SEC vs Seyed Taher Kameli: final decision on EB-5 case

Feb25

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) v. Seyed Taher Kameli On January 24, 2022, Seyed Taher Kameli, without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations of fraud, agreed to the entry of a final judgment in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois. As summarized in the SEC’s press release, the second amended complaint,  filed in May 2019, alleged the following facts: “Kameli and his companies, Defendants Chicagoland Foreign Investment Group, LLC and American Enterprise Pioneers, Inc. (“Defendants”), claimed to at least 226 foreign investors that each of their

February 25, 2022
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DACA: Under Constant Threat

Aug13

By Taher Kameli and Chathan Vemuri   In 2012, then-President Barack Obama provided a crucial piece of legal protection for residents who unlawfully arrived in the United States as children in the form of the policy known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.[1] By executive action, the president provided these residents (or “Dreamers”) a two-year shield from deportation despite not having citizenship or lawful permanent residence.[2] Under the DACA policy, these residents are able to obtain work permits, health insurance offered by employers, afford an education, and pursue higher education.[3] Depending on the state, Dreamers

August 13, 2021
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The Potential Benefits of Assistive Technology on Special Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Jul29

By Taher Kameli and Chathan Vemuri   The switch to virtual learning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a process of adjustment for most grade-school students. Yet the challenge has been particularly acute for students with special needs.[1] Given the particular demands of the disabilities involved, the difficulty of providing specialized instruction via virtual schooling and the challenging priorities of parents under the stress of the pandemic (particularly if they are of lower income), grade school students with special needs are left at a disadvantage as their specialized form of instruction may not be effectively conveyed via virtual learning

July 29, 2021
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Senate Bill 667 Sent to Governor Pritzker Would Improve Trust Between Undocumented Immigrants and Local Law Enforcement

Jul20

By Taher Kameli and Chathan Vemuri     The Illinois legislature has forwarded a bill to Governor J.B. Pritzker that, if passed, would go far in strengthening trust between Illinois law enforcement and immigrant communities. The bill, known as Senate Bill 667, or, the Way Forward Act, restricts local law enforcement from working with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and close immigrant detainment centers across Illinois.[1] Proponents of the Way Forward Act argue that the bill would improve trust between immigrants and the police so that there would be better cooperation between the two to help detect and deter crimes, without

July 20, 2021
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Biden Administration Gives Much Needed Legal Protection to Undocumented Crime Victims with a Sped-Up U-Visa Application Process

Jul14

By Taher Kameli and Chathan Vemuri   In a move that is sure to be welcomed by many in both the immigrant community and law enforcement, the Biden administration has decided as of June 14, 2021 to speed up the process of granting U-Visas some undocumented immigrants who are victims of crime.[1] Under the new policy, the Biden administration will expand access to work permits and deportation relief to certain immigrant victims of crime with pending visa applications.[2]   Typically, the Government is only permitted to issue 10,000 U-Visas a year, with the rest of the U-Visa applicants being left on a

July 14, 2021
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Supreme Court Jeopardizes Thousands of Migrants with Temporary Protected Status in Its Ruling in Sanchez v. Mayorkas

Jul07

By Taher Kameli and Chathan Vemuri   On June 7, 2021, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that unlawful migrants in the United States whose presence was permitted by having Temporary Protected Status (TPS) were not eligible to apply for green cards to become lawful permanent residents.[1] This ruling followed a case involving Jose Santos Sanchez and his wife, who had arrived in the US unlawfully during the late 1990s and both of whom were granted Temporary Protected Status after the 2001 earthquakes in El Salvador, when the US made El Salvadorian nationals eligible for that status.[2] In 2014, Jose Santos

July 7, 2021
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Zhang v. USCIS Signals a Victory for EB-5 Immigrant Investors Looking for More Options to Fund Their Investments as USCIS Approves Petition at Heart of the Case Yet Questions Remain

May27

By Taher Kameli and Chathan Vemuri   On October 27 of 2020, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denial of an EB-5 immigrant investor’s petition under its Loan Proceeds Policy.[1] The DC Circuit invalidated the Loan Proceeds Policy, under which cash from loans were treated as indebtedness and had to be collateralized by the investor’s assets.[2] This policy, which was adopted in 2015, differed from its older policy where the USCIS only looked at “whether capital resulting from secured loans was secured by the assets of the investor (indebtedness),” and that

May 27, 2021
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Biden Raises the Refugee Cap to 62,500 in Response to Pressure, Signaling a Dramatic Improvement in the United States’ Refugee Policy

taher kameli
May17

By Taher Kameli and Chathan Vemuri   The Biden administration challenged a core controversial feature of the Trump administration’s immigration policy this Monday when President Biden announced that it was abandoning the noticeably low Trump refugee cap.[1] Instead, President Biden has announced that the refugee cap would be raised to 62,500 people for this fiscal year.[2] This was done in response to pressure challenging the President for initially sticking by the Trump-era policy.[3] President Biden also announced that he would set a goal of 125,000 refugee admissions for the next fiscal year.[4] He justified

May 17, 2021
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Supreme Court Rejection of GOP Attempt to Legally Defend the Trump Expansion of the Public Charge Rule is a Welcome Yet Insufficient Development

May12

By Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri   In a further demonstration of the Biden era Federal Government’s rejection of Trump-era restrictive changes to US immigration policy, the US Supreme Court turned down an attempt from several Republican states to defend the Trump-era expansion of the public charge rule.[1] Under the Trump administration’s rule, immigrants were denied the use of several public benefits such as Medicaid and food stamps.[2] Furthermore, they were required to prove that they had enough means to not rely on government assistance in the future.[3] Such a policy had the effect of filtering

May 12, 2021
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Belliveau v. Barco, Inc.

Belliveau v. Barco Inc.
Mar22

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri On January 28, 2021, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals re-interpreted the parameters of fiduciary duty and the breach thereof in relation to third party sublicensing and clarified what was necessary for a fiduciary duty to exist.[1] In the case of Belliveau v. Barco, Inc., the Fifth Circuit ruled that the defendant in this case did not owe a fiduciary duty to the plaintiff as there was no formal fiduciary relationship between Plaintiff and the Defendant’s in-house counsel despite Plaintiff’s claims of in-house counsel allegedly agreeing to act at his discretion on matters

March 22, 2021
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