Dear Readers:
The Trump Administration’s clamp down on immigration – both legal and not – continued unabated since our last issue. The White House ordered the shutdown of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program last September with the first expirations set to begin on March 5th. A court has ordered the program to continue for now. Congress failed to pass legislation to protect Dreamers in anticipation of the March 5th deadline and the White House has not acted to protect the population despite hints they might do so. There are suggestions Congress may make another attempt to pass a DACA extension in exchange for border wall funding, but most believe a deal is unlikely. So the fate of DACA may depend on the courts in the end.
There have also been further attacks on the H-1B program. USCIS released a memo earlier this month that adds significant new documentation requirements for workers placed at third-party worksites. The agency is reportedly planning to again suspend premium processing for H-1B petitions. RFE rates are still extremely high and the White House is still including a rescinding of the H-4 employment authorization rule on its regulatory agenda.
And there are the less tangible changes. USCIS recently removed “welcoming immigrants” from its mission statement and this week the Washington Post reported that USCIS is creating a new division that will focus on targeting examiners who are too generous in approving applications.
Finally, USCIS Director Francis Cissna destroyed all semblance of the independence of the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) when it re-assigned Ron Rosenberg, its long-time head. The AAO had been issuing decisions challenging some of the more overreaching policies of USCIS and Rosenberg was obviously sent packing because his office dared to apply the law correctly.
And these are just developments since our last issue. This has been happening month after month. Fortunately, immigration and immigrants remain highly popular in public opinion polls – even more so since the election of Trump. The need for the public’s support will be critical because the job of repairing USCIS will be massive.
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In firm news, I spent time this past week at the ABA Techshow in Chicago and was reminded how important technology is to running a law firm. I’ve been an active member of the ABA’s Law Practice Division for more than 20 years and currently serve on the board of the Legal Technology Resource Center. Legal technology has always been a passion of mine. Our web site will soon be turning 25 years old and I was the country’s first lawyer blogger back in 1998 (blogging about H-1B issues, of course). In 2007, I got on Twitter before most people knew what that was and today our firm is developing artificial intelligence apps to replicate legal analysis. We’re about to get in to AI in a much bigger way in the months to come so stay tuned.
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As always, we welcome people interested in talking with our lawyers to schedule consultations with the firm either by phone or in person. Go to www.visalaw.com/consultation to learn more.
Regards,
Greg Siskind
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.