Yesterday, Buzzfeed reported on Pope Francis's message about the U.S.-Mexico border and immigration. This is Pope Francis's first visit to Mexico. He reportedly told President Enrique Peña Nieto that "Every time we look to the path of privilege or the benefit of a few at the cost of the good of all, sooner or later society becomes a fertile ground for corruption, drug trafficking, the exclusion of different cultures, violence.”

The New York Times reports that the U.S. Supreme Court will consider the case against President Obama's Executive Immigration Programs. President Obama announced his executive immigration programs, including Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA), in November 2014, but the state of Texas and several other states sued to block their implementation. The Supreme Court's decision to hear this case means that the previous decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which held the programs to be impermissibe and temporarily blocked them from being implemented, may be overturned.

On December 1, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the request from Texas and other states for a 30-day extension to file legal briefs in support of the lawsuit to block the DAPA program. Instead of the 30-day extension, the Court allowed an extension of only eight days. This is viewed as a procedural victory for the Obama administration as it would allow the court to hear the case during its current term and give the administration enough time to launch the program while Obama is still in office. If the Supreme Court hears the case during its current term, the decision would likely be published in June 2016.

The U.S. Department of State has issued the December 2015 Visa Bulletin. Of note:

Department of Homeland Security director Jeh Johnson has issued a memo directing USCIS Director Leon Rodriguez to change the Immigration Service's prior regulations to allow all family members eligible to immigrate to the U.S. to be allowed to file provisional waivers of inadmissibility.

Read Kathryn Karam's latest article in the Houston Business Journal: What Donald Trump is Missing in the Immigration Debate.

The New York Times article on why immigrants grow the U.S. economy.

Kathryn N. Karam is quoted in the Houston Business Journal's recent article on Texas vs. United States, the suit filed by several stated to stop the Obama Administration's Executive Actions for Immigration Reform.

This evening, Kathryn N. Karam was a guest on KPFT Pacifica Radio's Proyecto Latino-Americano show with Henry and Alma Cooper at 9 PM . The podcast from the February 17th airing of Proyecto Latino-Americano is available here.

A Federal Court in Brownsville, Texas has issued a temporary injunction to stop the implementation of the executive actions announced by President Obama in November 2014, including the extended DACA program and the DAPA program. As a result, USCIS has announced that it will not begin accepting applications for protection under the extended DACA program tomorrow as originally announced. However, the Court's order does not affect the existing DACA program originally announced on June 15, 2012.