By Roujin Mozaffarimehr On July 28th, Acting Secretary Chad F. Wolf issued a Policy Memorandum titled, “Reconsideration of the June 15, 2020 Memorandum Entitled ‘Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion with Respect to Individuals Who Came to the United States as Children.”[1] This new memorandum was issued after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on June 18th which determined…
By Roujin Mozaffarimehr As we reported last month, on June 22, 2020, President Donald Trump signed a Presidential Proclamation suspending the entry of H-1B and H-2B visas and accompanying dependents, certain J visas, and L visas and accompanying dependents, and extending the April 2020 suspension on certain immigrants. banning visa issuance through December 31, 2020.…
By Roujin Mozaffarimehr On July 24, 2020, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued an update on federal guidance for F and M students for the Fall 2020 term. The agency has clarified that the March 2020 guidance on online class attendance does not extend to nonimmigrant students in new or initial status outside of the…
On July 6, 2020, the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced certain adjustments to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) online study policy for nonimmigrant students for Fall 2020. A Temporary Final Rule is anticipated to be published in the Federal Register by the Department of Homeland Security soon. Spring/Summer and Fall 2020 Semesters…
By Roujin Mozaffarimehr and Kalpana Peddibhotla On June 22, 2020, President Donald Trump signed a Presidential Proclamation intended to suspend the entry of certain nonimmigrants purportedly present a risk to the U.S. labor market in the period of economic recovery following the COVID-19 outbreak.[1][2] The suspension is set to take effect at 12:01 AM…
By Radhika Balaji US Citizenship and Immigration Service’s settlement with ITServe Alliance will dramatically change the way H-1B visas have been adjudicated for the last 10 years for Information Technology companies. In its March 10, 2020 ruling in the ITServe Alliance lawsuit, the District Court opined that the two key policy memos from 2010[1] and…
By Chloe Tomlinson & Kalpana V. Peddibhotla On Thursday June 18, 2020, the Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). This decision addressed whether the Trump administration followed proper procedures in its’ decision to end DACA. In a majority 5-4 decision written by Chief Justice Roberts, the…
By Roujin Mozaffarimehr. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold and impact all aspects of society, concerns have arisen as to the future of the F-1 OPT program under the Trump Administration. This post describes the history of OPT, the legal challenges and attacks on OPT, and, while no action has been taken to change…
On May 16, 2020 a landmark settlement was reached in the case, IT Serve Alliance, Inc. v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (IT Serve Alliance) after a decision was issued on March 10, 2020 by the District Court for the District of Columbia. The USCIS has agreed to rescind the February 2018 USCIS memo,…
On May 27th, the USCIS announced that it expects to begin reopening domestic offices and public services beginning on June 4th or later. All asylum interviews, naturalization ceremonies, interviews, appointments, and biometrics appointments canceled due to office closures will be automatically rescheduled. All applicants will be issued new notices confirming the rescheduled event.