Immigration - General

On January 13, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has resumed accepting requests to renew a grant of deferred action under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. On September 5, 2017, the Trump administration announced that it w

On January 10, 2018 ICE issued a press release setting forth its three-pronged approach to worksite enforcement compliance: “compliance, through I-9 inspections, civil fines and referrals for debarment; enforcement, through the arrest of employers, knowingly employing undocumented workers, and the a

As it signaled in late 2017,1 the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s investigative arm) began 2018 with an increased emphasis on targeting employers and unauthorized employees through worksite enforcement action. Employers are now seeing the reporte

Extreme vetting, strict scrutiny, travel warnings, and the latest travel ban have made travel abroad more worrisome than ever this holiday season.

The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has the authority to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to eligible foreign-born individuals who are unable to return home for certain safety-related reasons. TPS may be designated to a foreign country when there are circumstances in the

On December 4, 2017 the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the restraining orders against President Trump’s travel ban.1 The stay means that the September 24, 2017 presidential proclamation restricting travel into the U.S. from eight countries has gone into full effect until a decision is rendered on pending

The latest version of the Trump Administration’s travel ban may take effect pending decisions expected shortly from the Courts of Appeals for the Fourth and Ninth Circuits, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has lifted, in part, a district court's injunction that temporarily blocked enforcement of the Trump administration's latest travel ban. In September, President Trump issued a proclamation restricting travel from eight countries. A federal district cou

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled to allow President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban proclamation to go into effect – at least in part.

Increased immigration enforcement and a reduction in illegal entry into the United States remain among the Trump administration's highest priorities. Notably, Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan has reportedly ordered Homeland Security Investigations (ICE’s investigative arm) to increase its worksite e

Having terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in May 2017 and having announced the limited extension of TPS for Haiti and Sudan until January and November 2018, respectively, the Trump Administration has turned its attention to Central America.

All I-129 petitions, whether initial requests or requests for extension of visa status, will be subject to the same level of scrutiny, USCIS has confirmed. The agency will no longer defer to the findings of a previously approved petition even when the key elements of the petition have remained uncha

On October 23, 2017, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) rescinded policy guidelines in effect since April 2004 regarding requests for the extension of certain nonimmigrant visas (i.e., visa petitions filed using Form I-129). Previously, an adjudicator’s determination that a non-

When President Donald Trump issued his first immigration executive orders in January, enforcement was a primary focus. With the “Buy American, Hire American” Executive Order, it was clear that the Administration plans to increase worksite enforcement. This was confirmed by Acting Director of ICE Tho

On the eve of its taking effect, President Donald Trump’s third attempt at a travel ban has been blocked by the District Court in Hawaii.

We previously reported on the Department of State’s acceptance of applications for the diversity immigrant lottery. Since then, the DOS has announced on the Diversity Lottery website:

On October 8, 2017, the White House released a list of immigration priorities addressing border security, interior enforcement, and a merit-based immigration system. The priority list calls for the hiring of 10,000 ICE agents, 300 federal prosecutors, 370 immigration judges and 1,000 ICE attorneys.

Deferred action for DACA recipients will start to expire in March 2018 and there is still no certainty about what will happen to them. Amidst legal challenges to the rescission of DACA, the introduction of a number of statutory fixes, and a supposed “deal” between President Trump and Democratic lead

In May, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for Haitians was extended for six months, until January 22, 2018. Generally extended in 18-month intervals, then-Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly had extended the Haitian TPS for six months only because “Haiti has made progress across sev

Introduced by Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.), the “Solution for Undocumented Children through Careers Employment Education and Defending Our Nation” (SUCCEED) Act would provide undocumented children with the opportunity to earn and keep legal status. SUCCEED provides a 15