President Biden Withdraws Trump’s H-4 EAD Proposal

President Biden Withdraws Trump’s H-4 EAD Proposal
Feb04

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri Among the many changes to Trump’s hardline immigration policies pursued by the Biden administration during his first two weeks in office, President Biden’s latest action has been to withdraw a proposed rule of the Trump administration concerning H-4 EAD holders.[1] Under the proposed rule (which was introduced in 2019[2]), the H-4 EAD program would have been rescinded, preventing spouses of H-1B visa holders from getting paid employment in the U.S.[3]   Nevertheless, this has brought great relief to spouses of H-1B visa holders who

February 4, 2021
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DHS Changes the H-1B Visa Cap Selection Process

DHS Changes the H-1B Visa Cap Selection Process
Jan29

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri In one of the final acts of the Trump Administration’s hardline anti-immigration policies prior to his departure on January 20, 2021, the Trump-led Department of Homeland Security issued a final rule that upends the traditional selection system for the H-1B visa in favor of highly paid workers, at the expense of those who make less.[1] Every fiscal year, the numerical limit on the number of foreign workers authorized for H-1B visa status is capped at 65,000 initial visas, with an additional 20,000 H-1B visas for workers

January 29, 2021
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EOIR Final Rule Drastically Increasing EOIR Filing Fees and How That May Impact Asylum Seekers, Undocumented Children and Other Vulnerable Groups

EOIR Final Rule Drastically Increasing EOIR Filing Fees
Jan19

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri On January 19, 2021, a Final Rule issued by the  Executive Office for Immigration Review EOIR will become effective that will “increase the fees for those EOIR applications, appeals, and motions that are subject to an EOIR-determined fee, based on a fee review conducted by the EOIR.”[1] These fee increases apply to Forms EOIR-26, 29, 40, 42A, 42B, 45 and motions to reopen or reconsider before the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge (OCIJ) and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).[2]   Notably, this Rule was first

January 19, 2021
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Trump Extends April and June Visa Bans to March 31, 2021

Trump Extends April and June Visa Bans to March 31, 2021
Jan14

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on December 31 of 2020, extending the bans on certain immigrant and non-immigrant visas that were previously banned as per his proclamations on April 22 and June 22 of 2020, respectively.[1] Although these orders were supposed to expire on December 31 of 2020 itself, the President invoked the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on jobs in late 2020 to justify protecting US workers by continuing both of the bans.[2]While the ban would primarily hurt applicants for the H-1B visa, it would

January 14, 2021
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ACLU Sues DHS, et al., Over Cellphone Tracking of Immigrants

ACLU Sues DHS, et al., Over Cellphone Tracking of Immigrants
Jan12

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri A recent source of controversy in the Trump Administration’s typically hardline approach to illegal immigration concerns the surveillance of social media by Homeland Security Investigations to tracking down immigrant activity, violations, and the First-Amendment-protected expression disapproved of by authorities that lead to detention and deportation.[1] Recently, this has entailed tracking and gathering information from electronic devices such as laptops, tablets, thumb drives, and cell phones.[2]   For instance, searching these devices and using tools to unlock encrypted information on these devices of those coming

January 12, 2021
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U.S. Senate Passes the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act (S.386)

U.S. Senate Passes the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act (S.386)
Jan07

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri   EB-5 and other professional green card applicants can finally breathe a sigh of relief while going through the immigration application process. Last week, on December 2, 2020, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed bill S.386, known as the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act.[1] If approved by the President (whoever that will be), it would be of immense benefit to green card applicants of different categories, for it would remove the “caps on the number of immigrants who can be approved for permanent residency permits (“green cards”)” and help

January 7, 2021
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Corporate Transparency Act

Corporate Transparency Act
Jan05

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri The creation of anonymous shell corporate structures for illicit purposes such as money laundering, the sale of pirated and counterfeit goods, human trafficking, and the drug trade has been a source of great concern for the U.S. government.[1] These corporate structures are used to hide stolen assets and are without clearly identified owners, making it difficult to hold anyone to account.[2] A range of groups have called for legislation demanding transparency from newly formed reporting corporations to hinder the creation of these anonymous shell corporate

January 5, 2021
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Trump administration intends to end use of in-person interpreters at certain immigration hearings

Trump Administration Intends to End In-Person Interpreters
Dec29

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri  At one time, the famous words associated with the Statue of Liberty – “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” – truly exemplified the attitude of the US government toward immigration.  However, under the Trump administration, these words would appear to describe the immigration policies of another country, as the Trump administration takes action on a regular basis to restrict the rights of immigrants. This point was evidenced again by the news that the Trump

December 29, 2020
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Obama-era DACA Program Reinstated by New York Federal Court Order in Vidal v. Wolf

DACA Program Reinstated by New York Federal Court Order
Dec29

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri In what counts as a severe blow to the Trump administration’s revamped immigration system in its final month, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued an order to reinstate the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program DACA to its pre-Trump administration status.[1]   Before President Trump tried to end it in September of 2017, DACA served to permit young immigrants without legal status but had been brought over as children, to live and work legally in the U.S.[2]   This was

December 29, 2020
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District Court for the Northern District of California Strikes Down H-1B Regulations for Violating APA

Strikes Down H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Program
Dec11

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri As noted before on this blog site, on October 8, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security issued an interim final rule that was meant to revamp the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa program.[1] Called Strengthening the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification Program, this interim final rule changed the definition requirements for “specialty occupations,” among other aspects, in order to make applications for the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa more challenging.[2]   The overall purpose behind the changes was to decrease reliance on the H-1B program and encourage employers to look more

December 11, 2020
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