February 14, 2022

Foreground/Background Issues and the Dynamic Nature of Immigration Cases

Prof. Geoffrey A. Hoffman, Feb. 10, 2022 "I want to say a bit about “foreground” versus “background” issues in immigration cases. I have noticed puzzlement at these concepts and recently when lecturing noticed that people do not appreciate the difference. In addition, it is not a common way of thinking about the law. It has become crucial for me, however, in my experience to clearly and effectively distinguish...

February 14, 2022

Part of INA Sec. 274 Unconstitutional: U.S. v. Hansen

U.S. v. Hansen "Helaman Hansen (“Hansen”) appeals his conviction and 240-month sentence for twelve counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and two counts of encouraging or inducing illegal immigration for private financial gain. On appeal, he argues that the district court improperly denied his motion to dismiss his convictions for the two counts of encouraging or inducing an alien to reside in the United...

February 10, 2022

CA6 on U Visa Waitlisting: Barrios Garcia v. DHS

Barrios Garcia v. DHS "Edmer Eudulio Barrios Garcia, Doublas Arguijo, Ardiles Yasdami Mendez Mendez, and Sudhaben Pankajkumar Patel are noncitizens. They were victims of grave crimes; they cooperated with law enforcement. They applied for U visas and authorization to work; Mendez Mendez and Patel sought derivative U-visas and work authorization for some of their family members. These noncitizens have waited years...

February 10, 2022

CA2 on IJ/BIA "Legal and Procedural Errors" - Ojo v. Garland

Ojo v. Garland "We grant Ojo’s petition for review and vacate the agency’s denial of Ojo’s claims for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection because those determinations were permeated with several legal and procedural errors. First, insofar as Ojo’s request for asylum was rejected as untimely, the agency applied the wrong legal standard to his claim of changed circumstances and the agency’s alternative...

February 10, 2022

USCIS Updates VAWA Policies (Feb. 10, 2022)

USCIS, Feb. 10, 2022 "...Through this publication, USCIS will begin to address some of the VAWA self-petition-related concerns that were raised in feedback received in stakeholder engagements. Further, this publication builds the framework for VAWA self-petitions guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual, facilitating future policy updates and clarifications. Specifically, this guidance changes the interpretation of...

February 10, 2022

Rescission of 2017 Policy Memorandum PM-602-0142

USCIS, Feb. 3, 2022 "Effective immediately, USCIS rescinds PM-602-0142 “Rescission of the December 22, 2000 ‘Guidance memo on H1B computer related positions.’” USCIS officers should not apply PM-602-0142 to any pending or new requests for H-1B classification, including motions on and appeals of revocations and denials of H-1B classification. Further guidance will be forthcoming."

February 08, 2022

The 2000 Legacy INS Cronin Memo Lives On

Maintenance of H-1B/L-1 Status after Travelling Back On Advance Parole: Executive Legerdemain under the Cronin Memo Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box, Feb. 8, 2022 "Since H-1B and L visa nonimmigrant status allows for dual intent, the filing of an I-485 adjustment of status application does not conflict with the maintenance of  those nonimmigrant statuses. One maintaining H-1B or L status can also apply for an employment...

February 08, 2022

Court Vacates Two Trump-Era Rules That Denied Work Authorization To Asylum Seekers

NIJC, Feb. 8, 2022 "A federal court  ruled  that  two   rules  issued by the Trump administration restricting — and in some cases eliminating — access to work authorization for asylum seekers were illegally issued and are therefore invalid. More than a year ago, a group of nearly 20 asylum seekers along with three organizations  sued  the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) challenging these rules. The individual...

February 07, 2022

Unpub. BIA Termination Victory

Helen Harnett writes: "I thought you might be interested in this BIA decision. The IJ terminated proceedings because the NTA did not contain a time or date. DHS filed an appeal, arguing: ·       That the Seventh Circuit in  Ortiz-Santiago  held that an Immigration Judge does not have authority to terminate a case based on a statutorily deficient NTA ·       That because the Seventh Circuit found the requirements...

February 07, 2022

USCIS Policy Alert: Extending EAD Validity

USCIS, Feb. 7, 2022 "... In the interest of reducing the burden on both the agency and the public, USCIS has revised its guidelines to state that initial and renewal EADs generally may be issued with a maximum validity period of up to 2 years for asylees and refugees, noncitizens with withholding of deportation or removal, and VAWA self-petitioners; or up to the end of the authorized deferred action or parole period...

February 07, 2022

Presidential Determination: Unexpected Urgent Refugee and Migration Needs

Federal Register, Vol. 87, No. 25, Monday, February 7, 2022 "Presidential Determination No. 2022–09 of February 1, 2022 Unexpected Urgent Refugee and Migration Needs Memorandum for the Secretary of State By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 2(c)(1) of the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 (22 U.S.C. 2601(c...

February 04, 2022

CA9 Makes Short Work of Laparra: Singh v. Garland

Singh v. Garland "This appeal requires us to decide what notice must be given to noncitizens before the government can order them removed in absentia. ... The government reasons that because § 1229a(b)(5)(A) is written in the disjunctive and allows for in absentia removal if a noncitizen received notice in accordance with paragraph (1) “or” (2) of §1229(a), the government should be permitted to follow the two-step...

February 04, 2022

CDC Keeps Title 42 Expulsions In Place

Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News, Feb. 4, 2022 "After a recent internal review, the Biden administration decided to maintain a pandemic-era order put in place under former President Donald Trump that authorizes the rapid deportation of migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told CBS News Thursday. Since March 2020, the Trump and Biden administrations have expelled...

February 03, 2022

Pro Se CA4 PSG Remand: Luna-Deportillo v. Garland

Luna-Deportillo v. Garland "The Board dismissed the Petitioners’ appeal after determining that Luna-Deportillo’s particular social group of the nuclear family of a teenage girl who was threatened due to her refusal to join a criminal gang and the gang’s perception that she was a “snitch” was not cognizable. The Board relied on the Attorney General’s decision in In re L-E-A-II to conclude that the Petitioners’ nuclear...

February 03, 2022

RAIO/AILA Meeting Notes (Jan. 5, 2022)

USCIS, Jan. 5, 2022 "On Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, the USCIS Public Engagement Division (PED) hosted a virtual meeting with the Asylum & Refugee Committee of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations Directorate (RAIO). The purpose of this meeting was to provide RAIO leadership with an opportunity to meet with AILA, to hear directly from them on...

February 03, 2022

Matter of F-R-A-, 28 I&N Dec. 460 (BIA 2022)

Matter of F-R-A-, 28 I&N Dec. 460 (BIA 2022) - The amount of forfeiture ordered in a criminal proceeding may be considered in determining whether a crime of fraud or deceit resulted in a loss to a victim or victims exceeding $10,0000 pursuant to section 101(a)(43)(M)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(M)(i) (2018), if the amount set forth in the order is sufficiently tethered and traceable...

February 03, 2022

Shadow Sanctions for Immigration Violations

Prof. Shalini Bhargava Ray, Lawfare, Feb. 2, 2022 "With 11 million deportable noncitizens and the capacity to remove roughly 400,000 per year , the immigration bureaucracy inevitably selects a subset of deportable noncitizens for deportation. This tension between the formal terms of the INA and enforcement realities has played out in every administration since the last round of immigration reform in 1996 and, most...

February 02, 2022

CA4 on Nexus: Tomas-Ramos v. Garland

Tomas-Ramos v. Garland "After Adan de Jesus Tomas-Ramos, a citizen and native of Guatemala, reentered the United States illegally in 2018, a removal order previously entered against him was reinstated. But because Tomas-Ramos expressed a fear of returning to Guatemala, an asylum officer conducted a screening interview to determine whether he reasonably feared persecution or torture in his home country. The asylum...

February 02, 2022

Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement for Enrollees at the University of Northern New Jersey

DOS, Jan. 28, 2022 " Dong, et al. v. Johnson, et al., No. 2:17-2092-ES-JSA (D.N.J. filed Mar. 30, 2017). Plaintiffs in this class action are current and former F-1 nonimmigrants who previously enrolled at the University of Northern New Jersey (UNNJ), an undercover school set up by the Department of Homeland Security.  On November 22, 2021, the Parties reached a Preliminary Settlement Agreement.  On January 10...

February 02, 2022

DOS/AILA Meeting Notes (Jan. 20, 2022)

DOS, Jan. 25, 2022 "The Department of State’s Office of the Assistant Legal Adviser for Consular Affairs (L/CA), in coordination with the Visa Office in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, appreciates the opportunity to discuss issues of concern to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).  We believe these discussions, and publication of Department responses to issues raised by AILA on Travel.State.Gov...

February 01, 2022

Groundbreaking COVID-19 Settlement to Yield Protections for Immigrants Detained by ICE, Limit Re-detention for People Released

LCCRSF, Jan. 27, 2022 "Immigrants detained by ICE during the COVID-19 pandemic in two California detention facilities have reached a groundbreaking settlement agreement to resolve a long-running class action lawsuit against ICE and GEO, a private contractor who manages one of the facilities. The settlement agreement will compel ICE and GEO to preserve safety measures to protect people in immigration detention from...

February 01, 2022

USCIS Policy Alert: Use of Medical Examination Completed Abroad for Afghan Nationals Applying for Adjustment of Status After Evacuation Under Operation Allies Welcome

USCIS, Feb. 1, 2022 "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to allow certain Afghan nationals applying for adjustment of status after evacuation under Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) to use the report of an immigration medical examination completed abroad by a panel physician to satisfy the requirement normally demonstrated on a Report of Medical Examination...

January 31, 2022

Stuck on Repeat: Hon. Jeffrey S. Chase on Matter of Laparra

Hon. Jeffrey S. Chase, Jan. 31, 2022 "The first three lessons learned from the BIA’s recent decision in Matter of Laparra 1 are: (1) the Board knows only one tune; (2) that tune is the “Falls Church Two-Step,” and (3) the tune does not improve with repeated listening. As background, Congress in 1996 passed a statute creating a document called a Notice to Appear, or “NTA” for short, which is used to commence removal...

January 31, 2022

Amin v. Mayorkas: Fifth Circuit Denies EB-1 Extraordinary Ability Petition Even Though Petitioner Met Three Out of Ten Regulatory Criteria

Cyrus D. Mehta and Jessica Paszko, Jan. 31, 2022 "Establishing extraordinary ability under the employment-based first preference (EB-1) visa category is neither an easy nor straightforward feat. In 2010,  Kazarian v. USCIS , 596 F.3d 1115 (9th Cir. 2010), which we wrote a  blog  about, muddied the waters when it tacked onto the EB-1 determination, a vague, second step analysis known as the “final merits determination...

January 28, 2022

EOIR to Host Model Hearing Program Video Viewing Event

EOIR, Jan. 21, 2022 "As part of its “Access EOIR” initiative, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is pleased to invite interested stakeholders to attend an online viewing session of its on-demand Model Hearing Program (MHP) event. This hybrid event is the third part of the MHP effort and combines the live programming and on-demand videos to allow stakeholder groups to view the videos and ask agency...