UPDATE: THIS POLICY HAS BEEN RESCINDED BY THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT AS OF 2022 On January 30, 2020, USCIS announced that it will begin implementing the new public charge rule on February 24, 2020, in all states in the United States except for in Illinois, where an injunction is still […]
Category Archives: new law
Temporary Protected Status holders are eligible for adjustment of status, says the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
On March 31, 2017, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal issued a very important decision on an immigration case, that has the potential to help thousands of people who living within the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit (California, Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona). In Ramirez v. Brown (No. 14-35633), the Ninth Circuit held that individuals who hold […]
Expansion of Provisional Waiver (I-601A)
Effective AUGUST 29, 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will expand the reach of the provisional waiver initially implemented in 2013. On January 3, 2013, DHS promulgated a final rule, Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers of Inadmissibility for Certain Immediate Relatives, in the Federal Register. See 78 FR 536 (Jan. 3, 2013) (“2013 Rule”). To […]
Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in President Obama’s Executive Order Challenge
On Monday, April 18, 2016, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the highly anticipated case of US v. Texas, where President Obama’s Executive Order announcing expanded DACA and the new DAPA programs are at question. You can read the transcript of the oral arguments to see how the case was presented to […]
DAPA and Expanded DACA are Dead (for now) – Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Rejects President Obama’s Immigration Plan
In a 135-page decision issued on November 9, 2015, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has (unsurprisingly) ruled against President Obama’s immigration plan, which he announced on November 20, 2014, hoping to benefit over 11 million undocumented people in the United States. Obama announced the DAPA and expanded DACA programs on November 20, 2014 through […]
Federal Judge Temporarily Halts President Obama’s Executive Action Plans on Immigration
Late Monday night, a federal judge in Texas ordered a temporary halt to President Obama’s Executive Action orders on immigration, the first of which, the expanded DACA program, was set to take effect on February 18, 2015. Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) was set to take effect on May 19, 2015. Judge Andrew Hanen’s […]
Expanded DACA Applications To Be Accepted Beginning February 18, 2015
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was initially announced on June 15, 2012 via a memorandum from then-Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. On November 20, 2014, current-Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson issued a memorandum expanding guidelines for DACA in several key ways. Expanded DACA program will go into effect beginning in February 18, […]
Challenges to DACA and DAPA Programs
On January 15, 2015, a federal district court in Texas will hear oral argument in Texas, et al. v. United States, the 25-state lawsuit challenging the immigration initiatives announced by President Obama last year on November 20, 2014. The lawsuit alleges that states will be burdened by the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood […]
Expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program
Through his announcement on November 20, 2014 of an executive order to help millions of undocumented foreign nationals currently living in the United States, President Obama expanded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program implemented in 2012, also through an executive order. How was DACA expanded? DACA is a prosecutorial discretion program administered by […]
Deferred Action for Parental Accountability – What It Is and What It Isn’t
On November 20 and 21, 2014, President Obama announced his “immigration accountability executive action,” which includes a series of measures that are first steps towards common-sense reforms to an outdated immigration system. The series of executive actions presented by the administration include new temporary immigration protections for many unauthorized parents of U.S. citizens and lawful […]