USCIS
House Judiciary Marks Up Criticized Visa Security Act
This week, the House Judiciary Committee marked up and passed bill H.R. 5203, the Visa Integrity and Security Act of 2016 (VISA Act). The stated goal of the legislation introduced by Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) is to enhance the security procedures for the processing of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas. Some… Read More
How the Asylum and Immigration Court Backlogs Reached an All-Time High
The current backlogs in the immigration court and asylum systems have long been a problem and the government offices tasked with bringing the backlog down still have much to do. As detailed in the Human Rights First report In the Balance: Backlogs Delay Protection in the U.S. Asylum… Read More
Lawsuit Against DHS and USCIS Seeks Transparency in H-1B Lottery Process
Each year, U.S. employers seeking highly skilled foreign professional workers submit petitions on the first business day of April to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for the limited pool of H-1B nonimmigrant visa numbers available for the coming fiscal year, which are capped at 65,000 for new hires… Read More
Understanding Justice Kennedy’s “Upside Down” Argument in U.S. v. Texas
On April 18, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in United States v. Texas, a case brought by 26 states to challenge President Obama’s frozen deferred action programs, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Plus (expanded DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and… Read More
H-1B Visa Cap Reached in Five Days for Fourth Consecutive Year
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 7 that the H-1B cap for fiscal year 2017 was reached—meaning that in five business days, U.S. employers filed more petitions for an H-1B visa to hire a skilled foreign worker than the entire year’s allocation of visas available… Read More
The EB-5 Visa Program Placed Under Microscope in Senate Hearing
The Immigrant Investor Program, also known as “EB-5,” has become an increasingly important source of investment for development projects in the United States, attracting billions of dollars to the U.S. economy and creating tens of thousands of jobs in the United States. However, that program came under intense scrutiny this… Read More
Letter to DHS Outlines Problematic Practices That Undermine Due Process Protections for Asylum Seekers
Even before the recent ICE raids on Central American families began last week, there were serious signs that the government was undermining due process and not providing asylum-seekers a meaningful opportunity to make their cases. Many of the violations were brought to the attention of the immigration agencies by the… Read More
Second Circuit Requires Government to Notify Affected Parties Prior to Visa Petition Revocation
In a breakthrough decision issued at the end of last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which sits in New York City, ruled that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) must provide notice of its intent to revoke an immigrant visa petition to those who… Read More
DHS Begins Raids and Deportations of Central American Mothers and Children
This past weekend, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducted immigration raids, primarily in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina where, according to DHS, they rounded up 121 individuals, mostly women and children. DHS now is transporting the families to Texas to process them for deportation. The raids were anticipated,… Read More
Congress Funds Government and Extends Immigration Programs for Ten Months
This week, the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed a $1.15 trillion omnibus spending bill that funds the federal government for the rest of the Fiscal Year (FY), through September 30, 2016, as well as a package of tax breaks worth around $620 billion. The spending bill, which was seen… Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
