News

The recent Supreme Court rulings on immigration matters have seemingly provided further protection for the government and its agents but have minimized rights for non-citizens and citizens alike. Upon these rulings, it is now permissible for non-citizens to remain detained for six months or more without a bond hearing. In addition, the Supreme Court has upheld that government officers are further protected by the Bivens rule. However, this may be subject to change, as Congress may legislate on the matter.

USCIS announced some I-765 receipt notices have been sent out with errors. If you have questions, contact us.

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruled that immigrants with deferred adjudications for serious offenses are not eligible for removal waivers or asylum. This contradicts a previous argument that a Mexican national who arrived illegally in the US should not be denied access to deportation relief if his sentence was being delayed.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) states that immigrants who are convicted for a “particularly serious crime by a final judgment” are not eligible for withholding of removal. A panel of three judges determined that deferred adjudications should be treated as formal convictions under state law since the term "final judgment" was not clearly defined in the statute in question. This judgment was made in accordance with a 1937 high court that ruled that a suspended sentence is equal to a final judgment.

The July 2022 Visa Bulletin shows some advancement for nationals of India in the EB-2 category. There is no movement at all for the EB-3 category. There is some movement for Mexican nationals for family-based cases. Read the full update of the July Visa Bulletin to see if the updates affect you. Contact us to see how we can help you achieve your immigration goals.

The requirement for those entering the United States via air travel to complete COVID testing before departure has been dropped. This change is active as of Sunday, June 12th at 12:01 am Eastern Time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determined that this requirement is no longer necessary and will revisit this decision in 90 days. If a new COVID variant presents itself and begins to cause concern, it could be reinstated.

A Honduran man was denied permission to stay in the US and deported after being convicted for possession of a forged social security card with a counterfeit government seal. This conviction, which occurred in California, is grounds for deportation as a crime involving moral turpitude. He was convicted of multiple crimes in the U.S. and was sentenced to two weeks in prison and two years of probation for the conviction. He stated that his deportation would harm his 14-year-old son.

Thirteen lawful permanent residents have filed a lawsuit regarding a delay in the processing of their citizenship applications by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The lawsuit claims the delay to become U.S. citizens inhibits their ability to vote in the November 2022 elections, which is a civil right that they should be allowed in their pursuit of life in the United States.

The plaintiffs filed their citizenship applications in 2020 when the Federal Records Center was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The immigration files, also called A-files, are required to be reviewed by a USCIS officer before an interview can be scheduled and the application can potentially be approved; this made any progress in the citizenship process impossible until the center reopened.

A common misconception of H-1B visa workers is that they are "cheap." However, data comparing H-1B wages to those of all U.S. workers proves otherwise. Out of all U.S. wage earners, the 90th percentile wage is $102,810 (Bureau of Labor Statistics); the median wage for H-1B earners is $108,000 (Department of Homeland Security). This puts the median wage for H-1B earners at more than double the median wage for all U.S. earners, which is $45,760 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Not only are H-1B wages higher, but they also show higher growth than the wages of all U.S. earners. These statistics go to show that H-1B employees are not low-value.

USCIS announced they received sufficient petitions to fill the incremental FY22 H-2B visas. Below is the announcement:

Under the recently announced H-2B supplemental cap temporary final rule increasing the cap by up to 35,000 additional H-2B nonimmigrant visas through the end of fiscal year (FY) 2022, USCIS has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 23,500 visas made available for returning workers only. We continue to accept petitions for H-2B nonimmigrant workers for the additional 11,500 visas allotted for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti, regardless of whether they are returning workers.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the target of an Administrative Procedure Act lawsuit filed by a group of EB-5 visa investors. The group states DHS has caused extensive damage to the entire investor industry with its decision to decertify over 600 regional center programs. The suit claims the approach of decertifying all centers in one move versus working with each center to make required changes over time, caused considerable harm. They claim U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) misinterpreted the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA). The group claims USCIS concluded all existing centers must recertify incorrectly.