Articles Posted in Congress

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U.S. Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia of the state of Texas is leading a renewed push to create a pathway to citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. Currently, DACA recipients are allowed to renew their DACA benefits but the future of the program remains uncertain.

Following a meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Garcia urged President Trump to work with lawmakers on passing the American Dream and Promise Act. This piece of legislation was originally introduced in 2021 and was refiled in 2023, but the bill failed to gain approval from lawmakers.

The bill would give 10-year conditional permanent resident status to qualifying individuals who entered the United States as minors. Eligible candidates must pass background checks, prove that they have continuously lived in the U.S. since 2021, and be enrolled in school or have graduated. Among those who would benefit are those who are deportable or inadmissible, have deferred enforced departure, temporary protected status, or are children of “certain classes of nonimmigrants.”

As of September 2024, there were roughly 538,000 DACA beneficiaries in the United States. Another 3.6 million arrived in the U.S. as children but do not have protections. The Trump administration has remained largely silent on how it will approach the DACA program.

As we watch closely for more concrete developments, we encourage DACA recipients to meet with their attorneys to discuss potential legal avenues. These include employment-based non-immigrant visas, 245(i) eligibility for adjustment of status for those who qualify, and other screening.

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american-flag-2054414_1280This week President Trump unleashed a fresh barrage of executive orders targeting illegal immigration and antisemitism in the United States.

Executive Order Expanding Migration Operations at Guantánamo Bay


Among these orders, on January 29th the President signed, “Expanding Migration Operations Center at Naval Station Guantánamo Bay,” unveiling his administration’s plans to use a migrant holding facility at the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to house more than 30,000 migrants deported from the United States.

The White House has said the naval station will soon be operating at its full capacity to detain “high priority” criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States, and to “address attendant immigration enforcement needs,” identified by the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.

Immigration advocates have questioned the optics of this decision due to Guantánamo Bay’s sordid history. Once a processing center for asylum seekers and HIV-positive refugees, it has been well known for its detainment of notorious terrorists and unlawful enemy combatants such as the 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. This decision has raised alarm due to Guantanamo’s unfit conditions and frequent human rights violations reported to international human rights organizations.

Despite these criticisms, the White House has said that deported migrants held in Guantánamo will not be detained in the same U.S. military prison where foreign terrorists are being held. Instead, migrants will be placed in a separate holding facility previously used to detain migrants intercepted at sea.

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library-of-congress-jPN_oglAjOU-unsplash-scaledIt has been less than 24 hours since President Donald Trump has taken office, and he has already signed into law a flurry of executive orders directly impacting immigration.

More than a dozen of these executive orders dismantle Biden era immigration policies, and usher in restrictive policies for visa seekers, asylum applicants, and undocumented immigrants.

The swift issuance of these executive orders signals a tough political climate ahead for immigration, and what is sure to be a continuance of the Trump administration’s hardline stance on immigration.

While some of these executive orders may face legal challenges, here is a summary of all the executive orders affecting immigration issued on day one of Trump’s presidency.


Executive Order: President Trump’s America First Priorities


President Trump’s first executive order entitled “President Trump’s America First Priorities,” states the following as top priorities of his administration, which touch upon immigration.

  • President Trump promises to take “bold action” to secure the U.S. border and protect communities by calling on the U.S. Armed Forces and National Guard to assist with border security
  • At the President’s direction, the State Department will have an “America-First” foreign policy
  • Ends Biden’s Catch-and-Release Policies

What it is: Catch-and-release authorized the release of individuals without legal status from detention while awaiting immigration court hearings.

  • Reinstates Remain in Mexico Policy

What it is: Known formerly as the Migrant Protection Protocol, this policy will require certain asylum seekers at the southern border to wait in Mexico for their hearings in U.S. immigration court.

  • Continues the construction of his southern border wall with Mexico
  • Prohibits asylum for individuals who have crossed the border illegally

What it is: Aims to end asylum and close the border to those without legal, to facilitate a more immediate removal process

  • Cracks down on U.S. sanctuary cities
  • Enhanced vetting and screening of noncitizen aliens seeking admission to the U.S.

What it is: The President will direct agencies to report recommendations for the suspension of entry for nationals of any country of particular concerns.

  • Expands deportation operations for aliens with a criminal record
  • Suspends the refugee resettlement program
  • Designates cartels such as the “Tren de Aragua” as foreign terrorist organizations and calls for their removal by using the Alien Enemies Act
  • Calls on the Department of Justice to implement the death penalty for illegal immigrants “who maim and murder” Americans and commit “heinous crimes”

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donald-trump-2030308_1280In this blog post, we discuss how Trump’s return to the White House on January 20th could impact employment-based visa applicants and their employers in the years ahead.

While the Trump campaign has been very vocal about their zero-tolerance policy toward illegal immigration, much less has been said about employment-based immigration. For that reason, it has been hard to know exactly what lies ahead for foreign workers.

While we don’t have all the answers, Trump’s track record on employment-based immigration helps provide insights into the changes we are likely to see during his second term.

To help readers understand how the incoming Trump administration may impact employment-based immigration, we have drawn up the top five areas where there is a high likelihood that changes may be introduced either by executive action or internal policymaking.

This information is based on our collective experience dealing with immigration agencies during Trump’s first term in office. Readers should be aware that none of this information is set in stone. Immigration policies are likely to evolve as the Trump administration settles in and as the political climate becomes more balanced.


Increasing Vetting and Processing Times for Employment-Based Workers


Foreign workers who plan to file employment-based cases should be aware of the following potential changes in the months ahead.

  1. The Return of Employment-Based Green Card Interviews?

In 2017, the Trump administration made the employment-based green card application process much more difficult when it required adjustment of status applicants to attend in-person interviews.

This directive was handed down with the passage of Trump’s executive order known as “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States.” This executive order was meant to crack down on immigration, by combating fraud and abuse in the green card process.

The decision to reinstate visa interviews for employment-based green card applicants led to a sharp increase in processing times at USCIS offices nationwide. This was due to the increased demand for interviews and limited resources available to accommodate the surge in applicants.

While in-person interviews are generally required under the law, prior to Trump’s presidency, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) waived in-person interviews for a broad category of applicants, including employment-based green card applicants to better allocate resources toward higher risk cases.

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usa-1327105_1280The U.S. presidential election is set to be held in just fifteen days and the stakes couldn’t be higher for immigrants at the mercy of our broken immigration system.

In this blog post, we discuss where the presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump stand on key issues relating to immigration.


What would immigration look like under the Harris administration?


Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to continue many of the immigration policies proposed under President Biden. Among them, illegal immigration continues to be a hot button issue.

Illegal Immigration

Harris plans to tackle the border crisis by pushing for bipartisan legislation that would provide additional funding to hire thousands of new border patrol agents to secure our southern border.

In keeping with Biden’s proposals, Kamala also supports closing the border once border crossings have reached an average of more than 5,000 migrants per day over a week period. She has also said she will throw her support behind Biden’s policies barring asylum applications from individuals crossing the border illegally.

Since becoming Vice President, she has become tougher on illegal immigration telling CNN, “We have laws that have to be followed and enforced that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally. And there should be consequences.”

Concerning pathways to permanent residence, she supports “an earned pathway to citizenship” for undocumented immigrants. However, no details have been provided by her campaign regarding necessary criteria to become legalized.

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united-states-supreme-court-6330563_1280The recent Supreme Court decisions handed down in Loper Bright v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Dep’t of Commerce, have overturned a longstanding rule known as the “Chevron” doctrine, which eliminates the need for federal courts to defer to federal agency decisions and regulations moving forward. This move essentially strips power away from federal agency interpretations of the law and gives it back to the courts.

This is positive news in the world of immigration, considering that a federal agency’s interpretation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) will no longer automatically prevail when litigating cases in court and filing immigration challenges to visa denials.

This will benefit many immigrants and businesses who for many years have been blocked by federal agencies from obtaining employment-based visas and green cards based on ambiguous agency interpretations of their cases.

For instance, in removal cases, those seeking review of decisions previously made by immigration judges’ or the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) will now have a clean slate, since courts no longer have to rely on an agency’s standpoint and can now interpret unclear laws with a new set of eyes.

These rulings could also pave the way for new litigation to be filed to defend challenges to previous visa denials. Where interpretations of the law once made by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) were automatically upheld in court, they will now be challenged forcefully.

U.S. employers seeking a favorable interpretation of a statute granting H-1B or L visa classification to a noncitizen worker may also have greater opportunities to argue their cases in court and win on behalf of their clients.

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DACA recipients can now breathe a sigh of relief. We are happy to report that the Department of Homeland Security recently published a final rule in the Federal Register, taking a major step to safeguard the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, while the fight to uphold DACA is in litigation.


What does this mean?


The final rule officially took effect on October 31, 2022, to codify existing policy, preserve, and fortify DACA.

This means that effective October 31, 2022, pursuant to the final rule, the U.S. Citizenship, and Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept and process renewal DACA requests and accompanying requests for employment authorization (EAD), consistent with court orders and an ongoing partial stay. Currently, valid grants of DACA, related employment authorization, and advance parole will continue to be recognized as valid under the final rule. Those with pending DACA renewal applications, do not need to reapply.

USCIS will also continue to accept and process applications for advance parole for current DACA recipients and will continue to accept but will not process initial (new) DACA requests.

Pursuant to an injunction and partial stay, handed down by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, DHS is prohibited from granting initial (new) DACA requests and related employment authorization under the final rule.

While this is a temporary measure to protect existing DACA benefits, Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas stated, “Ultimately, we need Congress to urgently pass legislation that provides Dreamers with the permanent protection they need and deserve.”

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In the latest legal saga concerning the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a federal appeals court has declared the DACA program illegal, causing uncertainty for the future of the program.

Yesterday, the three-judge panel for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a ruling in which it found that the Obama administration did not have the legal authority to create the DACA program in 2012. The Circuit Court ruling affirms a previous ruling handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas which halted the Biden administration’s plans to revive the program last year.

While the panel declared the DACA program illegal, it stopped short of ordering the Biden administration to completely invalidate the program for those with existing DACA benefits, or those seeking to renew those benefits. For the time being, DACA policy remains intact for current beneficiaries, allowing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to continue to accept and adjudicate renewal requests. However, USCIS is prohibited from approving initial applications for DACA, and accompanying requests for employment authorization.


What happens next?


The appeals court has sent the lawsuit back to U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, the same judge that previously ordered a nationwide injunction preventing the approval of new DACA applications. Judge Hanen will review the legality of the program under the Biden administration’s policy memorandum which includes revisions to the program.

Sadly, it is unlikely that Judge Hanen will rule in favor of the Biden administration which will likely result in a formal appeal sent to the United States Supreme Court, where chances of its survival hinge on a conservative leaning court. Judge Hanen previously found the program illegal because the government failed to follow the notice and comment periods required by the federal Administrative Procedures Act. In 2016, the Supreme Court deadlocked in a 4-4 decision over expanding DACA to parents of DACA recipients, keeping in place a lower court decision preventing its expansion.

The appellate court’s decision will have long-lasting repercussions, as it forces members of Congress to safeguard the future of the program by passing legislation to settle the matter once and for all. While the topic has been argued for the past decade on Capitol Hill, no meaningful steps have been taken to preserve the program and create a path to residency for Dreamers.

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We kick off the start of a brand-new week with some interesting revelations. On April 28, 2022, President Biden issued a letter proposing a new immigration measure that, if passed, could offer highly educated Russian nationals a pathway to permanent residency.

What is it all about?


The Russian invasion of Ukraine has left scientists and engineers seeking stable ground, with many young STEM talent looking to its European neighbors for employment opportunities.

In a letter to the House of Representatives, the Biden administration called for a measure to be approved as part of requested legislation for emergency supplemental funding to Ukraine.

Biden’s proposals seek amendment of Section 203(b)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)) effectively welcoming Russian STEM talent to the United States.


What does the measure propose?


By amending Section 203(b)(2), the U.S. government would essentially eliminate the need for Russian nationals, with a master’s or doctoral degree in a STEM field, to obtain an employment sponsor (job offer from a U.S. employer) and eliminate placement in the green card backlogs.

Under Biden’s proposal, adjudication of visas for such individuals would occur within just 90 days if possible, taking into account the need for security assessments. The proposed measure would end after four years (unless extended by Congress).

The measure has been proposed to ensure retention of talented Russian scientists and engineers. Interestingly, the letter highlights that the prospects of obtaining H-1B visa status for this group are lowered considering the numerical limits, and record H-1B registrations that far outweigh the number of available visas. In fiscal year 2023, USCIS announced that it received 483,927 H-1B registrations, a 57% increase over the last year. Only 127,600 registrations were selected to meet the H-1B quota (or 26% of total registrations).


Legislative Text


The legislative text of the provision reads as follows:

“IN GENERAL.— Section 203(b)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(D) Notwithstanding subparagraph (B), the requirements of subparagraph (A) that an alien’s services in the sciences, arts, professions, or business be sought by an employer in the United States shall not apply to aliens (and the parents, spouses, and children of such aliens if accompanying or following to join) who—

“(i) are citizens of Russia;

(ii) have earned a masters or doctoral degree in the United States or an equivalent foreign degree in a field involving science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, including but not limited to degrees relevant to the following fields: Advanced Computing, Advanced Engineering Materials, Advanced Gas Turbine Engine Technologies, Advanced Manufacturing, Advanced and Networked Sensing and Signature Management, Advanced Nuclear Energy Technologies, Advanced Particle Detector Instrumentation Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Systems and Robotics, Biotechnologies, Communication and Networking Technologies, Cybersecurity, Directed Energy, Financial Technologies, Human-Machine Interfaces, Hypersonics, Advanced Missile Propulsion Technologies, Networked Sensors and Sensing, Quantum Information Technologies, Renewable Energy Generation and Storage, Semiconductors and Microelectronics, Space Technologies and Systems; and “(iii) are seeking admission to engage in work in the United States in an endeavor related to science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.”

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DACA Renewal E-Filing is here!

Exciting news is on the horizon for those filing a renewal of their deferred action under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)!

This week, the United States Citizenship, and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that applicants will now be able to file their applications online on Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Additionally, renewal applicants may also file applications to renew their Employment Authorization Document (EAD) online by filing Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization and the Form I-765 Worksheet.

This move will now make it easier for applicants to obtain a renewal of their status faster and more efficiently.

While the agency hopes to expand the possibility of electronic filing to a broader pool of applicants in the future, the e-file option is currently only available for individuals who have been previously granted DACA.

The e-filing option is expected to help reduce the substantial backlogs at the USCIS level. Currently, USCIS receives nearly half a million Form I-821D DACA requests every fiscal year, and processes more than 8.8 million requests for immigration benefits. As time has gone on, the agency has allowed online filings to streamline the application process.

How can you file online?


DACA renewal applicants who wish to file Form I-821D and Form I-765 online, must first create a USCIS online account, to submit their forms, pay fees and track the status of any pending USCIS immigration request throughout the adjudication process. There is no cost to set up an account, and one of the added benefits is that applicants have the ability to communicate with USCIS through a secure inbox and respond online to Requests for Evidence received.

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