Announcements

USCIS Announces Temporary Suspension of H-1B 2021 Premium Processing On Tuesday, March 17, The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will temporarily suspend premium processing services for all petitions filed under the H-1B cap-subject category. As stated in the announcement, H-1B petitioners will not be able to request premium processing by the time […]

All the Immigration Lawsuits against the Trump Administration – a Summary President Trump’s administration is facing an unprecedented number of lawsuits over his immigration policies. By end of 2020, we can expect court decisions on many of these lawsuits. The judicial branch may also make a stance on the limits of the President’s authority to

Border Agents Cannot Search Travelers’ Digital Devices without Reasonable Suspicion, Judge ruled A district court judge in Boston ruled that U.S. border agents must have ‘reasonable suspicion’ to search travelers’ electronic devises at airports and other ports of entry. Background of the Decision In recent years there has been a growing practice for border agents

Congress is about to End Immigration of Skilled Workers in the U.S. By Ira J. Kurzban, KKTP, P.A. At the same time the Trump White House is crushing the hopes and aspirations of asylum seekers and those seeking a better life in. the U.S. through illegal practices and policies, the Congress is about to seriously

Debunking America First: Limiting H-1B Visa Results in Job Loss in the U.S. A new study finds that immigration restrictions preventing the employment of high-skilled foreign nationals are doing far more harm than good for the American economy. Background The research was conducted by academics at the prestigious Wharton School of Business at the University

Border Agents Cannot Search Travelers’ Digital Devices without Reasonable Suspicion, Judge ruled A district court judge in Boston ruled that U.S. border agents must have ‘reasonable suspicion’ to search travelers’ electronic devises at airports and other ports of entry. Background of the Decision In recent years there has been a growing practice for border agents

DHS Expands Use of Expedited Removal On July 23, 2019, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a new rule that dramatically increases the ability of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Custom and Border Protection (CBP) officers to remove certain noncitizens from the country. Those subject to such expedited removal will not even be given

ICE Raids Scheduled to Begin on Sunday Nationwide raids to arrest thousands of undocumented immigrants have been scheduled to begin Sunday, but the final details of these raids remain uncertain. The operation was previously postponed. What is going to happen? The raids, conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE)over multiple days, will include “collateral” deportations. This

H-1B Cap Reached within 5 days, Reflects Serious Need for Foreign Professionals in U.S. USCIS has once again received more than enough applications within the first 5 days of the fiscal year 2020 filing period to reach the annual cap of 85,000 H-1B visas. The agency received 201,011 petitions this year, a 6% increase from

Exit of Homeland Security Secretary Signals Tougher Direction on Immigration Policy Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned from her position last Sunday. Subsequently, the Trump administration continued its leadership purge of the Department of Homeland Security and removed Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles the next day. This series of ousters is a result of

Threats of Border Closure Causes Fears of Dire Economic Consequences In response to a surge of Central American migrants seeking asylum last weekend, President Trump threatened to close all ports of entry along the southern U.S. border. In light of the Department of Homeland Security’s declaration of an “Category 5 immigration crisis” at the border,

USCIS is Prime Example of Administrative Inefficiency Under the current administration, case processing delays at USCIS has reached unprecedented levels. According to a study by AILA, USCIS’s overall average case processing time grew by 19% in 2018 alone. Immigrant families, people fleeing persecutions as well as American businesses all bear the grave consequences of such

Immigrant Entrepreneurs Overlooked in Immigration Policy Debate The government is set for another shutdown this Friday.  As Congress and the White House continue to wrangle over a border wall, no one seems to pay much attention to a significant group in the immigration policy debate: immigrant entrepreneurs. How do immigrants matter to the U.S. economy?

Asylum Seekers Gravely Stymied by Government Shutdown Asylum seekers are among the worst casualties in the government shutdown that has exacerbated the nation’s already-backlogged immigration system. Due to President Trump’s demand for a border wall, the federal government is currently in the longest partial shutdown on record. The impasse is forcing the postponement of hearings

What Happens to Immigration During a Government Shutdown? As President Trump refuses to sign a budget bill that does not include funding for his border wall, there is a government shutdown in effect right now. Which immigration-related entities are impacted? Department of Homeland Security and its immigration-related components (Custom and Border Protection, Immigration and Custom Enforcement, Citizenship

Asylum Rejections Record-High in 2018 Amid Immigration Crackdown Immigration courts denied an astounding 65% of asylum applications in 2018, according to a recent report by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).  This denial rate is the highest since 2001. Asylum Caseload has Skyrocketed in 2018. TRAC reported 42,224 asylum cases that were decided by

International Students Thrive and Live the American Dream as Innovators Despite Anti-Immigrant Government International students are founding America’s most exciting and innovative startups. Unfortunately, Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda may be hurting such entrepreneurship. How do international students contribute to the U.S. economy? According to a recent study, nearly one in four U.S. billion-dollar startups had a

Harsh Immigration Policy Overlooks Country’s Need for Doctors Restrictive immigration policy under the Trump administration has little regard for the shortage of doctors in the United States.  Worse still, it may be exacerbating the desperate need for physicians in primary and specialty care in many underserved areas.   How Bad is the Need for Doctors?

Spanish Embassy Hosts Attorney Karen Weinstock On October 18, 2018, our Managing Attorney Karen Weinstock presented on a number of immigration issues at the Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C.. In attendance were business representatives, embassy staff and the embassy’s immigration services unit. It was a packed but extremely productive day for Karen. We make it our mission

Undocumented Immigrant Children in America More than 200 undocumented immigrant children remain in U.S. custody today, separated from their families. The overwhelming majority of these children face a grim and uncertain future in ICE facilities. (SOURCE: https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/national/more-than-200-children-from-separated-immigrant-families-remain-in-us-custody) Of the 245 children in custody, 175 have parents who have been removed from the United States. Only 18

Federal Judge Resists Trump’s Immigration Crackdown in TPS Ruling A federal judge in San Francisco blocked the government’s plan to end temporary protection for immigrants from Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Sudan.  The judge issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by immigrants with temporary protected status (TPS) from those four countries. What is

Immigrants Pressured to Choose between Immigration & Public Benefits Immigrants to the U.S. are feeling obligated to remove themselves from public benefits such as childcare subsidy and food stamp program.  This pressure came from a recent proposal by the Trump administration to tighten the ‘public charge’ rule that disfavors claimants of public benefits while adjudicating

Watch Out for Immigration Scams Immigration Scams Alert: even a victim can face deportation While the government tightens control on immigration, heartless fraudsters are preying upon vulnerable immigrants who are anxious about the uncertainty of their status.  Not only could victims lose thousands of dollars to these immigration scams, worse still, they could run afoul

Immigration Courts Under Attack by Jeff Sessions and DOJ Judicial Independence in Immigration Courts are Besieged by Jeff Sessions and DOJ. Tearing families apart isn’t the only way in which Attorney General Jeff Sessions attacks the American immigration system.  Since taking office, Sessions and the Justice Department have been interfering with judicial independence in immigration

USCIS Puts More Obstacles on Legal Immigration USCIS Imposes Even Higher Hurdles for Legal Immigration with New Guidance The government issued new guidance on RFEs and NOIDs and made it easier for adjudicators to deny a request for immigration benefit on July 13, 2018.  The new instructions will take effect next Monday, September 11, 2018.

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Asylum Cases Rejected (2/2) Asylum cases are getting rejected more often than they used to Read the first part of this post here. The possibility of receiving a positive decision also varies significantly depending on where in the United States asylum seekers make their case. For example, from October 2015 through June 2018, CFRs (Credible

Living Example of the American Dream Julio came to the United States when he was only 6 years old. His family moved from Mexico in search for a better life. He enrolled in school and grew up very involved in his community. When DACA became available, he applied for it and made sure to keep

Asylum Cases Rejected (1/2) Asylum Cases Rejected  It is no secret that the Trump administration is working hard to undermine and discourage immigrants from applying for immigration benefits. They are trying to destroy the asylum system through additional and unnecessary barriers, making it more difficult for those seeking refuge in the United States to be

Immigration Purge Immigration Purge We can say that since January 2017, there has been a purge of the TPS program. At that time, an estimated 320,000 people had this protected status due to an armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary conditions underway in their country. Nationals of these countries who are already in the

Cultural Diversity Cultural Diversity in The Workplace We understand cultural diversity as the ability for different cultures to share a work space. With an increasing immigration trend coming from all over the world, mix of nationalities, cultures and religions is becoming more and more frequent. We are in 2018. The world no longer has borders.