April 04, 2024

CA2 Remand, Age Out, Agency Delay: Cruz v. Garland

Cruz v. Garland (unpub.) "We ... remand for the BIA to consider in the first instance whether the delays in this case were undue and attributable to the agency, and if the BIA finds that they were, for the BIA to address the IJ’s reasons for finding Cruz ineligible for cancellation." [Hats off to Farid Ahmed !]

April 04, 2024

USCIS Increases Automatic Extension of Certain Employment Authorization Documents to Improve Access to Work Permits

USCIS, Apr. 4, 2024 "Building on extensive modernization efforts that have streamlined and improved access to work permits for eligible noncitizens, USCIS today announced a temporary final rule (TFR) to increase the automatic extension period for certain employment authorization documents (EADs) from up to 180 days to up to 540 days. This announcement follows improvements that have reduced processing times for...

April 03, 2024

Securitas Settles I-9 Beef for $175K

DOJ, Apr. 2, 2024 "The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement agreement with Securitas Security Services USA Inc. (Securitas), a protective services company with locations throughout the United States. The agreement resolves the department’s determination that certain Securitas locations violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against non-U.S. citizens...

April 01, 2024

Wilkinson v. Garland: Implications for Judicial Review of Petitions for Review (Practice Advisory)

NILA, Mar. 28, 2024 "On March 19, 2024, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Wilkinson v. Garland, No. 22-666, 601 U.S. __, 2024 WL 1160995 (2024). The decision holds that the application of the statutory hardship standard for cancellation of removal, found in 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(D), to established facts presents a mixed question of law and fact which a federal court of appeals has jurisdiction to review...

April 01, 2024

Frequently Asked Questions on the USCIS Fee Rule

USCIS, Apr. 1, 2024 "On Jan. 31, 2024, USCIS published a final rule that, for the first time since 2016, adjusts certain immigration and naturalization benefit request fees. With the final rule, we can recover our operating costs more fully and support timely processing of new applications. Unlike many other federal agencies, we are almost entirely fee funded. About 96% of our funding is from filing fees, and only...

April 01, 2024

USCIS Provides Third Gender Option on Form N-400

USCIS, Apr. 1, 2024 "We have revised Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, to provide a third gender option, “X,” defined as “Another Gender Identity.” We are also updating guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual accordingly to account for this form revision and other forthcoming form revisions that will add a third gender option; see the Policy Alert (PDF, 344.77 KB) . The 04/01/24 edition...

April 01, 2024

USCIS Revises Policy Manual to Align with New Fee Rule

USCIS, April 1, 2024 "We are revising our guidance (PDF, 364.37 KB) in the USCIS Policy Manual to align with the Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements Final Rule published in the Federal Register on Jan. 31, 2024, and effective on April 1, 2024. Revisions to the policy manual apply to all applications and petitions postmarked on or after April 1. We will use the postmark...

April 01, 2024

BIA Expands to 28 Members (Final Rule, Advance Copy)

This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 04/02/2024 "On April 1, 2020, the Department of Justice (“the Department” or “DOJ”) published an interim final rule (“IFR”) with request for comments that amended its regulations relating to the organization of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“Board”) by adding two Board member positions, thereby...

March 29, 2024

CA1 on Mixed Motive: Khalil v. Garland

Khalil v. Garland "We grant the petition for review in part, vacate the decision of the BIA as to Khalil's asylum claim premised on mixed-motive persecution and as to his CAT claim, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion." [Hats off to Saher J. Macarius, Audrey Botros, Julian Bava, Adriana Lafaille, Sabrineh Ardalan and Tiffany Lieu!]

March 29, 2024

Stanford Clinic Victory!

Stanford Law School Immigrants' Rights Clinic "The clinic assisted M, a lawful permanent resident (“green card” holder) from Fiji who has lived in the United States with his family for the past 21 years. M had some minor brushes with the criminal justice system as a young adult, and DHS alleged that the government could deport M based on a 1999 conviction. M’s removal case was dismissed after...

March 28, 2024

Practice Advisory: Pursuing Private Immigration Relief Legislation in Congress

NIPNLG, Mar. 27, 2024 "As Congress continuously fails to pass humane immigration legislation, many noncitizens remain vulnerable to removal from the United States. While this legislative failure affects all noncitizens negatively, Congress’s failure to enact meaningful immigration reform is particularly damaging to noncitizens who are unable to obtain legal status through normal immigration channels—particularly...

March 28, 2024

20% Discount on Selected Immigration Titles

Use the promotional code www.lexisnexis.com/BIB2024 for 20% savings on these titles: Immigration Law Handbook Immigration Law Pocket Field Guide J Visa Guidebook Immigration Law and Procedure Bender's Immigration and Nationality Act Pamphlet

March 27, 2024

CA5 (2-1) Keeps SB4 Injunction In Place

US v. Texas "In an effort to stem the tide of illegal immigration into Texas, the state legislature passed a bill known as S. B. 4 that amended various statutes. The new laws prohibit noncitizens from illegally entering or reentering the state and set forth removal procedures. The United States, two nonprofit organizations, and the county of El Paso sued to enjoin enforcement of S. B. 4, arguing it is preempted...

March 26, 2024

BIA Ignores Evidence, CA2 Remands

Mendez Galvez v. Garland (unpub.) "The agency entirely overlooked evidence material to the hardship determination in this case: evidence regarding Mendez’s serious back injury and its implications for his ability to support his qualifying relatives through work in El Salvador. ... The BIA’s decision is VACATED and the case is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this order." [Hats...

March 26, 2024

Court Enjoins OCAHO: Walmart v. King

Walmart v. King "The current statutory scheme unconstitutionally "subverts the President's ability to ensure that the laws are faithfully executed - as well as the public's ability to pass judgment on his efforts." Id. at 498. It is therefore "incompatible with the Constitution's separation of powers" and cannot stand. Id. Congress cannot force parties, such as Plaintiff, to have...

March 25, 2024

DOS: Haiti Adoption Notice (Mar. 22, 2024)

DOS, Mar. 22, 2024 "The Department of State is working as quickly as possible to identify options for continued case processing and assisted departure for Haitian children in the intercountry adoption process, while meeting the criteria established by U.S. regulations and the Hague Adoption Convention. We understand and share your concerns about the safety of adoptive children in Haiti. We ask adoptive families...

March 25, 2024

ETA 9089 and 9141: Siblings or Twins?

Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box, Mar. 25, 2024 "The process for an employer to sponsor a noncitizen employee for permanent labor certification is long and complicated. The first step in the process for filing Form ETA 9089, Application for Permanent Labor Certification, also known as PERM, is to file Form ETA 9141, Request for Prevailing Wage Determination. It takes about 6 months for the National Prevailing Wage...

March 24, 2024

CA9 on Persecution: Singh v. Garland

Singh v. Garland "Singh experienced multiple physical attacks and death threats over an eight-month period, from November of 2014 to June of 2015. No reasonable factfinder would conclude that Singh did not experience serious harm rising to the level of persecution. ... For all these reasons we find that the record compels a finding that Singh suffered harm rising to the level of persecution. ... [T]he BIA did not...

March 23, 2024

CA1 on Social Group: Ferreira v. Garland

Ferreira v. Garland "Pamlar Ferreira petitions for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") upholding the denial of her application for withholding of removal. Ferreira requests that we remand the case so that the BIA may consider anew whether withholding is appropriate on the basis of her two asserted particular social groups: "family" and "Trinidadian women who...

March 22, 2024

TPS Extended for Burma (Myanmar)

DHS, Mar. 22, 2024 "Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas today announced the extension and redesignation of Burma for Temporary Protected Status for 18 months, from May 26, 2024, to November 25, 2025, due to extraordinary and temporary conditions in Burma that prevent individuals from safely returning. The corresponding Federal Register notice provides information about how to register as a new...

March 21, 2024

USCIS Policy Alert: Clarifying Expedite Requests

USCIS, Mar. 21, 2024 "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is updating policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to clarify how USCIS considers expedite requests related to government interests and requests related to emergencies and urgent humanitarian situations. This update also clarifies how to make an expedite request and explains how USCIS processes expedite requests." [See also these...

March 19, 2024

Loyola Law Prof. Homero Lopez Joins BIA

Loyola, Mar. 12, 2024 "Adjunct Law Professor Homero Lopez has been appointed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, the top administrative appellate agency to review immigration court decisions in the United States! Judge Lopez will start considering appeals on April 1st!"

March 19, 2024

Supreme Court on Jurisdiction, Hardship: Wilkinson v. Garland

Wilkinson v. Garland "This Court now holds that the application of the exceptional and extremely unusual hardship standard to a given set of facts is reviewable as a question of law under §1252(a)(2)(D). ... The hardship determination in this case was not discretionary. Because the IJ held that M.’s hardship did not satisfy the statutory eligibility criteria, he never reached the second step and exercised...

March 19, 2024

CA6 on Nexus, Social Group: Vasquez-Rivera v. Garland

Vasquez-Rivera v. Garland "Here, the BIA attributed analysis to the IJ that the IJ never undertook. Finding that none of Vasquez-Rivera’s proposed social groups were cognizable, the IJ concluded that her asylum claims failed. With respect to Vasquez-Rivera’s family in particular, the IJ found that Vasquez-Rivera “did not establish that her family was or will be identified as a distinct group.”...

March 17, 2024

Varela-Chavarria Round Table Amicus Brief

Here is the Nov. 9, 2023 CA1 decision at issue, 86 F.4th 443. Here is the Round Table's Amicus Brief. Nutshell: "We write to provide the Court with additional context regarding the importance of the IJ’s duty to adequately develop the record as to which PSGs are claimed, and the extensive authority confirming that such a duty exists."