USCIS Transitions to Centralized Policy Manual On January 7, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services launched its transition to an online policy manual that will ultimately replace the Adjudicator's Field Manual (AFM). According to USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas, the change follows an agency...

By David Froman Holding a key provision of the CSPA unambiguous, the Ninth Circuit, en banc , approved the two-petition approach for aged-out derivative beneficiaries of family preference petitions. "Vertical" conversion offers a viable alternative under existing statutes and regulations...

EOIR Releases Statistics for FY2012 The Executive Office for Immigration Review has released its statistical yearbook for fiscal 2012. As expected, the backlog of cases before EOIR continued to grow, with 326,255 pending proceedings before immigration courts and 24,824 pending cases at the BIA at...

On September 22, 2011, an Immigration Judge ordered the respondent removed from the United States to Mexico. The Immigration Judge purported to order the respondent removed "in absentia". The respondent has appealed the Immigration Judge's decision to the Board. The Department of Homeland...

Napolitano Resigns as Secretary of Homeland Security On July 12, 2013, Janet Napolitano announced her resignation as Secretary of Homeland Security, a position she has held since the start of the Obama administration. Napolitano will remain in her position until September, after which she will become...

USCIS Clarifies “Reason to Believe” Standard for I-601A Provisional Waivers | On March 18, 2014, USCIS sent an e-mail to stakeholders seeking to cure confusion surrounding the regulation that prohibits the granting of provisional waivers to noncitizens who the agency has “reason...

USCIS Issues New Guidelines on Credible Fear Interviews On February 28, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued new guidelines for asylum officers charged with determining whether applicants possess credible fears of persecution or torture in their home countries. According to a memorandum...

Scialabba v. Cuellar de Osorio, 2014 U.S. LEXIS 3991 (June 9, 2014) : The BIA’s textually reasonable construction of the Child Status Protection Act’s ambiguous language was entitled to deference, meaning that an aged-out “child” cannot retain his or her priority date if a new...

Supreme Court Decides CSPA Case | On June 9, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Scialabba v. Cuellar de Osorio , 2014 U.S. LEXIS 3991 [ enhanced opinion available to lexis.com subscribers ]. The Court held that the BIA’s textually reasonable construction of the Child Status Protection...

Supreme Court Reverses 8th Circuit in Mellouli Case | By a 7-2 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for the noncitizen in Mellouli v. Lynch , reversing the Eighth Circuit. The decision is summarized at page 641 [ enhanced opinion available to lexis.com subscribers ] [ lexis.com subscribers may access...

BIA Will Solicit Amicus Briefs | On June 19, 2015, the Executive Office for Immigration Review announced that the Board of Immigration Appeals has launched a one-year pilot program to solicit amicus briefs from interested parties. The Board will post invitations on a public website that describes...

By Jill Apa | The issue in Mata v. Lynch is whether circuit courts can review a BIA decision denying a late motion to reopen removal proceedings based on an allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel. The Fifth Circuit had said no, disagreeing with all the other circuits that had addressed that...

BIA Seeks Amicus Briefs on Effect of Moncrieffe on 3rd Circuit Case | On August 26, 2015, the BIA issued a notice requesting amicus briefs regarding whether Jeune v. Attorney General of the United States , 476 F.3d 199 (3d Cir. 2007) [ enhanced opinion available to lexis.com subscribers | Lexis Advance...

Administration Faces Criticism, Lawsuit After Revising October Visa Bulletin | The Department of State and Department of Homeland Security faced extensive criticism and a federal lawsuit after revising the October visa bulletin less than a week before it was expected to take effect. The revised visa...

EOIR Revises Docket Priorities | On February 3, 2016, Chief Immigration Judge Print Maggard issued a memorandum revising certain docket priorities for the Executive Office for Immigration Review. In cases involving unaccompanied minors, immigration courts will schedule an initial master calendar...

Attorney General Appoints Three New BIA Members | On February 26, 2016, Attorney General Loretta Lynch appointed three new members to the Board of Immigration Appeals. Two of the new Board members—Molly Kendall Clark and Ellen Liebowitz—previously served as senior legal advisors to the...

USCIS Finishes Data Entry for Cap-Subject H-1B FY17 Applications | USCIS announced on May 2 that it has finished data entry for cap-subject H-1B petitions. It will begin returning those not chosen in the lottery. Some petitions are being transferred from the Vermont Service Center to the California...