Considerations for Legal Permanent Residents Outside of the US Due to COVID-19 Restrictions

By Radhika Balaji, Associate Attorney The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedent amount of uncertainty—several proclamations, travel restrictions, and government lock downs have prevented many from freely traveling back to the US. Unfortunately, amidst the pandemic, the USCIS has not provided relief to Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) of the US who are stuck out…

DISTRICT COURT INJUNCTION ON PUBLIC CHARGE RULE LIMITED IN SCOPE—ONLY APPLIES TO NEW YORK, CONNECTICUT, AND VERMONT

By Roujin Mozaffarimehr On Wednesday August 12th, The United State Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an order limiting the scope of the nationwide injunction on the Public Charge rule that took effect earlier this year. Last month, we reported that the United States District Court, Southern District of New York issued two…

District Court in New York Issues Injunctions on Public Charge Rule During COVID Pandemic

By Roujin Mozaffarimehr On July 29th, The United States District Court, Southern District of New York issued two decisions to temporarily enjoin the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State from implementing the recent Public Charge Rule that took effect earlier in February 2020.[1] Below, we discuss the recent changes to the Public…

Trump’s Proclamation: More Bark than Bite?

President Trump’s Immigration Proclamation only limits a narrow set of potential immigrants, with little impact on protecting the U.S. labor market. It instead appears to be a stepping stone to pursuing an anti-immigrant agenda. On April 22, 2020, President Donald Trump signed a Proclamation intended to suspend the entry of immigrants who purportedly present a…

USCIS Issues Updated Policy Memorandum Giving Officers Full Discretion to Deny Cases Without RFE or NOID

USCIS Issues Updated Policy Memorandum Giving Officers Full Discretion to Deny Cases Without RFE or NOID By Roujin Mozaffarimehr On Friday, July 13, 2018, the USCIS announced its rescission of the long-standing policy memorandum (PM), “Requests for Evidence and Notices of Intent to Deny” (2013 PM) which detailed the parameters surrounding an officer’s discretion to…