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.
The following articles are excerpts from ABIL’s monthly Immigration Insider, available here on their website.
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9th Circuit Grants Government’s Motion on Public Charge Rule; 2nd Circuit Issues New Order Setting Injunction Aside and Giving February 14 Deadline for Appeal
On December 5, 2019, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (Judges Bybee, Owens and Ikuta) voted 2:1 to grant the government’s motion for an administrative stay of the public charge rule injunction pending appeal (this means the injunctions granted in Wash. and ND Cal cases are now stayed). The good news is that the nationwide injunctions granted in New York, Illinois and Maryland remain in place for the moment but the 9th Circuit has given the Administration momentum for challenging those decisions as well as the decision in Oregon enjoining implementation of the health insurance requirement. These cases will affect every potential immigrant – employment or family based – and will radically change who can and cannot come to the U.S. and ABIL will continue to follow these cases.
[Note from Siskind Susser – Since the writing of this post, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a national injunction and established an expedited schedule for the White House to appeal. The White House has until February 14th to submit legal papers, with oral arguments following shortly afterward.]
Details: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/05/trump-public-charge-immigrants-legal-076855.
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Regulatory Agendas are not Just Wish Lists Any Longer
The Trump administration recently published its regulatory agenda and it is far reaching and comprehensive. Of interest for employers, the proposals would re-define the term “specialty occupation” to dramatically narrow the types of occupations that qualify for H-1B;eliminate the H-4 EAD, dramatically increase the compliance burden and re-define the parameters of the L-1 visa; narrow the scope of post-degree optional practical training for foreign students, and increase oversight of the EB-5 program. Many of these proposals will likely be challenged in Court should they become reality, but this Administration’s past record has shown that we can no longer simply ignore the regulatory agenda believing “they will never get to it.” This administration can and will move forward with these proposals and employers and their counsel should be ready to challenge them as appropriate.
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Just When You Though It Was Safe to Get Back on Twitter
When the Administration announced in 2018 that they would be screening applicants’ social media postings (both randomly and via consent given on application forms) for all identifiers used in the past five years, most lawyers immediately expressed concerns about privacy and security but now two organizations have sued to prevent these intrusions into applicants’ private lives without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing or some other expressed legitimate interest. The lawsuit filed by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law on behalf of two documentary film organizations. The lawsuit raises concerns about the dangers of forcing persons from repressive countries to reveal pseudonymous activities related to political or other censored conduct within their home country.
Details: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/us/politics/visa-applications-social-media.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share.
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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.
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.