Biden Administration Partially Lifts Green Card Ban

Biden Administration Partially Lifts Green Card Ban
Mar04

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri   This week, a major Trump-era immigration ban has been considerably rescinded by executive order.[1] On Wednesday 24th, 2021, the Biden administration lifted the Trump administration’s immigrant visa ban for many green card applicants.[2] The ban was originally imposed on April 2020, under an order known as Presidential Proclamation 100014[3], and was justified as being necessary to protect American workers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]  Under the ban, the Trump administration froze the issuing of green cards for new immigrants and stopped temporary work visas for

March 4, 2021
Read more

Trump Administration Announces Expanded “Expedited Removal” Deportation Authority

Trump Deportation Authority “Expedited Removal” Expanded
Sep23

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. Probably the major limitation on the anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration has been decisions by the Federal judiciary to overturn certain of these policies in court cases.  Therefore, it is not surprising that the Trump administration would try to restrict the ability of judges to review immigration cases. Specifically, on July 22, the Trump administration announced that it will expand its “expedited removal” deportation authority – the ability of immigration officers to deport migrants without them appearing before judges. In an executive order in January 2017, President Trump directed

September 23, 2019
Read more

Illinois Becomes First State to Ban Private Immigration Detention Centers

Illinois to Ban Private Immigration Detention Centers
Sep02

Written by: Taher Kameli It has been said that in the face of Congress’ general inability to reach an agreement on immigration issues, and President Trump’s anti-immigration policies, only the judicial branch of government appears to be available to protect immigrant rights. However, such a statement ignores another part of our overall government system – the states. That the states can support immigrant rights was evidenced on June 21 when Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a bill under which Illinois became the first state to ban private immigration detention centers. The bill, HB 2040 (the “Private Detention

September 2, 2019
Read more

DACA Flight Attendant Detained For More Than A Month From Re-Entering United States

DACA Flight Attendant Detained For More Than A Month U.S.
Apr01

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. Selene Saavedra Roman has lived in the United States for 25 years (since she was 3), is a graduate of Texas A&M, is married to a US citizen, has no criminal record, is trying to obtain permanent resident status, and left the US for purposes of her job as a flight attendant.  Does it seem reasonable to detain a person such as Ms. Roman from re-entering the US when she returns to the US in connection with her job?  While the answer to this question should be no, unfortunately, because Ms. Roman’s US immigration rights are

April 1, 2019
Read more

Writs of Mandamus: Bringing Consular Officers into Compliance with Law

Writs of Mandamus Bringing Officers into Compliance with Law
Feb08

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. More than a year has passed since Donald Trump imposed his inhumane immigration policy on people from Muslim-majority countries, leaving hundreds of visa applicants in a state of frustration and administrative limbo. Although the travel ban was to be reviewed every six months for the purposes of assessing its necessity, it has remained in effect indefinitely. Under such circumstances, nationals from countries subject to the travel ban find no option but to file a waiver request with the U.S. Consulate in hopes of reuniting with their beloved ones, and carrying forward their prospective endeavor

February 8, 2019
Read more

U.S. Government Shutdown: Touching the Lives of Hundreds of Thousands of Federal employees

U.S. Government Shutdown: Touching the Lives of employees
Jan14

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. Three weeks have passed since the federal government shuttered, leaving almost 800,000 federal employees frustrated. Marked as the longest government shutdown in the U.S. history, it has been driven by the disagreement between Donald Trump and the Congressional democrats over the construction of a wall along the Mexico-U.S. border. With Donald Trump persistently refusing to sign a spending bill without the requested $5.7 billion for the border wall, it is hard to predict how long the government shutdown will last. The shutdown has resulted in the closure of some departments including

January 14, 2019
Read more

TPS Visa Holders May Face Risk of Deportation in the United States

TPS Visa Holders May Face Risk of Deportation in the U.S.
May18

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. The United States is one of the countries in the world that offers citizens of some politically and economically challenged nations temporary refuge in the country, as part of the Temporary Protected Status program of the Immigration Act of 1990. These countries include El Salvador, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Liberia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Till now, holders of the TPS visa were eligible for permanent residency and citizenship, based on fulfillment of the eligibility criteria laid out by the USCIS for the

May 18, 2018
Read more

Waiver from the US travel restrictions

Third Version U.S. travel restrictions go into effect
Feb16

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. As you are aware, on September 24, 2017, Donald Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation imposing restrictions on travelers from eight countries including Iran and barring them from receiving U.S. visas. Unfortunately, the presidential proclamation has been fully implemented since December 08, 2017 per the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision allowing the third version of the travel ban to go into effect. However, this does not completely close the door on receiving a U.S. visa and individuals can still obtain a U.S. visa under certain circumstances. In fact, those willing to enter the United States are able

February 16, 2018
Read more
Request Consultation