Grounds for removal - Generally
One of the major avenues through which aliens are permanently admitted to the United States to live and to work is through family-sponsored immigration. Within family-sponsored immigration are two subcategories: unlimited and limited. There are no numerical limitations on family members who fall within the unlimited category, but there are strict numerical limits on the number of limited family-based visas that may be granted each year.
Under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, the United States adopted a new visa type for aliens who have been victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons, the "T" visa. The T visa allows qualifying victims and, sometimes, their immediate family members, to travel to the U.S. temporarily to live and work.
The term "ABC Settlement" is a term used when referring to certain asylum claims. In 1985, a class action lawsuit was filed against several federal agencies, including Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS - which is no longer in existence and has been replaced with various other federal agencies). The plaintiffs were religious and refugee advocacy organizations, and the abbreviation for the first named plaintiff was "ABC." The organizations filed the action on behalf of certain Guatemalan and Salvadoran nationals, alleging that the asylum claims of those nationals had been handled in a discriminatory way. Guatemalan and Salvadoran nationals who had been physicall present in the United States since specified dates in 1990 were defined as the class members. When the lawsuit was eventually settled, it became known as "the ABC Settlement."
For business and visitor travel to the United States, both citizens and permanent residents of Mexico must have nonimmigrant Border Crossing Cards (BCC), also known as laser visas, which are machine-readable, biometric visas typically issued to Mexican visitors to the U.S. BCCs are issued to both business and pleasure travelers.
