Visa Lawyer Blog

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american-flag-2054414_1280This week President Trump unleashed a fresh barrage of executive orders targeting illegal immigration and antisemitism in the United States.

Executive Order Expanding Migration Operations at Guantánamo Bay

Among these orders, on January 29th the President signed, “Expanding Migration Operations Center at Naval Station Guantánamo Bay,” unveiling his administration’s plans to use a migrant holding facility at the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to house more than 30,000 migrants deported from the United States.

The White House has said the naval station will soon be operating at its full capacity to detain “high priority” criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States, and to “address attendant immigration enforcement needs,” identified by the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.

Immigration advocates have questioned the optics of this decision due to Guantánamo Bay’s sordid history. Once a processing center for asylum seekers and HIV-positive refugees, it has been well known for its detainment of notorious terrorists and unlawful enemy combatants such as the 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. This decision has raised alarm due to Guantanamo’s unfit conditions and frequent human rights violations reported to international human rights organizations.

Despite these criticisms, the White House has said that deported migrants held in Guantánamo will not be detained in the same U.S. military prison where foreign terrorists are being held. Instead, migrants will be placed in a separate holding facility previously used to detain migrants intercepted at sea.

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library-of-congress-jPN_oglAjOU-unsplash-scaledIt has been less than 24 hours since President Donald Trump has taken office, and he has already signed into law a flurry of executive orders directly impacting immigration.

More than a dozen of these executive orders dismantle Biden era immigration policies, and usher in restrictive policies for visa seekers, asylum applicants, and undocumented immigrants.

The swift issuance of these executive orders signals a tough political climate ahead for immigration, and what is sure to be a continuance of the Trump administration’s hardline stance on immigration.

While some of these executive orders may face legal challenges, here is a summary of all the executive orders affecting immigration issued on day one of Trump’s presidency.

Executive Order: President Trump’s America First Priorities

President Trump’s first executive order entitled “President Trump’s America First Priorities,” states the following as top priorities of his administration, which touch upon immigration.

  • President Trump promises to take “bold action” to secure the U.S. border and protect communities by calling on the U.S. Armed Forces and National Guard to assist with border security
  • At the President’s direction, the State Department will have an “America-First” foreign policy
  • Ends Biden’s Catch-and-Release Policies

What it is: Catch-and-release authorized the release of individuals without legal status from detention while awaiting immigration court hearings.

  • Reinstates Remain in Mexico Policy

What it is: Known formerly as the Migrant Protection Protocol, this policy will require certain asylum seekers at the southern border to wait in Mexico for their hearings in U.S. immigration court.

  • Continues the construction of his southern border wall with Mexico
  • Prohibits asylum for individuals who have crossed the border illegally

What it is: Aims to end asylum and close the border to those without legal, to facilitate a more immediate removal process

  • Cracks down on U.S. sanctuary cities
  • Enhanced vetting and screening of noncitizen aliens seeking admission to the U.S.

What it is: The President will direct agencies to report recommendations for the suspension of entry for nationals of any country of particular concerns.

  • Expands deportation operations for aliens with a criminal record
  • Suspends the refugee resettlement program
  • Designates cartels such as the “Tren de Aragua” as foreign terrorist organizations and calls for their removal by using the Alien Enemies Act
  • Calls on the Department of Justice to implement the death penalty for illegal immigrants “who maim and murder” Americans and commit “heinous crimes”

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boy-2027487_1280In the last few days, the immigration world has been reeling from the results of the Presidential election. People across the nation are preparing for an incoming Trump administration that promises to be extremely tough on immigration.

While the future of many hangs in the balance, the federal courts have started taking action to undo the immigration policies of the Biden administration.

Just two days after Americans cast their ballots and elected Donald Trump to become the next President of the United States, federal Judge J. Campbell Barker of the Eastern District Court of Texas issued a court order in the case Texas et. al. vs. DHS et. al., Case No. 6:24-cv-00306 (E.D. Tex.), ending President Biden’s Keeping Families Together parole program.

In a short one-page ruling, the judge declared that the Biden administration lacked the authority to grant parole in place to undocumented aliens, and therefore set aside and vacated Biden’s Keeping Families Together program.

In doing so, judge Barker delivered the first major blow to Biden’s immigration friendly policies. This decision stops the government from accepting applications for parole in place under the program, which would have allowed undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. Citizens to remain together during the immigration process.

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usa-1327105_1280The U.S. presidential election is set to be held in just fifteen days and the stakes couldn’t be higher for immigrants at the mercy of our broken immigration system.

In this blog post, we discuss where the presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump stand on key issues relating to immigration.

What would immigration look like under the Harris administration?

Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to continue many of the immigration policies proposed under President Biden. Among them, illegal immigration continues to be a hot button issue.

Illegal Immigration

Harris plans to tackle the border crisis by pushing for bipartisan legislation that would provide additional funding to hire thousands of new border patrol agents to secure our southern border.

In keeping with Biden’s proposals, Kamala also supports closing the border once border crossings have reached an average of more than 5,000 migrants per day over a week period. She has also said she will throw her support behind Biden’s policies barring asylum applications from individuals crossing the border illegally.

Since becoming Vice President, she has become tougher on illegal immigration telling CNN, “We have laws that have to be followed and enforced that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally. And there should be consequences.”

Concerning pathways to permanent residence, she supports “an earned pathway to citizenship” for undocumented immigrants. However, no details have been provided by her campaign regarding necessary criteria to become legalized.

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smile-5621670_1280-1On Tuesday June 4, 2024, President Joe Biden’s rumored executive action on immigration was unveiled by the White House.

Among its sweeping provisions, effective Wednesday June 5, 2024, the order will limit the number of migrants who can claim asylum at ports of entry along the southern U.S. border, while there are high levels of illegal crossings at the southern border.

Specifically, migrants seeking asylum will be turned away at the border when the seven-day average of daily border crossings exceeds 2,500 daily encounters between ports of entry. Since the number of encounters currently exceeds this figure, the order will go into effect immediately.

This means that starting June 5th U.S. border officials will stop conducting credible fear interviews for asylum claims and will instead quickly expel migrants seeking asylum at the border.

Migrants who are expelled under the order will receive a minimum five-year bar on reentry to the United States and potentially be subject to criminal prosecution.

The government will only accept asylum claims at the border if 14 days have passed, and the number of daily encounters has declined to 1,500 migrants or less at U.S. ports of entry.

Apart from unaccompanied minors, the order applies to all noncitizens, encountered along the southern border, irrespective of their country of origin.

What does the order do?

This executive order will temporarily suspend the entry of noncitizens who cross the border without prior authorization, or a legal basis to do so, including those claiming asylum at the border during periods of high border crossings.

Can migrants still claim asylum through scheduled appointments on the Customs and Border Protection’s One App?

Yes. The executive order does not prohibit migrants from using the CBP One app to make appointments at the border where they are able to claim asylum. The executive order only prohibits “unscheduled” asylum claims at the border.

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courthouse-1223279_1280The federal government has sued the state of Oklahoma in a new lawsuit seeking to block HB 4156 from taking effect, a new anti-immigration law that regulates the entry of noncitizens by detaining and fining migrants who are unlawfully present in the state.

The U.S. government filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma on May 21st arguing that HB 4156 is unconstitutional because the federal government maintains exclusive jurisdiction over the subject of immigration and the status of noncitizens under the supremacy clause and foreign commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Oklahoma’s HB 4156 which was slated to take effect July 1st considers the unlawful presence of a noncitizen in the state to be an “impermissible occupation” and directs law enforcement officials to arrest and jail undocumented immigrants.

The law aims to protect the state’s citizens against undocumented immigrants who could “potentially harm” its residents. Under the law, a first conviction would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in county jail and a $500 fine. A second conviction would rise to a felony and carry a sentence of up to two years in county jail and a $1,000 fine.

Those convicted would be required to leave the state of Oklahoma within three days of being released from county jail.

In attempting to enforce this law, the Justice Department argues that the state is circumventing established law and constitutional authority by trying to take matters into its own hands.

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As the 2024 U.S. presidential elections draw nearer, Biden and Mexico’s President Andres Manual Lopez Obrador, have announced joint efforts to combat illegal border crossings.

The two leaders have said that their administrations will take steps to decrease illegal border crossings by ordering their national security teams to cooperate. While specific details were not disclosed, a government official has said that immigration enforcement actions may include a crackdown to prevent railways, buses, and airports from being used for illegal border crossings.

The issue of immigration will likely sway voting age Americans who believe President Biden has not done enough to prevent illegal immigration.

Under intense scrutiny and political pressure, the Biden administration has attempted to appease these voters by getting tougher on immigration. Recently, the Biden administration attempted to include restrictive immigration policies as part of a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Biden called the immigration reform measure the “strongest border security bill this country has ever seen.” If passed, the measure would have given him the authority to turn away migrants at the U.S. Mexico border.

Against political gridlock however, Congress blocked the inclusion of the measure from the bill. This has left the Biden administration to consider the possibility of executive action and internal policy decisions to ramp up its enforcement efforts.

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SSN Updates for New N-400 Applicants

If you have been thinking of applying for U.S. Citizenship, you may be pleased to learn that starting April 1st applicants will have the option of requesting an original or replacement Social Security number (SSN) or card and have the chance to update their immigration status with the Social Security Administration (SSA), without having to visit an SSA office in person.

This is all part of the new edition of Form N-400, Application for Naturalization (edition date 04/01/24) which will allow these requests to be made when submitting the application with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Previously, green card holders were required to visit an SSA office in person to notify them of their new U.S. Citizenship status and apply for a replacement SSN card reflecting their new immigration status.

Unfortunately, this new update only applies to applicants filing the new edition of the N-400 application (04/01/24) on or after April 1st.  Those who applied using the previous edition of the form (09/17/19) cannot take advantage of this option.

When will the new edition of the N-400 be available for use?

The new edition of the Form N-400 (04/01/24) will be available for online filing on April 1.

To file Form N-400 online, applicants must first create a USCIS online account, a convenient and secure method to submit forms, pay fees, and track the status of any pending USCIS immigration request throughout the adjudication process.

H-1B FY 2025 Cap Season Updates: What to Expect

You may be aware that the electronic registration period for the FY 2025 H-1B cap season closed at noon Eastern on March 25, 2024.

Within the next few days, USCIS will conduct a lottery to randomly select within the pool of properly submitted registrations to reach the FY 2025 H-1B annual numerical allocations, including the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap). USCIS will notify the public once the lottery has been completed.

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According to recent data released by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), applications for U.S. Citizenship surpassed pre-pandemic levels in fiscal year 2023, welcoming 878,500 new citizens from all over the world.

To be eligible for naturalization, applicants must meet certain eligibility requirements set forth in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

The requirements generally include being a lawful permanent resident (LPR) for at least five years or at least three years for spouses of U.S. Citizens. Applicants must establish that they have good moral character, have continuously and physically resided in the United States as a green card holder, be proficient in basic spoken and written English, pass the required civics and English examination, among other requirements. Please note that there are other special naturalization provisions that exempt certain applicants, including certain spouses of U.S. citizens and applicants with military service, from one or more of the general requirements for naturalization.

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In continuance of the information provided in our blog post concerning additional visa allocations for the H-2B cap, we share new updates recently from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

On November 9, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of State (DOS), published a Notice in the Federal Register identifying the list of foreign countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B Nonimmigrant Worker Programs next year.

Effective November 9, 2023, nationals of the following countries are eligible to receive H-2A and H-2B visas:

Andorra The Kingdom of Eswatini Madagascar Saint Lucia
Argentina Fiji Malta San Marino
Australia Finland Mauritius Serbia
Austria France Mexico Singapore
Barbados Germany Monaco Slovakia
Belgium Greece Mongolia* Slovenia
Bolivia Grenada Montenegro Solomon Islands
Bosnia and Herzegovina Guatemala Mozambique South Africa
Brazil Haiti Nauru South Korea
Brunei Honduras The Netherlands Spain
Bulgaria Hungary New Zealand St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Canada Iceland Nicaragua Sweden
Chile Ireland North Macedonia Switzerland
Colombia Israel Norway Taiwan***
Costa Rica Italy Panama Thailand
Croatia Jamaica Papua New Guinea Timor-Leste
Republic of Cyprus Japan Paraguay** Turkey
Czech Republic Kiribati Peru Tuvalu
Denmark Latvia The Philippines* Ukraine
Dominican Republic Liechtenstein Poland United Kingdom
Ecuador Lithuania Portugal Uruguay
El Salvador Luxembourg Romania Vanuatu
Estonia

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