July 06, 2022

CA6 Reverses Enforcement Memo Injunction: Arizona v. Biden

Arizona v. Biden "In September 2021, the Secretary of Homeland Security issued a memorandum to his deputies outlining the Department’s immigration enforcement priorities and policies. Arizona, Montana, and Ohio filed this lawsuit in the Southern District of Ohio to enjoin its implementation. The district court issued a “nationwide preliminary injunction,” applicable to all 50 States, blocking the Department from...

July 06, 2022

Unpub. BIA AgFel/COV Victory: TX Penal Code Sec. 22.04(a)(3)

Hats way off to Amanda Waterhouse for this June 23, 2022 victory : "We agree with the respondent that the Texas Penal Code § 22.04(a)(3) is not divisible to [sic] between offenses committed by "act" and those committed by "omission." ... Finding a statute that criminalizes a mere "omission" to constitute a "crime of violence" for immigration purposes would be inconsistent with...

July 05, 2022

STEM Guides and FAQs

American Immigration Council "A series of new federal initiatives have been launched to help American businesses of all sizes connect with talented researchers and other highly-skilled individuals. Below, you will see a set of overview guides and corresponding Frequently Asked Questions that unpack these changes for different audiences."

July 02, 2022

USCIS Rescinds Z-R-Z-C-; Implications for AOS

USCIS, July 1, 2022 "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rescinds its designation of the decision of the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) in Matter of Z-R-Z-C- as an Adopted Decision and updates its interpretation of the effects of authorized travel by Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries, in accordance with the reasoning contained in this memorandum. ... TPS beneficiaries whom DHS has...

July 01, 2022

CA4 on Venue: Herrera-Alcala v. Garland

Herrera-Alcala v. Garland "Oscar Herrera-Alcala, a Cuban alien, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals decision denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) protection. But the government first argues that we should not hear this case, as venue lies in the Fifth Circuit. Interpreting the venue statute, we find that venue is proper in this court...

June 30, 2022

Informal Marriages: IRAP Practice Advisory

IRAP, June 3, 2022 "On February 14, 2022, USCIS issued new  guidance  on recognizing informal marriages of refugees and asylees. Under the new guidance, USCIS will recognize an informal marriages in some types of applications when a refugee or asylee could not lawfully marry because of discriminatory laws or practices or because they were fleeing from persecution. If you are a refugee or asylee and you want to...

June 30, 2022

BIA on Impeachment Evidence: Matter of E-F-N-

Matter of E-F-N-,  28 I&N Dec. 591 (BIA 2022) Interim Decision #4048 - An Immigration Judge may rely on impeachment evidence as part of a credibility determination where the evidence is probative and its admission is not fundamentally unfair, and the witness is given an opportunity to respond to that evidence during the proceedings.

June 30, 2022

CA6 on Stay of Removal: Rondon Antonio v. Garland

Rondon Antonio v. Garland "Whether these issues satisfy the standard to grant Rondon Antonio’s petition is a question that goes to the ultimate merits which we do not address at this juncture. But his claim is far from frivolous and, in light of his strong showing of irreparable harm, his arguments present a sufficient likelihood of success to weigh in favor of granting a stay pending an appeal on the merits. Turning...

June 30, 2022

Supreme Court, 5-4: Biden v. Texas (MPP; Remain in Mexico)

Biden v. Texas - 20 F. 4th 928, reversed and remanded. ROBERTS, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BREYER, SOTOMAYOR, KAGAN, and KAVANAUGH, JJ., joined. KAVANAUGH, J., filed a concurring opinion. ALITO, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which THOMAS and GORSUCH, JJ., joined. BARRETT, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which THOMAS, ALITO, and GORSUCH, JJ., joined as to all but the first sentence. "...

June 29, 2022

Extending and Expanding Eligibility for Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians

Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 29, 2022 / Presidential Documents "Pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct the foreign relations of the United States, I have determined that it is in the foreign policy interests of the United States to defer through June 30, 2024, the removal of any Liberian national, or person without nationality who last habitually resided in Liberia, who is present...

June 28, 2022

CA2 Rejects Matter of B-R-: Zepeda-Lopez v. Garland

Zepeda-Lopez v. Garland "Petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals entered December 14, 2018, dismissing an appeal from the decision of an Immigration Judge denying asylum and the withholding of removal to petitioners, who are dual citizens of Honduras and Nicaragua, and their relatives. The agency denied relief based on Matter of B-R-, where the BIA held that to qualify as a "refugee"...

June 27, 2022

Practice Advisory: Post-Conviction Relief Motions to Reopen

NIPNLG, ILRC, June 24, 2022 "This practice advisory discusses motion to reopen strategies for noncitizens who have successfully obtained qualifying post-conviction relief." Copyright 2022, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG) and Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC). This practice advisory is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4...

June 27, 2022

OFLC Announces Publication of an Updated Appendix A to the Preamble–Education and Training Categories by O*NET–SOC Occupations Effective July 1, 2022

OFLC, June 27, 2022 "On November 15, 2021, the Employment and Training Administration issued a  Federal Register  notice (FRN) informing the public that the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) was updating Appendix A to the Preamble–Education and Training Categories by Occupational Information Network (O*NET)–Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Occupations. Appendix A is a list of professional occupations...

June 27, 2022

Court Enjoins USCIS: Behring Regional Center v. Mayorkas

Behring Regional Center v. Mayorkas "In March 2022, Congress enacted the Reform and Integrity Act, which reauthorized and revamped the system governing so-called regional centers—entities that pool investments from foreign visa applicants to promote job growth in the United States. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) interpreted the Act as unequivocally deauthorizing the 600-plus previously...

June 27, 2022

USCIS Policy Alert: 212(a)(9)(B) Policy Manual Guidance

USCIS, June 24, 2022 "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual on inadmissibility under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), specifically, the effect of returning to the United States during the statutory 3-year or 10- year period after departure or removal (if applicable). Under this policy guidance, a noncitizen who again...

June 27, 2022

Unpub. CA5 Niz-Chavez VacRem: Tamayo-Lara v. Garland

Tamayo-Lara v. Garland "Here, the initial NTA did not contain the time and date of Tamayo-Lara’s removal hearing. The BIA held that Tamayo-Lara’s argument that her NTA and in absentia removal order were invalid for failing to specify the time and place of her removal hearing were “foreclosed by our decision[] in Matter of Pena-Mejia, 27 I. & N. Dec. 546 (BIA 2019).” We have recently concluded, however, that...

June 27, 2022

CA5 on Statutory Birthright Citizenship: Garza-Flores v. Mayorkas

Garza-Flores v. Mayorkas "For years, Petitioner Javier Garza-Flores did not believe he had a valid claim to U.S. citizenship. But now he thinks that he does. And he has presented documentary evidence sufficient to demonstrate, at a minimum, a genuine issue of material fact concerning his claim of U.S. citizenship. That is enough to warrant a factual proceeding before a federal district court to determine his citizenship...

June 24, 2022

CA9 on CAT: Velasquez-Samayoa v. Garland

Velasquez-Samayoa v. Garland "Miguel Angel Velasquez-Samayoa seeks protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Velasquez-Samayoa asserts that, if he were removed to his native country of El Salvador, he would be identified as a gang member and therefore would face a significant risk of being killed or tortured—either by Salvadoran officials or by members of a rival gang with the acquiescence...

June 24, 2022

Matter of Nchifor, 28 I&N Dec. 585 (BIA 2022)

Matter of Nchifor, 28 I&N Dec. 585 (BIA 2022) - A respondent who raises an objection to missing time or place information in a notice to appear for the first time in a motion to reopen has forfeited that objection. "We ... agree with the Fifth Circuit’s approach in Pierre-Paul and will apply it to motions to reopen filed outside the jurisdiction of the Seventh Circuit. Applying this approach, we conclude that...

June 23, 2022

CA9: Etemadi v. Garland Withdrawn, Stayed, Referred to Mediation

Etemadi II, June 23, 2022 : "The petition for panel rehearing, Dkt. No. 53, is granted. The opinion filed on September 9, 2021, and reported at 12 F.4th 1013 , is withdrawn. Dkt. No. 48. The case is stayed and referred to mediation. If mediation is unsuccessful, the stay will be lifted, and the panel will determine whether to issue a final disposition or order additional argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 40(a)(4).&q...

June 23, 2022

Practice Advisory: Advocating for Prosecutorial Discretion in Removal Proceedings Under the Doyle Memo

NIPNLG, ILRC, June 21, 2022 "... The guidance in the Doyle memo covers various decisions made by OPLA attorneys in removal proceedings, particularly regarding filing Notices to Appear (NTAs), dismissal of proceedings, administrative closure, stipulations to issues and relief, continuances, appeals, joint motions to reopen, bond proceedings, and waiving appearances at hearings. Note that the OPLA guidance does not...

June 23, 2022

OFLC Puts SOC Webinar Online

OFLC, June 22, 2022 "OFLC has placed the June 21, 2022 stakeholder update on the implementation of the new 2018 Standard Occupational Classification system recording and presentation on the Prevailing Wage section of the website.  As part of the Office of Foreign Labor Certification's (OFLC) ongoing efforts to increase public engagement, OFLC's National Prevailing Wage Center (NPWC) hosted a two-hour...

June 22, 2022

CA7 on Changed Conditions, Ethiopia: Menghistab v. Garland

Menghistab v. Garland "The petition for review is GRANTED and the case is REMANDED to the Board of Immigration Appeals. On remand, the Board (or if it so chooses, an immigration judge) should conduct an evidentiary hearing that addresses (1) whether Ethiopia is likely to consider Menghistab to be one of its citizens; (2) whether changed conditions in Ethiopia are material to the risk that Menghistab will be tortured...

June 22, 2022

Due Process in Removal Proceedings After Thuraissigiam

Diana G. Li, Stanford Law Review, April 2022 "It is well established that Congress wields plenary power over the admission of noncitizens at the border. But when the government removes noncitizens who have already entered the country, including those who did so without lawful admission, the boundaries of its power are less clear. The Supreme Court confronted this issue in Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam...

June 22, 2022

One Pager on New TRIG Exemptions for Afghans: Prof. Lindsay M. Harris

Prof. Lindsay M. Harris, June 21, 2022 "On June 14, 2022, the Secretaries of Homeland Security and State announced broad-based exemptions to the Terrorist Related Inadmissibility Grounds for certain Afghans. On June 23, 2022, the Departments of State and Homeland Security issued three notices of determination into the federal register regarding broad based exemptions to the Terrorist Related Inadmissibility Grounds...