July 27, 2021

DHS Resumes Expedited Removal for "Certain Family Units"

DHS, July 26, 2021 "Beginning today, certain family units who are not able to be expelled under Title 42 will be placed in expedited removal proceedings.  Expedited removal provides a lawful, more accelerated procedure to remove those family units who do not have a basis under U.S. law to be in the United States.     Attempting to cross into the United States between ports of entry, or circumventing inspection...

July 26, 2021

Garland Vacates Matter of A-C-A-A-

Matter of A-C-A-A-, 28 I&N Dec. 351 (A.G. 2021) (1) Matter of A-C-A-A-, 28 I&N Dec. 84 (A.G. 2020) (“A-C-A-A- I”), is vacated in its entirety. Immigration judges and the Board should no longer follow A-C-A-A- I in pending or future cases and should conduct proceedings consistent with this opinion and the opinions in Matter of L-E-A-, 28 I&N Dec. 304 (A.G. 2021) (“L-E-A- III”), and Matter of A-B-, 28 I&N...

July 23, 2021

USCIS EB-5 Policy Alert (July 22, 2021)

USCIS, July 22, 2021 - Immigrant Investors and Investment of Loan Proceeds "Noncitizens may seek an immigrant visa based on their investment in a new commercial enterprise in the United States if they meet certain related minimum investment and job creation requirements.1 An investment must consist of a contribution of capital, which includes, among other things, both cash and indebtedness.2 Historically, USCIS...

July 21, 2021

BIA on Rwanda, Genocide Bar, Laches: Matter of O-R-E-

Matter of O-R-E-, 28 I&N Dec. 330 (BIA 2021) (1) Immigration Judges and the Board lack the authority to recognize the equitable defense of laches in removal proceedings. (2) The respondent’s willful misrepresentations regarding his name, location of his residence, timing of his departure from Rwanda, and membership in political organizations on his Registration for Classification as Refugee (Form I-590) and supporting...

July 21, 2021

CBP Extends US/Canada/Mexico Travel Restrictions Through Aug. 21, 2021

" This document announces the decision of the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) to continue to temporarily limit the travel of individuals from Canada into the United States at land ports of entry along the United States-Canada border. Such travel will be limited to “essential travel,” as further defined in this document. DATES: These restrictions go into effect at 12 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time...

July 21, 2021

CDC Lifts Title 42 Blockade for Unaccompanied Children

CDC, July 16, 2021 "CDC thus finds that, at this time, there is appropriate infrastructure in place to protect the children, caregivers, and local communities from elevated risk of COVID-19 transmission as a result of the introduction of UC, and U.S. healthcare resources are not significantly impacted by providing UC necessary care. CDC believes the COVID-19-related public health concerns associated with UC introduction...

July 20, 2021

District Court Approves Settlement in Lawsuit Challenging Immigration Agency’s Unlawful Rejection of Over Sixty Thousand Humanitarian Applications

NILA, NWIRP, July 20, 2021 "Today, a federal district court judge in Oakland, California, approved a final settlement in the case of  Vangala v. USCIS , providing relief to over sixty thousand applicants for humanitarian immigration benefits. The lawsuit, filed on November 19, 2020, against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), challenged an agency policy adopted under the Trump administration specifically...

July 20, 2021

DOS NIE Extensions (July 6, 2021)

State Department, July 6, 2021 "Extension of validity for National Interest Exceptions (NIEs) for Travelers from China, Iran, Brazil, South Africa, the Schengen Area, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and India Last Updated: July 6, 2021  On June 29, 2021, the Department of State extended the validity of National Interest Exceptions (NIE) for travelers subject to restrictions under Presidential Proclamations...

July 20, 2021

BIA Seeks Amicus Briefs on NTAs After Niz-Chavez (Due Aug. 10, 2021)

BIA, July 20, 2021 "Amicus Invitation No. 21-20-07 AMICUS INVITATION (Notice to Appear), Due Date: August 10, 2021 July 20, 2021 The Board of Immigration Appeals welcomes interested members of the public to file amicus curiae briefs discussing the below issue: ISSUE PRESENTED: Whether, and if so to what extent, Niz-Chavez v. Garland, 141 S. Ct. 1474 (2021), impacts the jurisdiction of an Immigration Court...

July 20, 2021

Law Clinics File Claim Alleging Pattern of Retaliation by U.S. Immigration Officers Against Immigration Activists

ImmigrationProf Blog, July 19, 2021 " The Immigrant Rights Clinic at New York University School of Law  and the  Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic  filed a joint  complaint   with the Department of Homeland Security Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties alleging a widespread pattern of retaliation by federal immigration officials against immigrant activists and others who publicly criticize U.S. immigration...

July 20, 2021

USCIS: Applicants for Change of Status to F-1 Student No Longer Need to Submit Subsequent Applications to ‘Bridge the Gap’

USCIS, July 20, 2021 "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced new policy guidance that eliminates the need for individuals who have applied for a change of status (COS) to F-1 student to apply to change or extend their nonimmigrant status while their initial F-1 COS application is pending. Under the previous policy, applicants needed to maintain status up to 30 days before the program start...

July 19, 2021

No Longer in Use: How Changes in SOC Systems Affect Employment-based Immigration

Cyrus D. Mehta and Isabel Rajabzadeh, July 19, 2021 "The Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) is a  federal statistical standard  used by federal agencies to classify workers into occupational categories.  The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) coordinates the Federal statistical system, including the SOC . The SOC Policy Committee assists the OMB in the SOC revision process, and  is comprised of Federal...

July 19, 2021

DHS Announces Extension and Re-Designation of Somalia for TPS

DHS, July 19, 2021 "Today, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced an 18-month extension and re-designation of Somalia for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).  This extension and re-designation will be in effect from September 18, 2021, through March 17, 2023. “Through the extension and re-designation of Somalia for Temporary Protected Status, the United States will be able to offer safety...

July 19, 2021

Garland Appoints 10 New IJs

EOIR, July 16, 2021 "The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) today announced 10 new Immigration Judges (IJs), including one Assistant Chief Immigration Judge (ACIJ). ACIJs are responsible for overseeing the operations of their assigned immigration courts. In addition to their management responsibilities, they will hear cases. IJs preside in formal judicial hearings and make decisions that are final,...

July 16, 2021

Court: DACA Violates APA

Texas v. USA memorandum here ; PI here .

July 16, 2021

CA8 on Categorical Approach: Peh v. Garland

Peh v. Garland "The Board’s decision in this case is not clear about how it understood the “realistic probability” requirement. The decision said that Peh had “not established a realistic probability that Iowa would successfully prosecute a violation of Iowa Code § 710.10(3) involving any of the ‘illegal acts’ he cites to in his brief.” The Board could mean only that the State would not “successfully prosecute...

July 16, 2021

USCIS Policy Manual Technical Update: EB-5 Modernization Rule Vacatur

USCIS, July 15, 2021 "This technical update explains that on June 22, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, in  Behring Regional Center LLC v. Wolf , 20-cv-09263-JSC, vacated the  EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization Final Rule (PDF) . While USCIS considers this decision, USCIS will apply the EB-5 regulations and policies that were in effect before the rule was finalized...

July 16, 2021

OFLC News (July 16, 2021)

OFLC, July 16, 2021 1.   OFLC Announces Relocation of the Office of Foreign Labor Certification's Atlanta National Processing Center; Change of Physical Mailing Address The Employment and Training Administration issued a  Federal Register  notice informing the public that the Office of Foreign Labor Certification’s (OFLC) mailing address for its Atlanta National Processing Center (ANPC) will be changing beginning...

July 16, 2021

CA3 on "Something to Review" - Valarezo-Tirado v. A.G.

Valarezo-Tirado v. A.G. "We have previously granted a petition for review in which the alleged basis for the BIA’s denial of relief was that “the evidence is insufficient” and “the arguments made by the [government] on appeal . . . are persua[sive]” because we could not “perform meaningful review of [such an] order.” Here, we have even less to work with. ...  The most fundamental notion of due process must include...

July 15, 2021

Castro-Tum Overruled: Matter of Cruz-Valdez

Matter of Cruz-Valdez, 28 I&N Dec. 326 (A.G. 2021) (1) Matter of Castro-Tum, 27 I&N Dec. 271 (A.G. 2018), is overruled in its entirety. (2) While rulemaking proceeds and except when a court of appeals has held otherwise, immigration judges and the Board should apply the standard for administrative closure set out in Matter of Avetisyan, 25 I&N Dec. 688 (BIA 2012), and Matter of W-Y-U-, 27 I&N Dec....

July 15, 2021

Visa Bulletin for August 2021

Visa Bulletin for August 2021

July 15, 2021

Feds Reopen Comment Period on T Visa IFR

This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 07/16/2021 "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announces the reopening of the public comment period for the Interim Final Rule titled, Classification for Victims of Severe Forms of Trafficking in Persons; Eligibility for ‘‘T’’ Nonimmigrant Status. DHS published the interim final rule (IFR) on December 19, 2016 and accepted comments until...

July 14, 2021

Wang v. Blinken: "A Deep Disappointment"

Cyrus D. Mehta, Kaitlyn Box, July 14, 2021 "On July 9, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued its opinion in  Wang v. Blinken , No. 20-5076 (D.C. Cir. 2021), interpreting INA § 203(d) to include the counting of derivatives toward the EB-5 investor cap. The Plaintiffs in the case are a group of EB-5 investors who would have been able to adjust status long ago if not for the lengthy backlogs...

July 14, 2021

CADC on Expatriation, APA: Farrell v. Blinken

Farrell v. Blinken "While United States citizenship is one of the most sought after in the world, American citizens sometimes choose to relinquish this privilege and place their allegiance elsewhere. Congress has specified the actions that will result in expatriation and also vested authority in the Secretary of State to recognize the loss of nationality. Before recognizing a person’s expatriation, the Department...

July 13, 2021

Rare CA5 Stay Grant: Singh v. Garland

Singh v. Garland "Daljinder Singh applied for asylum and protection under the Convention Against Torture, claiming that he feared persecution in India based on his membership in the Akali Dal Amritsar (“Mann Party”), a Sikh-dominated political party. The presiding immigration judge (“IJ”) denied his application, finding Singh not credible. The Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissed Singh’s appeal. Singh...