May 24, 2018|Contributed by: Joseph & Hall P.C.
In a broad decision, Attorney General Jeff Sessions stripped the power of the Immigration Court and the Board of Appeals to order administrative closure, except in a very narrow set of cases. The decision purports to be retroactive and it requires that any case that is currently administratively closed be re-calendared (put back on the […]
May 18, 2018|Contributed by: Jennifer Howard
Just over one year ago, we reported that a bipartisan bill related to the expansion of Colorado driving privileges for undocumented residents failed to pass in the state Senate for the second year in a row. If passed, the bill would have closed a loophole in the law to allow undocumented Colorado residents to obtain […]
May 7, 2018|Contributed by: Courtney Sommer
International students wishing to study in the U.S. have a few options for visas. The two most common student visas are a J-1 and an F-1 student visa. A J visa is an exchange visitor visa for students participating in approved exchange programs within the U.S. Some nonimmigrants under the J visa are required to […]
April 27, 2018|Contributed by: Courtney Sommer
The fate of DACA has been in the news on a regular basis since the Trump Administration announced on September 5, 2017, that it was rescinding the program. Multiple lawsuits were filed to attempt to stop the government from ending the program, and some of those were successful. In January 2018, USCIS updated its website […]
April 20, 2018|Contributed by: Joseph & Hall P.C.
When talking about immigration policy and using the term “amnesty”, many pundits argue that immigrants coming to the United States should all have to enter the United States legally in order to obtain legal immigration status in the United States. The argument goes something like this: we cannot make any changes or exceptions in our […]
April 5, 2018|Contributed by: Aaron C. Hall, Esq.
New performance goals announced by the Department of Justice will require immigration judges to complete at least 700 cases per year in order to get a “satisfactory” rating.[i] Immigration judges, after subtracting out days for training and vacation, are working on cases for a maximum of 220 days per year. To meet their new 700 […]
March 26, 2018|Contributed by: Courtney Sommer
Trump’s Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, has recently referred some immigration cases to himself for review. A regulation exists that gives him the power to reconsider cases decided by the Board of Immigration Appeals, or “BIA.” The cases he will be reviewing could both have a large impact on immigration case law. One case is Matter […]
March 23, 2018|Contributed by: Joseph & Hall P.C.
In response to a report written by the Office of the Inspector General, USCIS changed its posted processing times overnight between March 21 and March 22. On March 21, according to the official USCIS website (USCIS.GOV) USCIS Denver was processing I-485 applications (Application to Adjust Status) filed on or before December 31, 2016 and estimated […]
February 27, 2018|Contributed by: Courtney Sommer
The U.S. Supreme Court has touched on immigration issues twice already this week, providing both good and bad news for non-citizens. Yesterday, the Court decided not to hear the Trump administration’s appeal of two lower courts’ decisions concerning DACA. The lower courts have blocked the government from ending the DACA program on March 5. USCIS, […]
February 20, 2018|Contributed by: Joseph & Hall P.C.
As the immigration debate continues in Congress and on social media, I keep seeing similar versions of the same question: Why doesn’t this undocumented person apply to become legal and why are they mooching off the American people? In this post, I am going to address a few variations of that question: Why young people […]
