Buchanan Immigration Law

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By: Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

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Christine Alden
Nyasha Largen
Ayanna London
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The following article originally ran in the American Immigration Lawyers Association blog, ‘Think Immigration’ and can be viewed here. I am a proud member of the Class of 1996 of Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University, one of the largest historically black universities in the United States.    Historically Black Colleges and Universities, referred to as HBCUs, are institutions of higher education created prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964…
On the morning of his inauguration, President-elect Joe Biden announced his proposed legislation as part of his administration’s effort for immigration reform. The legislation, titled the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, is a comprehensive immigration legislation that improves paths to citizenship, family-based immigration, and employment-based immigration. Specifically, the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 targets three areas: (1) Provide pathways to citizenship and strengthen labor protections; (2) Prioritize smart border controls; and (3) Address root causes…
The President has deferred the removal of Venezuelan nationals who are present in the United States as of January 20, 2021. Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) allows foreigners to remain lawfully in the United States during the period of DED. The announcement from the White House states that qualified Venezuelan nationals will receive 18 months of DED and the Department of Homeland Security had been directed to grant employment authorization to DED recipients. Contact us for…
On November 2, 2020, the district court in Cook County, Illinois, et al v. Wolf et. al., granted summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs who claim that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) latest incarnation of the Public Charge Rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. § 701 et. seq. As outlined in previous posts*, the new Public Charge Rule was initially set to take effect on October 15, 2019, but has seen numerous challenges leading…
On the evening of September 30, 2020, President Trump signed into law an appropriations bill that includes, among other provisions, an increase in premium processing fees and expansion of the premium processing service to additional types of immigration applications that were not previously accorded that option. This legislation seeks to increase the revenue of USCIS, which has recently claimed it’s experiencing a budget shortfall. The premium processing fee will be increased from $1,440 to $2,500…
On September 4, 2020, a judge from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction in Gomez, et. al. v. Trump, et. al. that temporarily bars the Trump administration from halting the issuance of visas and entry of certain classes of foreign nationals, namely, applicants who won green cards in the Diversity Visa lottery. This decision came at an especially critical time for this year’s eligible diversity visa applicants,…
In the last few months President Trump has issued a barrage of executive orders and proclamations aimed at restricting immigration into the United States, with particular aim at employment-based immigration. From a broader perspective, the wave of immigration adjustments signal a general increased scrutiny on work visa programs; scrutiny that the Trump administration hopes will curtail the purported adverse effects temporary visas holders and offshoring work may have on U.S. workers. Federal contractors and subcontractors…
On August 22, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act (H.R. 8089). The legislation was introduced by U.S. Representatives Lofgren (D-CA), Nadler (D-NY), Fortenberry (R-NE), Cleaver (D-MO), Buck (R-CO), Welch (D-VT), and Raskin (D-MD). H.R. 8089 aims to temporarily prevent the employee furloughs USCIS announced at the end of June 2020 by immediately increasing the agency’s premium processing revenues. USCIS has been seeking $1.2 billion in emergency funding from…