Press Conference  Bruno Rodriguez & John Kerry John Kerry Secretary of State Ben Franklin Room Washington, DC July 20, 2015 SECRETARY KERRY:  Good afternoon, everybody. I am very, very pleased this afternoon to welcome to the State Department my colleague, Bruno Rodriguez, the foreign minister of Cuba. And I apologize for our being a little bit late, but we were downstairs – we had a lot to talk about, not just about U.S.-Cuba relations but also about the region – and think we had a very constructive conversation. This is the first visit to the Department of State by a Cuban foreign minister since 1958, and today marks as well the resumption of normal diplomatic ties between our countries and the re-opening of our embassies after a rupture that has lasted 54 years. So it’s an historic day; a day for removing barriers. (In Spanish) The United States welcomes this new beginning in its relationship with the people and the ...

Special Briefing Office of the Spokesperson State Department Official Via Teleconference July 17, 2015 MODERATOR:  Thanks so much, [Operator], and thanks to all of you for joining us on the call today. Our speaker today is [State Department Official]. For this call, [State Department Official] can be referred to as a State Department Official. He’s briefing today on background on Cuba, previewing the events for Monday, July 20th. As you know, on Monday in accordance with President Obama’s announcement on July 1st, the U.S. and Cuba will re-establish diplomatic relations. This call is based on several requests and will deal with questions on the logistics of this re-establishment and Monday’s events. Please note we will not – not – address broader questions on U.S. policy towards Cuba on this call. And while the Secretary of State will travel to Cuba later this summer to celebrate the re-opening of U.S. Embassy Havana and raise the U.S. flag, details regardi...

Statement of the  American Immigration Lawyers Association Submitted to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Hearing:  July 7, 2015 Contact: Gregory Chen,  Director of Advocacy 1331 G Street, NW gchen@aila.org Washington, DC 20005 Phone: 202/507-7615 Fax: 202/783-7853 As the national bar association of more than 14,000 immigration lawyers and law professors, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) respectfully submits this statement for the record. During the summer of 2014, the United States experienced a peak in the number of unaccompanied children and families from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras apprehended at our southwestern borders. Today, the life threatening dangers these refugees face in these Northern Triangle countries of Central America have not diminished. Recent United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) statistics show a 1,185 percent increase since 2008 in asylum app...

Department of State Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC July 6, 2015 The Department of State welcomes yesterday’s decision by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee to inscribe the San Antonio Missions in Texas, a series of four missions making up a U.S. National Historical Park, plus the Alamo, as a UNESCO World Heritage site.  This prestigious designation is a global recognition of the site’s outstanding universal value.  The San Antonio Missions become the 23rd U.S. site on the World Heritage List, which includes the Grand Canyon and the Statue of Liberty. The San Antonio Missions, consisting of Mission Concepción, Mission San José, Mission San Juan, Mission Espada and Mission San Antonio de Valero (The Alamo), are the largest collection of Spanish colonial architecture in North America and embody nearly 300 years of history and culture.  The missions shaped the San Antonio landscape with their acequias, farmfields, ranchlands, and compounds. The...

Re-opennig of embassies scheduled for July 20, 2015 Department of State Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC July 6, 2015 President Obama announced on July 1, 2015, the historic decision to re-establish diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States of America, effective July 20. The U.S. Department of State also notified Congress of its intent to convert the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba to U.S. Embassy Havana, effective on the same date. These are important steps in implementing the new direction in U.S.-Cuba relations announced by President Obama on December 17, 2014. On July 1, the U.S. and Cuban Interests Sections exchanged presidential letters declaring mutual intent to re-establish diplomatic relations and re-open embassies on July 20, 2015. President Obama affirmed that the two governments had agreed to develop “respectful and cooperative” relations based on international principles, including the promotion and encouragement of re...

National Effort Highlights Agency’s  Free Citizenship Preparation Tools WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released a series of promotional materials today as part of the Citizenship Public Education and Awareness Initiative . This media campaign builds on a similar effort from 2011 and is being launched under the umbrella of the  Task Force on New Americans  and  President Obama’s executive actions on immigration . This effort is intended to raise awareness about the rights, responsibilities and importance of U.S. citizenship and provide information on the naturalization process and USCIS educational resources. The promotional campaign guides lawful permanent residents towards the USCIS  Citizenship Resource Center  for official, accurate and reliable information on citizenship and naturalization topics. “USCIS is proud to expand its efforts to assist those eligible for citizenship – the highest privilege of our n...