Rodriguez, partner of Jose Manuel Ramos Bastidas. “His son, whom he hasn’t seen since he was four months old, is eagerly waiting for him. These last months have been a living nightmare, not knowing anything about Jose Manuel and only imagining what he must be suffering. I am happy he is free from CECOT, but I also know that we will never be free of the shadow of this experience. There must be justice for all those who suffered this torture.”
Serious concerns remain regarding the legality and transparency of the U.S. government’s actions. Many of the individuals sent to CECOT by the U.S. government had pending asylum claims and expressed credible fear of return to Venezuela. Their forced return to Venezuela, without due process to address their requests for asylum in the United States raises significant questions about the United States’ compliance with domestic and international legal obligations.
Nor has there been any public accounting of how the U.S. government selected individuals for transfer to CECOT or the full scope of conditions they endured. To date, the U.S. government has not released a complete list of names of the people they paid El Salvador to detain, and it remains unclear whether each victim is accounted for.
The use of foreign detention facilities, particularly those with documented records of systemic abuse, raises serious human rights and due process concerns. The U.S. government should not engage in detention outsourcing arrangements and should not collaborate with regimes that flagrantly violate human rights. There must be a full investigation into these disappearances and clear safeguards barring the Trump Administration from doing this again.
“We are deeply relieved that Mr. Quintero Chacón and Mr. Ramos Bastidas are finally released from CECOT, but this should never have happened in the first place,” said Rebecca Cassler, senior litigation attorney at the American Immigration Council. “The U.S. government paid to detain these men in one of the world’s most notorious prisons, then denied responsibility while they suffered. For months, the Trump administration misled the courts and the public, pretending it had no control over their fate. This deal proves otherwise. There must be a full investigation into how this happened, and accountability for the grave harm inflicted on these men.”
“We celebrate this news, along with the loved ones of Mr. Quintero Chacón and Mr. Ramos Bastidas and over 250 Venezuelans who returned to Venezuela yesterday after being disappeared and tortured for months at the direction and expense of the United States government. The ‘deals’ made for these Venezuelans’ confinement and transfers between the United States, El Salvador, and Venezuela treat human beings as bargaining chips and underscore the cruel consequences of criminalizing migration and monetizing torture. The U.S. government must stop these abuses and uphold its obligations to protect the rights and dignity of all people,” said CJ Sandley, senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights.
“It is with great joy and relief that we celebrate Mr. Quintero Chacón’s and Mr. Ramos Bastidas’ safe return to Venezuela and long-overdue reunion with their loved ones. It is unconscionable that they and 250 other Venezuelan men were sent by the United States to be detained at CECOT and forced to endure suffering, the extent of which we still don’t fully know. The administration has tried to wash its hands of the individuals they sent to be tortured, but their release today shows just how involved the government has been throughout this entire process,” said Stephanie M. Alvarez-Jones, Southeast Regional Attorney at the National Immigration Project. “While we celebrate their long overdue release, the government must be held accountable for its outrageous actions.”
The American Immigration Council, Center for Constitutional Rights, and the National Immigration Project represent Mr. Quintero Chacón in his habeas corpus proceeding in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, where they have been fighting for his freedom from CECOT. National Immigration Project represents Mr. Ramos Bastidas in his habeas corpus proceeding, which is also before the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
For more information, contact:
Elyssa Pachico at the American Immigration Council, epachico@immcouncil.org 503 850 8407
Arianna Rosales, National Immigration Project, media@nipnlg.org
Jen Nessel, Center for Constitutional Rights, press@ccrjustice.org
About the American Immigration Council
The American Immigration Council works to strengthen America by shaping how America thinks about and acts towards immigrants and immigration and by working toward a more fair and just immigration system that opens its doors to those in need of protection and unleashes the energy and skills that immigrants bring. The Council brings together problem solvers and employs four coordinated approaches to advance change—litigation, research, legislative and administrative advocacy, and communications. In January 2022, the Council and New American Economy merged to combine a broad suite of advocacy tools to better expand and protect the rights of immigrants, more fully ensure immigrants’ ability to succeed economically, and help make the communities they settle in more welcoming. Follow the latest Council news and information on BlueSky @immcouncil.org and Instagram at @immcouncil.
About the National Immigration Project: The National Immigration Project is a membership organization of attorneys, advocates, and community members who believe that all people should be treated with dignity, live freely, and flourish. We litigate, advocate, educate, and build bridges across movements to ensure that those most impacted by the immigration and criminal systems are uplifted and supported. Learn more at nipnlg.org. Follow the National Immigration Project on Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram at @NIPNLG.
About the Center for Constitutional Rights: The Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental overreach. Follow the Center for Constitutional Rights on Facebook, @theCCR on Twitter/X, and @ccrjustice on Instagram, and @ccrjustice.org on BlueSky.
The post After Detaining People in El Salvador Torture Prison for 125 Days, the U.S. Government Must Be Held Accountable for Disappearing Migrants appeared first on American Immigration Council.