On Wednesday, July 24th, 2019, the new EB-5 program federal regulations were published in the Federal Register. The new rules go into effect on November 21, 2019. EB-5 investors will be grandfathered under the $500,000 investment amount if the petitions are submitted prior to the effective date. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/07/24/2019-15000/eb-5-immigrant-investor-program-modernization Some of the key developments under the final rule include: Raising the minimum investment amounts ($900,000 for TEA and $1.8 million for non-TEA); Revising the standards for certain targeted employment area (TEA) designations; Giving USCIS responsibility for directly managing TEA designations; Clarifying USCIS procedures for the removal of conditions on permanent residence;...

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan announced Tuesday, July 23, 2019, that the department will be invoking and applying the expedited removal process to those who entered the U.S. illegally and are apprehended within two years of their entry. "The new designation adds one more tool for DHS—utilizing specific authority from Congress—to confront the ongoing security and humanitarian crisis on the Southwest border and throughout the country," McAleenan said in a statement. Historically, the expedited removal process has been used only at ports of entry and also within 100 miles of the border. This new directive will expand the expedited...

On July 17th, a documentary, The Deported, hosted by Rosario Dawson, will stream for free on YouTube Originals. It follows four families where at least one loved one in each family, all of DACA age and long-term residents of the US, are fighting an order of deportation. The producer of the film is authorizing the use of the documentary for fundraisers, for education, etc. Trailer:

The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security adopted an interim final rule related to asylum which went into effect on Tuesday, July 16, 2019. The interim rule purports to change the law for processing asylum claims in the context of aliens who enter or attempt to enter the United States across the southern land border and establishes a new mandatory bar for asylum eligibility. According to the new rule, an individual who enters or attempts to enter the United States across the southern border after failing to apply for protection in a third country outside the alien’s...

The proposed ICE raids previously scheduled before the 4th of July are now being reported by NYTimes as starting this Sunday 7/14. Reports indicate this massive enforcement action could impact 2,000 or more families in ten major cities. These cities include: Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington D.C., Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles and San Diego, Miami, New Orleans, New York City, and San Francisco. Please stay tuned for more notices, emails, resources, sign ups, etc. in the next hours and days.

Every day that we exercise our rights and freedoms in America, we celebrate Independence Day. We wish you a great Fourth of July and every other day of independence throughout the year. Happy 4th of July! Please note that our law offices will be closed Thursday July 4 in observation of Independence Day.

Nearly 2 million Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) are set to expire at the end of 2019 as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) continues to urge affected taxpayers to submit their renewal applications early to avoid refund delays next year. ITINs that have not been used on a federal tax return at least once in the last three consecutive years will expire Dec. 31, 2019. In addition, ITINs with middle digits 83, 84, 85, 86 or 87 that have not already been renewed will also expire at the end of the year. These affected taxpayers who expect to file a...

The Supreme Court on Thursday in a vote of 5-4 (June 27, 2019) rejected the Trump administration’s stated reason for adding a question on citizenship to the 2020 census. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the majority, said the explanation offered by the Trump administration for adding the question “appears to have been contrived.” Executive branch officials must “offer genuine justifications for important decisions, reasons that can be scrutinized by courts and the interested public,” the chief justice wrote. “Accepting contrived reasons would defeat the purpose of the enterprise. If judicial review is to be more than an...

The recent protests against a controversial proposal that would allow extradition to China of people in Hong Kong has caused an uptick in interest in resident status in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K. Taiwan is also drawing interest with an affordable investor visa program. Concerns over Beijing’s growing influence in Hong Kong has generated political pressure on Hong Kong citizens and has activated them to consider immigration overseas.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling by the end of this month (June) in time for the U.S. government to start printing the 2020 census forms. The decision will affect political representation for millions of people, business decisions in one of the world’s largest consumer markets, and billions of dollars of federal spending. A federal judge previously ruled that the U.S. Commerce Secretary has violated both the law and the “public trust” in adding the question. The question about citizenship first appeared in the U.S. Census in 1820 and was removed in 1950.