Siskind Susser is excited to announce that Lynn Susser was recently elected to ABIL, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers. ABIL is comprised of over 20 lawyers from top tier immigration practices with years of expertise and a comprehensive understanding of immigration law. For more information on ABIL, including a map of ABIL attorneys worldwide, visit their website at www.abil.com.
The following articles are excerpts from ABIL’s monthly Immigration Insider, available here on their website.
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Judge Extends Second Travel Ban Block, Trump Administration Appeals
On March 29, 2017, Judge Derrick K. Watson, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, ordered that the temporary restraining order against sections 2 and 6 of President Trump’s second executive order issuing a travel ban, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” be converted to a preliminary injunction. The Trump administration filed an appeal the next day, to be decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Among other things, the Hawaii court noted that the Trump Administration urged the court not to look beyond the four corners of the Executive Order and to defer to the President in the national security context. The court noted that where the historical context and sequence of events leading up to the adoption of the challenged executive order are “as full of religious animus, invective, and obvious pretext as is the record here, it is no wonder that the Government urges the Court to altogether ignore that history and context.” The court declined to do so, stating, “The Court will not crawl into a corner, pull the shutters closed, and pretend it has not seen what it has. The Supreme Court and this Circuit both dictate otherwise, and that is the law this Court is bound to follow.” The court said the requested nationwide relief from the executive order was appropriate in light of the likelihood of success of the plaintiffs’ Establishment Clause claim, since “the entirety of the Executive Order runs afoul of the Establishment Clause” where the available information supports “a commonsense conclusion that a religious objective permeated” the order. Following the court’s ruling, Douglas Chin, Hawaii’s Attorney General, said, “This is an important affirmation of the values of religious freedom enshrined in our Constitution’s First Amendment. With a preliminary injunction in place, people in Hawaii with family in the six affected Muslim-majority countries—as well as Hawaii students, travelers, and refugees across the world—face less uncertainty. While we understand that the President may appeal, we believe the court’s well-reasoned decision will be affirmed.” Sean Spicer, Press Secretary for the Trump administration, said after the ruling that the Department of Justice is reviewing the ruling and “is considering the best way to defend the President’s lawful and necessary order. This ruling is just the latest step that will allow the administration to appeal. Just a week ago, the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia upheld the President’s order on the merits. The White House firmly believes that this order is lawful and necessary, and will ultimately be allowed to move forward.” Mr. Chin’s statement, to which is appended the entire court order, is at https://ag.hawaii.gov/wpcontent/uploads/2017/01/News-Release-2017-34.pdf. The second executive order that was the subject of the court action is at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-pressoffice/2017/03/06/executive-order-protecting-nation-foreign-terrorist-entry-united-states.
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State Dept. Reminds About Expiration of Two Employment Visa Categories
The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for the month of April 2017 included the following reminders about the possible expiration in late April of two employment-based immigrant visa categories, and an update on Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) availability. Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR) category. The non-minister special immigrant program expires on April 28, 2017. No SR visas may be issued overseas, or final action taken on adjustment of status cases, after midnight April 27, 2017. Visas issued before that date will only be issued with a validity date of April 27, 2017, and all individuals seeking admission as non-minister special immigrants must be admitted into the United States by midnight April 27, 2017. The final action date for this category has been listed as Current for April for all countries except El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, which are subject to a July 15, 2015, final action date for April. If there is no legislative action extending this category for FY 2017, the Department said, the final action date would immediately become Unavailable for April for all countries effective April 28, 2017. Employment Fifth Preference (I5 and R5) categories. This immigrant investor pilot program had been extended by a continuing resolution until April 28, 2017. The I5 and R5 visas for EB-5 immigrant investors may be issued until the “close of business” on April 28, 2017, and may be issued for the full validity period. No I5 or R5 visas may be issued overseas, or final action taken on adjustment of status cases, after April 28, 2017. The final action dates for the I5 and R5 categories have been listed as Current for April for all countries except China-mainland born, which is subject to a May 22, 2014, final action date. If there is no legislative action extending them for FY 2017, the final action dates would immediately become “Unavailable” for April for all countries effective April 29, 2017. SIV availability. The Department expects to exhaust the SIV numbers allocated by Congress under the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009, as amended, by June 1, 2017. As a result, the Final Action Date for the SQ category for certain Afghan nationals employed by or on behalf of the U.S. government in Afghanistan will become Unavailable effective June 2017. No further interviews for Afghan principal applicants in the SQ category will be scheduled after March 1, 2017, and further issuances will not be possible after May 30, 2017. The SQ category for certain Iraqi nationals employed by or on behalf of the U.S. government in Iraq is not affected and remains Current, although the application deadline was September 30, 2014. The FY 2017 annual limit of 50 SIVs in the SI category was reached in December 2016 and the final action date remains Unavailable. As noted in the January 2017 Visa Bulletin, further issuances in the SI category will not be possible until October 2017, under the FY 2018 annual limit, the Department explained. The Visa Bulletin for April 2017 is at https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-andpolicy/bulletin/2017/visa-bulletin-for-april-2017.html.
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This newsletter was prepared with the assistance of ABIL, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers (www.abil.com), of which Lynn Susser is an active member.
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Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk.