In this article, we will examine remarks delivered by Attorney General Sessions about the immigration case backlog, shortly before his important immigration precedent decision on asylum for victims of private criminal activity was published.
On June 7, 2018, Reuters reported that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning to transfer 1,600 immigration detainees to federal prisons on a temporary basis.
The 4/11/18 edition of the Form I-907 does not include fax number fields for requestors and preparers of the Form I-907. The previous two editions do include fax number fields. In response to an inquiry from AILA, the USCIS Service Center Operations Directorate (SCOPS) acknowledged that the fax number fields had been removed in the newest edition of the Form I-907. SCOPS explained to AILA that in the event that a fax number is not provided on the Form I-907, “the Premium Processing Unit will look to the [Form G-28, Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative].” If no fax number is included on the Form G-28, the Premium Processing Unit will not fax.
On May 30, 2018, the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Lee Francis Cissna, sent a letter about future rulemaking regarding the B visa program to Paul Mitchell, the U.S. Representative for Michigan’s 10th Congressional District. Congressman Mitchell had, on May 16, hosted a roundtable to discuss B1 visa abuse. Director Cissna informed Congressman Mitchell and several members of his Congressional subcommittee that the USCIS is focusing on many issues involving the B visa program. He referred to the Spring 2018 Unified Agenda for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which discussed “a proposed regulation pertaining to nonimmigrants admitted to the United States as temporary visitors for business (B1) or pleasure (B2).”
On June 4, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a per curiam (unsigned) opinion in Azar v. Garza, 584 U.S. __ (2018). The Court had granted certiorari on the same day (i.e., agreed to hear the case), and then issued its decision without hearing oral arguments. In the decision, the Supreme Court vacated the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, wherein it had ordered the Government to transport an unaccompanied alien minor in its custody to obtain an abortion. That decision was issued on October 24, 2017 by the full D.C. Circuit in Garza v. Hargan, 874 F.3d 735 (D.C. Cir. 2017) (en banc). The Supreme Court did not reach the merits of the issue. Instead, they vacated the lower court decision because the Government was not able to seek Supreme Court review before the underlying issue became moot. The effect of the vacature is that the D.C. Circuit decision will not constitute precedent going forward.
On June 1, 2018, benefit-granting agencies of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that use the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program ceased submitting paper versions of the Form G-845, Verification Request/ Prior to June 1, 2018, agencies using the SAVE Program “submitted paper forms to request immigration status verification and for additional verification requests.” The USCIS stated that its decision to abolish paper requests for verification under the SAVE Program will “drastically reduce[] processing time.”
On June 4, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released a news alert titled “On the 500th Day of the Trump Administration, Attorney General Sessions Announces 311 New Assistant United States Attorney Positions.” As the title of the news release indicates, the DOJ is allocating 311 new Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSAs) to assist in three priority areas: violent crime, civil enforcement, and immigration crimes. 35 of the new AUSA positions will be dedicated to immigration crime.
On May 31, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a news alert about a conviction involving immigration fraud and identity theft. Franklin J. Flores, 42 years of age, was sentenced to two concurrent terms of 24 months’ imprisonment in Federal court after pleading guilty to “one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and one count of falsely attesting U.S. Citizenship on a Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative and submitting that form to the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services with the intent to obtain benefit for another person.”
In September 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released an interesting fact sheet on its Citizenship and Assimilation Grant Program. The Fact Sheet “provides information on the characteristics of and resulting outcomes for individuals who received citizenship preparation services during fiscal year 2014…” In this post, we will briefly examine some of the interesting points from the Fact Sheet.
On May 30, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services published an important news alert titled “USCIS to Implement Online Processing of FOIA Requests.” The USCIS announced the launch of its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Immigration Records SysTem (FIRST). FIRST “will eventually allow users to manage, and receive FOIA requests entirely online.” Prior to the launch of FIRST, the USCIS only accepted FOIA requests that were sent by mail, fax, and email.
