Articles Posted in General Immigration Issues

On January 12, 2020, in the case of Wagafe et al. v. Trump et al, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones decided that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) must provide over two dozen documents detailing how USCIS evaluates immigration applications.

The class action suit was filed in 2017 by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of individuals whose applications for citizenship and legal residency were delayed for long periods of time without being informed why. The lawsuit argues that government’s extreme vetting of people applying for citizenship and permanent residency under Trump’s January 2017 executive order suspending the issuance of visas and other immigration statuses to nationals of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, along with the existing Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program (CARRP) violate federal laws and due process protections. The ACLU argues the executive order and CARP are designed to delay and deny citizenship and permanent residency to Muslim immigrants and immigrants from Muslim majority countries, despite their eligibility under the law.

The documents that Judge Jones has ordered USCIS to turn over, after finding that the data is directly relevant to the case, include documents regarding USCIS’ scoring methodologies, risk factors and indicators of national security concerns. Judge Jones explained, “The withheld information regarding USCIS’s processes is directly relevant to plaintiff’s claims and does not appear to be obtainable from alternative sources.” USICS has three weeks to provide the documents.

A U.S. District Judge in Oregon has temporarily blocked the Trump administrations’ healthcare mandate which would bar U.S. entry for any prospective immigrant who cannot prove they would be covered by qualifying health insurance within their first 30 days in the U.S. or have the financial means to pay for all “reasonably foreseeable” medical expenses.

The judge’s order, which was issued on November 2, will block the Trump Administration from implementing the healthcare ban for 28 days. On November 22, the judge will determine whether to issue a preliminary injunction in the case, which would last for the entire time the case is pending.

The lawsuit against the ban was filed by the American Immigration Council (AIC), an organization that utilizes litigation, research, and legislative and administrative advocacy to work towards a more and just immigration system. The lawsuit contends that the healthcare ban violates the law and will radically reduce the number of people who could enter the U.S. As many as two-thirds of all prospective immigrants (an estimated 375,000 people, annually) who would otherwise qualify for an immigrant visa would be banned.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the national association of more than 15,000 attorneys and law professors who practice and teach immigration law, provides insight to the systemic nature of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) processing delays, and lists concrete steps you and the millions of other affected individuals and businesses can take in the face of USCIS backlogs.

Please contact our office at immigrationinfo@cornerlaw.com and refer to AILA’s handout for more information about processing delays.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the national association of more than 15,000 attorneys and law professors who practice and teach immigration law, released a policy brief analysis about U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) case processing delays.

Forbes reports the analysis found that USCIS’ average time to process a case increased by 46% over the past two fiscal years and 91% since fiscal year 2014.  Although case receipt volume appeared to have decreased, case processing times increased substantially in fiscal year 2018.

Because of the delays, tech workers are finding the process of applying for and getting H-1Bs increasingly difficult, according to the Los Angeles Times.  The article notes that AILA Vice President Jennifer Minear said, “[USCIS] delays have reached a crisis level and are the result of policies that inhibit efficiency.”