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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Supreme Court Hears DACA Arguments
November 12, 2019 was a day of reckoning for one of the signature achievements of the Obama Administration as the U.S. Supreme Court heard almost 90 minutes of oral argument on the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program. With hundreds of demonstrators outside the Courthouse, news outlets reported that Justices Gorsuch, Alito, Thomas and Kavanaugh seem favorably disposed toward the Trump administration’s desire to end the program, but that it was not clear that Chief Justice Roberts was equally convinced. An interesting wrinkle in the arguments was that the Administration’s position on DACA appears to be framed by the conservative Justices as a decision to “stop enforcing” DACA akin to other exercises of prosecutorial discretion which is different from the initial position that the program was “illegal.” The liberal Justices saw it more as an inadequately explained and therefore unjustified termination of an existing government program based on the program’s alleged illegality and did not appear to find the Administration’s current reasoning persuasive. It will be interesting to see whether Justice Roberts does indeed vote with the liberal block or follow the conservatives. The DACA program is supported by major employers including Microsoft, prestigious universities and State governments, but Congress has failed to enact a statutory solution for Dreamers. A decision on the case is not expected until sometime in 2020 leaving hundreds of thousands of DACA beneficiaries in limbo with no Congressional action in sight.
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Federal Judge Places Temporary Restraining Order Against Trump Public Charge Order Requiring Proof of Health Insurance for Immigrants
On November 2, Judge Michael Simon in the U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon issued a temporary restraining order on the Trump Administration’s proclamation requiring immigrant-visa applicants demonstrate that they are capable of either covering their own healthcare costs or obtaining healthcare within 30 days of entering the country. The “Public Charge” rule sought to make it difficult for immigrants to gain legal status if they were deemed to pose a potential financial burden to the United States through reliance upon public programs such as Medicaid or subsidies through the Affordable Care Act. The ruling is likely to be appealed, potentially to the Supreme Court, but Judge Simon’s decision halts the new rule from taking effect for the duration of the 28-day temporary restraining order.
Details: https://www.visalaw.com/wp-content/uploads/Order-on-TRO-Doe-v-Trump.pdf.
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H-1B Denial Rates Remain at High Levels Through First Three Quarters of FY 2019
A study conducted by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) found that denial rates for H-1B petitions have significantly risen, increasing from the 6% rate for initial employment petitions in FY 2015 to the 24% rate through the third quarter of FY 2019. NFAP found that the increasingly restrictive policies put forth by the Trump Administration have fueled this increase. In addition to the high denial rates for initial employment petitions, the denial rate for continuing employment H-1B petitions has reached an historic high through 3 quarters of FY 2019, reaching 12%, an alarming 4 times higher than the same denial rate in FY 2015 of just 3%.
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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.