News

On July 13, 2022, Christian Bruckner filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, for discrimination against a bill that the Biden Administration recently enacted.

Bruckner, a disabled Florida business owner, filed a suit concerning a $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law in November 2021. The Act provides $370 billion for roads, bridges, and other transportation projects. However, the Act requires that 10% of the budget be allocated for “small, disadvantaged business contractors.” Under federal regulations, “socially disadvantaged” groups refer to Black, Hispanic, Native, and Asian American demographics, as well as women.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released tips on how to manage medicals for employment-based adjustment of status applicants to make processing efficient. Specific guidelines are offered to ensure medicals are managed proactively to ensure streamlined processing for eligible individuals.

This year, a record-high number of employment-based green cards are available to applicants. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is confident that they will issue all available visas before the end of the fiscal year. Last year, USCIS was hindered by backlogs and an increase in work visa petitions, so many green cards went to waste. 

A major difference between temporary work visas, like H-1B, and green cards is that green card holders can switch employers freely without losing their immigration status. The new increase in available green cards means that immigrants caught up in processing backlogs and per-country visa caps have higher hopes of obtaining permanent residence in the United States.

A Texas federal court order blocked the Biden administration’s immigration enforcement policy that prioritizes the removal of certain immigrants. They cite that such “disruptive” relief has not been justified. In response, the Biden administration filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court to shut down this order.

The Biden administration referenced a decision by the Sixth Circuit that found immigration officers still have control over removal and detention actions. However, the guidance does limit their ability to pursue action against certain immigrants. This decision lifted an Ohio federal judge’s ruling to partially block this guidance from the White House.

Students from India interested in applying for a U.S. F-1 Visa may not be required to arrange an interview in India if they have prior US visas. This announcement was made on the sixth annual Student Visa Day in India. At the time of this announcement, roughly 3,000 Indian students were being interviewed at U.S. consulates across India.

The COVID-19 pandemic has added additional complications to the visa application process and made wait times for processing and approval significantly longer. During the Fall-Winter season, the U.S. Embassy in India temporarily shut down all in-person appointments due to an increase in applications. Despite this, however, India approved more student visas in the year 2021 than ever before. Eliminating the need for in-person interviews should help further shorten the visa approval process. 

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) released guidance for immigrant labor dispute resolution. For undocumented immigrant workers who fear deportation when challenging their employer’s labor practices, an improved process is now available for reporting workplace abuse.

This guidance comes in the form of four pages of frequently asked questions, available in English and Spanish. It instructs employees to email the DOL if they wish to report workplace abuse but fear their manager’s response. The DOL will then communicate with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and request that they be protected from deportation.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security submitted a bid to put an end to a lawsuit filed by nonimmigrant spouses suing DHS for excessive delays in visa and work authorization requests. A federal judge denied the bid. The lawsuit continues as spouses still have active claims.

DHS suggested that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) adjudicated the applications of all plaintiff spouses who were involved in the lawsuit. A subsequent group joined the complaint. Per DHS, all filings were adjudicated, and no legal basis remains.

However, the judge stated that even though matters were adjudicated, issues that caused the delay originally have not been addressed. To that point, a third amended complaint was submitted for additional nonimmigrant spouses who are still waiting.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that the U.S. will need one million more Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workers between 2020-2030. STEM immigrants are needed to fill many of these roles.

The White House announced a series of policy changes earlier this year in an attempt to recruit more immigrants for these roles. These changes aim to connect the American institutions looking for STEM employees with students and professionals in those fields around the world.

The Biden Administration is reviewing proposed changes to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fees. A proposal is expected in September 2022 for public comment. Originally, the proposed updated fees were to be released in November 2021. That deadline was moved to March 2022. USCIS sent its proposal to the White House on Monday, June 27, 2022, for review. This is the last step before the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can show the proposed fees to the public.

The federal government has been ordered to allow previously licensed EB-5 regional centers to continue operating while challenges to the reauthorization mandate continue. In March 2022, legislation required all EB-5 centers to stop operating while reauthorization procedures were completed, revamping the program.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services must allow the 632 EB-5 regional centers to continue operating to support foreign investments from foreign investors in qualifying programs. One of the centers, Behring Regional Center LLC, is challenging the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 which unilaterally deauthorized all centers from functioning. Efforts to reform the EB-5 program were greatly supported. However, the sudden closing of all EB-5 centers was not welcomed by most. Projects in-process were halted, impacting investors and businesses hired to complete the projects. In addition, EB-5 investors awaiting green cards were put in limbo.