Where the results of the Iowa Caucuses were promising, the results of the New Hampshire Primaries were significantly darker. In this post, I will review the results of the New Hampshire primaries and look forward to the voting in South Carolina and Nevada for the Republicans and the Democrats.
The H2B non-agricultural temporary worker program has a statutory cap of 66,000 H2B visas per fiscal year. 33,000 H2B visa numbers will be allocated to H2B workers who begin work in the first half of the fiscal year (Oct. 1 – Mar. 31) and the other 33,000 will be allocated to workers who begin work in the second half of the fiscal year. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated the number of H2B visa numbers allocated and the number of H2B petitions pending through February 1, 2016.
The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) has released its AAO processing times report for February of 2016. The AAO is the highest administrative review agency for immigration matters under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Petitioners and applicants for certain immigration benefits may appeal a negative or adverse decision to the AAO.
Each week, the Republican Party picks an elected official to deliver the GOP’s weekly address. On February 6, 2016, Congressman John Katko (R, NY-24) delivered the GOP weekly address. Representative Katko focused on the Department of Homeland Security’s policies on enforcing the new laws regarding the Visa Waiver Program. In this post, I will discuss the contents of the address and offer my thoughts on the issue.
After nearly a year of buildup and excessive coverage of every utterance of Donald Trump, the Iowa Caucus on February 1, 2016, marked the beginning of the 2016 Presidential Primaries. In this post, I will review the victories for Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton, offer my thoughts, and look ahead to the New Hampshire Primaries on February 9.
In my previous articles on the debate over the future of the EB5 program, I highlighted various proposals being floated in both the U.S. House and Senate. The Hill reports that the plot has thickened now, as competing legislation drafted by Senator Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) and signed on to by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) is set to be proposed.
On February 1, 2016, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) announced the investiture of nine new immigration judges. The new immigration judges were appointed by U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch.
The Associated Press reports that Governor Doug Ducey (R) of Arizona is pushing to have Arizona taken out of the appellate jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit Court of the Appeals. In this post, I will explain how the Ninth Circuit fits in the appellate court system and the reasons why the Governor of Arizona is pushing to have his state moved from the Ninth Circuit.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) released a short interview with the new Executive Director of AILA, Benjamin Johnson. Johnson spent the interview discussing his background in immigration law and what he hopes to achieve in his tenure as AILA Executive Director. I found the beginning of the interview where Johnson explains his path to becoming an immigration lawyer particularly interesting.
On January 26, 2016, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) reported that the Department of State’s (DOS’s) National Visa Center (NVC) has begun sending letters to immigrant visa applicants who were erroneously sent termination letters under section 203(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) notifying them that their cases are not terminated. The issue stemmed from immigrant visa applicants who had a Form I-601A, Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver pending with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), but received a denial based on having made no contact with the NVC within one year.
