On November 29, 2018, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal drew a proverbial line in the sand by issuing a new directive that clearly demarcates criminal law enforcement from federal civil law compliance. Under Directive 2018-6, which supersedes Attorney General...
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New Immigration Laws
Denied U Visa Applicants and Battered Spouses May Be Placed Into Immigration Court
Earlier last month, we wrote about USCIS implementing the new Notice to Appear Policy Memorandum released on June 28 of this year. According to a bulletin released late last week, the second phase of expansion is scheduled to take place November 19, 2018. On and after...
Section 8 Housing, SNAP, and Medicare Part D May Disqualify Immigrants for Green Card
On September 22, the Department of Homeland Security promulgated new rules regarding the public charge ground of inadmissibility that may have a tremendous impact on immigrants who have accepted public benefits. Under our immigration law, most applicants for permanent...
New Immigration Policy Eliminates RFEs | Expect More Case Denials and Application Rejections
Last Friday, USCIS quietly released another policy memorandum that sharply reverses previous agency guidance on the issuance of Requests for Evidence (RFE). Numbered PM-602-0163, the update is yet another demarche in realizing the Administration's "zero tolerance" on...
Supreme Court Opens Door for Cancellation of Removal for Thousands of Immigrants
On June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court issued an extremely important decision with potentially large-scale ramifications for thousands of people in removal proceedings. In Pereira v. Sessions, the Court held that the stop-rule governing continuous presence for...
Transferring to New School Will Cancel OPT Work Permit | F-1 Student Alert
Last week, we alerted our readers about a forthcoming USCIS policy change for foreign students. Under the new guidelines, scheduled to take effect August 9, 2018, unlawful presence will begin to accrue immediately under a series of triggering events. For more...
How Does Trump’s Presidency Affect Illegal Immigrants in New Jersey and Elsewhere?
Now that we know who the next President will be, the immigrant community's attention has turned largely to what will happen in President-elect Trump's first 100 days in office. There is a lot of widespread fear and apprehension, and understandably so, but whether...
New Changes to Provisional Waiver Rule Allows More People to Apply
Late last week, USCIS published a final rule incorporating proposed changes from July of last year to the I-601A process. Many of proposed changes are now final and will become effective August 29, 2016. Of the many changes, the most significant are that the class of...
DAPA and Expanded DACA Still on Hold Due To Supreme Court Ruling
With the Supreme Court deadlocked over United States v. Texas, the lower appeals court ruling upholding an injunction against DAPA and Expanded DACA remains in place. The decision, unfortunately, effectively stymies any progress on immigration for the duration of the...
2016 Changes to Visa Waiver ESTA Program
It may have escaped public notice, but the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State have begun implementing significant changes to the Visa Waiver Program ("VWP"). Pursuant to the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act...