Insight, News, and Strategy on Immigration Matters Around the World
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has ruled for a third time that specific immigration provisions in the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) granting parole and work authorization to unauthorized aliens who entered the United States before January 1, 2011, cannot be included in the reconciliation bill because the policy changes outweigh the budgetary impact.
Unless Senate…
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) (H.R. 5376) by a vote of 220–213. Supported by the Biden Administration and congressional Democrats, the controversial bill heads to the Senate with key immigration reform provisions.
Protections and Work Permits
Section 60001 of the BBBA includes language that would amend…
More business immigrant visas may become available if the latest version of the Build Back Better reconciliation bill passes.
If approved by the Parliamentarian and passed as it stands, the bill would make more immigrant visas available by:
…
Efforts to pass “Dreamers” bills that would provide a pathway to citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients have remained stagnant. In an effort to stabilize the DACA program, absent congressional action, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published a proposed federal regulation announcing its intent to codify the DACA program.
The…
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program (DACA) is not legal, U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen has ruled in State of Texas et al. v. U.S. et al.
Judge Hanen issued an injunction preventing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from accepting new DACA applications. However, recognizing the substantial reliance interests involved, he allowed…
While the news on the EB-5 investor visa appear promising, Congress has still failed to reauthorize the EB-5 regional center program beyond its June 30, 2021, sunset date.
Reduced Minimum Investment Amount
A federal district judge has struck down the 2019 EB-5 “modernization” regulation, finding the rule was invalid because it was enacted by DHS…
In Sanchez v. Mayorkas, 593 U.S. ____(June 7, 2021), the U.S. Supreme Court resolved the circuit split on whether a grant for temporary protected status (TPS) authorizes eligible noncitizens to adjust status to lawful permanent resident even if they entered the United States unlawfully – the Court held that it does not.
Previously, courts…
The Department of Homeland Security will no longer be collecting civil financial penalties for noncitizens who fail to depart from the United States. Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that “[t]here is no indication that these penalties promoted compliance” and that the penalties were “ineffective and unnecessary punitive measures.”
The fines for undocumented workers who failed to…
Although the Biden Administration has taken steps to maintain H-4 EADs for spouses of highly skilled H-1B workers, the program is still in jeopardy. Now, the Biden Administration is representing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in defending the H-4 EAD rule.
In 2014, the Obama Administration published the H-4 EAD rule, giving certain H-4…
President Joe Biden’s American Citizenship Act of 2021, introduced in Congress in February, would provide large-scale immigration reform. But it will be difficult to pass such a comprehensive bill.
The last time comprehensive immigration reform made it through Congress was in 1986, during the Reagan Administration (although another, smaller bill passed in 1990, during the…
