My last blog post bewailed a notice in the Federal Register that seemed to give the immigration stakeholder community and the public only one day to comment on the practices and operations of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Well, lickety-split, USCIS has issued a correction. Now, comments are invited on 17 wide-ranging issues
USCIS
What’s Up With USCIS? — An Oops, Yet Still A Promising Start
“Hell is paved with good intentions.” ~ Samuel Johnson
To its credit, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) – the beleaguered Department of Homeland Security (DHS) component charged with adjudicating requests for immigration benefits – is trying in earnest to improve. On April 18, 2021, the agency posted a notice (“Identifying Barriers Across [USCIS]…
Litigation Victories Force USCIS to Rescind Restrictive H-1B Memoranda ~ Agency Also Offers Unclear Guidance on H-1B “Nonproductive” Status
In the wake of recent losses in the federal courts, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) — on June 17, 2020 — issued a memorandum that rescinds two agency policies which, for more than ten years, had forced employers of H-1B (Specialty Occupation) workers stationed at customer worksites to submit voluminous and burdensome evidence. Thankfully,…
No Whine before its Time: USCIS Recognizes Immigration Successorship in Interest for Multinational Executives and Managers
Much like patient vintners, federal immigration agencies often take time to offer up a grand cru. One such agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Homeland Security component that administers the legal immigration system, just produced a long-awaited, delectable quaff. On May 5, it issued a policy memorandum that anointed as binding precedent…
INSIGHT: Legal Immigration Can Help Revive the Economy—If We Let It
[Author’s Note: This article was originally published on May 8, 2020 by the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., on Bloomberg Law, and is accessible here. It is reproduced with permission from The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) www.bloombergindustry.com. Copyright 2020]
Covid-19’s impact is ongoing and Americans are eager to return to…
The Trump Administration Releases a New Hymnal to Curb the Administrative State ~ Immigration Lawyers Erupt in Rapturous Song
President Trump’s October 9, 2019 overtures landed as music to the ears of many grizzled immigration lawyers who persistently suffer battle fatigue from the culture of virtually never. On that day the President released a double album, each with artfully penned liner notes:
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Weed and Worry — The Immigration Consequences of Engaging in the Cannabis Trade
The legal cannabis business is spreading like weeds. As several states and foreign countries have enacted laws decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana for medicinal or recreational use, a fresh rush of reefer madness has overtaken the business world. Investments in the cannabis industry are now available as ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds), and marijuana startups are…
Immigration Haunting: Social Security Administration Resumes Issuing No-Match Notices
If the U.S.’s dysfunctional and baffling immigration laws were a bemusement park, one of the scariest rides would be that tottering roller-coaster, “Worksite Enforcement.” The ride is rickety and showing its age (having been constructed long ago through the enactment of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 [IRCA]). This law — like every…
“Sue the miscreants!” – Challenging Unjust Work-Visa and Green-Card Denials with Flood-the-Zone and Head-Fake Immigration Strategies
Much digital ink has already been spilled reporting on the phantom tide of undocumented migrants supposedly breaching our Southern border. This article will address a different, but very-real immigration flood, and suggest ways U.S. employers, noncitizens, and their lawyers ought be emboldened to add to the deluge.
Ironically, it is about a dry subject –…
What Disclaimer? ~ USCIS Ignores Labor Department Warning That the Occupational Outlook Handbook Never Be Used for Legal Purposes
[Blogger’s Note: Today’s post originates from a discovery – a gem hidden in plain sight – first brought to my attention by Gabe Mozes, my immigration partner at Seyfarth Shaw, and co-author of this piece. Great immigration lawyer that he is, Gabe raised a particularly galling example of how U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services…