Legislation

On Sept. 5, 2017, Attorney General (AG) Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump Administration will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).  DACA is a mode of temporary relief given to children (now college-aged or older) who entered the United States without inspection with their parents and allowed them to apply for temporary work authorization if they met certain criteria. This policy was established through an Executive Order issued June 2012 by the Obama Administration. Since then, DACA has undergone scrutiny and much debate, and with the change of administrations, it has been clear that this policy would change, if not end.

AG Jeff Sessions announced that DACA will end, with a wind-down process overseen by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  Effective immediately, the following will happen as per the recently released DHS memo:

  • DHS will adjudicate, on a case by case basis, initial requests that have been accepted as of today (Sept. 5).
  • After today (Sept. 5), DHS will reject all DACA first-time applications.
  • DHS will adjudicate all properly-filed renewal applications as of today, and will continue to adjudicate applications for those whose benefits will expire by March 5, 2018. Those applications will only be accepted until Oct. 5, 2017. All other renewal requests will be rejected.
  • Current approvals and valid employment authorization document (EAD) cards will not be revoked and will remain valid until the expiration dates.
  • No new advance parole (AP) applications (an AP is permission to travel) will be accepted or approved and current/pending AP applications will be closed (fees refunded). Currently, valid Advance Parole will still be valid and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will retain the discretion to admit a person based on the AP.
  • Discretion will be retained by DHS to terminate or deny deferred action at any time deemed appropriate.
  • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will not provide this information proactively to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and CBP for enforcement proceedings, but this policy may be modified.

Continue Reading Attorney General Jeff Sessions Announces the Rescission of DACA

Today, September 28, both the House and Senate have approved short-term federal spending legislation that contains an extension for the EB-5 Regional Center Program.  The legislation extends the EB-5 Regional…
Continue Reading Congressional Spending Legislation Containing an Extension for the EB-5 Regional Center Program Passed in the House and Senate

Immigration Policy is broken.  We all agree.  How should we fix it and why haven’t we been able to fix it over the last two decades?   There is a multifaceted…

Continue Reading The Logic of Immigration Policy Reform – It’s about People and That’s why the Policy is so Difficult

Today, the House Judiciary Committee will consider H.R.5203, the Visa Integrity and Security Act of 2016.  The bill is authored by Representative Randy Forbes of Virginia.

The bill’s purpose…
Continue Reading House Judiciary Committee to Consider Visa Integrity and Security Act of 2016

昨天美国国会通过了联邦政府预算临时拨款议案，其中包括对EB-5区域中心计划短期延续至2015年12月11日。我们在9月14日曾写过对EB-5区域中心项目重新授权的前景预测。点击查看文章详情 今天国会通过的持续决议（continuing resolution）包含EB-5项目， 也同时包含E-Verify, the Conrad-30 Waiver项目，和非神职宗教工作者 (Non-Minister Religious Worker) 签证项目。这项持续决议将会暂时延续上述四项项目至2015年12月11日。议案113章规定了拨款时限，113章明确写出延续EB-5项目。

近几个月来，许多人都为EB-5区域中心去留问题颇感担忧。因为国会准备对EB-5进行改革，所以9月30日成为了一个通过区域中心投资移民申请者递交文件的硬性截止日期。因为复杂的立法过程可变因素很多，I-526投资者申请和范例申请(exemplar petition)一样，加速赶在9月30日“过期”前递交材料，也是合理的考虑。

但EB-5利益相关者目前需要考虑的一个重要问题是，为什么9月30日之前被定为截止日期。比如，国会从未就是否“让区域中心过期而不再授权”这个可能性有过任何正式讨论。从国会立法者提出的议案来看，EB-5区域中心最终会进行改革。在接下来的几个月中，利益相关者需要用这个机会，对于如何能使改革有效进行，以何种方式支持就业岗位创造，及哪些产业将会加入等问题，进行意见交流。

现在国会已经明确暂时延续EB-5项目至12月初，我们仅希望实质性改革和合理的过渡日期尽快相继出台。这样能使投资者、区域中心和通过投资创造就业岗位的项目能够在可预料 、稳定的情况下顺利进行。

 
Continue Reading 9月30日 国会表决通过临时拨款议案，EB-5 区域中心项目延续至2015年12月11日

Today the U.S. Congress passed a government funding bill containing a short-term extension of the EB-5 Regional Center Program through December 11, 2015.  We wrote previously about the EB-5 Regional…
Continue Reading September 30th Comes and Goes and the EB-5 Regional Center Program is Extended through December 11, 2015 in its Current Form