December 12, 2022

Employment Authorization for Ethiopian F–1 Nonimmigrant Students Experiencing Severe Economic Hardship as a Direct Result of the Current Crisis in Ethiopia

Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 237 / Monday, December 12, 2022 "This notice announces that the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) is suspending certain regulatory requirements for F–1 nonimmigrant students whose country of citizenship is Ethiopia, regardless of country of birth (or individuals having no nationality who last habitually resided in Ethiopia), and who are experiencing severe economic...

December 12, 2022

Designation of Ethiopia for Temporary Protected Status

Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 237 / Monday, December 12, 2022 "Through this notice, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announces that the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) is designating Ethiopia for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months, beginning on December 12, 2022 and ending on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. This designation allows Ethiopian nationals (and individuals having no nationality...

December 12, 2022

USCIS IFR: Removal of Obsolete Procedures and Requirements Related to F, J, and M Nonimmigrants

Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 237 / Monday, December 12, 2022 "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is amending its regulations to update information that is no longer accurate since the creation of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). DHS is updating obsolete or unnecessary information because SEVIS, a Web-based system that DHS uses to collect and maintain current and ongoing information...

December 09, 2022

Matter of Mariscal-Hernandez, 28 I&N Dec. 666 (BIA 2022)

Matter of Mariscal-Hernandez, 28 I&N Dec. 666 (BIA 2022) (1) Where an Immigration Judge finds that a traffic stop was nothing more than a routine law enforcement action, a respondent has not established a prima face case of a Fourth Amendment violation—much less an egregious violation—and is not entitled to a hearing on a suppression motion. Matter of Barcenas, 19 I&N Dec. 609 (BIA 1988), followed. (2) Unsupported...

December 09, 2022

Asylum Victory on Remand: Hernandez-Chacon (El Salvador, Imputed Political Opinion)

On Oct. 24, 2022 NYC Immigration Judge Mimi Tsankov granted asylum to Rosario del Carmen Hernandez-Chacon after remand from CA2, Hernandez-Chacon v. Barr, 948 F.3d 94 (2d Cir. 2020). Shared with permission. Hats off to Heather Axford !

December 09, 2022

Why Do Enjoined Asylum Regulations Remain on Government Websites?

Victoria Neilson, Dec. 9, 2022 "December 11 marks the two-year anniversary of the publication of the Trump-era regulations dubbed the “ Death to Asylum ” regulations by advocates and the “Omnibus asylum” regulations by the government. The rules seemed designed to make many, if not most, claims for asylum and related protection fail.  The regulations were set to go into effect on January 11, 2021, but, fortunately...

December 09, 2022

TPS for Ethiopia

USCIS, Dec. 9, 2022 "The Department of Homeland Security today posted a Federal Register notice on Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ethiopia. This notice provides information about how to register for TPS under Ethiopia’s designation. In October, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced the 18-month designation of Ethiopia for TPS . The registration process begins on Dec. 12, 2022...

December 08, 2022

Divided CA9, En Banc: Diaz-Rodriguez v. Garland (Child Abuse, Chevron)

Diaz-Rodriguez v. Garland (Reversing the published 2021 panel decision.) Plurality : "This case raises the question whether an alien who has been convicted under section 273a(a) of the California Penal Code (criminalizing offenses against children) is removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i) for having committed a “crime of child abuse, child neglect, or child abandonment.” After using the ordinary tools of...

December 07, 2022

OFLC H-2A FAQ Round 3: Job Offers, Assurances, and Obligations – Wages (Dec. 7, 2022)

OFLC, Dec. 7, 2022 U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration OFFICE OF FOREIGN LABOR CERTIFICATION 2022 H-2A Final Rule FAQs Round 3: Job Offers, Assurances, and Obligations – Wages December 7, 2022

December 06, 2022

A National Assessment of the Biden Administration's Dedicated Docket Initiative

TRAC, Dec. 6, 2022 "The Immigration Court's Dedicated Docket (DD) program was created by the Biden administration to speed the processing of families seeking asylum after arriving along the Southwest Border. Over 110,000 DD cases covering each individual in these families have now been assigned to this initiative. To determine how this program is working, this report follows this cohort of nearly 40,000 of...

December 06, 2022

"Dedicated Docket" News

Dec. 6, 2022 - "The Stanford Law School Immigrants' Rights Clinic is pleased to announce the release of a new pro se guide for individuals on the Dedicated Docket. The guide is the first of its kind to provide an overview and description of the Dedicated Docket and to provide advice regarding how one may assert their rights while on this fast-paced docket.  This guide was specifically prepared for those in proceedings...

December 06, 2022

Remember EOIR's Immigration Law Advisor? It's Back

After a significant hiatus, the ILA is back.  Here is the Fall 2022 issue .  Hat tip to Matthew Hoppock for alerting us.

December 06, 2022

Immigration Enforcement and Prosecutorial Discretion Go Hand in Hand: Will the Supreme Court Upset this Balance?

Cyrus D. Mehta, Kaitlyn Box, Dec. 6, 2022 "On Tuesday, November 29 th , the Supreme Court heard  oral arguments  in  US v. Texas , which involves a challenge to the Biden administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforcement priorities. Originally laid out in the 2021  Mayorkas Memo , this list of enforcement priorities would have allowed ICE to focus its efforts on the apprehension and removal...

December 05, 2022

OFLC to Host H-2B Webinar, Dec. 7, 2022

OFLC, Dec. 5, 2022 OFLC Announces Webinar on December 7, 2022, to Update Stakeholders on the Process for Filing H-2B Applications with a Start Date of April 1, 2023, or Later The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) invites stakeholders to participate in a webinar that provides best practices and helpful tips for preparing H-2B Applications for Temporary Employment Certification (Form ETA-9142B and appendices...

December 05, 2022

Deciphering Matter of Fernandes

Hon. Jeffrey S. Chase, Dec. 5, 2022 "Back in August, the BIA issued Matter of Fernandes ,1 the latest installment in the ongoing saga of Pereira v. Sessions .2 Four years after Pereira , Fernandes established that a timely challenge to a defective Notice to Appear will have immediate consequences. Unfortunately, the decision left unclear what those consequences might be. Months later, confusion abounds whenever...

December 03, 2022

More on E-F-H-L-

In August 2018, immigration attorney and FOIA superstar Matthew Hoppock filed a FOIA request regarding Matter of E-F-H-L- .  Over four years (!) later, EOIR responded, providing an interesting series of emails and a memo from Gene Hamilton.  It's all here .  Be sure to read Hoppock's comments on his Twitter feed. See also Jeff Chase's 2018 commentary here .

December 02, 2022

CA9 on Notice, Motions to Reopen, Exceptional Circumstances: Juarez Castro v. Garland

Juarez Castro v. Garland (unpub.) "Petitioner Laura Catalina Juarez Castro, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) order affirming the immigration judge’s (IJ) denial of Juarez Castro’s motion to reopen her asylum proceedings. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252, and we grant the petition and remand for reconsideration of petitioner’s motion...

December 02, 2022

CA11 on Nexus: Paz-Meza v. Atty. Gen.

Paz-Meza v. Atty. Gen. (unpub.) "Tania Paz-Meza fled Honduras for the United States in 2014 after several close family members were killed and her brother, a police officer in Honduras for several years, was shot. She applied for asylum and withholding of removal, asserting that she and her family were being targeted by narcotraffickers for their connection to her brother, who ultimately was killed in 2017, and...

December 01, 2022

CA8 on Equal Protection: Parada v. Anoka County

Parada v. Anoka County "The Anoka County Jail referred every detainee born outside the United States, including Myriam Parada, to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The district court determined that this policy violates the Equal Protection Clause, and a jury awarded her $30,000 on a false-imprisonment theory. We affirm. ... The jury awarded her $30,000 for false imprisonment but gave her only one dollar for...

December 01, 2022

Matter of Triana, 28 I&N Dec. 659 (BIA 2022)("Approvable When Filed")

Matter of Triana When determining whether a respondent is grandfathered for purposes of adjustment of status under section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1255(i) (2018), a decision of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) to approve a visa petition filed on or before April 30, 2001, does not foreclose an Immigration Judge from determining in removal proceedings whether...

December 01, 2022

OFLC Will Propose Rescission of H-2B Registration Requirements and Will Provide Unique H-2B Temporary Registration Numbers Per District Court’s Order

OFLC, Dec. 1, 2022 "The Department of Labor (Department) published the current H-2B regulations,  Temporary Non-Agricultural Employment of H-2B Aliens in the United States , as an interim final rule with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on April 29, 2015. 80 FR 24042. With the interim final rule, the Department created a separate H-2B registration process to determine whether an employer has a temporary...

November 30, 2022

CA2 on Asylum, Changed Circumstances: Perez Nagahama v. Garland

Perez Nagahama v. Garland (unpub.) "We remand for the agency to conduct the required factfinding and analysis regarding the reasonableness of Perez Nagahama’s delay in filing her asylum claim following her changed circumstances. An asylum applicant must file an asylum “application . . . within 1 year after the date of . . . arrival in the United States.” 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(B). There is...

November 30, 2022

CA2 on CAT, Standard of Review: Omorodion v. Garland

Omorodion v. Garland (unpub.) "The IJ granted Omorodion’s application for deferral of removal under the CAT and, after an initial remand by the BIA, reaffirmed that decision. In July 2018 the BIA vacated the IJ’s grant of CAT relief and ordered Omorodion removed, concluding that Omorodion did not show that she would suffer torture or that public officials would acquiesce in her torture. ... First, Omorodion...

November 29, 2022

U.S. v. Texas Oral Argument: Transcript and Audio

Transcript Audio

November 29, 2022

Matter of Viney K. Gupta, Attorney, 28 I&N Dec. 653 (BIA 2022)

Matter of Gupta (1) Disbarment may be appropriate where an attorney knowingly disregards a prior order of suspension from the Board of Immigration Appeals and claims on notices of entry of appearance that he is not subject to any order restricting his right to practice law when he is, in fact, suspended from practice before the Board, the Immigration Courts, and the Department of Homeland Security. (2) While the Board...