The major news of the week was the report that DHS and the Department of Justice have started formally enacting the prosecutorial discretion policy. Last August, ICE issued a memorandum to the field indicating that resources should be focused on deporting criminals and others in categories like potential DREAM Act recipients and military family members should have their proceedings closed and, in some cases, receive employment authorization.  

The Administration has been receiving considerable criticism over Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s ignoring the policy. For example, ICE has refused to budge in taking a six year old girl out of proceedings even though she has parents and grandparents with legal status. But this week DHS announced specific plans for how they are going to implement the new policy. They will first start with new cases coming in and send the criminal matters to an expedited docket. The other cases will be diverted from being in removal proceedings and the matters will be closed (though not entirely dismissed in case the individual commits a crime or violates immigration law). And a pilot program will be set up in Baltimore and Denver where all cases involving individuals not detained will be reviewed to see which ones fit the parameters of the memo. In mid-January, DHS and DOJ will decide on how to expand that program.

In other news, we saw a sudden major jump in priority dates in the employment based green card categories, particularly for Indians and Chinese in the EB-2 category. This is great news for that group of individuals, though we have also received warning that in the spring we’ll see a halt to the forward progress for a while. So individuals need to get in contact with their lawyers if they are affected by this development.

Finally, we have seen a major acceleration of H-1B usage in the past several weeks and we’re expecting the cap for this fiscal year to be hit later this month or early next month. That’s nearly two months faster than last year, an indicator that either USCIS is getting much more liberal in its adjudications (unlikely) or we’re seeing a pick up in economic activity. Assuming it’s the latter, that could very well be a precursor to declining unemployment in 2012 as H-1Bs are often a leading economic indicator of overall hiring. Companies file H-1B cases based on anticipated future labor demands as well as current needs. When the pool of available US workers increased when the recession started, H-1B filings plummeted. So while the lack of H-1B numbers is worrying, at least we can see a silver lining for the country as a whole.

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In firm news, I was quoted twice this week in national media. The Associated Press interviewed me for a story on the ICE IMAGE employer compliance program. And the Daily Caller quoted me in a story on E-Verify.

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And a Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers. We have much to be thankful for this year even if we find ourselves focusing on difficulties at home and around the world.

Readers are reminded that they are welcome to contact my law office if they would like to schedule a telephone or in person consultation with me or one of my colleagues. If you are interested, please call my office at 901-682-6455.

Regards,

Greg Siskind