Friday, January 31, 2020
Public Charge Instituted (details)
USCIS Announces Public Charge Rule Implementation Following Supreme Court Stay of Nationwide Injunctions
https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-announces-public-charge-rule-implementation-following-supreme-court-stay-nationwide-injunctions
https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-announces-public-charge-rule-implementation-following-supreme-court-stay-nationwide-injunctions
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Rasmussen Reports Weekly Immigration Index Jan 28
57% of voters favor legal immigrants being allowed to bring only their spouse and minor children with them. Just 32% agree with long-standing U.S. immigration policy allowing legal immigrants to also eventually bring in other adult relatives including extended family and their spouses’ families. Eleven percent (11%) are undecided.
Rasmussen Reports Weekly Immigration Index Jan 28
Sixty percent (60%) of voters favor giving lifetime work permits to most of the approximately two million illegal residents who came to this country when they were minors, with 35% who Strongly Favor it. Thirty-three percent (33%) oppose lifetime work permits for these illegal immigrants, but that includes just 17% who are Strongly Opposed.
Voters are closely divided, however, when it comes to the estimated 12 million illegal residents of all ages who currently reside in the United States. Forty-six percent (46%) favor giving lifetime work permits to most of these illegal immigrants, including 21% who Strongly Favor such action. Forty-seven percent (47%) are opposed with 28% who are Strongly Opposed.
When it comes to legal immigration which has averaged around a million annually in recent years, 48% say the government should be adding no more than 750,000 new immigrants each year, with 34% who say it should be fewer than 500,000. Thirty-eight percent (38%) favor adding one million or more legal newcomers per year, including 12% who say the figure should be higher than 1.5 million. Fifteen percent (15%) are undecided.
The Census Bureau projects that current immigration policies are responsible for most U.S. population growth and will add 75 million people over the next 40 years. In terms of the effect on the overall quality of life in the United States, just 33% of voters want to continue immigration-driven population growth at the current levels. Forty-five percent (45%) favor slowing down immigration-driven population growth, while 13% want to have no such population growth at all.
Monday, January 27, 2020
ILW.com E-2 Stats
We sent out a request for information regarding E2s last week, and received a number of responses. We learnt that there are three kinds of E2s.
- 80% of the E2s are done for small businesses owned by principal investors. The investment amounts range from $100K to $200K with 2 to 3 employees.
- Almost all of the remaining 20% are franchises. This category of E2 is well defined and a number of immigration attorneys and business plan writers have extensive experience with franchise based E2s.
- There have been a dozen unsuccessful attempts to do scalable E2s where resources of many investors are pooled conjointly to execute different parts of the project under professional management.
Friday, January 24, 2020
The Seventh Circuit vacated, stating that it had “never before encountered defiance of a remand order.”
Court: US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Docket: 19-1642
Opinion Date: January 23, 2020
Judge: Frank Hoover Easterbrook
Areas of Law: Government & Administrative Law, Immigration Law
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Baez-Sanchez, a citizen of Mexico, is removable. His conviction for aggravated ba]ery of a police officer renders him inadmissible, 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I). He applied for a U visa, which is available to some admissible aliens who have been victims of crime in this country. An IJ granted a waiver of inadmissibility, 8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(3)(A)(ii). The BIA remanded with instructions to consider an additional issue. The IJ did so and reaffirmed. The BIA then concluded that the power to waive inadmissibility belongs to the Attorney General alone and may not be exercised by immigration judges. The Seventh Circuit held that 8 C.F.R. 1003.10(a) permits IJs to exercise all of the Attorney General’s powers, except those expressly reserved by some other regulation. The BIA concluded that the court's decision was incorrect and did not consider the issues remanded by the court. Baez-Sanchez filed another petition for review. The Seventh Circuit vacated, stating that it had “never before encountered defiance of a remand order.” Article III judicial power is not subject to disapproval or revision by another branch of government. The Attorney General, the Secretary, and the BIA are free to maintain, in another case, that the decision was mistaken but they are not free to disregard a mandate in the very case making the decision. An immigration judge has ruled in favor of Baez-Sanchez; all issues have been resolved. Baez-Sanchez may seek a U visa.
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2nd Appeals Cir. Remands case to consider Asylum/Political Opinion of Women Resisting Subordination
Hernandez-Chacon v. Barr (2nd)
Agency did not adequately consider petitioner's political opinion claim (membership in a particular social group ‐‐ Salvadoran women who have resisted the sexual advances of a gang member ‐‐ and political opinion ‐‐ resistance to the norm of female subordination to male dominance that pervades El Salvador.)
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USCIS Fee Increase comment period extended until Feb. 10, 2020
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=USCIS-2019-0010-10938
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Cubans, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans Increase in Immigration Court Backlog
Cubans, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans Increase in Immigration Court Backlog
"The fastest growing segments of the Immigration Court backlog are now Cubans, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans... The majority (52%) of the court's active backlog continues to come from the three northern triangle countries of Central America (Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador) and Mexico. Among these nations, the largest number are from Guatemala with 237,061 waiting for their court hearings, followed by Hondurans with 195,198, and Mexicans with 183,263 cases in the backlog."
"Despite the many actions by the Trump Administration designed to stem the growth in the Immigration Court backlog, the court's backlog continues to climb. In just the three-month period from October through December 2019 the backlog has grown by 65,929 new cases. The court ended December 2019 with 1,089,696 in its active backlog"
Chinese Immigrants in the United States
The population of Chinese immigrants in the United States has grown nearly seven-fold since 1980, reaching almost 2.5 million in 2018, or 5.5 percent of the overall foreign-born population. Whereas in 1980 Chinese immigrants did not appear among the ten largest foreign-born groups in the United States, China in 2018 replaced Mexico as the top sending country. After immigrants from Mexico and India, the Chinese represented the third largest group in the U.S. foreign-born population of nearly 45 million in 2018.
The population of Chinese immigrants in the United States has grown nearly seven-fold since 1980, reaching almost 2.5 million in 2018, or 5.5 percent of the overall foreign-born population. Whereas in 1980 Chinese immigrants did not appear among the ten largest foreign-born groups in the United States, China in 2018 replaced Mexico as the top sending country. After immigrants from Mexico and India, the Chinese represented the third largest group in the U.S. foreign-born population of nearly 45 million in 2018.
Paper: Is Immigration Enforcement Shaping Immigrant Marriage Patterns?
"we find that a one standard deviation increase in enforcement raises Mexican non-citizens' likelihood of marrying a U.S. citizen by 3 to 6 percent."
https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/12876/is-immigration-enforcement-shaping-immigrant-marriage-patterns?utm_source=E-mail+Updates&utm_campaign=a7cc096969-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_24_01_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7dc4c5d977-a7cc096969-45102005
https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/12876/is-immigration-enforcement-shaping-immigrant-marriage-patterns?utm_source=E-mail+Updates&utm_campaign=a7cc096969-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_24_01_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7dc4c5d977-a7cc096969-45102005
Paper: Can Sanctuary Polices Reduce Domestic Violence?
"We find that sanctuary policies lower domestic homicide rates among Hispanic women, but have no effect on white-non Hispanic women or men."
https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/12868/can-sanctuary-polices-reduce-domestic-violence?utm_source=E-mail+Updates&utm_campaign=a7cc096969-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_24_01_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7dc4c5d977-a7cc096969-45102005
https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/12868/can-sanctuary-polices-reduce-domestic-violence?utm_source=E-mail+Updates&utm_campaign=a7cc096969-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_24_01_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7dc4c5d977-a7cc096969-45102005
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Monday, January 20, 2020
ICE "Fugitive" FOIA withholding enjoined by CO Dist. Ct.
h/t to Immigration Attorney Jennifer M. Smith
--Upon filing the initial lawsuit, the FOIA results appeared...potentially trying to make the lawsuit moot.
--Upon filing the initial lawsuit, the FOIA results appeared...potentially trying to make the lawsuit moot.
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Visa Reciprocity Changes
- India
- H-1B/H-4 Visa Validity from 60 Months to 35 Months
- L-1/L-2 Visa Validity from 60 Months to 35 Months
- Eritrea
- B-1/B-2 Visa Validity from 24 Months to 3 Months
- Maldives
- F-1/F-2 Visa Fee from $0 to $220
- H-1B/H-4 Visa Fee from $0 to $10
- L-1/L-2 Visa Validity from 60 Months to 11 Months
- R-1/R-2 Visa Validity from 60 Months to 11 Months
- Jordan
- F-1/F-2 Visa Fee from $0 to $106
- I Visa Fee from $0 to $106
- Mozambique
- B-1 or B-2 & B-1/B-2 Visa Validity from 12 months to 3 months (with further changes).
- B-1/B-2 Multiple Entry Visa Fee from $0 to $20
- C-1/D Visa Validity from 12 months to 3 months (with further changes).
- H-1B/H-4 Visa Fee from $0 to $533
- L-1/L-2 Visa Fee from $0 to $533
- R-1/R-2 Visa Fee from $0 to $533
- Namibia
- F-1/F-2 Visa Fee from $0 to $120
- H-1B/H-4 Visa Fee from $0 to $146
- I Visa Validity from 24 months to 14 months
- L-1/L-2 Visa Fee from $0 to $146
- R-1/R-2 Visa Fee from $0 to $146
- Tanzania
- F-1/F-2 Visa Fee from $0 to $290 & Visa Validity from 24 months to 12 months
- H-1B Visa Fee from $500 to $860
- H-4 Visa Fee from $0 to $860
- I Visa Fee from $500 to $340 & Visa Validity from 24 months to 3 months
- L-1Visa Fee from $500 to $860
- L-2 Visa Fee from $0 to $860
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- F-1/F-2 Visa Fee from $50 to $240 & Visa Validity from 60 months to 12 months
- Seychelles
- F-1/F-2 Visa Fee from $0 to $21 & Visa Validity from 60 months to 12 months
- H-1B Visa Fee from $0 to $1,682
- I Visa Fee from $0 to $2,882
- L-1 Visa Fee from $0 to $2,882
- R-1 Visa Fee from $0 to $1,382
Source: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country.html
Podcast Episode 121: Recap of 2019 Agency Actions, Laws & Regulations
w/ Immigration Attorneys Nicholas Mireles and John Khosravi
ImmigrationLawyersPodcast.com/ImmigrationLawyersToolbox.com
Not legal advice. Consult with an attorney in private.
For all Show links & Citations, visit: http://immigrationlawyerspodcast.libsyn.com/episode-121-recap-of-2019-agency-actions-laws-regulations
Youtube: https://youtu.be/iD3NqJbViuY
Podcast Download: http://immigrationlawyerspodcast.libsyn.com/episode-121-recap-of-2019-agency-actions-laws-regulations
Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/immigrationlawyerspodcasts/id1111797806
RSS Feed: http://immigrationlawyerspodcast.libsyn.com/rss
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-immigration-lawyers-podcast?refid=stpr
ImmigrationLawyersPodcast.com/ImmigrationLawyersToolbox.com
Not legal advice. Consult with an attorney in private.
For all Show links & Citations, visit: http://immigrationlawyerspodcast.libsyn.com/episode-121-recap-of-2019-agency-actions-laws-regulations
Youtube: https://youtu.be/iD3NqJbViuY
Podcast Download: http://immigrationlawyerspodcast.libsyn.com/episode-121-recap-of-2019-agency-actions-laws-regulations
Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/immigrationlawyerspodcasts/id1111797806
RSS Feed: http://immigrationlawyerspodcast.libsyn.com/rss
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-immigration-lawyers-podcast?refid=stpr
Friday, January 17, 2020
EOIR/BIA incorrect in Decision about Delay in Case leading to Child Age Out
Martinez-Perez v. Barr, No. 18-9573 (10th Cir. 2020)
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca10/18-9573/18-9573-2020-01-17.html
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca10/18-9573/18-9573-2020-01-17.html
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Seventeen Years Later: Why is Morale at DHS Still Low Homeland Security Committee Hearings (Congress)
Seventeen Years Later: Why is Morale at DHS Still Low Homeland Security Committee Hearings (Congress)
- DHS Ranked last in Fed Large Agencies (17 of 17) (as well as many of its key subagencies)
- DHS has more than 200,000 employees
- Further Survey Finding:
- “Failure of leadership” cited as a main factor
- However: USCIS & Coast Guard in the top 25% of employee rankings for satisfaction
- 63% felt that there were no consequences for employees that underperform
- Only 36% felt motivated by their leadership
- DHS has the fewest number of confirmed Congressional appointments in place
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Law Job: Yale Law School Clinic Fellowship (Worker & Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic)
YALE LAW SCHOOL CLINICAL FELLOWSHIPS
in the
Ludwig Community and Economic Development Clinic;
Veterans Legal Services Clinic; and
Worker & Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic
Yale Law School seeks applications for three clinical fellowships in the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization, within Yale Law School’s clinical program. These Fellowships are two-year positions, beginning on or about July 1, 2020, designed for lawyers with at least two years of practice who are considering a career in law school teaching. Each fellow will work with a different clinic: Ludwig Community and Economic Development Clinic (CED); the Veterans Legal Services Clinic (VLSC); or the the Worker & Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic (WIRAC). Fellows’ responsibilities include representing clients, supervising students, assisting in teaching classes, and pursuing a scholarship agenda. In addition, the Fellow may be asked to co-teach a section of a six-week fall program for first-year students, Introduction to Legal Analysis and Writing. Candidates must be prepared to apply for admission to the Connecticut bar. (Candidates with five years of practice experience may qualify for admission without examination.) All work will be conducted with the support of the clinical faculty, and will focus on providing legal assistance to low-income and civil rights clients and organizations.
The Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization is committed to building a culturally diverse and pluralistic faculty and staff to teach and work in a multicultural environment. Candidates must be able to work both independently and as part of a team, and must possess strong written and oral communication skills. Experience in creative and community-driven advocacy is a strong plus. Annual salary is $65,000-70,000. In addition, Fellows will receive health benefits and access to university facilities. Email a resume, cover letter, writing sample, and names, addresses and telephone numbers of three references to Osikhena Awudu, Program Manager, The Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization, osikhena.awudu@
More details about each fellowship follow below.
Worker & Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic (WIRAC)
WIRAC is a year-long, in-house clinic whose students represent immigrants, workers, and their organizations in litigation under labor and employment, immigration, Freedom of Information Act, § 1983, and other civil rights laws; state and local legislative advocacy; and other non-litigation matters. Illustrative cases include class action habeas litigation challenging the prolonged immigration detention of noncitizens with certain criminal convictions; litigation on behalf of DREAMers challenging the termination of DACA; representation in federal court under, inter alia,the Federal Tort Claims Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 of a noncitizen with disabilities who was mistreated while in ICE custody; representation in immigration court, before the Board of Immigration Appeals, and in federal court on behalf of individuals resisting removal; representation of a Connecticut interfaith organization in legislative advocacy to advance “clean slate” legislation to automatically expunge criminal records for residents returning from incarceration; and representation of local labor unions in a wide range of strategies to enforce collective bargaining agreements, negotiate contracts, organize new workers, and protect the rights of union members under federal and state labor, employment, and health & safety laws.
The principal supervisors for the position will be Professors Muneer Ahmad, Marisol Orihuela, and Michael Wishnie.
Veterans Legal Services Clinic (VLSC)
VLSC is a semester-long, in-house clinic whose students represent veterans and their organizations in disability compensation benefits, record correction, and civil rights litigation in administrative, state, and federal courts, and in state and federal policy advocacy and other non-litigation matters. Illustrative cases include representation of individual veterans seeking disability compensation benefits for injuries incurred during military service, in initial applications, administrative appeals, and judicial review in federal court; former service members in applications to upgrade a less-than-honorable discharge before Defense Department boards and on judicial review in federal court; a proposed nation-wide class action challenging extreme delays in VA adjudication of administrative appeals and which resulted in a 2017 decision, Monk v. Wilkie, overturning nearly thirty years of precedent that had barred veterans from pursuing aggregate litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; a woman raped while a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in federal civil rights litigation against the former leadership of West Point; two certified, nation-wide class actions of Iraq and Afghanistan Era veterans who received less-than-fully-honorable discharges, despite having PTSD or related conditions attributable to their military service; a nation-wide class of U.S. Air Force veterans exposed to radiation after cleaning up two hydrogen bombs accidentally dropped on Spain in 1966, in the first appeals class action certified in the history of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Skaar v. Wilkie; and local and national veterans’ organizations in campaigns to address gender discrimination in congressional nominations to the military service academies; curb retaliation against service-members who report sexual harassment or assault; and make veterans with bad paper eligible for state veterans’ benefits.
The principal supervisor for the position will be Professor Michael Wishnie.
Ludwig Community & Economic Development Clinic (CED)
The Ludwig Center for Community & Economic Development (CED) is a semester-long, in-house clinic which provides transactional legal services to clients seeking to promote economic opportunity and mobility. CED’s clients include affordable housing developers, community development financial institutions, farms and farmer’s markets, fair housing advocates, and neighborhood associations. CED’s legal services help our clients to expand access to financial services, bring arts institutions and grocery stores to chronically under-resourced communities, break down barriers to affordable housing development in high-opportunity communities, promote access to healthy foods, and facilitate entrepreneurship among low-income people.
On behalf of our clients, our students negotiate and draft contracts; provide advice on the tax consequences of deal structures and entity choices; structure and carry out real estate transactions; represent borrowers and lenders in financings; engage in legislative and regulatory advocacy; form for-profit and not-for-profit entities; and resolve land use and environmental issues. In addition to representing clients, students in their first semester of the clinic take a seminar which covers federal, state and local policies affecting urban and suburban places; substantive law in tax, real estate development, and corporate governance; and transactional and regulatory lawyering skills, such as negotiation and drafting contracts.
The principal supervisor for the position will be Professor Anika Singh Lemar.
Yale University considers applicants for employment without regard to, and does not discriminate on the basis of, an individual’s sex, race, color, religion, age, disability, status as a veteran, or national or ethnic origin; nor does Yale discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects people from sex discrimination in educational programs and activities at institutions that receive federal financial assistance. Questions regarding Title IX may be referred to the University’s Title IX Coordinator, at TitleIX@yale.edu, or to the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 8th Floor, Five Post Office Square, Boston MA 02109-3921. Telephone: 617.289.0111, Fax: 617.289.0150, TDD: 800.877.8339, or Email: ocr.boston@ed.gov.
Monday, January 13, 2020
Saturday, January 11, 2020
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