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
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
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
Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri On November 17, 2020, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated their guidelines in their Policy Manual regarding what type of discretion the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should use in adjudicating status application adjustments.[1] Typically, in order to get approval for adjustment of his/her/their immigration status, the applicant must show their eligibility and prove that an exercise of discretion in favor of his/her/their application is warranted.[2] Whether discretion is positive or negative depends on how the USCIS balances and weighs the
Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. While Congress (or at least the House of Representatives) is perhaps now showing some opposition to President Trump on the issue of impeachment, Congress has not been able to block the anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration. Instead, it has been the judicial branch of government, rather than the legislative branch of government, which has been more effective in opposing the Trump administration on the issue of immigration. As another example of the judiciary ruling against an immigration policy of the Trump administration, on September 27, 2019, a Federal court blocked
Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. Much has been said about the hostile policies of the Trump administration toward undocumented immigrants. While the issue probably receives less attention, the Trump administration also has not proceeded favorably with legal immigration alternatives. Specifically, based on U.S. Citizenship and Investment Services (USCIS) updated data issued on August 7, H-1B and L-1 petition denials and requests for evidence (RFEs) have increased during the Trump administration. During the first 3 quarters of the current October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019 fiscal year (through June 30, 2019), USCIS
Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. Government positions on immigration issues are often expressed in ideological or political terms. However, more practically, it is the authorization of funds that actually implements these government positions. For example, “Build the Wall” is just a political argument; unless funds are actually authorized to build a wall at the southwest border, the government will not actually construct any wall. The importance of funding authorization by the government is exemplified by the action of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to move $271 million, including $155 million from the Disaster
Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. The Trump administration has proposed many new anti-immigration policies against undocumented immigrants in the United States. However, a traditional approach to limit undocumented immigrants in the United States is to conduct a raid of a business where undocumented immigrants are known to be working and arrest them. The Trump administration is also willing to use this traditional method of restricting undocumented immigrants in the United States, as on August 7, the largest workplace immigration raids in the United States in at least a decade resulted in 680 arrests. These workplace
Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. While one can easily criticize many of the anti-immigration policies issued by the Trump administration for their substantive positions, to the extent that government policy consistency is beneficial, you cannot fault the Trump administration for lack of general consistency on immigration issues. Whatever the immigration issue, from migrant rights to green card rights to citizenship rights, the Trump administration will generally consistently adopt the position on the issue that restricts, and is adverse to, such migrant rights, green card rights, or citizenship rights. As another example of the Trump administration’s generally consistent
Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. The anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration have especially harsh consequences when applied to migrant families. This point is especially true when these policies are applied to migrant children. As another example of the adverse policies of the Trump administration toward migrant children, on August 21, the Trump administration announced a final rule to change the Flores settlement and allow the longer detention of migrant children. The Flores settlement arose from the 1997 case of Flores v. Reno.
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