On May 16, 2019, the White House distributed fact sheets to Capitol Hill chiefs of staff, including talking points and slides that outline the president’s immigration proposal. The documents, obtained by Politico, are available here and here.…

President Trump unveiled his plan to “transform” the US immigration system, during a speech given at the White House on May 16, 2019. He emphasized two goals for his plan: “First, it stops illegal immigration and fully secures the border.  And, second, it establishes a new legal immigration system that protects American wages, promotes American values, and attracts the best and brightest from all around the world.” In his remarks, he addressed legal immigration, including…

Mayer Brown’s DC-based litigation team secured a victory when The Middle District of North Carolina issued a nationwide injunction barring the government from applying a 2018 policy memorandum released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, which purported to fundamentally alter how “unlawful presence” is calculated for the more than a million people present in the US on F, J, and M visas. This includes virtually all of the nation’s international students as well as…

A legal battle over the future of hundreds of thousands of individuals presently in the United States based upon Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) continues following the Trump administration’s steps to end TPS for certain individuals. What is TPS? The United States provides TPS to nationals of certain countries based upon conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country’s nationals from returning safely, such as ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and…

On April 22, 2019, the Department of State published a final rule setting out procedures that allow consular officers to discontinue granting visas to nationals of a country subject to sanctions under § 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Section 243(d) provides that—when notified by the Secretary of Homeland Security that a foreign country government has denied or unreasonably delayed accepting an alien who is the citizen, subject, national, or resident of that country…

Effective May 1, 2019, the US Embassy in Tel Aviv will begin accepting E-2 visa applications filed by Israeli citizens.  This long-awaited announcement comes close to seven years after President Obama signed legislation in 2012 implementing a bilateral investment treaty with Israel on the condition that Israel provide reciprocal immigration status for American investors.  The Israeli government did not approve the reciprocal agreement until 2014, and it took an additional four years for both the…

On April 10, Mayer Brown held the latest in a series of interactive workshops to assist employers in responding to the impending changes in free movement.  Alongside a practical and useful discussion on the measures employers can take in the face of the continued uncertainty regarding Brexit, we shared a ‘decision tree’ setting out current options in the UK in the event of a ‘Deal’ or ‘No Deal’ Brexit.…