The State Department recently announced a plan to require virtually all applicants for U.S. visas to provide more details as part of the vetting and approval process. Only certain official and diplomatic visa applicants would be exempt. The proposal was published in...
Firm News
Previously deported Army vet is granted his US citizenship
When Hector B. was in the Army, he didn't apply for U.S. citizenship. He was already a lawful permanent resident, and says that recruiters misled him into believing that citizenship would be automatic after his service. It wasn't. Hector was born in Mexico and brought...
Supreme Court rejects challenge to DACA, orders continuation
The U.S. Supreme Court recently turned away an appeal by the state of Arizona, which had sought to end its participation in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. When the state attempted to deny program beneficiaries the driver's licenses they were...
AG Sessions takes steps to reduce false asylum claims
"The system is being gamed, there's no doubt about it," said Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a speech last October. He was trying to get Congress to tighten the rules for asylum. In the U.S., asylum is offered to people who have suffered persecution, or fear they...
Rules tightened for companies sponsoring outsourced H-1B visas
H-1B visas are available for several types of workers, but the most well known is the "specialty occupations" visa. It is available to highly skilled foreign workers who work in jobs which typically cannot be performed by people without at least a bachelor's degree in...
DACA to continue, surprise Dreamer deportations ordered to stop
Two major court decisions involving the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program were announced this week. First, the U.S. Supreme Court put off an appeal of a federal court order. That order, a nationwide injunction, ordered the federal government not to shut...
Most immigrants ICE arrested in 2017 had past criminal convictions
Although many immigrants worry that they could be targeted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement despite causing no problems, recent information suggests that the agency has been focusing mostly on those with criminal issues. At the same time, however, ICE...
2nd court of appeals rules Trump’s travel ban unconstitutional
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, just released its ruling on whether President Trump's travel ban passes constitutional muster. In a 9-4 vote, the appellate court held that it does not. The ban prohibits at least some residents from eight...
Was immigrant activist targeted for deportation to silence him?
Activist Ravi Ragbir leads a coalition of 150 faith-based pro-immigrant groups referred to collectively as the New Sanctuary Coalition. He is one of several immigrant rights activists who seem to have been targeted for deportation because of their outspoken political...
ICE releases policy on immigration raids at courthouses
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has just released a formal policy on when it will send immigration agents into local, state and federal courthouses in order to make arrests. Immigration advocacy groups, along with several judges, have condemned the practice...
