Insight, News, and Strategy on Immigration Matters Around the World
The plaintiffs may continue their challenge to the DHS’ authority to establish both STEM Optional Practical Training (OPT) and standard post-completion OPT, the District Court in Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. DHS held on July 1, 2019.
The Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech) has been fighting for practical training for students on various…
President Donald Trump announced that the Administration will not be proceeding with any further census litigation. The 2020 Decennial Census, which is already being printed, will be sent out without a citizenship question. Nevertheless, President Trump does want to obtain statistics on the number of residents in the country who are and are not U.S.…
Courts’ deference to agency interpretations of their own statutes and regulations has been a mainstay of administrative law. The Chevron Doctrine has since 1984 provided that courts should put a “thumb-on-the-scales in favor of the government’s view of the meaning of [a] statute . . .” as long as the interpretation is reasonable. A…
DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients have been in limbo and at the center of various political debates ever since President Donald Trump attempted to end the program in 2017. Put in place by the Obama Administration in 2012, DACA protects from deportation individuals who were brought to the United States by their parents as undocumented children. Individuals who have received DACA protection are granted work authorization, but currently have no pathway to lawful permanent residence in the United States. The 800,000 DACA recipients are known as “Dreamers,” and are generally considered to be model residents of the United States.
Continue Reading Update: DACA Litigation
The Commerce Department cannot include a citizenship question in the census – at least for now – according to the Supreme Court. In Department of Commerce et al. v. New York et al., the Court, in a 5-4 decision written by Chief Justice Roberts, said the question could not be in the census because the “sole reason” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross gave for his decision to include it – enforcement of the Voting Rights Act – seemed contrived. Justice Roberts wrote: “[a]ltogether, the evidence tells a story that does not match the explanation the secretary gave for his decision.” The Commerce Department will have to provide further information for the District Court to review before a final decision is made.
Continue Reading Supreme Court Blocks Citizenship Question in the Census – For Now
In Mosleh et al. v. Pompeo et al. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, Chief Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill ordered the Administration to show that delays in granting travel ban waivers to Yemeni relatives of U.S. citizens are “reasonable.” He opined that the government’s description of the process was “inadequate” and that without more specific information he will have to make a decision on the families’ request for injunctive relief based upon the inferences he draws from the lack of evidence.
Continue Reading Federal Judge Orders Administration to Provide More Specifics on Travel Ban Waivers
The Trump Administration has been stepping up the collection of data in general and more specifically from visa applicants and travelers.
Here are a few new policies:Continue Reading Administration Ups Data Collection and General Surveillance
The “Dreamers” have received another reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court.
DACA litigation has been in the news since September 2017, when then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the DACA program would be terminated. In response to that announcement, multiple lawsuits were filed in federal courts in California, New York, Maryland, Texas, and the District of Columbia, resulting in multiple nationwide injunctions blocking the termination of the program. Indeed, the injunctions have forced USCIS to continue granting DACA renewals.Continue Reading DACA Program Continues as U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Expedite Consideration of Cases
Volume “impact litigation” in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia may lead to details of the basis of alleged, unannounced, new USCIS policies regarding the H-1B visa program.
Attorneys are alleging that USCIS is using new policies to adjudicate H-1B petitions, without properly completing the required notice-and-comment procedures for administrative rule changes…
On August 8, 2018, DHS issued a new policy that announced that foreign students would begin accumulating “unlawful presence” if any violation of status had occurred, whether known to the student or not. On May 3, 2019, in Guilford College et al. v. DHS, Judge Loretta C. Biggs in the U.S. District Court for…
