Former INS Attorney Carl Shusterman has been writing an immigration blog on a regular basis since 1996.
On July 11, 2019, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky) introduced the BELIEVE Act (S. 2091) as a way to reform legal immigration to the United States. The Believe Act would abolish per-country quotas for employment-based immigration similar to H.R. 1044 which was passed by the House of Representatives on July 10, but would not result in […]
On the evening of June 20, 2019, the day before he kicked-off his reelection campaign, President Trump tweeted: “Next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States. They will be removed as fast as they come in.” The President is […]
A few months ago, a couple living in Chicago scheduled a legal consultation with us. Born in China, they had become Canadian citizens. Entrepreneurs, they decided to start a restaurant and employ U.S. workers. The husband who owned the restaurant was granted an E-2 visa as a Treaty Investor. His wife obtained an E-2 dependent […]
Priority dates in the July Visa Bulletin will change like nothing I’ve ever seen in my 40+ years of practicing immigration law. Some categories and countries will become current for the first time in many years, and others will advance rapidly. However, some dates will remain frozen while others will retrogress. Let’s start with the […]
Lopez v. Barr, a May 22, 2019, decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, holds out hope for thousands of persons who are in removal proceedings that they can apply for cancellation of removal. Lopez v. Barr relies on the Pereira v. Sessions, a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision which holds […]
On May 16, 2019, President Trump proposed a new immigration system in which over half of all green cards would be allotted to highly educated and skilled immigrants and their families. Under the President’s proposal, the number of green cards approved each year would remain at 1.1 million, the same as now. However, the percentage […]
Great News: Thhe EB-3 category for Filipino nurses and other professionals is current (no backlog) in July and may stay current all summer long. This is a momentous change from the enormous backlog that EB-3 Filipinos were experiencing just a few years ago. We are working together with our health care clients to file as […]
The U.S. State Department announced that the family 2A category (spouses and unmarried children of lawful permanent residents) will become current for the first time in many years. The USCIS announced that even though Worldwide Family 2A is backlogged on the Dates of Filing Chart, since the Worldwide Family 2A is current on the Final […]
On May 3, 2019, a Federal Judge issued an injunction preventing the USCIS from enforcing its August 2018 unlawful presence memo which attempted to change the rules retroactively for F and M students and J exchange visitors. The plaintiffs in Guilford College v. USCIS maintain that the government did not follow the proper administrative procedures in […]
In June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark 8-1 decision in Pereira v Sessions holding that a Notice to Appear (NTA) in Immigration Court which does not state the date and time of the hearing is a defective Notice to Appear and does not give the Immigration Court jurisdiction over a case. The […]
