Law Offices of Brian D. Lerner
Deportation Lawyers & Immigration Attorneys Helping Families Nationwide
On Thursday, the House blocked the White House plan to divert $700 billion in Pentagon funding to build the border wall. The filibuster and vote was mostly along party lines, with Democrats criticizing the attempted transfer of money from health and education to the border wall. This was the second time in six weeks that the …
The DHS announced Friday that the validity of TPS documentation of recipients from 6 countries has been extended through January 4, 2021. The six countries affected are El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, Honduras, and Nepal. The expiration dates for Employment Authorization Documents; Forms I-797, Notice of Action; and Forms I-94, Arrival/Departure Record have all been extended. …
A non-profit and citizens in Portland, Oregon filed a lawsuit on Wednesday alleging that the president’s decision to require prospective immigrants to have health insurance violates separation of powers and is an attempt to override the will of Congress in the realms of immigration and healthcare. The lawsuit is seeking class-action status and to block the …
McAleenan’s resignation from DHS was announced 3 weeks ago on October 11. Since then, no one has been nominated to fill his position. When testifying before Congress on Wednesday, Acting DHS Secretary McAleenan told lawmakers he would “ensure a smooth transition” and, “if necessary,” stay on in his role until a successor is nominated.
About 265,000 Salvadorans in the U.S. have Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which gives them temporary legal status and the ability to work. Most of them have been in the U.S. for more than 10 years, since Salvadorans were first offered TPS during the Bush administration. In the past few years, the Trump administration has attempted …
Over 500 flights were canceled in October, leaving refugees in limbo. Now, the moratorium on refugee flights has been extended to November 5, meaning that no refugees have been resettled in the U.S. in October. Though these refugees have already been through the vetting process and were approved to come to the U.S., the indefinite delays are …
Effective immediately, USCIS has made Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, available for online filing. Acting USCIS Director Cuccinelli announced that this form is now the 8th available for online filing, and is part of the agency’s push to become paperless. Petitioners can also use the online portal to track their status, pay fees, communicate with …
Starting December 2, the premium processing fee will increase from $1,410 to $1,440 for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. The fee was last increased in 2018, and the increase is based on inflation. Premium processing is optional and allows petitioners to request 15-day processing.
USCIS has updated editions of Form AR-11, Change of Alien’s Address Card; Form G-325A, Biographic Information (for Deferred Action); Form I-929, Petition for Qualifying Family Member of a U-1 Nonimmigrant; Form I-612, Application for Waiver of the Foreign Residence Requirement; and Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal. The previous edition of each form will be accepted …
USCIS has updated fee waiver requirements USCIS has published a new version of Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver. The new version has removed the use of means-tested public benefits as a factor. According to USCIS, the change was warranted because eligibility requirements for public benefits vary so much state-to-state. Under the new criteria, individuals can request a …
The White House released a document noting that President Trump is proposing a refugee ceiling of 18,000 for FY2020. Further, the president also issued an executive order instructing the federal government to settle refugees only in those jurisdictions in which both the state and local governments have consented to receive refugees under the DOS Reception and Placement Program. CNN reports that the …
In a lawsuit challenging DHS’s expansion of expedited removal that was filed by the American Immigration Council, the ACLU, and the law firm of Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP, U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction and issued an order blocking DHS from implementing its July 23, 2019, notice that significantly expanded the categories of persons …
Military.com reports on USCIS’s announcement that the number of places overseas where noncitizen service members and their families can be naturalized will be cut from 23 to four due to the agency’s closures of international offices. Noncitizen service members will now have to apply for naturalization at four overseas military bases or “hubs,” and USCIS officers will travel to each …
Surveillance Age The New York Times Magazine reports on ICE’s quiet embrace of big data, profiling the agency’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants in a Pacific Northwest community. Analysis of government-procurement records, interviews, and documents obtained via public-records requests reveals new evidence of surveillance of detainees’ voice and video calls at ICE facilities and extensive proof that the agency …
USCIS announced that the Field Operations Directorate is realigning the organization and structure of its domestic regional, district, and field offices. The new structure will consist of four regions, 16 districts (four in each region), and 88 field offices. Currently, there are four regions, 24 districts, and 88 field offices.