Southern District Court of Texas Overrules Biden Administration’s Deportation Moratorium

Texas Overrules Biden Administration Deportation Moratorium

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri The first two weeks of the Biden presidency has seen a dramatic pause on many of the Trump administration’s most controversial immigration policies, from ending the Muslim ban to reversing the policy focusing immigration law enforcement on any undocumented person regardless of criminal status or lack thereof, to ending an emergency declaration to divert funds to proposed border wall.[1] Yet opposition to these reversals remains as strong as ever in those states where the former President still commands high levels of support. In Texas last week, one state attorney general was able to

USCIS H-1B Lottery Process Will Remain Unchanged for the Following Year

USCIS H-1B Lottery Process Will Remain Unchanged this Year

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri In what is sure to be welcome news for H-1B visa applicants, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS ) announced that the H-1B electronic registration and lottery process for this year would be identical to that of last year, as opposed to the Trump administration’s proposal to make the lottery of H-1B visas dependent on wage levels for H-1B positions.[1] Under the Modification of Registration Requirement for Petitioners Seeking to File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions rule (Modification Rule), H-1B application cases would have been prioritized according to the wage level

How Confronting The Past Can Change Our Future

How Confronting The Past Can Change Our Future by Taher Kameli

Written by Taher Kameli On Wednesday, January 20, 2021,  the U. S. witness the change when former Vice President Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. It was the culmination of a vicious presidential campaign that effectively served as a referendum on the performance of Donald Trump.[1] A campaign that saw Trump’s most fervent supporters come out in record numbers to keep him in the White House, as well as new voters too.[2]   After, a volatile election the result was not even known for almost a

Evolve Federal Credit Union v. Barragan-Flores

Loan Cross-Collateralization FCU v. Barragan-Flores

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri The practice of cross-collateralization involves using an asset as collateral for another loan in addition to an earlier loan.[1] In the event that a debtor cannot make repayments on either loan on time, lenders can force the liquidation of the asset and use the proceeds to repay the debt on the loan.[2] This practice is used in “various forms of financing, from mortgages to credit cards.”[3] Should the debtor be unable to make timely payments on either of the loans, the debtor can establish a bankruptcy plan

President Biden Withdraws Trump’s H-4 EAD Proposal

President Biden Withdraws Trump’s H-4 EAD Proposal

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

DHS Changes the H-1B Visa Cap Selection Process

DHS Changes the H-1B Visa Cap Selection Process

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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