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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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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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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Cryptocurrency and Taxes: How does taxation work on it?

Cryptocurrency and Taxes How does taxation work on it
Mar13

Written by Taher Kameli & Shabnam Mahammadli Cryptocurrency is a digital representation of value that can serve as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and a store of value.[1] Although often held for investment purposes, the IRS has acknowledged that cryptocurrency may also be used in a manner similar to “real” currency, namely, to pay for goods or services. However, as no country has recognized any cryptocurrency as a form of legal tender, the IRS does not allow taxpayers to treat cryptocurrency as real currency, such as the US Dollar and the Euro.[2] As a

March 13, 2021
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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
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Biden Reverts Naturalization Test to 2008 Version

Biden Reverts Naturalization Test to 2008 Version
Mar01

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri In another reversal of Trump-era immigration policy, the Biden administration struck down the revised naturalization civic test implemented on December 1, 2020, replacing it with the older 2008 version of the test that had been in force up till that time.[1] This was done as part of President Biden’s February 2 Executive Order on “Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration System.”[2] The USCIS will go back to the 2008 test as of March 1, 2021, although there will also be an interim period during which both tests will be offered for

March 1, 2021
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The USCIS Rescinds Stringent Professional and Educational Requirements for H-1B Petition Adjudications in Response to Ninth Circuit Challenge

USCIS Rescinds Stringent Requirements for H-1B Petition
Feb24

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri On February 3, 2021, in what is sure to be welcome news for H-1B applicants, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services rescinded the 2017 Policy Memorandum PM–602-0142 that it previously issued under the Trump administration.[1] Under the 2017 Policy Memorandum, the USCIS discarded the US Department of Labor’s (DOL) classification of occupations covered by the H-1B program, specifically rejecting the DOL’s requirement that positions within that particular classification of H-1B occupations required only bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field for entry.[2]   The USCIS also disagreed with

February 24, 2021
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President Biden Reinstates Deferred Enforced Departure for Eligible Liberian Nationals in the U.S.

Liberian Nationals Eligible for Deferred Enforced Departure
Feb23

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri At the very beginning of his term in office, President Biden has put immigration reform at the top of his agenda, passing a series of executive orders challenging and even overturning President Trump’s immigration policies.[1] Be it rescinding the Muslim travel ban or restoring DACA, the Biden administration has made impressive gestures towards repairing an immigration system affected by the Trump administration’s more exclusivist hardline policies.[2] One particular change of note is the President’s revival of the Deferred Enforced Departure program.[3] This program, which covers around 4,000 long-term

February 23, 2021
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