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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."

March 16, 2024

CA4 on Particularly Serious Crime: Annor v. Garland

Annor v. Garland "David Annor, a citizen of Ghana and a lawful permanent resident of the United States, used his business to funnel the proceeds of a “romance fraud scheme” to militiamen in Ghana. After Annor pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) placed him in removal proceedings, where he applied for withholding of...

March 14, 2024

BIA on Evidence, Social Group, El Salvador: Matter of F-C-S-

Matter of F-C-S- "Regarding the respondent’s two remaining proposed particular social groups, we will remand to the Immigration Judge for further development of the record. The Immigration Judge’s decision contains conflicting legal conclusions about the validity of these proposed particular social groups and is otherwise incomplete as to the remaining elements of the claim for withholding of removal...

March 14, 2024

Another SB4 Challenge: LUPE v. Abbott

MALDEF, Mar. 12, 2024 "Texas residents and a local nonprofit organization are challenging the state’s new anti-immigrant law, known as S.B. 4, in federal court as unconstitutional. MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) and the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of border-based nonprofit community organization La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE)...

March 14, 2024

BIA Job Opening, Falls Church - UPDATED

New closing date: April 12, 2024 USAJOBS Open & closing dates: 03/13/2024 to 04/212/2024 Salary: $156,924 - $204,000 per year 1 vacancy in the following location: Falls Church, VA

March 13, 2024

Credible Fear Procedures Manual

Thanks to a FOIA request by David Cleveland , we now have the May 10, 2023 revision of the USCIS Credible Fear Procedures Manual available to us.

March 11, 2024

DHS Provides Relief for Some Venezuelan F-1 Students

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 48 / Monday, March 11, 2024 "This notice announces that the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) is suspending certain regulatory requirements for F–1 nonimmigrant students whose country of citizenship is Venezuela, regardless of country of birth (or individuals having no nationality who last habitually resided in Venezuela), and who are experiencing severe economic hardship...

March 11, 2024

CA9 (2-1) on Credibility, Evidence: Kalulu v. Garland

Kalulu v. Garland "This court grants a petition for review of an agency denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief only under the most extraordinary circumstances. See Gutierrez-Alm, 62 F.4th at 1194; Sharma v. Garland, 9 F.4th 1052, 1060 (9th Cir. 2021). This is one of those rare instances. For the reasons discussed above, the agency’s adverse credibility determination is amply supported by...

March 09, 2024

States Lack Standing to Challenge Parole Program: Texas v. DHS

Texas v. DHS "[T]he record establishes that the number of CHNV nationals entering the United States since the Program’s implementation has dramatically decreased by as much as 44 percent. Plaintiffs, therefore, are unable to demonstrate that they have been injured by the Program, and as a result, they lack standing to bring these claims. ... The Court finds that Plaintiffs have not proven that Texas has suffered...

March 09, 2024

April 2024 Visa Bulletin

April 2024 Visa Bulletin

March 05, 2024

Supreme Court Temporarily Stays SB 4

Justice Alito's orders are here and here .

March 04, 2024

SB 4 On Fast Track to SCOTUS - UPDATED

Here is the CA5 "administrative stay" order, and here is the DOJ APPLICATION TO VACATE STAY OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION ISSUED BY THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT.

March 01, 2024

Material Support Victory in MN: Fofana v. Mayorkas

Fofana v. Mayorkas "Nearly sixteen years after Plaintiff Abrahim Mohamed Fofana applied for adjustment of status, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) denied his petition. But even with that much time to review Fofana’s materials, USCIS reached an untenably flawed decision. It misinterpreted the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”). And it failed to consider...

March 01, 2024

Exchange Visitor Program Notice: Austria

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 42 / Friday, March 1, 2024 / Notices "SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Visitor Program (EVP) regulations, the Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), U.S. Department of State, has modified certain regulatory provisions to permit Austrian dual/ vocational education students or recent graduates of such programs to participate in internship...

February 29, 2024

Court Enjoins Texas SB 4: US v. Texas

ACLU, Feb. 29, 2024 "The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas today granted a motion for preliminary injunction to block Texas Senate Bill 4 (88-4), which would permit local and state law enforcement to arrest, detain, and remove people they suspect to have entered Texas from another country without federal authorization. The legislation is one of the most extreme anti-immigrant laws ever...

February 28, 2024

E-File Your G-28 With ICE

ICE "ERO eFile is an online system developed to electronically file G-28s with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Attorneys and accredited representatives may register for ERO eFile accounts and may also sponsor law students and law graduates who work under their supervision. ERO eFile cannot be used to file G-28s with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services...

February 27, 2024

CA7 on Reinstatement, Jurisdiction, Standard of Review: F.J.A.P. v. Garland

F.J.A.P. v. Garland "Based on the statutory language, structure, and context of § 1252, we conclude that a reinstated order of removal is not final for purposes of judicial review until the agency has completed withholding proceedings. Only when those proceedings conclude, if the noncitizen is eligible for that review, has the agency finalized all mandatory review and “fully determined” the noncitizen’s...

February 27, 2024

Unpub. CA2 Remand: Berhe v. Garland

Berhe v. Garland "Berhe asserted that the Eritrean military detained and beat him because he complained about conditions during his mandatory military service and because of his perceived anti-government political opinion. The agency’s adverse credibility determination is not supported by substantial evidence. ... Respondent’s motion to transfer venue is DENIED, the petition for review is GRANTED, the...

February 27, 2024

Unpub. CA2 Remand: Gao v. Garland

Gao v. Garland "The IJ’s conclusion that Gao failed to meet her burden of proof is based on the lack of sufficient corroborating evidence. As mentioned above, where, as here, the petitioner’s testimony is deemed credible, but the IJ finds that additional corroborating evidence is necessary to satisfy the burden of proof, the IJ is required to “(1) point to specific pieces of missing evidence and...

February 26, 2024

How Corner Post Along with the Demise of Chevron Deference Can Open Up Immigration Regulations to Challenges

Cyrus Mehta, Feb. 26, 2024 "On February 20, 2024, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System . This case could potentially expand the six year statute of limitations to challenge a regulation under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). § 702 of the APA provides that “]a] person suffering legal wrong because of an agency action, or...

February 23, 2024

Innovation Law Lab Files FOIA Lawsuit

Innovation Law Lab, Feb. 22, 2024 " We filed suit against the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to demand that USCIS publicly and proactively disclose the Credible Fear Procedures Manual (CFPM) and the Reasonable Fear Procedures Manual (RFPM). USCIS uses these manuals to decide whether individuals who express a fear of return to their home countries will...

February 23, 2024

New Visa Restriction Policy for Transportation Operators Facilitating Irregular Migration to the United States

State Department, Feb. 21, 2024 "The State Department is today implementing a new visa restriction policy under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) Section 212(a)(3)(C) that targets owners, executives, and senior officials of charter flight, ground, and maritime transportation companies providing transportation services designed for use primarily by persons intending to migrate irregularly to the United States...

February 23, 2024

Matter of Azrag, 28 I&N Dec. 784 (BIA 2024)

Matter of Azrag, 28 I&N Dec. 784 (BIA 2024) - Where a State court order granting a respondent’s motion to vacate a conviction does not indicate the reason for the vacatur, and there is no other basis in the record to independently establish the reason, the respondent has not satisfied his burden to show that the court vacated his conviction because of a substantive or procedural defect in his criminal proceedings...

February 21, 2024

How Trump’s Quota Policy Transformed Immigration Judging

ELISE N. BLASINGAME, CHRISTINA L. BOYD, ROBERTO CARLOS and JOE ORNSTEIN, February 21, 2024 "In new research , Elise Blasingame, Christina Boyd, Roberto Carlos, and Joseph Ornstein explore how the Trump administration used a quota policy for immigration judges working under the Department of Justice’s purview to influence how they adjudicated cases. The authors find the policy successfully nudged more judges...

February 18, 2024

Exchange Visitor Program Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 34 / Tuesday, February 20, 2024 "In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Visitor Program regulations, the Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), U.S. Department of State, has waived certain regulatory provisions to establish an exchange of German principals to secondary schools overseen and financed by the government of the Federal Republic of...