President-Elect Joseph R. Biden has announced that he will nominate Alejandro Mayorkas to serve as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). If he is confirmed by the Senate, Mayorkas, who immigrated from Cuba, would be the first Latino and the first...
Legalization or decriminalization of marijuana or other narcotics at the state level can mislead noncitizens into thinking using such drugs in accordance with state law is legal. Marijuana, hallucinogenic mushrooms, and many other drugs are controlled substance under federal law. Therefore, the use, sale, purchase,...
This evening, a federal district court ordered the Trump Administration to fully reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA is a program created by the Obama Administration that provides certain protections and benefits to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United...
Last night, the U.S. Senate passed the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, which would eliminate the per-country cap on employment-based green cards, and increase the per-country limit for family-based categories. The Senate version is an amended version of the bill previously passed by the...
Today, a federal district court held that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) violated the Administrative Procedures Act in issuing regulations that failed to go through the normal rulemaking process.The DOL rule was published on October 8,...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has published a notice of proposed rulemaking that, if finalized, would eliminate the B-1 in lieu of H classification. This category is intended to permit foreign companies to send their employees to the United States temporarily, for the purpose...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the December 2020 Visa Bulletin. Much of the movement is fairly modest, but the most dramatic change is significant retrogression for EB3 India in the dates for filing chart, commonly referred to as Chart B. Visa Bulletin Summary Employment-Based,...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that several changes are being implemented to the U.S. civics and history test that naturalization applicants generally must pass prior to being allowed to become U.S. citizens. Applicants will be asked twice as many questions as...
A U.S. district judge in New York has ruled that a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) July 2020 memorandum that curtails immigration benefits under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is unenforceable. The federal judge found that Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad...
In 2019, a defense appropriation bill was signed into law that contained a provision offering a path for certain qualifying Liberians to become lawful permanent residents. The deadline for Liberians to apply for relief under this Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF) provision is December 20,...
