On November 17, 2017, the White House Office of the Press Secretary announced that President Donald Trump has added five names to his “Supreme Court List.” President Trump has pledged to select a name from his Supreme Court list in the event that he has to fill a new vacancy. The addition of five new candidates brings the number of individuals on the list to 25. In this post, we will examine the list as it stands today and examine the new additions in some detail.
On November 15, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a reminder that it had stopped accepting new applications for the Central American Minors (CAM) refugee program on November 9, 2017.
On October 17, 2017, the Board of Immigration Appeals issued Amicus Invitation No. 17-10-17. Amicus (friend of the court) briefs on the issue specified in the invitation must be submitted by November 16, 2017. The Board is requesting briefs on whether an applicant who establishes that he or she qualifies for an exception from the one-year time bar based on changed circumstances relating to a religious persecution claim may also bring a claim based on a coercive population control claim, which falls under “political opinion,” without establishing changed circumstances relating to the coercive population control claim as well.
On November 15, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a news alert titled “USCIS Guidance on DACA Renewal Requests Affected by Mail Service Issues.” In the post, the USCIS explains that it has received reports that the United States Postal Service (USPS) “has identified USPS mail service delays that affected a number of DACA renewal requests.” These delays were significant because individuals who did not meet the October 5, 2017 filing deadline have no recourse for renewing DACA. Accordingly, and in light of the mail service delays, acting Secretary Duke “has directed USCIS to accept DACA renewal requests from individuals who resubmit their DACA renewal request with individualized proof that the request was originally mailed in a timely manner and that the cause for receipt after the Oct. 5, 2017 deadline was a result of USCIS mail service error.”
On November 14, 2017, the U.S. Department of State published its determination in the Federal Register (FR) that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas and other aliases) will continue to be designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization as defined in section 219(a)(4)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
On November 13, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit narrowed a preliminary injunction against the portions of President Donald Trump’s September 24, 2017 proclamation that restricted entry for individuals from eight countries.
On November 13, 2017, President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he is nominating Alex Azar to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Department of Health and Human Services includes the Office of Refugee Resettlement, giving it a role in the U.S. immigration system.
On November 6, 2017, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) announced the investiture of seven new immigration judges. Each of the seven new immigration judges was appointed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The new immigration judges will sit on five different immigration courts across the country. The San Francisco Immigration Court and San Antonio Immigration Court each have two new judges.
In important news for applicants for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and current beneficiaries, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has published a new edition of the Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status.
In general, applicants applying for adjustment of status must submit a Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, completed by a designated civil surgeon. On November 3, 2017, the USCIS announced that it had released a new edition of the Form I-693 dated 10/19/17. Beginning on January 2, 2018, the USCIS will only accept the 10/19/17 edition of the Form I-693, and will no longer accept the 02/07/17 edition or any prior editions of the Form I-693. The Form I-693, and all other USCIS forms, should be retrieved from the USCIS website.
