Immigration
Blogs & News

On June 14, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated its Policy Manual to allow for certain U nonimmigrant visa applicants the chance to obtain an employment authorization document, or “work permit.” While the U visa is a potential pathway to permanent residency, unprecedented wait times over the last few years have hindered the […]

USCIS Updates Policy Manual  On June 9, 2021, USCIS made three updates to its Policy Manual regarding Expedited Processing, Requests for Evidence and Work Permit Validity, all forms of documentation sometimes required of applicants and petitioners. The updates, in part, discuss the circumstances in which USCIS officers should issue Requests for Evidence (RFEs) and Notices […]

Federal Court Strikes Down DACA – What We Know So Far On July 16, 2021, a Texas judge struck down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in a  ruling that forced U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) to stop granting initial DACA applications. What do we know thus far? Currently, nearly 616,000 people […]

Withdrawal of U.S. armed forces in Afghanistan has caused chaos and uncertainty amongst the Afghan people, as the Taliban have rushed to take over most of the country, and the Afghan government has fled. The situation in Afghanistan is a nationally recognized humanitarian crisis. Observers have reported panic and fear, confusion, and acts of desperation […]

U.S. President Joe Biden said last month that immigration should be a part of an upcoming budget bill. Biden had indicated his intent to provide a pathway for Dreamers — beneficiaries of the DACA program — in the past. According to Reuters, he told White House reporters last month that it remains uncertain whether or […]

President Joe Biden in July extended Trump’s provision enabling swift expulsions of immigrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally during the pandemic. As COVID infection rates in the US continue to rise — an incline attributed to the mutated Delta variant of the virus that causes the disease — Biden is taking a step rooted in immigration […]

With the Taliban’s August 2021 takeover of Afghanistan, a dire humanitarian crisis is in full effect. Reports indicate that over 550,000 Afghans are displaced. Afghan nationals are desperate to flee. Many of these individuals with family connections in the United States are seeking permission to enter the United States. In August, President Biden directed DHS […]

On September 28, 2021, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA was a policy initiated in 2012 that deferred the removal of certain noncitizens who came to the United States as children, meet other criteria, and […]

On September 30, 2021, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas issued an important memorandum which provides guidance to U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“DHS-ICE” or “ICE”) regarding the apprehension and removal of noncitizens. The memo updates a May memorandum on interim guidelines regarding the apprehension and removal of noncitizens. The […]

When thousands of asylum-seeking Haitians flooded the U.S.-Mexico border last month, officials were unprepared. More than a month has passed since Estimates around the bumber of Haitian immigrants range from 13,000 to 27,000. and images of Border Patrol agents whipping at migrants at the Mexico-U.S. border sparked outrage among political leaders and critics of the […]