Posted on November 25, 2019 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
USCIS has issued guidance on the Special Immigrant Juvenile classification.
On October 11, USCIS issued 3 adopted Administrative Appeals Office decisions that clarified the requirements for a Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification. On November 19, USCIS updated its policy manual to reflect those decisions. The three clarifications are that 1) the petitioner must have been a juvenile under relevant state law when the juvenile court order was issued; 2) the court’s intervention must have provided relief from abuse, neglect, or abandonment, and cannot be just a statement that the juvenile is dependent on the court; and 3) it is no longer required to show that a state court had the authority to place a petitioner in the custody of an unfit parent in order to make a determination regarding parental reunification for purposes of SIJ classification.
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Posted on November 25, 2019 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
On November 21, USCIS published new versions of Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions; Form I-694, Notice of Appeal of Decision Under Sections 245A or 210 of the Immigration and Nationality Act; Form I-824, Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition; and Form I-817, Application for Family Unity Benefits. For forms G-1450 and I-694, the previous edition will continue to be accepted. For forms I-824 and I-817, the new edition must be used starting 1/21/20.
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Posted on November 25, 2019 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
On Wednesday, Democrats in Congress introduced HR 2169, the Protect Our Workers from Exploitation and Retaliation Act. The bill aims to expand a visa program for victims and whistleblowers, and give protection for undocumented workers in labor disputes. The bill would remove the 10,000 visa per year cap on the U visa program, lower the application expenses, and add victims of serious labor violations to the eligibility list. The bill has received support from labor unions in particular.
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Posted on November 25, 2019 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
The Trump administration is planning on using eminent domain to acquire private land in Texas to use for the border wall. On Thursday, the government sent Right of Entry letters to dozens of landowners informing them that it will be surveying the land. The owners must sign the letters for the government to be able to come onto the land, but if they don’t sign, the matter will be escalated to the DOJ to get court-ordered access. Acting CBP Commissioner Morgan stated that he is aware there will likely be litigation over the land acquisition, but thinks that the government is “on track” to get the 450 miles for the wall.
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Posted on November 25, 2019 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
The U.S. and Guatemala made an agreement to send asylum seekers at the U.S. border to Guatemala instead. On Thursday, the first Honduran asylum seeker was sent to Guatemala under the agreement. He had arrived at the border near El Paso, Texas, but was flown to Guatemala. This policy has been criticized, since Guatemala suffers from many of the same dangers as other Central American countries, including gang violence. Because of this, it is unclear how many asylum seekers will be sent to Guatemala or will return to their home countries instead. In this first case, the man has already asked for assistance to return to Honduras from Guatemala.
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Posted on November 25, 2019 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
The U.S. and Guatemala made an agreement to send asylum seekers at the U.S. border to Guatemala instead. On Thursday, the first Honduran asylum seeker was sent to Guatemala under the agreement. He had arrived at the border near El Paso, Texas, but was flown to Guatemala. This policy has been criticized, since Guatemala suffers from many of the same dangers as other Central American countries, including gang violence. Because of this, it is unclear how many asylum seekers will be sent to Guatemala or will return to their home countries instead. In this first case, the man has already asked for assistance to return to Honduras from Guatemala.
Filed under: best deportation attorney | Tagged: asylum, central america, Honduras | Leave a comment »
Posted on November 25, 2019 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
When immigrants get green cards through marriage, they are first conditional, and when enough time is passed they must apply to remove the conditions. However, in many cases this does not happen, either because of divorce or other reasons. In these cases, because the conditions were not removed and because a judge has not officially terminated their conditional status, immigrants were stuck in a limbo and functionally undocumented. USCIS has just issued policy guidance that says that “an immigration judge does not need to affirm the termination of [Conditional Permanent Resident] status” before immigrants can file a new adjustment of status application. Because this applies to all conditional permanent residents, this applies to immigrants in the U.S. under the EB-5 investor visa as well.
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Filed under: Visa | Tagged: conditional residence, cr1, i751, Petition to Remove Conditional Residency | Leave a comment »
Posted on November 19, 2019 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
Officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols, the “Remain in Mexico” program has kept many asylum seekers in border cities and tent camps near the U.S.-Mexican border while they wait for their immigration court dates in the U.S. The policy has been criticized as endangering the asylum seekers by forcing them to face both possible violence and lack of sanitary conditions, especially in the tent camps. Particularly vulnerable individuals, like pregnant women and some LGBTQ people, are not supposed to be part of the program, yet there have been reports of both pregnant women and transgender individuals being returned to Mexico where they are unsafe. Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan defended the program saying now the “loophole” of bringing a child to get into the U.S. has been closed, and that having families remain in Mexico is the administration’s alternative to detaining them for the whole duration of their case (which is prohibited by the Flores Agreement). Acting Director of USCIS Ken Cuccinelli argued that the policy “achieved” the goal of stopping “catch and release.”
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Posted on November 19, 2019 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
69,550 children were held in detention in 2019, a number higher than any other country. The U.S. has acknowledged detaining children is psychologically harmful, but increased the number of detained children by 42% between just 2018 and 2019. Because the federal government was aware of the risks of family detention when it implemented it, on November 5 a federal judge ordered the government to provide mental health screenings and treatment to families who were separated and are now traumatized.
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Posted on November 19, 2019 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
District Judge Denise Casper ruled on Tuesday that border agents need reasonable suspicion to search through travelers’ phones and laptops at airports and other ports of entry. Current ICE and CBP policies allow for routine searches of electronics with no suspicion. The number of electronic searches at U.S. ports of entry has increased greatly during the Trump administration, from 8,500 in 2015 to more than 30,000 in 2018. Since this decision is at the district court level, it is not binding on higher courts.
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