Maria Sacchetti, Washington Post, Dec. 8, 2023 "A federal judge in San Diego on Friday approved a settlement that prohibits U.S. officials from separating migrant families for crossing the U.S....
USCIS, Dec. 8, 2023 "The employment-based (EB) annual limit for fiscal year (FY) 2024 will be higher than was typical before the pandemic, though lower than in FY 2021-2023. We are dedicated to...
Elliot Spagat, Associated Press, Dec. 8, 2023 "A federal judge was poised Friday to prohibit separation of families at the border for purposes of deterring immigration for eight years, preemptively...
In an unpublished decision dated Dec. 4, 2023 a panel of the Ninth Circuit remanded for a new hearing. The facts are stunning...unless you practice immigration law: "Because Lead Petitioner credibly...
This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 12/07/2023 "The Department of State (“Department”) is amending its regulation governing immigrant visas by removing...
Maie v. Garland
"Maie’s petition contends that his petty theft convictions are not categorically CIMTs. The government’s initial response argued only that Maie failed to preserve this argument. For reasons explained more fully below, we conclude that Maie’s argument was not waived. Because Maie’s argument presents an issue we have yet to address in a published opinion, we ordered supplemental responses to fill the gap left by the government’s first brief. Now, having considered the parties’ post-argument briefs,we conclude that Hawaii’s fourth degree theft statute is not a CIMT. Thus, the government has not shown that Maie is subject to removal. ... We conclude that Hawaii’s definition of “theft” does not always require the government to prove the defendant acted with an intent to permanently deprive or substantially erode the owner’s property rights. Accordingly, Hawaii’s fourth degree theft statute is overbroad because it criminalizes conduct not encompassed by the BIA’s definition of a CIMT. ... We conclude that Hawaii’s fourth degree theft statute is indivisible because it proscribes one crime that can be committed eight different ways, not eight distinct crimes. Accordingly, Maie’s prior theft convictions do not categorically match the BIA’s definition for CIMTs."
[Hats off to Team Hastings, Anna Lovelace Owen (argued) and Olivia Medina, Certified Law Students; Leah Spero (argued), Gary A. Watt, and Stephen Tollafield, Supervising Counsel; Hastings Appellate Project, Hastings College of Law, University of California, San Francisco, California; for Petitioner!]