Brownsville-Matamoros camp is a temporary residence for Central Americans, Haitians, Cubans and Venezuelans who are waiting for their asylum appointments that could grant them entry into the U.S. Dairon Elizondo Rojas, a Cuban doctor, became a camp doctor while seeking his asylum for the last 11 months. While waiting, Rojas is looking after patients at the camp with the hope that his court date,  scheduled for June 23, will be his last.Videographer: Lexie Harrison-Cripps

The Trump administration's recent executive order suspending most immigration to the U.S. does not directly impact foreign students. But it has created anxiety and doubts about their ability to stay and work in the United States after graduation. Aline Barros explains.

At a time when America's health care system is being strained to the breaking point because of the coronavirus pandemic and states are summoning medical professionals into emergency service, many immigrant physicians say U.S. visa restrictions limit how much they can help. Immigration reporter Aline Barros has more.

After getting a preliminary green light from the U.S. Supreme Court in January, the Trump administration is set to subject immigrants to heightened scrutiny based on their perceived likelihood to rely on America's public assistance programs, what some critics call a wealth test. Beginning Monday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin implementing the public charge rule, under which low-income immigrants can be denied legal residency, visas or admission into the United States. The rule is being challenged in federal courts, but the Supreme Court allowed it to go into effect, pending the outcome of litigation. Which factors will be considered under the public charge rule? Mark Greenberg, senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, said USCIS will be looking at a wide range of factors, including an immigrant's age, education, work history, family structure, English language skills and income. “All trying to make a judgment if this person is likely to use public benefits at some future point in their life,” he said. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services logo.Does the rule apply to all immigrants? The rule does not apply to U.S. residents seeking to become U.S. citizens. It also does not apply to certain U.S. visa holders, including those who are in the United States to assist in the investigation or prosecution of crimes. In addition, U.S. officials have said the public charge interpretation would not apply to people who already have green cards, to certain members of the military, refugees, asylum-seekers, pregnant women or children. Which benefits would cause an immigrant to be regarded as a public charge? Broadly speaking, any federal, state or local cash assistance program, including Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and general assistance programs for income maintenance. In addition, use of programs designed to help the poor afford food, housing and medical expenses could also trigger a public charge finding. What formula will USCIS use to determine a public charge? A person may be deemed a public charge if he or she has used one or more public benefits for more than 12 months within any 36-month period. Under the rule, receiving two benefits in one month counts as two months of consuming public resources. What types of visas will fall under the rule? According to USCIS, the rule will apply to all applicants for any type of visa and people within the United States who hold nonimmigrant visas “and seek to extend their stay in the same nonimmigrant classification or to change their status ...

Since the program was initiated nearly a decade ago, recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, have not been eligible for federal financial aid because they are not American citizens. But just last year, a small university in Virginia successfully pushed to be included on a list of a small number of American schools offering a private scholarship to help DACA students pay for their tuition. VOA's Esha Sarai went to Marymount University to find out more

The new U.S. ambassador to El Salvador says the United States is looking forward to reintegrating migrants there from other Central American nations who are seeking asylum in the United States. Ambassador Ronald Johnson, speaking in his first interview since his appointment in July, told VOA there was not a timeline on when El Salvador would start taking in migrants. “I don't have a timeline on it, but I do think that the intent is that it will be implemented in a way that is not burdensome to any of the countries,” Johnson said.