
Trump Administration Singling Out Female U.S. Visitors
This past week, the Trump Administration targeted both women and the 14th amendment (which grants U.S. citizenship to those born in the U.S.

TPS Work Permits Extended for El Salvadorians
*Updated on 12/11/2019 to correct posting from Ecuador to El Salvador.* El Salvador was originally designated for TPS in 2001 due a series of very destructive earthquakes. The Trump Administration had originally planned to end TPS for El Salvadorians on January 2, 2020. However, the Trump Administration announced on Monday that it agreed to extend the TPS work permits for El Salvadorians through January 4, 2021 as well as that it will give protected El Salvadorians an additi

Citizenship Test Changes
While the Trump Administration did not specify what it will change about the civics test, it did state that the new test would come out this

ICE Deporting U.S. Veterans "Unaware" of the Screening Requirement
Since ICE does not maintain complete electronic records, it is unknown how many U.S. veterans were not properly screened during deportation

Path to Citizenship for DACA, TPS, and DED?
Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 sponsored by Rep

Trump Extends the Liberian DED Wind-Down Period Just in Time
If you recall from Trump Administration Announces Liberia's Loss of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) Designation Today, the Trump Admin

U.S. Department of State Corrected by Judge- Citizenship at Birth Case
You may have seen a puzzling article in the news some time ago about the U.S. government determining that one of the twins of a same-sex couple was a U.S. citizen and that the other was not. Fortunately, this story now has a happier ending. To provide some background information- Although the twins were born only minutes apart, one of the children was genetically related to the U.S. citizen dad and the other was genetically related to the non-U.S. citizen dad. The U.S. Depar

"Crisis Level" USCIS Processing Times Under the Trump Administration
The American Immigration Lawyer Association (AILA) has determined that USCIS is processing cases 91% slower than it did in fiscal year 2014 as the average case processing time went from just under 5 months (FY 2014) to about 9.5 months (FY 2018). Based on the data, AILA has further concluded that the increased processing time for 94% of the Forms is not due to an increased caseload. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in its report to Congress for April 2018 showed a

December Asylum Update
Background Information: U.S. Asylum claims are based on persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. (INA section 101(a)(42)(A)) Recent Development (December 17-19, 2018): Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan for the U.S. District Court in Washington ordered asylum seekers be given another chance at the credible fear interview/making their asylum claim due to it finding tha

Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence (I-751) Interview Update
USCIS recently issued a policy memo to I-751 adjudicating officers regarding when it is permissible to waive the interview for the I-751. The policy memo was dated November 30, 2018 and became effective on December 10, 2018. Generally, applicants petitioning to remove the conditions of their conditional U.S. Lawful Permanent Residence must attend an interview for USCIS to verify the information in the petition/application, to have an opportunity to discover new information t