September 02, 2021

Reforming Our High-Skill Immigration System Is a National Security Imperative

C. Stewart Verdery, Jr., Elaine K. Dezenski, Sept. 1, 2021 "A significant part of the story behind the United States’ incredible Covid-19 vaccination development success is an immigration story. Look back to the  founding of Pfizer and Moderna , and you find both were founded by immigrants. Look at their CEOs today and both are immigrants. Key scientists involved in the vaccine’s development? Immigrants. It should...

September 02, 2021

ICE Now Monitors About 118,000 Immigrants Through Its Alternatives to Detention Program: TRAC

TRAC, Sept. 2, 2021 "Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is monitoring record numbers of immigrants through its "Alternatives to Detention" programs that rely on GPS monitors, smartphone technology, and telephonic reporting to monitor immigrants awaiting the outcome of their deportation cases. According to data updated today by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse in its ' Quick Facts...

August 31, 2021

GAO Critiques EOIR

GAO, Aug. 31, 2021 - COVID-19: Improvements Needed in Guidance and Stakeholder Engagement for Immigration Courts "The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) took steps to modify immigration court operations and guidance to respond to COVID-19. For instance, EOIR implemented health and safety measures at immigration courts, such as requiring social distancing. From mid-March...

August 31, 2021

Stuart Anderson on H-1B Denial Rates, Then and Now

Stuart Anderson, Forbes, Aug. 30, 2021 "High denial rates for H-1B petitions, which are used to employ foreign-born scientists and engineers, exploded the myth that Donald Trump supported legal immigration. Judges found the Trump administration enacted unlawful policies that burdened employers. A  new report  shows opinions issued by judges and the ITServe Alliance legal  settlement  have returned H-1B denial rates...

August 31, 2021

Prof. Geoffrey Hoffman on Biden Immigration Policy: C-SPAN

C-SPAN, Washington Journal, Aug. 28, 2021 (40-min. video) "Geoffrey Hoffman, the immigration clinic director at the University of Houston Law Center, discussed  President Biden ’s immigration policy and the administration’s attempt to end  President Trump ’s “remain in Mexico” policy."

August 31, 2021

Cyrus Mehta: Vaccine Inequality and Green Cards

Cyrus Mehta, Aug. 30, 2021 If the US Does Not Eradicate Vaccine Inequality, the Requirement of COVID Vaccinations for Many Green Card Applicants Will Result in a De Facto Ban "Effective October 1, 2021, with few exceptions, those applying for permanent residence (green card) must be vaccinated against COVID-19, now classified as a “Class A inadmissible condition,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

August 31, 2021

Another Giant Falls: Dale Schwartz (1942-2021)

Dale was a mentor, leader and an inspiration to thousands of immigration attorneys, yours truly included. His obituary reads: "Immigration attorney, champion for the underdog, and dedicated family man Dale Marvin Schwartz, 79, of Sandy Springs, died suddenly and peacefully on August 27. Born to parents Florence and Sanford Schwartz on August 20, 1942 in Columbus, Georgia, Dale graduated from Winder Barrow High...

August 27, 2021

Deported Vet Returns Home

Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, Aug. 26, 2021 "Wednesday night it finally happened. For the first time in more than a decade, Howard Bailey slept well. For 11 years, Bailey spent the night hours fitful and frightened, remembering the 5:30 a.m. knock at the door that took everything from him — his kids, his marriage, his small trucking business, his Chesapeake home near Virginia’s Indian River. That knock in 2010...

August 26, 2021

I-9 Software Snafu Triggers $84K Penalty

DOJ, Aug. 25, 2021 "The Department of Justice announced today that it reached a  settlement  with Ascension Health Alliance (Ascension), a Missouri-based health care organization with more than 2,600 sites – including 146 hospitals and more than 40 senior living facilities – in 19 states and the District of Columbia. The settlement resolves the department’s claims that Ascension violated the Immigration...

August 26, 2021

EOIR Launches FOIA Public Access Link

EOIR, Aug. 25, 2021 "The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has launched its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Public Access Link (PAL), a new online portal that streamlines records requests for parties with business before the agency and members of the public seeking records. “We are excited to launch this new portal, which highlights EOIR’s dedication to transparency through its FOIA request process...

August 26, 2021

Expert: On Afghan Refugees, Biden Walks Political Tightrope

Rebecca Morin, USA Today, Aug. 26, 2021 " Stephen Yale-Loehr, professor of immigration law at Cornell Law School , said the United States is going to see a lot of Afghans try to come to the United States and the Biden administration will likely see pressure to make it easier for people at risk to come to the U.S. ... “The Biden administration is going to have to walk a tightrope politically,” Yale-Loehr said. ...

August 25, 2021

High Court Denies MPP Stay Request...With Important Caveat

On Aug. 24, 2021 the Supreme Court, 6-3, denied the Biden administration's application for a stay of a district court order reactivating the "Remain in Mexico" (Migrant Protection Protocols or "MPP") program.  Amy L. Howe has details here .  Karen Tumlin points out an important qualification : "Pointing out that this [" Our order denying the Government’s request for a stay of the District...

August 24, 2021

Why Mass Immigration Is the Key to American Renewal

Deepak Bhargava, Ruth Milkman, Aug. 23, 2021 "Could admitting millions more immigrants over the next decade be the jolt the U.S. needs to revive its economy, culture, and politics? After four years of restrictionism under President Trump, ongoing border controversies, and an escalating culture war led by nativists, this idea may seem counterintuitive or even far-fetched. But recent labor market trends, demographic...

August 24, 2021

SCOTUS Adds Immigration Cases to 2021-22 Docket

Amy L. Howe, Aug. 23, 2021 "The Supreme Court added two new immigration cases to its docket for the 2021-22 term on Monday morning, granting a pair of petitions filed by the federal government. The relatively rare mid-summer additions came as part of the court’s  regularly scheduled summer order list , which also included a series of routine orders that (among other things) divided up argument time and disposed...

August 22, 2021

Courtside Exclusive: PWS on the "Dedicated Asylum Docket"

Hon. Paul W. Schmidt, Aug. 20, 2021 "TRAC IMMIGRATION just released the first statistical profile of the “Dedicated Asylum Docket” created by AG Garland and his subordinates without any coherent public explanation or plan in mind. Here they are: https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/657/ Stats wonks can check them out, and do their own analyses. As usual, given the haphazard nature and often questionable...

August 21, 2021

Resources for Assisting Afghans

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has provided this public-facing web page collecting links to resources.  Refresh often as the page will be updated.

August 20, 2021

Expert: Biden Can Use Parole Authority to Help Afghans

Aline Barros, VOA, Aug. 19, 2021 "Despite round-the-clock efforts by the military to evacuate Afghans loyal to the United States in the wake of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan just days ago, immigration experts say it is unknown how many of them will actually be admitted to the U.S. as refugees. With less than two months left in the current fiscal year, the U.S. is on track to finish with the lowest number...

August 19, 2021

The Lasting Legacy of Exclusion: How the Law that Brought Us Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Excluded Immigrant Families & Institutionalized Racism in our Social Support System

Elisa Minoff, Isabella Camacho-Craft, Valery Martinez and Indi Dutta-Gupta, Aug 19, 2021 "In 1996, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWORA) radically transformed our system of social supports. In addition to decimating cash assistance for families, the law’s immigrant exclusions exacerbated economic and racial inequities and harmed children and families in the 25 years since. This report—published...

August 19, 2021

MALDEF Sues Tech Company For Denying Jobs to DACA Recipients

MALDEF, Aug. 19, 2021 "A Latino civil rights group is suing a national technology company for unlawfully denying a DACA recipient employment because of her immigration status, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in federal court today. MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) filed the suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against Revature LLC on behalf of...

August 19, 2021

David Isaacson on the MPP Decision

David Isaacson, Aug. 18, 2021 "On Friday, August 13, U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued  an Opinion and Order  ruling in favor of the states of Texas and Missouri in a lawsuit that they had brought against the Biden Administration, seeking to force the Administration to reinstate the so-called “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP) created...

August 17, 2021

DHS Announces Alternatives to Detention Case Management Pilot Program

DHS, Aug. 17, 2021 "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced a new Alternatives to Detention (ATD) Case Management Pilot Program (CMPP), which will provide voluntary case management and other services to ensure that noncitizens in removal proceedings have access to legal information and other critical services. Alternatives to Detention is an important tool used by DHS for individuals and families...

August 17, 2021

TRAC on the "Dedicated Docket"

TRAC, Aug. 17, 2021 5,000 Immigrants Assigned to Biden Administration's New "Dedicated Docket" for Asylum Seeking Families On May 28, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice announced that the two agencies would be implementing a new "Dedicated Docket" process for families arriving at the border who are placed in immigration proceedings [1] . The announced...

August 16, 2021

DOJ's China Initiative v. AASF: A Political Awakening

Karin Fischer, latitude(s), Aug. 16, 2021 "The China Initiative, the Justice Department’s sweeping investigation of economic and academic espionage, has spawned new activism and advocacy among Chinese and Chinese-American professors, who fear that the effort, which has largely focused on researchers of Chinese descent, amounts to racial profiling.  Together with several dozen other professors, Suo helped start...

August 14, 2021

But I Thought Justice Roberts Said Racism Was Over...

DOJ, Aug. 13, 2021 "The Department of Justice announced today that it reached a settlement with JP Senior Healthcare LLC and JP Senior Management LLC, resolving the department’s claims that these companies violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against a Latino employee based on assumptions that the worker was not a U.S. citizen. JP Senior Management manages two nursing facilities...

August 12, 2021

Fading Beacon: Why America is Losing International Students

Karin Fischer, Sasha Aslanian, APMReports, Aug. 3, 2021 "Colleges and universities in the United States attract more than a million international students a year. Higher education is one of America’s top service exports, generating $42 billion in revenue. But the money spigot is closing. The pandemic, visa restrictions, rising tuition and a perception of poor safety in America have driven new international student...