Submitted by Eliza Grinberg on November 29, 2016 - 3:10am
The Department of Homeland Security published a final rule titled “Retention of EB-1, EB2- and EB-3 Immigrant Workers and Program Improvements Affecting High-Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers,” (81 FR 82398).
On November 16, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) published the results of its audit of the ELIS system – implemented to automate the benefits process – as pertaining to Green Card issuance. This final report is a follow-up report to the DHS OIG’s March 9, 2016 report on problems with the ELIS system as pertaining to Green Card issuance and other related issues. In this article, we will examine the results of the DHS OIG report and what it may mean going forward.
On November 21, 2016, the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s (AILA’s) Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) Liaison Committee provided a summary of its November 17, 2016 EOIR stakeholder meeting.
On October 24, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a new fee schedule for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in the Federal Register. The new fee schedule will take effect on December 23, 2016. Individuals must pay the new filing fees for any applications or petitions postmarked or filed on or after December 23, 2016. The USCIS will reject any applications or petitions postmarked or filed on or after December 23, 2016, that do not have the proper filing fees. The old fees must be used for any applications or petitions postmarked or filed before December 23, 2016.
On November 15, 2016, five EB5 stakeholders wrote a letter to Congress urging reauthorization of the EB5 program in advance of its December 9, 2016 expiration date. I join them in advocating for the reauthorization of the EB5 program.
On November 19, 2016, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that it opened the Tornillo-Guadalupe, Texas, Temporary Holding Facility. The CBP opened this new temporary holding facility in response to the recent upsurge in illegal crossings along the Southwest border.
On November 3, 2016, the American Association of Immigration Lawyers (AILA) published notes from its AILA Department of State (DOS) Liaison Committee Meeting with officials from the National Visa Center (NVC). In this article, I will focus on some of issues that the NVC officials addressed in the AILA Liaison meeting.
It is no exaggeration to say that every aspect of our immigration system will be affected by the results of this November’s federal elections. While many people look simply to who the President is, it is important to remember that there are many other moving parts to our immigration system. Due to the significance of federal office-holders on immigration law, I have decided to write one post per week through the November elections in which I will discuss an issue at play in the election from the immigration context. This post also includes an archive of all of the posts in the series.
In this post, I will explain why I am optimistic about the 2016 election results, which swept Donald J. Trump into the Presidency of the United States and saw the Republicans maintain majorities in the U.S. Congress.
