For many immigrants, going through the naturalization process to become a United States citizen, is the culmination of many years navigating and complying with the United States immigration system. The final step in the naturalization process before being sworn in as a United States citizen, is an interview with a…
On April 30, 2019, President Trump issued a memo outlining several significant new restrictions on individuals seeking asylum in the United States. The memo orders the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to come up with regulatory rules implementing the policies laid out in the…
On November 9, 2018, President Trump issued a broad Presidential Proclamation drastically changing when individuals who enter the United States through Mexico may apply for asylum. The new restrictions are scheduled to last 90 days, at which point the President has the authority to renew the restriction Under current U.S.…
On September 22, 2018, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), announced a proposed rule that would deny green cards to almost all immigrants who accept public benefits while in the United States. The public will have 60 days to provide comments on the proposed rule. After the sixty day…
On May 17, 2017, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, issued an order to prevent immigration judges from administratively closing immigration court cases in most circumstances. The Attorney General’s decision will have a major impact on many immigration courts, as well as many immigration cases. Administrative closure is a procedure regularly…
Since the Trump Administration announced an end to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) on September 5, 2017, members of Congress have been negotiating a path forward to keep Dreamers from being deported. In recent weeks, as March 5 has gotten closer (the day that “DACA” is slated to end),…
Until very recently, USCIS routinely waived in-person interviews for employment based adjustment of status cases. Instead, USCIS only conducted interviews in about 5-10% of all employment based adjustment of status cases. On August 28, 2017, USCIS announced that it would be dramatically expanding its use of interviews in employment based…
On November 20, 2017, Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Elaine Duke, announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) for Haitians living in the United States. The decision to end TPS for Haitians will affect approximately 60,000 Haitians currently living in the United States. TPS is…
On October 31, 2017, eight people were killed in a terrorist attack in New York City. Because the suspect originally came to the United States through the Diversity Visa Immigrant Program, there has been a lot of discussions regarding the future of the Diversity Visa Immigrant Program. Most prominently, U.S.…
Earlier today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, announced that the Trump administration will begin phasing out Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (“DACA”). The decision to begin to unwind DACA will affect approximately 800,000 individuals (also known as “Dreamers”), who have benefited from DACA. The Obama administration announced the implementation of DACA on…