Dear Readers:
It seems month after month immigration issues dominate the headlines and this past month was no different. Many of the developments, not surprisingly, relate to the executive actions announced by President Obama last November. Republicans in Congress as well as state office holders have been trying to stop the deferred action programs (DACA and DAPA) in both Congress and in the courts.
The fight in Congress basically ended this week. In December, Republicans refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security for the full year that they funded all other government agencies. Instead, they approved a three month budget with the goal of stripping the deferred action programs out of the DHS budget in February. The leverage was a threat to shut down the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats in the Senate held firm and refused to go along with a Republican attempt to defund the executive actions. And the Senate eventually passed a “clean” DHS budget after it was clear that the votes were not going to be there for the Republicans and the upper chamber’s majority had no appetite for a DHS shutdown when there have been daily headlines about terrorism around the worldwide.
The House was another story and initially Speaker Boehner appeared to be caving to hardliners. He was able to get a one week extension deal, but even before that deadline came, he reversed course and moved forward with a clean bill. Democrats uniformly voted for along with 75 Republicans. And that is basically it for congressional attempts to stop the programs.
But it’s not over in the courts. 26 states joined in a lawsuit challenging the President’s authority to issue the actions. A Texas Federal District Court was deliberately selected to file the case because of the judge’s past statements expressing hostility to President Obama’s immigration policies. And, not surprisingly, the judge ruled for the plaintiffs and issued an injunction temporarily stopping the programs from moving forward. The injunction was issued just before the new expanded DACA program was to take effect and the Administration scrubbed the launch of the program.
Initially, there were reports the Administration might take a pass on trying to immediately lift the injunction and just fight it out in court – something that experts believe would take four to eight months. But the White House decided to fight the injunction and within the next few days or weeks we should find out if the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will allow DACA and DAPA to proceed while the case proceeds. President Obama also suggested in an interview last week that he might seek to start processing applications in states that did not join in the lawsuit, though there have been no further announcements regarding this possibility.
So that brings you up to speed on DACA and DAPA. In the meantime, we got the welcome news that the first of the visa modernization proposals mentioned by the President last November is becoming a reality. Beginning in May, some H-4 visa holders will be able to apply for employment authorization documents. We’ve summed up the rules for the new initiative and report on this this month. And look for a number of other announcements in the months to come as DHS and DOL begin to enact other policies based on the November announcements.
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In firm news, we’re pleased to announce that Lynn Susser has been selected for inclusion in ABIL – the Association of Business Immigration Lawyers. Many of the world’s top immigration lawyers are part of that organization.
I was joined by Bruce Buchanan in presenting on two different panels at the AILA Georgia-Alabama Chapter’s annual conference in Atlanta last month. I also presented three programs at Yale University to students, scholars and employees.
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As always, we invite you to contact the firm if you’re in need of immigration counsel. Please visit our web site at www.visalaw.com or call our office at 901-682-6455 to connect with us.
Regards,
Greg Siskind
Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk.