• Hours & Info

    M-F: 8:00am - 6:00 p.m.
    Sat: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
  • Past Blog Posts

  • https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=13104885414

A Defendant Shows Up in Immigration Court by Himself. He’s 6.

Wilder Maldonado, who was separated from his father at the border and is facing immigration proceedings alone. ICYMI, the LA Times Published Published an op-ed earlier this week by a former DOJ employee about why he resigned from his position at the Los Angeles immigration court. Gianfranco de Girolamo writes, “I couldn’t stand by, or be complicit in, a mean-spirited and unscrupulous campaign to undermine the everyday work of the Justice Department and the judges who serve in our immigration courts — a campaign that hurts many of my fellow immigrants in the process

City of Baltimore Files Lawsuit Challenging DOS Change to Foreign Affairs Manual on Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility

The city of Baltimore filed a lawsuit in federal district court challenging a change made by DOS to the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) in January 2018 which expanded the scope of the FAM’s “public charge” provision. The complaint asks the court to vacate the FAM change due to it being “arbitrary and capricious, procedurally infirm, and unconstitutional.”

9th Circuit Rules against Trump’s Asylum Ban

The 9th Circuit just ruled that it was unlawful for Trump to deny Central Americans into the U.S. to apply for asylum and cannot unilaterally stop asylum laws.

USCIS Reminder: F-1 “Cap-Gap” Status and Work Authorization Extension Only Valid Through September 30

USCIS issued a reminder that F-1 students who have an H-1B petition that remains pending on October 1, 2018, risk accruing unlawful presence if they continue to work on or after October 1, 2018, unless otherwise authorized to continue employment, as their “cap-gap” work authorization is only valid through September 30, 2018. See AILA’s practice pointer on this topic for more information.

Federal Inspectors Find Nooses, ‘Serious Violations’ at ICE Facility in California

USA Today reports on an unannounced inspection of the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, operated by the GEO Group. In its report, the DHS Office of the Inspector General identified serious violations, including improper use of disciplinary segregation, guards ignoring the presence of more than a dozen nooses fashioned out of bedsheets, and inadequate medical care.

BIA Dismisses Respondent’s Appeal and Discusses §18.5 of the California Penal Code

The BIA found that the amendment to §18.5 of the California Penal Code, which retroactively lowered the maximum possible sentence that could have been imposed for a foreign national’s state offense from 365 days to 364 days, does not affect the applicability of INA §237(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) to a past conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude “for which a sentence of one year or longer may be imposed.”

USCIS Announces Workload Transfer for Certain I-539s from VSC to TSC

USCIS announced that on September 17, 2018, it transferred certain Forms I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, for F, M, J, or B nonimmigrants from the Vermont Service Center (VSC) to the Texas Service Center (TSC).

USCIS Publishes Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility

Today, USCIS published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register to revise the regulations on inadmissibility on public charge grounds.

Mother Jones: “In Any Other Judicial System, the Government Cannot Just Take Away Your Kid”

Mother Jones reports on ICE’s use of family separation outside of the context of the “zero-tolerance” border policy, sharing the story of a woman who was detained with her 2-year-old daughter after they fled Honduras. The mother passed her credible fear interview, and then her daughter was separated from her because the mother was found to be a safety risk to her child, presumably based on information she provided during her interview

Army Expelled 500 Immigrant Recruits in One Year

The Associated Press reports that after the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) recruiting program was put on hold in 2016, the Army began discharging the immigrants with language or medical skills who had enlisted through the program without explanation.