H-2B Cap reached for 2017

USCIS announced that it has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for FY2017. March 13, 2017, was the final receipt date for new H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before October 1, 2017.

H-1B’s about to begin

WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year 2018 cap on April 3, 2017. All cap-subject H-1B petitions filed before April 3, 2017, for the FY 2018 cap will be rejected. The H-1B program allows companies in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in occupations that require the application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher in …

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Court Defers to BIA’s Decision in Matter of F-P-R- to Calculate Asylum Applicant’s “Last Arrival” into the United States

The Second Circuit deferred to the BIA’s decision in Matter of F-P-R- to hold that the petitioner’s rebuffed effort to enter Canada from the United States after being illegally present in the United States following multiple deportations counted as his “last arrival” into the United States, thus giving him an additional one year from that date to file an …

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5 States suing against Travel Ban

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said during a press conference on Thursday that his office is filing a motion asking a federal judge in Seattle to rule that an existing injunction against Trump’s earlier travel ban order applies to parallel portions of the president’s new directive. The states of Washington and Minnesota obtained the broadest injunction against Trump’s …

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Firearms offense

The crime of transporting a loaded firearm in violation of title 21, section 1289.13 of the Oklahoma Statutes is categorically a firearms offense under section 237(a)(2)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(C) (2012), even though the term “transporting” is not included in the Act, because section 237(a)(2)(C) is broadly construed to …

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Leaked DHS Intelligence Report: Citizenship Likely an Unreliable Indicator of Terrorist Threat to the United States

The Associated Press published a leaked draft of a DHS intelligence report that found that country of citizenship is “unlikely to be a reliable indicator of potential terrorist activity,” and that few people from the seven Muslim-majority countries President Trump listed in his January 27, 2017, travel ban have been involved in terrorism-related activities in the United States since the …

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Court Says Determining Whether Petitioner’s Evidence Meets Good Faith Marriage Standard Is Subject to De Novo Review

The Fourth Circuit granted the petition for review and remanded, holding that while the BIA properly reviewed the IJ’s credibility determination and findings of fact for clear error only, it should have reviewed de novo the IJ’s ultimate legal judgment that the undisputed facts and credited evidence did not meet the good faith marriage standard of INA …

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DOJ rescinds Memorandum on Use of Private Prisons

On February 21, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) rescinding former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates’ August 18, 2016, memo entitled “Reducing Our Use of Private Prisons,” which aimed to sharply scale back DOJ’s use of private prison contractors in the federal prison system. The memo from Sessions …

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Lawsuits filed across the Country in opposition to Trump’s Executive Order of a Muslim Ban

In response to Trump’s January 27, 2017, Executive Order (EO), attorneys and advocacy groups across the country filed lawsuits in federal court this weekend on behalf of petitioners who were denied entry to the United States pursuant to the EO. First, a court in New York issued a nationwide, emergency stay of removal preventing deportation for individuals with …

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Many Oppose Trump’s Executive Order on Muslim Ban

A broad range of voices, including government officials, academic institutions, faith leaders, and civil rights groups, have expressed their opposition to President Trump’s January 27, 2017, Executive Order targeting Muslims and refugees. Notably, consular officials, Foreign Service Officers, and members of the Civil Service released a dissent memo. In addition, former cabinet secretaries, senior government officials, diplomats, military service members, …

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