January 18, 2022

CA5 on Res Judicata, CIMT, Admission: Diaz Esparza II

Diaz Esparza II "Santiago Alejandro Diaz Esparza seeks review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision finding him subject to removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(ii), which permits the deportation of aliens who commit two crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMTs) after admission to the United States.1 Diaz Esparza argues that this court should vacate the BIA’s decision because res judicata bars the removal...

January 15, 2022

Cleveland IJ Terminates Proceedings, Defective NTA

Order dated Dec. 9, 2021 , no appeal taken!  Hats off to Ted Murphy !

January 13, 2022

Visa Bulletin For February 2022

Visa Bulletin For February 2022

January 13, 2022

USCIS O-1B Policy Alert (Jan. 13, 2022)

USCIS, Jan. 13, 2022 - Determining the Appropriate O-1B Classification for Persons of Extraordinary Ability in the Arts or Extraordinary Achievement in the Motion Picture or Television Industry

January 13, 2022

CA5 "Overlooked Evidence" Remand: Emmanuel-Tata v. Garland (unpub.)

Emmanuel-Tata v. Garland (unpub.) "Tarlishi Emmanuel-Tata, a native and citizen of Cameroon, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision affirming the Immigration Judge’s denial of his claims for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. We GRANT the petition for review and REMAND for further consideration. ... Emmanuel-Tata challenges both the BIA...

January 12, 2022

Chief IJ Suspends All Standing Orders

Email from EOIR to practitioners, Jan. 11, 2022 : "In light of operational changes due to the ongoing pandemic, the Chief Immigration Judge has suspended all standing orders through Jan. 31, 2022."

January 12, 2022

CA1 Remand: Menjivar Bonilla v. Garland

Menjivar Bonilla v. Garland "Jose Ernesto Menjivar Bonilla, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") affirming the denial of his application for withholding of removal under Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA") Section 241(b)(3) and relief under Article 3 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture ("CAT"...

January 12, 2022

DOL Proposes H-2B Form Changes

DOL, Jan. 12, 2022 "OFLC Announces 60-Day Public Comment Period on the Form ETA-9142B and Related Forms for the H-2B Temporary Non-agricultural Program The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) published a 60-day notice in the  Federal Register  announcing its proposal to revise the information collection for the Office of Foreign Labor Certification’s Form ETA-9142B,  Application for Temporary Employment...

January 12, 2022

Ameen v. Garland Habeas Petition Filed

Jan. 10, 2022 Press Release "Immigrant Legal Defense and the University of Chicago Immigrants’ Rights Clinic have filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Omar Ameen seeking his immediate release from immigration custody. Mr. Ameen has been held by the U.S. government for over three years based on false allegations that he was involved in terrorism in Iraq before he arrived in the United States...

January 11, 2022

SC Oral Arg. Transcripts, Jan. 11, 2022

Johnson v. Arteaga-Martinez Garland v. Gonzalez

January 11, 2022

CA9 on AgFel: Togonon v. Garland

Togonon v. Garland "Petitioner Longinos Togonon, a native and citizen of the Philippines, was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 2013. In 2015, he was convicted of arson in violation of California Penal Code § 451(b) and sentenced to three years of imprisonment. In 2018, the Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings against Togonon, alleging (as relevant for our...

January 11, 2022

CA10 Credibility Remand: Takwi v. Garland

Takwi v. Garland "Nkemchap Nelvis Takwi seeks review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing his appeal from a removal order entered by an Immigration Judge (IJ) and denying his motion to remand. Exercising jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252, we grant the petition for review. We remand this matter to the BIA because the IJ did not make an explicit adverse credibility determination, and...

January 11, 2022

En Banc CA1 Credibility Remand: Diaz Ortiz v. Garland

Diaz Ortiz v. Garland "Cristian Josue Diaz Ortiz, a native of El Salvador, seeks review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") affirming the denial of his claims for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture ("CAT"). The Immigration Judge's ("IJ") rejection of Diaz Ortiz's petition for relief rested...

January 11, 2022

ICE, CBP Penalty Hikes

Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 7 / Tuesday, January 11, 2022 "In this final rule, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) makes the 2022 annual inflation adjustment to its civil monetary penalties. On November 2, 2015, the President signed into law The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (the 2015 Act). Pursuant to the 2015 Act, all agencies must adjust their civil monetary...

January 11, 2022

DOL H-2B Lotto Results

DOL, Jan. 7, 2022 "OFLC Publishes List of Randomized H-2B Applications Submitted January 1-3 for Employers Seeking H-2B Workers Starting April 1, 2022. To keep the public informed regarding the submission and assignment of H-2B applications for review, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) published the assignment group(s) for 7,875 H-2B applications covering 136,555 worker positions with the start...

January 11, 2022

Frozen Food Co. Pays $40K to Settle I-9 Bungle

DOJ, Jan. 10, 2022 - "The Department of Justice today announced that it has reached a settlement agreement with Buddy’s Kitchen Inc., a Minnesota-based company that produces and distributes frozen foods. The settlement resolves claims that the company discriminated against non-U.S. citizens based on their citizenship status when checking their permission to work in the United States. ... The department’s investigation...

January 10, 2022

Jan. 11, 2022 SC Oral Arg. Previews (Detention, Bond, Jurisdiction)

For Garland v. Gonzalez , see here and here . For Johnson v. Arteaga-Martinez , see here and here . For both, see here .

January 09, 2022

Olavarria, Moran Leave Biden Immigration Team; PWS Comments

Politico West Wing Playbook, Jan. 6, 2022 " ESTHER OLAVARRIA , the deputy assistant to the president for immigration at the Domestic Policy Council and one of the key decision-makers on immigration inside the White House, is retiring, a White House spokesperson confirmed to West Wing Playbook.  SUSAN RICE , the head of the DPC, said in the statement that, “I could not be more grateful for Esther Olavarria’s myriad...

January 07, 2022

CA4 on Abuse of Discretion, Continuances: Garcia Cabrera v. Garland

Garcia Cabrera v. Garland "This petition arises out of an immigration judge’s (IJ) refusal (affirmed by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)) to continue the deportation proceedings of a movant that the IJ himself recognized was likely to obtain a U visa from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). For the reasons that follow, we hold that the BIA and IJ abused their discretion in denying...

January 05, 2022

Diversity Visa Reassignment Procedures for Kabul and Baghdad

DOS, Jan. 5, 2022 "If you are a Diversity Visa (DV) selectee for the 2022 DV program year with a case assigned to U.S. Embassy Kabul or Baghdad, you should request reassignment of your DV case to another embassy or consulate that processes immigrant visa applications.  Visit  https://www.usembassy.gov/  to check if an embassy or consulate processes immigrant visas.  Please be aware that you must be physically present...

January 04, 2022

H-2B Visa Demand Overload

DOL, Jan. 3, 2022 "During the first two days of the H-2B peak filing season, employers filed 6,943 applications in the Foreign Labor Application Gateway System requesting more than 120,879 worker positions with an April 1, 2022, or later, work start date. The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) will continue to accept H-2B applications during the three-day filing window, and plans to randomize all applications...

December 30, 2021

Unpub. CA5 Niz-Chavez Remand: Lima-Gonzalez v. Garland

Lima-Gonzalez v. Garland "Lima-Gonzalez’s NTA did not contain the information required to trigger the stop-time rule. See Niz-Chavez, 141 S. Ct. at 1478-79, 1485; see also § 1229(a)(1)(A)–(G). Neither did any of the subsequent notices of hearing. As a result, the Government has not furnished Lima-Gonzalez with the “single compliant document” required by statute. Niz-Chavez, 141 S. Ct. at 1485. Accordingly, Lima...

December 30, 2021

Biden v. Texas: MPP Cert. Pet.

Biden v. Texas - Petition for a Writ of Certiorari [CBS News article here .]

December 29, 2021

H-2A FAQ: Wage Disclosure and Calculation Requirements on Agricultural Clearance Orders

DOL, Dec. 29, 2021 "ETA is issuing these FAQs to remind SWAs that they are obligated under the Wagner-Peyser Act regulations at 20 CFR 653.501 to check an employer’s piece rate offer, estimated in hourly wage rate equivalents for each activity and unit size, when reviewing the Forms ETA-790A and 790B (collectively referred to as “Agricultural Clearance Orders”) and to clarify the related wage disclosure and calculation...

December 28, 2021

Proposed DOS NIV Fee Changes

This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 12/29/2021 "The Department of State (Department) proposes adjustments to the Schedule of Fees for Consular Services (Schedule of Fees) of the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) for several nonimmigrant visa (NIV) application processing fees, the Border Crossing Card (BCC) for Mexican citizens age 15 and over, and the waiver of the two-year residency...