An article in Marketplace reports that the White House is warning Congress that President Obama would veto a bill that calls for additional background checks on Syrian refugees. The administration noted that there are already stringent background checks for refugees, and that more would only cause unnecessary delays.
Filed under: asylum, Immigration Attorney | Tagged: asylum, denial of admission, refugee, syrian refugee | Leave a comment »
The Tenth Circuit denied the petition for review, rejecting the petitioner’s claim that the BIA violated his due process rights by relying on evidence from written reports prepared by immigration officers and other written materials contained in the agency’s files to determine that he had entered into a sham marriage in order to obtain lawful permanent resident status.
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: 10th circuit, denial of due process, marriage fraud | Leave a comment »
Matter of GARCIA-RAMIREZ, 26 I&N Dec. 674 (BIA 2015)
(1) Where an alien has the right to a hearing before an Immigration Judge, a voluntary departure or return does not break the alien’s continuous physical presence for purposes of cancellation of removal under section 240A(b)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(A) (2012), in the absence of evidence that he or she was informed of and waived the right to such a hearing, regardless of whether the encounter occurred at or near the border. Matter of Avilez, 23 I&N Dec. 799 (BIA 2005), clarified.
(2) Evidence that an alien who had the right to a hearing before an Immigration Judge was fingerprinted and/or photographed before being allowed to voluntarily depart is not enough, in itself, to demonstrate a waiver of the right to a hearing or to show a process of sufficient formality to break continuous physical presence. Matter of Castrejon-Colino, 26 I&N Dec. 667 (BIA 2015), followed.
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: #hoa, Deportation, ICE, vd, Voluntary Departure | Leave a comment »
The State Department released the Visa Bulletin for November 2015, including the availability of immigrant numbers for “Application Final Action Dates” (indicating when DOS or USCIS can make a decision on the applications) and “Dates for Filing Applications” (indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to submit required documentation). There was no forward movement from the revised October 2015 Visa Bulletin in the “dates for filing” for the family-based, first and third preference categories for Mexico; the employment-based, second preference categories for mainland China and India; or the employment-based, third preference category for the Philippines.
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: Department of State (DOS), DOS, priority date, Visa Bulletin | Leave a comment »
Today, DOL published in the Federal Register a final rule on the temporary agricultural employment of H–2A foreign workers in the field of herding and production of livestock on the range. The rule is effective on November 16, 2015, and implements a new wage methodology with a two-year transition period during 2016 and 2017, and full implementation beginning in 2018
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: Department of Labor (DOL), DOL, field workers, H-2A, h2a, livestock | Leave a comment »
USCIS advised that it has suspended final adjudication of employment-based Form I-485 applications as of today, because the Department of State indicated that the statutory cap has been reached for the employment-based preference categories through the remainder of FY2015, which concludes on September 30, 2015. USCIS stated that it will continue to accept adjustment of status applications that are filed when the applicant’s priority date is earlier than the relevant cut-off date published in the September Visa Bulletin. Final adjudication of employment-based adjustment applications will resume on October 1, 2015, on which date visa numbers will again be available.
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: employment based petition, I-485, priority date, USCIS, Visa Bulletin | Leave a comment »
The First Circuit upheld the Board of Immigration Appeals, holding that the plain language of INA §101(a)(43) compels the conclusion that a predicate conviction under federal or state law can constitute an aggravated felony even if the petitioner served no term of imprisonment for that crime.
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: aggravated felony, BIA, board of immigration appeals, first ciruit, ina 101(a)(43), jail, prison term | Leave a comment »
The Ninth Circuit held that the REAL ID Act permits the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and Immigration Judges (IJs) to base their adverse credibility determinations exclusively on background evidence in the record, upon consideration of the totality of the circumstances and all relevant factors. As such, the court upheld the BIA’s denial of the petitioner’s asylum claims, finding that the BIA and the IJ’s adverse credibility determination, which was based solely on a report from Amnesty International, was supported by substantial evidence.
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: Adverse Credibility, BIA, board of immigration appeals, IJ, Immigration Judges, ninth circuit | Leave a comment »
The Sixth Circuit interpreted INA §240 as requiring that personal service be made upon a noncitizen whenever practicable, and held that personal service to a represented noncitizen’s counsel may, in certain cases, constitute personal service to the noncitizen. The court upheld the Board of Immigration Appeals, finding that the respondent, who was ordered removed in absentia after failing to appear at a master calendar hearing in his removal proceedings, had received sufficient notice under the INA, where the respondent’s counsel was personally served with written notice of the hearing on the day that he appeared with the respondent in immigration court.
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: 6th circuit, notice to appear, persona service of immigration notice, service on attorney, sixth circuit | Leave a comment »
Immigration Lawyer
Brian D. Lerner Immigration Attorney & Deportation Lawyer Blog 