President Obama renewed his commitment to immigration reform in his State of the Union on January 28, 2014. President Obama tied the need for reform to economic growth in the country and referred to economic studies showing that immigration reform would “grow our economy and shrink our deficits by almost $1 trillion in the next
The ACLU and ICE reached a settlement for detained clients as a result of a class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU in 2011 on behalf of immigrant detainees in Northern California. The lawsuit challenged ICE’s policy of shackling detainees during court appearances which limited their ability to communicate with their attorneys or participate in
Canadian pop star Justin Bieber was arrested in Miami this week. According to police, Bieber admitted to using marijuana, prescription drugs and alcohol before he drove. This follows previous recent arrests for which he could have potentially been convicted of possessing/consuming other controlled substances and engaging in other deportable crimes in the US. While some of
In a long awaited decision, the Ninth Circuit in Negrete-Ramirez v. Holder finally joined the Seventh, Fourth, Third, Eleventh and Fifth Circuits in finding an exception to the 212(h) waiver bar for lawful permanent residents. Section 212(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act offers a waiver for certain crimes for immigrant applicants. However, section 212(h) provides an exception
Christina H. Lee, Partner, an Attorney at Becker & Lee LLP, was invited by the Bar Association of San Francisco to speak on a panel called “Immigration Master Calendar Expert Tips” on January 9, 2014. Ms. Lee was joined on the panel by Ilyce Shugall, Directing Attorney, Immigration Program, Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto and
The Republican controlled House of Representatives effectively blocked immigration reform in 2013 and has left many immigration reform advocates less than optimistic about reform in 2014. Yet there is some hope that immigration reform could pass this year. According to a recent Politico article, “Immigration reform backers see a narrow window in late spring to
Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines on November 8, 2013, causing more than 6,000 deaths. In an effort to assist those affected by Typhoon Haiyan, the USCIS offered the following relief measures to Filipino nationals: Change or extension of nonimmigrant status for an individual currently in the United States, even when the request is filed after
On April 1, 2014 the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will begin accepting cap-subject H-1B petitions. H-1B petitions should be filed by April 1, 2014 for an October 1, 2014 start date. Only a certain number of cap-subject H-1Bs are available each year. Last year there were more H-1B visas filed than the allocated number