New USCIS Mission Statement

On February 22, 2018, the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), L. Francis Cissna, issued a new mission statement for the USCIS [PDF version]. The new mission statement reads as follows:

“U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services administers the nation's lawful immigration system, safeguarding its integrity and promise by efficiently and fairly adjudicating requests for immigration benefits while protecting Americans, securing our homeland, and honoring our values.”

The new USCIS statement reflects the immigration priorities of the Trump Administration. Similar to many other immigration policy statements, the new USCIS mission statement emphasizes protecting the immigration system. Firstly, it notes that USCIS protects the lawful immigration system of the United States by “safeguarding its integrity and promise.” As we have noted in many articles covering new immigration policies and statements, maintaining the integrity of the immigration system through fraud prevention and enforcement has been a focus for the USCIS under the new immigration priorities of the Trump Administration. Interestingly, the statement ties this point to protecting the “promise” of the U.S. immigration system.

We also see in the new USCIS mission statement an emphasis on security. After noting that the USCIS endeavors to adjudicate benefit requests “fairly and efficiently,” the statement notes that USCIS's role is also to “protect[] Americans” and “secur[e] our homeland.” Including these points in the new USCIS mission statement is consistent with many of the recent initiatives that the USCIS has implemented with the intention of ensuring that the immigration system does not harm U.S. citizen employment.

Director Cissna's comments in the press release announcing the new mission statement included additional points. First, he emphasized that the USCIS is “responsible for ensuring that those who naturalize are dedicated to this country, share our values, assimilate into our communities, and understand their responsibility to help preserve our freedom and liberty.” In this statement, Director Cissna focuses on whether applicants for naturalization can proverbially assimilate into U.S. society and culture. This focus on assimilation is arguably consistent with the DHS's current support for eliminating the Diversity Visa Lottery, which seeks to accord immigrant visas (with a path to citizenship) to individuals based on national origin rather than on the probability that they will be able to assimilate into U.S. society.

Secondly, Director Cissna stated that USCIS's work should not resemble that of a “production line.” Here, he rejected calling applicants and petitioners for immigration benefits “customers.” The reason he offered was that referring to applicants and petitioners as customers promotes a culture where the emphasis is on customer satisfaction rather than on correctly adjudicating applications and petitions. While noting that applicants and petitioners should be treated with respect, Director Cissna stated that the USCIS ultimately serves the American people, who count on it to correctly implement the immigration laws.

Although the new USCIS mission statement and the associated comments by Director Cissna do not reflect a change in any particular policy, they are indicative of the immigration priorities of the USCIS under the Trump Administration.

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com

Government Resumes Accepting Certain DACA Requests in Response to Court Order

Introduction

On January 13, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has resumed accepting requests for renewal under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in response to a court order [PDF version]. The USCIS explained that “unless otherwise provided … the DACA policy will be operated on the terms in place before it was rescinded on Sept. 5, 2017.”

Before continuing with this post, please see our articles on the decision to rescind the DACA memorandum (regularly updated with new developments) [see article] and the court order enjoining the DACA rescission [see article].

Renewal Process and Applicability

Individuals who were previously granted DACA relief may file for renewal. In order to apply for renewal, the applicant must properly file the following USCIS forms:

• Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals;
• Form I-765, Application For Employment Authorization; and
• Form I-765 Worksheet.

It is important to note that even under this policy, the USCIS is not accepting requests from individuals who have never before been granted DACA relief. Furthermore, the USCIS is not accepting or approving any advance parole requests from DACA recipients.

Instead, the only individuals now eligible for DACA renewal are those who:

• Previously received DACA; and
• Whose DACA benefits expired on or after September 5, 2016.

Those two requirements mean that individuals who previously received DACA, but whose DACA benefits expired before September 5, 2016, are not eligible to request DACA as a renewal. This is because DACA renewal applications must be filed within one year of the expiration of when DACA benefits expired. However, such individuals may file new initial DACA requests in accord with the Form I-821D and Form I-765 instructions. This is because such individuals are covered by the recent court order.

Conclusion

The USCIS is, for now, complying with the court orders from Judge William Alsup of the United States District Court for the District of Northern California in re-implementing DACA as it existed prior to September 5, 2017. As we noted in our article on the initial injunction, the Government is expected to appeal from Judge Alsup's decision in the near future. Furthermore, for a variety of reasons, the Government likely has a good chance at obtaining a stay of the injunction and ultimately prevailing in the litigation. However, that does not change the fact that for at least a limited period, individuals who previously received DACA may seek DACA renewal or file new initial DACA applications. Because this policy change may be short-lived, those who are affected and interested in applying should consult with an experienced immigration attorney immediately for a consultation and case-specific guidance.

We will continue to update the website with information on this important issue as it becomes available.

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com

DOJ Settles With Pro-Israel Group Over IRS Targeting Allegations

Here, I will post about an interesting conclusion to a non-immigration story.

On February 1, 2018, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it has entered into a settlement agreement with Z Street, a pro-Israel non-profit organization, over alleged improper targeting by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) [PDF version].

Z Street had applied for tax-exempt status from the IRS. Z Street alleged that the IRS had subjected the tax-exempt status applications of Z Street and other pro-Israel non-profit organizations to heightened scrutiny based on their pro-Israel advocacy. In the settlement agreement, which has been submitted to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for approval, the IRS apologizes to Z Street for the delayed processing of its application for tax-exempt status. You may read the proposed settlement agreement here: [PDF version].

The Z Street settlement is the last in a series of settlements reached between the DOJ and various non-profit groups over allegations of improper treatment by the IRS of tax-exempt applications on the basis of political viewpoint. The District Court for the District of Columbia recently approved similar settlement agreements in Linchpins of Liberty v. United States and True the Vote v. IRS. On October 26, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the settlement agreements in the Linchpins of Liberty case and in NorCal Tea Party Patriots v. Internal Revenue Service (United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio) [PDF version]. On that occasion, Attorney General Sessions stated: “There is no excuse for this conduct. Hundreds of organizations were affected by these actions, and they deserve an apology from the IRS. We hope that today's settlement makes clear that this abuse of power will not be tolerated.”

The allegations brought by Z Street are troubling, and it is encouraging to see the DOJ finally treat them and similar allegations with the seriousness that they deserve. The First Amendment exists in part to prohibit the federal government from engaging in viewpoint-based discrimination of lawful speech. The IRS's alleged conduct would have been troubling regardless of the views it singled out for extra-legal scrutiny, but it is all the more troubling that the majority of the targeted views in recent years consistently ran contrary to the views held by the administration in office at the time. I hope that the spate of settlement agreements will set the precedent going forward that it is categorically unacceptable for the IRS and other federal agencies to discriminate on the basis of disfavoring lawful speech when adjudicating applications such as those for tax-exempt status, regardless of the speech in question.

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com

CBP Reports Sharp Increase in Apprehensions/Inadmissibles at SW Border in March 2018

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported a sharp rise in March of 2018 in both the number of individuals apprehended along the Southwest border and the number of individuals determined by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to be inadmissible at the Southwest border [PDF version]. The numbers in both categories were higher than in previous months of the current fiscal year and the combined numbers were more than triple the number of apprehensions/inadmissibles in March 2017. We will review the relevant statistics in this post. To learn about the record low numbers of apprehensions in fiscal year 2017, please see our full post on the subject [see blog].

Notable Statistics

In March 2018, the CBP apprehended 37,393 aliens at the Southwest border. Of these, 4,171 were unaccompanied alien children and 8,882 were family units. All three of these numbers were substantially higher than any other month in fiscal year 2018 thus far. Please see the below chart for details [see here].

The increase is especially dramatic compared to March 2017, which saw record-low numbers in all three categories [see blog]. In March 2017, only 12,193 individuals were apprehended between ports of entry along the Southwest border, less than one-third the number in March 2018. The number of unaccompanied alien children apprehended was only 1,043, about one-quarter the number in March 2018. Furthermore, only 1,125 apprehensions were part of family units in March 2018, which was less than one-eighth the number one year later. Thus, we glean two noteworthy points through comparing the number of apprehensions in March 2018 to March 2017. First, the overall number of apprehensions was about three times greater in March 2018. Second, the proportion of apprehensions that were unaccompanied alien children and family units was far greater in March 2018 than in March 2017.

March 2018 also saw similar trends regarding aliens who were found to be inadmissible at ports of entry by the CBP. In total, there were 12,915 such aliens, with 1,099 being unaccompanied alien children and 5,127 being parts of family units. All three numbers, again, represent highs for fiscal year 2018 thus far [see here].

The number of aliens found to be inadmissible was dramatically higher in March 2018 than in March 2017, although the increase was proportionally less than the number of apprehensions, albeit only slightly so. In March 2017 [see blog], only 4,407 aliens were found to be inadmissible along the Southwest border by the CBP. A mere 122 were unaccompanied alien children and 764 were parts of family units. Again, we see that, while the overall number of inadmissibles increased sharply in March 2018 from March 2017, the increase was even more pronounced in the number of inadmissibles who were unaccompanied alien children and the inadmissibles who were part of family units.

The total number of apprehensions/inadmissibles in March 2018 is, while high based on recent trends, not unprecedented. The CBP data shows that the number is lower than it was for the same month in fiscal years 2013 and 2014, and substantially lower than the first three months of fiscal year 2017 prior to President Donald Trump taking office [see here].

However, the number of apprehensions/inadmissibles in March 2018 is higher than it was in fiscal years 2015 and 2016 and, as we explained, three times greater than it was in fiscal year 2017.

Analysis

In our article on the same categories of statistics for March 2017, we stated that it was unclear whether the “low numbers indicate a long-term trend or a short-term blip.” The early returns in fiscal year 2018 suggest that the number of apprehensions/inadmissibles are returning to the levels that were seen prior to President Trump taking office. Whether this is primarily attributable to conditions in Central America, changing perceptions of President Trump and immigration enforcement, or other factors remains unclear. However, it is worth noting that the Trump Administration has begun pursuing aggressive immigration enforcement policies in response to the recent increase in border crossings. Please see our post on recent remarks delivered by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on the subject to learn more about the response and find links to our articles on the subject [see blog].

Any alien who is charged with offenses relating to illegal entry or found to be inadmissible at the border should consult with an experienced immigration attorney immediately for a case-specific consultation. This is especially important in cases where the alien is seeking a form of immigration protection such as asylum, withholding of removal, or relief under the Convention Against Torture.

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com