Court Rules in Favor of Students Against USCIS

Posted on February 7, 2020

On August 9, 2018 USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) published a memo titled Accrual of Unlawful Presence and F, J, and M Nonimmigrants which would have altered how unlawful status is calculated for certain visa holders. In the end, some foreigners would have their unlawful status retroactively applied and thus be subject to 3 or 10 year bars to admission.

On Thursday, Judge Loretta C. Biggs, US District Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina, issued a nationwide injunction blocking the memo from taking effect. Judge Biggs ruled that USCIS failed to follow the Administrative Procedure Act by not allowing notice-and-comment period, and regardless, the memo would be found inconsistent with the Immigration and Nationality Act.

More details here.

Higher Ed. Associations Support OPT in Letter to State Dept.

Posted on December 13, 2019December 13, 2019

Various higher education associations addressed a letter, dated December 9th, 2019, to Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce expressing concerns about the future of OPT. UW is a member of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU) and Association of American Universities (AAU), which both signed the letter circulated by the American Council on Education. The letter requests that the State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs meet with the Department of Homeland Security and relevant agencies to affirm the future of OPT and address long visa processing times.

UW Joins Amicus Brief Supporting OPT

Posted on November 25, 2019November 25, 2019

On November 21, UW joined over 100 other higher education institutions in filing an amicus brief in the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers Union vs. U.S.
Department of Homeland Security (Washtech) litigation. The amicus brief was filed by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, and affirms support for Optional Practical Training (OPT). OPT is an invaluable component of American higher education and greatly contributes to the US economy. The full brief can be found here.

DHS Fall 2019 Proposed Rulemaking Released

Posted on November 22, 2019

This week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for multiple current and on-going efforts. A full list of DHS proposed rules can be found here.

Some highlights include:

Establishing a maximum period of authorized stay for students expected 2/2020.
Denying work eligibility to dependent spouses of H-1Bs (H-4s) expected 3/2020.
Changes to the H-1B nonimmigrant visa classification program expected 12/2019.

SCOTUS Hears DACA Today

Posted on November 12, 2019November 12, 2019

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will hear oral arguments for Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California (18-587). Consolidated with similar cases, the Court will hear arguments related to the Administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Considered one of the major cases of this term, the arguments before the justices will concern two key issues;

Whether the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to wind down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy is judicially reviewable; and
Whether DHS’s decision to wind down the DACA policy is lawful.

While the Court will hear arguments today, a decision is not expected until the Spring of 2020. To hear the oral arguments, SCOTUS posts the audio file each Friday following the arguments. The audio may be accessed here.

For a deep dive round up of how the case might be argued and rule, the SCOTUS blog has a round up here.

Federal Relations is monitoring the progress of the case and the federal responses on DACA closely and will continue to provide updates.