June 29, 2021

CA4, En Banc, on El Salvador, MS-13: Portillo Flores v. Garland

Portillo Flores v. Garland "When he was 15 years old, Hernan Portillo-Flores (“Petitioner”), a resident of El Salvador, sought refuge in the United States. When Petitioner was living in El Salvador, El Pelón, a leader of the infamous gang MS-13, and other gang members beat Petitioner on multiple occasions (once almost to the point of death) and made death threats against him because El Pelón...

June 29, 2021

Supreme Court on Bond: Johnson v. Guzman Chavez (6-3)

Johnson v. Guzman Chavez Majority (Alito) - "Federal immigration law contains various provisions authorizing the Government to detain aliens during the removal process. This case concerns two of them: 8 U. S. C. §1226 and 8 U. S. C. §1231. We are asked to decide which of those provisions applies to aliens who were removed from the United States but later reentered without authorization, were subject to reinstated...

June 28, 2021

CA7 on Divisibility: Parzych v. Garland

Parzych v. Garland "Czeslaw Parzych, a Polish citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States, was twice convicted of burglary in Illinois, leading the Department of Homeland Security to begin removal proceedings. After several appeals, the Board of Immigration Appeals ultimately upheld an Immigration Judge’s determination that Parzych was removable. Parzych now petitions for review, arguing that the...

June 28, 2021

CA1 on El Salvador, Gang Membership, Jurisdiction, Hardship, Evidence: Perez-Trujillo v. Garland

Perez-Trujillo v. Garland "At issue are Nestor Perez-Trujillo's petitions for review of two decisions by the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA"): its 2011 ruling affirming the denial of his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT"); and its 2017 ruling reversing the grant of his application for adjustment of status. We deny...

June 28, 2021

Azar-Farr on Niz-Chavez: Turning Square Corners

This thoughtful article by my San Antonio friend Simon Azar-Farr will also be published in a forthcoming issue of the "hardcopy" (subscription) Bender's Immigration Bulletin . (Not yet a subscriber to the  Bulletin and/or the " Treatise "?  Call your local LexisNexis rep today!  1-877-394-8826.)

June 25, 2021

Unpub. CA5 Niz-Chavez Remand: Ityonzughul v. Garland

Ityonzughul v. Garland "While the failure to specify the time and date of an initial hearing does not render a notice to appear defective and does not deprive the immigration court of jurisdiction, See Pierre-Paul v. Barr, 930 F.3d 684, 689-90, 693 (5th Cir. 2019), abrogated in part on other grounds by Niz-Chavez v. Garland, __ U.S. __, 141 S. Ct. 1474 (2021), the Supreme Court recently held that a “notice to appear...

June 25, 2021

CA7 on Niz-Chavez: Avila de la Rosa v. Garland

Avila de la Rosa v. Garland "Cristian Avila de la Rosa received a procedurally defective Notice to Appear for his immigration removal proceedings, and (unlike many others) he made a timely objection to that Notice. The immigration judge, however, disregarded Avila’s objection, and the Board of Immigration Appeals thereafter insisted that Avila was not entitled to relief unless he could demonstrate prejudice from...

June 25, 2021

CA9 on Voluntary Departure: Zamorano v. Garland

Zamorano v. Garland "Victor Luis Angeles Zamorano, a native and citizen of Mexico, seeks review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing his appeal from a decision of the immigration judge (IJ) that denied his application for voluntary departure. Because the IJ failed to evaluate the factors weighing in favor of granting Zamorano voluntary departure, we grant the petition and remand to...

June 25, 2021

New OEWS Technical Release Notes (June 25, 2021)

OFLC, June 25, 2021 "OFLC Issues Technical Release Notes for the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Update for the July 2021 through June 2022 Wage Year The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has published the latest prevailing wage data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) as generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for July 2021 through June 2022. OFLC intends...

June 25, 2021

EOIR MPP/MTR Policy Memo (June 24, 2021)

EOIR, June 24, 2021 - Provides information regarding the adjudication of motions to reopen in Migrant Protection Protocols cases

June 24, 2021

DHS Announces Expanded Criteria for MPP-Enrolled Individuals Who Are Eligible for Processing into the United States

DHS, June 23, 2021 "As part of our continued effort to restore safe, orderly, and humane processing at the Southwest Border, DHS will expand the pool of MPP-enrolled individuals who are eligible for processing into the United States. Beginning June 23, 2021, DHS will include MPP enrollees who had their cases terminated or were ordered removed in absentia (i.e., individuals ordered removed while not present at their...

June 23, 2021

BIA on Simple Possession: Matter of Moradel

Matter of Moradel, 28 I&N Dec. 310 (BIA 2021) - (1) An applicant for adjustment of status with Special Immigrant Juvenile status may, in conjunction with a waiver under section 245(h)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1255(h)(2)(B) (2018), seek to waive his or her inadmissibility under section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) (2018), based on a single offense of...

June 23, 2021

Court Invalidates July 2019 EB-5 Final Rule: Behring RC v. Wolf

Behring RC v. Wolf "Behring Regional Center, LLC, a California-based Regional Center that sponsors capital investment projects using funds from foreign investors who are EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program applicants, brings this Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”) action against the Department of Homeland Security.1 Plaintiff contends that Homeland Security violated the APA when it promulgated a final rule in July...

June 23, 2021

DOL on H-2B Peak Filing Season Window (July 3-5, 2021)

DOL, June 23, 2021 - H-2B Application Filing Timelines for 2021 Peak Filing Season "The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) reminds employers and other interested stakeholders that the three-day filing window to submit an H-2B  Application for Temporary Employment Certification  (Form ETA-9142B and appendices) requesting a work start date of October 1, 2021,  will open on July 3, 2021, at 12:00 a.m. Eastern...

June 22, 2021

NILA Practice Advisory: ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR TPS HOLDERS AFTER SANCHEZ V. MAYORKAS

Mary Kenney, Tiffany Lieu, June 21, 2021 "On June 7, 2021, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Sanchez v. Mayorkas, No. 20-315, 2021 U.S. LEXIS 2960 (2021), in which it held that a grant of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) could not be deemed an admission for purposes of adjustment of status. This decision, which impacts TPS recipients who initially entered the United States without inspection, reverses...

June 22, 2021

Advocating for Clients in Removal Proceedings Using the OPLA Prosecutorial Discretion Memo

Cristina Velez, Anita Gupta, June 21, 2021 "ICE enforcement priorities have changed under the Biden administration, signaling a return to the use of prosecutorial discretion. On May 27, 2021, the ICE Principal Legal Advisor issued guidance for OPLA attorneys about how and when to exercise prosecutorial discretion during various stages of removal proceedings. EOIR subsequently issued its own memo discussing EOIR...

June 21, 2021

DHS Extends US/Canada/Mexico Travel Restrictions One More Month

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 (EDT) on June 22...

June 21, 2021

CA9 on Changed Circumstances: Kaur v. Garland

Kaur v. Garland "This asylum case is about changed country circumstances, including changes in personal circumstances, which are entirely outside the applicant’s control. Ravinder Kaur, an Indian national, appeals the BIA’s decision denying her motion to reopen removal proceedings. Kaur argues that the BIA erred in concluding that she has failed to show materially changed conditions in India, her country of origin...

June 18, 2021

Unpub. CA5 Niz-Chavez Remand: Villegas de Mendez v. Garland

Villegas de Mendez v. Garland "The NTA sent to Villegas de Mendez does not contain the information required to trigger the stop-time rule. See id. at 1478-79, 1485; see also § 1229(a)(1)(A)-(G). Neither does the subsequent notice of hearing sent to her. Thus, she did not receive the “single compliant document” required by statute. Niz-Chavez, 141 S. Ct. at 1485. The BIA consequently abused its discretion by committing...

June 18, 2021

MPP Transfers Into United States Slow and Nationality Inequities Emerge: TRAC

TRAC, June 17, 2021 "As of the end of May 2021, a total of 10,375 individuals formerly forced to remain in Mexico under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) have been able to enter the United States since President Biden ended this Trump-era program. Rather than accelerating in May, however, the pace of recorded transfers actually appears to have dramatically slowed. ... "

June 18, 2021

USCIS Clarifies Evidence Requirements Under LRIF

USCIS, June 17, 2021 "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that it is updating guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual regarding eligibility for adjustment of status under Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF). The updated guidance clarifies what evidence an applicant may submit to establish Liberian nationality when applying for adjustment of status under LRIF. The updated guidance includes...

June 17, 2021

Gupta Memo to OIL re A-B-, L-E-A- Vacatur

Vanita Gupta, Associate Attorney General, June 16, 2021 "The Civil Division's Office of Immigration Litigation is responsible for defending the decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals when they are challenged in the federal courts of appeals. Please review any pending cases that may be affected by the Attorney General's vacatur of L-E-A- II, A-B- I, and A-B- II and take appropriate steps in light...

June 17, 2021

CA11 on Reconsideration of Asylum: Thamotar v. Atty. Gen.

Thamotar v. Atty. Gen. "Visavakumar Thamotar, a Sri Lankan citizen of Tamil ethnicity, seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order affirming an Immigration Judge’s discretionary denial of his application for asylum and grant of withholding of removal. Mr. Thamotar argues that because removal was withheld, federal regulation 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(e)1 required reconsideration of his asylum claim...

June 17, 2021

GAO: Biden's Border Wall Pause OK

GAO Decision, June 15, 2021 "On January 20, 2021, President Biden issued a Proclamation terminating a previous declaration of national emergency concerning the southern border of the United States issued by President Trump. Among other things, the Proclamation directs officials to “pause work on each construction project on the southern border wall, to the extent permitted by law . . . [and to] pause immediately...

June 17, 2021

Visa Bulletin for July 2021

Visa Bulletin for July 2021 Note   D.   SCHEDULED EXPIRATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT-BASED FIFTH PREFERENCE I5 and R5 REGIONAL CENTER VISA CATEGORIES Employment Fifth Preference Categories (I5 and R5): Division O, Title 1, Section 104 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 extended this immigrant investor pilot program until June 30, 2021.  The I5 and R5 visas may be issued until close of business on June 30, 2021...