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The U.S. Senate voted today to confirm Ur Mendoza Jaddou as director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. She will be the first woman to head the agency. The 47-34 vote was divided along party lines.
As USCIS director, Jaddou will lead the agency’s efforts to improve immigration policies and processes, including the implementation of President Joe Biden’s Executive Order on restoring faith in the legal immigration system and the administration’s broader agenda to reduce barriers to legal immigration routes.
USCIS currently faces numerous challenges, including processing backlogs, financial solvency, staffing shortages and litigation over processing delays. Jaddou, who formerly served as USCIS Chief Counsel under the Obama administration, stated in congressional hearings, “My most immediate responsibilities, if confirmed, will be to return the agency to firm solvency, resolve dramatically increasing processing times and backlogs, and utilize 21st-century tools.”
Ahead of the vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., stated, “The daughter of Mexican and Iraqi immigrants, Ms. Jaddou would be the first woman to ever lead the USCIS, and I am confident she has the skills, expertise, and experience to do the job well.”
Jaddou is the first congressionally approved USCIS director since 2019.
BAL Analysis: Jaddou’s confirmation is a welcome development and a step toward stabilizing USCIS, which has suffered from a confirmed leadership gap since 2019. Employment-based petitions and employment authorization documents will, hopefully, experience improvements in processing timelines in the coming months.
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.
Copyright © 2021 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries please contact copyright@bal.com.
Nearly 100 CEOs of some of the largest and most prominent American companies signed a letter to President Joe Biden and Congress today urging legislation to protect Dreamers.
“We strongly urge Congress to pass legislation to provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. Securing a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers not only is the right thing to do, but is a huge economic benefit to the United States,” the letter said.
Of the estimated 800,000 Dreamers – undocumented individuals brought to the U.S. as children who have registered and hold work authorization under the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program – about 700,000 are employed at U.S. companies.
The letter says that a recent court ruling that struck down DACA makes it more urgent than ever for Congress to pass legislation. The ruling is “devastating” to Dreamers and “throws into chaos” their ability to continue living and working in the U.S., says the letter, which was also signed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and the National Association of Manufacturers. The letter will appear in a full-page print ad in the New York Times.
A federal court in Texas ruled earlier this month that the DACA program is unlawful and permanently barred its continued implementation for new applicants; it does not affect current DACA recipients. The government is appealing the ruling.
President Barack Obama introduced DACA through executive action. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2020 that the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate DACA was unlawful. In a separate lawsuit challenging the DACA program itself, the court in Texas ruled this month that DACA violated the Administrative Procedure Act because the Obama administration did not go through proper regulatory procedures when it created the program. The Department of Homeland Security is in the process of proposing a regulation to protect the DACA program, but only Congress can legislate permanent relief for Dreamers.
BAL Analysis: Several bills in Congress provide for a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. While it is too early to tell whether any of the bills will pass, they have received bipartisan support in the past and today’s letter to Congress indicates strong support for Dreamers among the country’s top business leaders.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced today that it conducted a second lottery for the fiscal year 2022 H-1B cap on Wednesday.
Key Points:
Background: USCIS conducted its initial selection in March after receiving over 308,000 H-1B registrations. The filing period for those initially selected ended June 30. The agency since determined that it needed to select additional registrations to reach the H-1B numerical cap.
BAL Analysis: Petitioners should check their myUSCIS accounts for notice of selection and those who are selected should work with their BAL professional to complete and file their H-1B petitions within the 90-day period ending Nov. 3.
The U.S. State Department published advice and information in the August Visa Bulletin for individuals selected in the 2022 Diversity Visa program.
Additional Information: The 2022 Diversity Visa program saw over 7 million qualified entries. Of those entries, approximately 119,021 applicants were notified that they are eligible to submit an immigrant visa application.
Egypt topped the list with 6,005 registrants selected for the program, followed by Algeria, Russia, Sudan and Uzbekistan, which each had 6,001 registrants selected. Other countries that topped the list were Iran (5,739); Ukraine (4,949); Morocco (4,138); Nepal (3,802); and Afghanistan (3,410). The full list of countries can be found here.
This alert has been provided by BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced this week that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) applicants from five countries can submit initial applications online.
Additional Information: USCIS said it intends to make online filing available for all TPS applicants and re-registrants in the future. Individuals can find all forms that can be filed online with USCIS here. BAL will provide additional information as it becomes available.
The Department of Homeland Security will extend the bans on nonessential land travel across the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico, according to Federal Register notices set to be published on Thursday, July 22.
Additional Information: The U.S.’s bans on nonessential travel across land borders from Canada and Mexico have been in place since March 2020 and subsequently extended for 30-day periods since then.
The Canadian government announced Monday that beginning Aug. 9 it would allow fully vaccinated U.S citizens and permanent residents to enter the country for non-essential travel. The U.S. will restrict land travel from Canada until at least Aug. 21, however.
This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@balglobal.com.
Copyright © 2021 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@balglobal.com.
The Canadian government announced Monday that it would soon allow fully vaccinated U.S citizens and permanent residents currently living in the U.S. to enter the country.
Additional Information: Beginning Sept. 7, the Canadian government will open its borders for non-essential travel for fully vaccinated travelers from any country as long as the COVID-19 situation continues to improve. Such individuals must have received a Canadian-approved vaccine at least 14 days before entering the country.
BAL Analysis: The change will ease procedures for fully vaccinated U.S. nationals planning travel to Canada; however, border measures remain subject to change as the epidemiological situation evolves. The U.S. continues to restrict nonessential travel across the U.S.-Canada border. The current restrictions are in place through the end of the day on July 21; officials have not yet said whether they will be extended. The response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues to develop, and BAL will provide additional updates as information becomes available.
This alert has been provided by Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.
Copyright © 2021 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@bal.com.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new policy guidance Tuesday aimed at easing application procedures for some nonimmigrants applying for a change of status to F-1 classification.
Additional Information: USCIS said the change would “reduce workloads and costs for both the applicants and USCIS.” The agency said it is in the process of updating the Form I-539 instructions to reflect the change in guidance. More information is available in USCIS’s policy alert and on its Changing to a Nonimmigrant F or M Student Status website.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that it will continue to accept requests for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewal following a judge’s ruling last week.
Additional Information: President Joe Biden issued a statement Saturday calling the ruling “deeply disappointing” and reiterating his pledge to “preserve and fortify” DACA. DHS is planning to publish a proposed DACA regulation in the coming months, and Biden said the U.S. Justice Department intends to appeal the ruling. He called on Congress to find “a permanent solution by granting a path to citizenship for Dreamers.”
The Coalition for the American Dream, a group of more than 100 employers and trade associations, also called on Congress to protect DACA. “DACA recipients have been critical members of our workforce, industries, and communities for years now,” the coalition said in a statement. “Their work and commitment to our companies, their families and communities are critical to our nation’s strength, especially since there are tens of thousands of DACA recipients working as frontline doctors and nurses and in other critical industries fighting COVID-19.”
BAL Analysis: While the ruling was a setback for DACA and its supporters, at this time it does not affect current recipients or their ability to file renewal requests or for employment authorization advance parole. BAL continues to follow developments related to DACA. For more information, please visit BAL’s DACA Resource Center here.
A federal judge in Texas ruled Friday that the Obama administration did not follow proper procedures when it created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012. The ruling does not affect current DACA beneficiaries or their employment authorization.
Background: DACA recipients and their supporters won a major victory last year when the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration’s termination of DACA in 2017 was unlawful. The lawsuit in Texas challenged the Obama administration’s authority to create DACA in the first place, however, and Judge Hanen ruled that the administration did not follow proper procedures in doing so. Since taking office, President Joe Biden has pledged to “preserve and fortify” DACA. DHS is planning to publish a proposed regulation in the coming months.
BAL Analysis: The ruling does not affect current DACA beneficiaries or their employment authorization, and the Biden administration continues to work toward proposing a regulation to preserve DACA. BAL continues to review the ruling and is monitoring DHS for its response. BAL will provide more information as it becomes available.