Law Offices of Brian D. Lerner
Deportation Lawyers & Immigration Attorneys Helping Families Nationwide
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a lawsuit last week in federal district court challenging immigration detainees’ lack of access to counsel in the LaSalle, Irwin, and Stewart detention centers.
The Associated Press reports that governors in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas have committed around 2,400 National Guard troops to the southern U.S. border. California Governor Jerry Brown has stated that his National Guard will help go after “drugs and thugs along the Mexican border, but not immigrants,” but experts are skeptical that he will be …
The Eleventh Circuit held that the BIA did not err in concluding that the petitioner was ineligible for cancellation of removal because his Florida conviction for sale of cocaine constituted illicit trafficking within the meaning of INA §101(a)(43)(B).
USCIS received 190,098 new H-1B cap-subject petitions for FY2019, down from approximately 199,000 petitions in FY2018. “For the past six years, the H-1B cap has been reached within the first week of April and for the past six years, we have missed out on thousands of opportunities to build American businesses, foster innovation, and increase our …
In Doe v. Sessions, the Second Circuit found that the BIA did not err in determining that the petitioner’s federal drug trafficking conviction made him removable, even though the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) schedules of drugs were broader at the time of conviction than at the time of removal.
The BIA sustained the respondent’s appeal and remanded the case to the immigration judge for further proceedings, stating that its holding in Matter of Pickering, regarding the validity of vacated convictions for immigration purposes, is reaffirmed, and the decision is modified to give it nationwide application.
DOJ announced that Attorney General Jeff Sessions notified all U.S. Attorney’s Offices along the southwest border of a new “zero-tolerance policy” for offenses under 8 U.S.C. §1325(a), which prohibits both attempted illegal entry and illegal entry into the United States by an individual. Sessions further directed the U.S. Attorney’s Offices to prosecute all DHS referrals for …
USCIS announced that the agency had already received more than enough applications to reach the annual cap of 85,000 new H-1B visas within the first five business days of the FY2019 H-1B filing season.
DOL published notice in the Federal Register on a change to the Office of Foreign Labor Certification’s (OFLC) process for issuing final H-2B labor certification decisions for applications with a start date of need between April 1 and September 30, 2018.
Vermont Service Center (VSC) Liaison Committee has confirmed with the VSC that petitioners should continue to file L-1 petitions with the VSC until February 12, 2018, at which point the Texas Service Center (TSC) will start accepting Form I-129 petitions requesting L nonimmigrant classification.
In Garcia-Moctezuma v. Sessions, the Eighth Circuit denied the petition for review of the denial of withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture, holding that substantial evidence supported the finding that the petitioner, a follower of the deity Santa Muerte, failed to establish either a sufficient nexus between his faith and his mistreatment …
DOJ announced that it sent letters to 23 cities, counties, and states as part of a review of 8 U.S.C. 1373 compliance, demanding the production of documents that could show whether each jurisdiction is restricting information sharing with federal immigration authorities. The letter states that recipient jurisdictions that fail to respond will be subject to a …
DHS announced that it has issued a waiver that eliminates its “obligation to comply with various laws” in the vicinity of the U.S.-Mexico border, beginning at the Santa Teresa, New Mexico port of entry and extending 20 miles westward, in order to “ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads.” DHS published a notice of determination regarding the …
In Doe v. Kelly, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion affirming the preliminary injunctionissued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, which found that CBP is violating the constitutional rights of Tucson Sector immigration detainees and ordered CBP to take certain steps to improve conditions in its Tucson Sector holding facilities.
Declining to follow the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in Bravo-Pedroza v. Gonzales, the BIA held that DHS is not precluded by res judicata from initiating a separate proceeding to remove a foreign national as one convicted of an aggravated felony burglary offense under INA §101(a)(43)(G), based on the same conviction that supported a crime of violence aggravated felony charge …