Posted on January 18, 2020 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
In September 2019, President Trump issued an executive order requiring consent from states in order to continue refugee resettlement in those locations after June 2020. Under the order, local governments are able to deny consent to refugees as well. With the deadline for consent approaching, a court out of New York issued a preliminary injunction against the policy, blocking it from going into effect while litigation proceeds. The ruling on Wednesday said that the executive order is likely “unlawful” as it sidelines refugee resettlement agencies and contravenes the Refugee Act’s purpose and structure. Read more on how to become a refugee.
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Posted on January 18, 2020 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
On January 9, USCIS announced that its electronic H-1B registration system has been implemented and will be used for fiscal year 2021 H-1B petitions. USCIS will open registration from March 1 through March 20, 2020. Online registration requires a $10 fee and is not a full application. Registrations will be randomly chosen no later than March 31, and once chosen, a petitioner will need to fill out their H-1B petition
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Posted on January 18, 2020 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
USCIS published the list of countries whose nationals are eligible for the H-2A and H-2B visa programs, which allow foreign workers to fill temporary agricultural and nonagricultural jobs. The list of countries is unchanged from the 2019 eligibility list.
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Posted on January 8, 2020 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
Thousands of Liberians came to the U.S. in the 1990’s under temporary protections, and were a part of the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) program starting in 2007. DED does not allow a path to citizenship, and expired in March 2019 without being renewed. The administration gave a one-year reprieve, meaning that thousands of Liberians would be subject to deportation after March 31, 2020. On Tuesday, the Senate passed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which included an amendment providing a path to citizenship for Liberians under DED status. President Trump has said he will sign the bill into law.
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Posted on January 8, 2020 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
On December 12, a federal judge issued a nationwide injunction on the rule that ended fee exemptions for many poor immigrants seeking citizenship. The previous rule allowed a fee exemption for anyone on government aid or who could show financial hardship (such as medical expenses or unemployment). The blocked rule eliminated fee waivers for government benefits and allowed waivers only to those who could show hardship or who were making no more than 150% of the federal poverty guidelines, meaning that many poor immigrants would have to pay the $725 fee. The main reason for the injunction was that the Trump administration disregarded the law when it did not seek or consider public comment on the new rule.
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Posted on December 29, 2019 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
CNN reports that over the past year, nearly double the number of immigration judges left their positions in comparison with fiscal years 2018 and 2017. While the reasons for individual judges moving on from their posts vary, interviews with judges who left in recent months reveal a common theme of frustration over a mounting number of policy changes that, they argue, have chipped away at their authority.
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Posted on December 29, 2019 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
USCIS announced that it will begin accepting applications to adjust status to lawful permanent resident from certain Liberian nationals under Section 7611 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2020, Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF). USCIS will only accept properly filed applications until December 20, 2020
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Posted on December 20, 2019 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
The 4th Circuit lifted a lower court injunction against Trump’s expanded public charge rule on Monday. The rule expands what is considered a “public charge” for immigration purposes, encompassing a wide range of public benefits, like Medicaid and public housing vouchers, that were not considered before. The 9th Circuit similarly lifted an injunction, but a nationwide injunction out of New York remains in place, still blocking the policy from going into effect.
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Posted on December 20, 2019 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
The United States has started sending families seeking asylum in the U.S. to Guatemala. This follows an agreement with Guatemala saying that all asylum seekers who pass through Guatemala before arriving to the U.S. border must first apply for asylum there. Guatemala faces many of the same problems as other Central American countries: violence, corruption, and poverty, and the U.S. has many asylum seekers fleeing Guatemala. For the first time on Tuesday, U.S. officials began sending non-Guatemalan families there
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Posted on December 20, 2019 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
Judge Briones in El Paso, Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the president’s use of $3.6 billion in military construction funding for the border wall. The president’s proclamation that allowed the use of those funds violated congressional restrictions that limited border wall funding to $1.375 billion. This $3.6 billion was separate from the $2.5 billion in drug interdiction funding. The Supreme Court lifted the injunction against the $2.5 billion in July, meaning that the Trump administration can use those funds while litigation proceeds.
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