EAH Immigration Blog

When the executive order travel bans were issued, they included directives to the DHS Secretary to review the security risks posed by refugee admissions. In January, DHS announced that additional security enhancements and recommendations to strengthen the integrity of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) have been implemented. The new...

USCIS is no longer scheduling affirmative asylum cases based on a “first in, first scheduled” basis. Now, cases that have been pending less than 21 days will be scheduled first, working backwards toward older cases. This new scheduling approach is purposefully aimed at deterring “individuals from using asylum backlogs solely...

Systemic and crippling court backlogs are a source of frustration for all sides — ICE, immigrants, and immigration judges alike. Administrative closure is a key tool used by immigration judges to prioritize cases and manage their ever-growing case load. It allows a judge to use discretion and allows immigrants to...

DHS Secretary Nielsen has determined that an extension of the Temporary Protected Status designation for Syria is warranted pursuant to INA §244(b)(1)(A) (ongoing armed conflict) and INA § 244(b)(1)(C) (temporary but extraordinary conditions). The designation has been extended for another 18 months, through September 30, 2019. However, there is a...

Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of the federal district court in Brooklyn has stepped into the DACA debate and issued an injunction ordering the Administration to keep DACA in place as it was before the Administration announced termination of the program. However, USCIS has announced that it is not accepting DACA...

President Trump’s decision to end the DACA program has served as a catalyst to reform the country’s broken immigration system quickly. Over the past five months since the announcement that DACA would be terminated on March 5, popular and political support for DACA gained momentum. The President also expressed a...

This month, USCIS announced that it will now accept credit card payments for 41 of its fee-based forms being processed at USCIS lockbox facilities. These forms include the I-130 petition for relatives, I-140 petitions for employees, and I-485 green card applications. The Form I-129 is not included, meaning that fees...

In November, the Senate published its proposed budget for FY2018 Department of Homeland Security funding. Some $53 billion is doled out over 12 major components and agencies that make up one of the largest departments in the U.S. government. While the bill is still pending and will be amended, it...

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an audit of the H-1B program and determined that USCIS employer site visits were being conducted in a sparse and inefficient manner. The purpose of these visits is to determine if the foreign national is working at the jobsite indicated in the petition,...

Attorney General (AG) Jeff Sessions has expressed his frustration with the pace of case processing before the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), and its immigration court. The agency is facing a caseload of 650,000, which has far outstripped the agency’s resources to hear cases in a timely manner. The...

On December 5, the Senate confirmed Kirstjen M. Nielsen as the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary with a 62-37 vote. She was sworn in the following day. While Secretary Nielsen is the first former DHS employee to hold the position, many senators who voted against confirmation noted that...

Below is our top 10 list of changes that the current administration has put into place, without legislation or regulations, that drastically change the immigration landscape for employers, immigrants, and their families: 10. USCIS increases site visits to employers who hire H-1B and L-1 nonimmigrant workers. 9. Consular officers re-adjudicate...

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C O N T A C T : Barbara Ingram, Firm Administrator Elkind Alterman Harston, PC Telephone: 303.736.6650 Fax: 303.736.6655 www.EAHimmigration.com For Immediate Release New Partner Announcement – Camila S. Palmer Denver, Colorado, January 2, 2018 –  Elkind Alterman Harston PC, a leading full-service immigration law firm, is pleased to...

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The following additional items may be of interest to our readers: DACA Update: In November, a myriad of advocates took to the phones, Facebook, and Twitter to contact members of Congress in support of DACA. Scheduled to expire in March, the legislative branch has not yet come up with a...

For over 10 years, USCIS has taken the approach that, when adjudicating extension petitions involving the same employer, the same beneficiary, and the same underlying facts, its adjudicators would defer to prior approval determinations. USCIS has now reversed this policy, interpreting it as placing an extra burden on the agency...

The following is an update and roundup of the current status of TPS for some 10 countries. As of August 2017, an estimated 325,000 TPS beneficiaries live in the United States. More than 90 percent of individuals with TPS are nationals of El Salvador (195,000), Honduras (57,000), or Haiti (50,000)....

On December 4, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two orders staying the preliminary injunctions issued against President Trump’s September 24, 2017, Presidential Proclamation, or “Travel Ban,” pending disposition of appeals still pending in the courts. The ban restricts nationals of Chad, North Korea, Iran, Libya, Venezuela, Syria, Yemen, and...