On December 23, 2020, the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge (OCIJ) updated the EOIR Practice Manual and changed the filing deadlines for non-detained cases from 15 days to 30 days prior to the hearing.
DEFERRED ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD ARRIVALS (DACA) What is DACA: On June 15, 2012, the Secretary of Homeland Security pursuant to an executive order issued by the Obama Administration, announced that certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several guidelines may request consideration of deferred action (DACA) for a period of two years, subject to renewal. Deferred action is a use of prosecutorial discretion to defer removal action against an individual for a certain period of time. Deferred action does not provide lawful status. The applicants for DACA are also eligible for...
During the 1st month (October) of the Fiscal Year 2021, the U.S. State Department noted that 8,687 immigrant visas were issued worldwide. The busiest U.S. consulate post in the world in Cd. Juarez, Mexico issued a total of 410 immigrant visas to spouses of U.S. citizens (IR1) during October 2020.
EOIR recently released statistics on pending cases, initial receipts, and total completions from FY2008 through FY2020. As of the end of FY2020, EOIR had 1,252,028 pending cases in the queue, and had completed 231,237 cases.
On Friday , December 4, 2020, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis ordered that the Trump Administration must restore the DACA program and accept petitions from new applicants. The ruling opens the door to new DACA applicants for the first time since 2017. Judge Garaufis ruled that Acting Secretary Chad Wolf of the Department of Homeland Security and DHS officials do not “currently possess, nor have they ever possess the powers” to end the DACA program. The judge directed DHS to post a public notice by Monday that it will accept petitions from new applicants for the DACA program. Judge Garaufis...
After the President of Mexico visited Washington D.C. this past summer, the U.S. Department of State made a favorable change to Mexico E-2 Visas, increasing the validity period from one (1) year to four (4) years. Eligible Mexican nationals can now apply with the U.S. consulate in Mexico for an E-2 Visa and may now be approved for up to 48 months of unrestricted travel into the U.S. on their Mexican passport. The four-year validity is a generous time span and the recent validity extension makes this visa option more appealing than ever for potential Mexican investors. E-2 visas may...
Last week, the United States District Court Northern District of California GRANTED a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that prevents the Trump Administration from implementing and enforcing a rule that purports to create new categories that would bar individuals from being eligible for asylum. Last month, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security jointly issued a final rule: Procedures for Asylum and Bars to Asylum Eligibility, 85 Fed. Reg. 67202 (Oct. 21, 2020)expanding a list of crimes that disqualify asylum applicants. Congress has already written a long list of crimes that render one, if convicted, ineligible for asylum—drug...
The Department of Homeland Security has extended Temporary Travel Restrictions Applicable to Land Ports of Entry and Ferries Service along the United States- Mexico and the United States-Canada borders. Such travel will be limited to “essential travel”. DATES: These restrictions go into effect at 12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on November 22, 2020 and will remain in effect until 11:59 p.m. EST on December 21, 2020.
Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York ruled Saturday, that Chad Wolf was not legally serving as the acting secretary of homeland security when he issued a memo in July that stopped new applicants to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Judge Garaufis said Wolf's appointment violated the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Hence Wolf's memo is invalid. Wolf has been serving as acting homeland security secretary since November 2019; he has not been confirmed by the Senate. The last homeland security secretary to be confirmed by the Senate was Kirstjen...
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on November 13, 2020 plans to implement a revised version of the naturalization civics test. The civics test is one of the statutory requirements for naturalizing and is administered to applicants who apply for U.S. citizenship. The revised version of test includes more questions that test the applicant’s understanding of U.S. history and civics. The new civics test will not change the passing score, which will remain at 60% but candidates must answer 12 questions correctly, out of 20 in order to pass. Naturalization applicants who are 65 years old or older and have...
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