ABIL Immigration Insider • October 4, 2026
In this issue:
1. Preliminary Injunction Blocks $100,000 Fee Implementation for New H-1B Applications – A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s agency policies implementing a $100,000 fee for new H-1B applications. The decision is not directly related to the separate proposed imposition of a $103,265 fee for H-1B cap-subject petitions.
2. DHS Agencies Announce Changes in Fees – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced new fee changes.
3. Supreme Court Rules Trump Administration Can Resume Mass Deportations to Third Countries – The Supreme Court issued a one-page, unsigned ruling allowing the Trump administration to resume mass deportations of immigrants to third countries temporarily while litigation is pending.
4. Afrikaners Prioritized in FY 2027 Refugee Admissions, Trump Announces – President Trump announced the admission of up to 17,500 refugees to the United States during Fiscal Year 2027, to “primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa.”
5. Passport Redesign, Online Process Announced – Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced several upcoming changes to the U.S. passport and related processes.
6. DOS Cable Acknowledges That DV and IV Pauses Are Lifted – The Department of State sent a cable to all diplomatic and consular posts acknowledging that Diversity Visa and immigrant visa pauses ordered by the Trump administration are no longer in effect following a court order.
7. NFAP Finds That DHS Wildly Overestimated Revenue From H-1B Fee – The National Foundation for American Policy’s analysis concluded that the Department of Homeland Security overestimated the amount of revenue it would receive from the fee by $6.1 billion annually.
8. DOS Launches Online Fraud Tip Portal – The Department of State defined visa fraud as including “the use of falsified documents or travel plans, brokers arranging sham marriages, shell companies, fabricated job offers, engaging in or facilitating birth tourism, and more.”
9. EOIR Swears in Dozens of New Immigration Judges – The Executive Office for Immigration Review’s new swearing-in of 47 immigration judges and six temporary immigration judges follows the swearing-in of 77 immigration judges and five temporary immigration judges in May 2026, which was the largest class of new adjudicators in EOIR’s history.
10. USCIS Narrows Weekend and Holiday Filing-Deadline Rule – Effective October 23, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will extend deadlines to the next business day only when the applicable statute, regulation, or form instructions state the filing period in days—not when eligibility turns on a birthday or other age-based cutoff.
11. Federal Court Postpones Effective Date of Final Rule Limiting Duration of Status for F, J, I Nonimmigrants – A federal court in Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction that postponed the effective date of a Department of Homeland Security final rule that would have ended duration-of-status admissions for F, J, and I nonimmigrants effective September 15, 2026.
12. DOS Expands Online ‘Screening and Vetting’ of Visa Applicants – Effective October 1, 2026, the Department of State will instruct all applicants for I, TD, and TN nonimmigrant visas “to set the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to ‘public’ or ‘open.’ ” The latest announcement expands the vetting that currently applies to many other visa categories.
13. Trump Orders New H-1B Restrictions/Reviews and Extends $100,000 Fee for New H-1B Nonimmigrant Applications – President Trump issued an executive order and a proclamation that, together, impose new H-1B restrictions, order the Secretary of Labor to review previously submitted labor condition applications, and extend the $100,000 fee on new H-1B nonimmigrant applications. [See above for a later court development temporarily blocking the fee.]
14. DHS Proposes to Eliminate 60-Day Grace Period for Certain Nonimmigrant Workers Upon Cessation of Employment Before Authorized Stay Expires – The Department of Homeland Security has proposed to eliminate the 60-day grace period after cessation of employment before the expiration of a nonimmigrant worker’s authorized period of stay.
15. USCIS Reaches H-2B Cap for First Half of FY 2027 – September 4, 2026, was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1, 2027.
16. Uncertainty Continues Re Salvadoran TPS – Despite Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Salvadorans having expired on September 9, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said without elaborating that Salvadoran individuals present in the U.S. under TPS retain protection including work authorization for an unspecified period.
17. SAVE and E-Verify Post Updates on TPS for Sudan and Ukraine – Both countries’ TPS and related benefits are extended until October 19, 2026.
New Publications and Items of Interest – New Publications and Items of Interest
ABIL Member / Firm News – ABIL Member / Firm News
Government Agency Links – Government Agency Links
Download:
ABIL Immigration Insider – October 2026
1. Preliminary Injunction Blocks $100,000 Fee Implementation for New H-1B Applications
On September 30, 2026, a federal judge in Global Nurse Force v. Trump temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s agency policies implementing a $100,000 fee for new H-1B petitions based on Presidential Proclamation No. 10973 and its extension, No. 11069. In partially granting a temporary injunction, the court said that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their claims that the policies violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The court therefore enjoined the agencies from enforcing or implementing the policies “until notice-and-comment rulemaking under the APA and regulatory flexibility analyses under the [Regulatory Flexibility Act] have been conducted.”
The court noted that related litigation is proceeding on several fronts and that the issue may ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court. The decision is not directly related to the separate proposed imposition of a $103,265 fee for H-1B cap-subject petitions.
2. DHS Agencies Announce Changes in Fees
Several Department of Homeland Security agencies have announced changes in fees:
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that, effective October 16, 2026, fees will increase for several benefits. Any request postmarked on or after that date without the proper filing fee will be rejected, USCIS said. The agency provided the following information:
| Form Type | Previous Fee | New Fee |
| Annual Asylum Application Fee | $102 | $105 |
| Form I-131, Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records, Immigration Parole Fee | $1,020 | $1,050 |
| Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, if you are applying for an initial: · Asylum applicant Employment Authorization Document (EAD) · Parole EAD · Temporary Protected Status EAD | $560 | $570 |
| Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status | $510 | $520 |
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced increases in the fees for parole into the United States (from $1,020 to $1,050), Electronic System for Travel Authorization (from $40.27 to $40.62), and Electronic Visa Update System enrollment (from $30.75 to $31.75). There is no change in the fee for an application for CBP Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, at land border ports of entry ($30).
- USCIS announced that under a final rule effective November 30, 2026, fees for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program will be adjusted “to ensure EB-5 fees fully recover the cost of operating the program, meet statutory processing time goals, and support integrity measures such as audits and site visits.” In most cases, the fees are increasing, with a few decreasing.
A table in USCIS’s Federal Register final rule summarizes the current, proposed, and final fees for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. As examples, the fee for Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor, will increase from $3,675 to $7,615, and the fee for Form I-527, Amendment to Legacy Form I-526, will increase from $0 to $10,330.
3. Supreme Court Rules Trump Administration Can Resume Mass Deportations to Third Countries
On September 29, 2026, the Supreme Court issued a one-page, unsigned ruling allowing the Trump administration to resume mass deportations of immigrants to third countries temporarily while litigation is pending. The Court said that it would hear oral arguments in December, with a final decision expected next year.
A brief filed on September 28, 2026, on behalf of a group of immigrants by the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Human Rights First, and the National Immigration Litigation Alliance argued that U.S. laws “prohibit removal to any country where a person faces likely persecution or torture. Yet [the Trump administration’s] policy permits removal to any newly selected third country without meaningful notice of the destination or a meaningful opportunity to raise a country-specific fear claim. And, where the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) relies on a non-individualized diplomatic assurance, the policy permits removal without any notice or process at all.”
4. Afrikaners Prioritized in FY 2027 Refugee Admissions, Trump Announces
On October 2, 2026, President Trump announced the admission of up to 17,500 refugees to the United States during Fiscal Year 2027, to “primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa.”
President Trump has previously claimed that white Afrikaners are being invited to resettle in the United States due to the “genocide that’s taking place,” a position that has been disputed by South Africa’s government and others.
5. Passport Redesign, Online Process Announced
On September 29, 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced several upcoming changes to the U.S. passport and related processes, including:
- A transition to online applications in 2027 through the newly launched gov, including for first-time applications, with a tracker showing an estimated delivery date for the passport and the ability to get updates through Login.gov.
- A redesign of the passport for 2028, standardizing at 38 pages and including the ability to use a self-photo taken from a personal device (including the ability to retake the photo) or upload an existing photo rather than having to get a passport photo at a drugstore or elsewhere.
- In keeping with the theme of “Flight of the Eagle,” the addition of graphic features, such as an eagle in different positions appearing to fly when the pages are flipped through selected images from U.S. history.
6. DOS Cable Acknowledges That DV and IV Pauses Are Lifted
On September 10, 2026, the Department of State (DOS) sent a cable to all diplomatic and consular posts acknowledging that Diversity Visa (DV) and immigrant visa (IV) pauses ordered by the Trump administration are no longer in effect following a court order.
The cable states:
7. NFAP Finds That DHS Wildly Overestimated Revenue From H-1B Fee
On September 24, 2026, the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) released a comment on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) proposed rule to impose a $103,265 fee on H-1B cap-subject petitions. NFAP’s analysis concluded, among other things, that DHS overestimated the amount of revenue it would receive from the fee by $6.1 billion annually.
The analysis could contribute to arguments that the fee is meant to deter H-1B immigration, not raise revenue, especially given that only about 700 individuals paid a similar fee before a court struck it down. NFAP also pointed to the likelihood that companies will simply place highly skilled workers in other countries, citing research finding that “companies respond to H-1B restrictions by increasing their hiring in other countries.”
8. DOS Launches Online Fraud Tip Portal
On September 23, 2026, the Department of State (DOS) announced the launch of its online tip portal for members of the public “to help identify and stop suspected fraud and misuse of U.S. visas.”
DOS defined visa fraud as including “the use of falsified documents or travel plans, brokers arranging sham marriages, shell companies, fabricated job offers, engaging in or facilitating birth tourism, and more.”
9. EOIR Swears in Dozens of New Immigration Judges
On September 24, 2026, the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) announced the swearing-in of 47 immigration judges and six temporary immigration judges. EOIR also released the new judges’ biographical summaries, which include their court assignments.
This follows the swearing-in of 77 immigration judges and five temporary immigration judges in May 2026. The latter was the largest class of new adjudicators in EOIR’s history, according to an EOIR press release. EOIR said at the time that “[r]educing the immigration court backlog remains one of the highest priorities for the agency.”
10. USCIS Narrows Weekend and Holiday Filing-Deadline Rule
On September 23, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Alert clarifying when a filing deadline that falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday moves to the next business day. Effective October 23, 2026, the extension will apply only when a statute, regulation, or form instruction establishes the deadline in terms of a specified number of days. For example, if the last day of a 30-day filing period falls on a federal holiday, a paper filing received by USCIS on the next business day will generally be timely.
The next-business-day rule will not apply, however, when eligibility is tied to a birthday, age cutoff, or another requirement not expressed as a number of days. Thus, a filing that must be made before a child’s 21st birthday must be received before that birthday even if it falls on a weekend or federal holiday. The alert indicates that the same distinction applies to the one-year asylum filing requirement, which is measured by the anniversary of the applicant’s arrival rather than by a stated number of days. The new guidance reverses USCIS’s broader 2023 policy, so practitioners should file age- and anniversary-based applications before the controlling date rather than rely on the next business day.
11. Federal Court Postpones Effective Date of Final Rule Limiting Duration of Status for F, J, I Nonimmigrants
On September 14, 2026, a federal court in Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction postponing the effective date of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) final rule that would have replaced duration-of-status (D/S) admissions for F, J, and I nonimmigrants with fixed admission periods beginning September 15, 2026. The ruling preserves the existing D/S framework while the litigation proceeds, affecting students, exchange visitors, foreign media representatives, sponsoring institutions, and employers.
In granting preliminary relief, the court found that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their Administrative Procedure Act claim. That finding is preliminary and does not constitute a final ruling on the validity of the rule. The court scheduled a status conference for October 2, 2026.
The order enjoins DHS from taking further action to implement the rule while litigation proceeds. The court denied requests for vacatur (invalidating the rule) and summary judgment without prejudice, meaning those requests may be renewed later in the course of litigation.
Practitioners recommend that employers coordinate with immigration counsel and affected employees before making status, travel, or filing decisions that assume the fixed admission period rule is in effect, since D/S remains the controlling framework. Employers who sponsor F, J, or I visa holders should notify their HR teams, hiring managers, and affected employees that current D/S rules remain in effect until further notice. This update does not change any prior requirements regarding F-1 employment authorization, such as filing timeframes to apply for post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) or STEM-OPT extensions, and it does not change I-9 requirements for these forms of employment authorization. Employers, designated school officials, exchange visitor program officers, and international offices are advised to confer with immigration counsel to identify which steps remain appropriate under the current framework.
12. DOS Expands Online ‘Screening and Vetting’ of Visa Applicants
On September 18, 2026, the Department of State (DOS) announced that effective October 1, 2026, the agency will “broaden its online presence review” to cover applicants in additional nonimmigrant visa classifications: I (foreign media representatives), TN (U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement [USMCA] professionals), and TD (USMCA dependents).
To support this “vetting” process, DOS will instruct all applicants for I, TD, and TN nonimmigrant visas “to set the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to ‘public’ or ‘open.’ ”
DOS said that the latest announcement expands, to the applicants above, the vetting that currently applies to the following visa categories:
- Diplomatic and official visas: A-3, C-3 (if a domestic worker), G-5
- Students: F-1, M-1, F-2, M-2
- Temporary workers and trainees: H-1B, H-3, H-4 dependents of H1-B and H-3
- Exchange visitors: J-1, J-2
- Fiancé(e)s and dependents: K-1, K-2, K-3
- International cultural exchange participants: Q
- Religious occupations: R-1, R-2
- Witnesses, informants, and victims: S, T, U
13. Trump Orders New H-1B Restrictions/Reviews and Extends $100,000 Fee for New H-1B Nonimmigrant Applications
President Trump issued an executive order and a proclamation that, together, impose new H-1B restrictions, direct the Secretary of Labor to review previously submitted labor condition applications, and extend through September 21, 2027, the $100,000 payment requirement tied to certain new H-1B petitions for workers outside the United States.
Below are highlights of the order and proclamation:
- On September 18, 2026, President Trump signed the executive order, Enhancing Program Integrity and Interagency Coordination in the Administration of the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Program. The order directs the Secretaries of State, Labor, and Homeland Security to “take into account in any labor condition application, petition, visa, and entry of aliens entering or attempting to enter the United States as H-1B nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation whether the employer sponsor directly or indirectly engaged in layoffs within the previous year or plans future layoffs that negatively affect the employment of similarly situated United States workers.”
- On September 19, 2026, President Trump issued the proclamation, Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, which extends his $100,000 fee on new H-1B nonimmigrant visa applications to September 21, 2027, with certain exceptions, such as for the national interest. Litigation over the $100,000 fee by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others remains pending. [See above for a later court development temporarily blocking the fee.]
14. DHS Proposes to Eliminate 60-Day Grace Period for Certain Nonimmigrant Workers Upon Cessation of Employment Before Authorized Stay Expires
On September 11, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a proposed rule to eliminate the 60-day grace period after cessation of employment before the expiration of a nonimmigrant worker’s authorized period of stay. This includes those with E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, and TN nonimmigrant classifications.
Written comments must be submitted by November 10, 2026.
15. USCIS Reaches H-2B Cap for First Half of FY 2027
On September 11, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received enough petitions to meet the congressionally established H-2B cap for the first half of fiscal year 2027.
September 4, 2026, was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1, 2027, USCIS said. The agency is rejecting new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after September 4, 2026, that request an employment start date before April 1, 2027.
16. Uncertainty Continues Re Salvadoran TPS
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and associated work authorization for more than 170,000 Salvadorans in the United States remains uncertain after it had been extended until September 9, 2026. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and E-Verify recently said, “An announcement on El Salvador’s TPS will be made at the appropriate time. Until such announcement is made, Salvadoran individuals present in the U.S. under TPS retain protection including work authorization.”
No further information was given.
17. SAVE and E-Verify Post Updates on TPS for Sudan and Ukraine
Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) and E-Verify have posted updates on the status of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries from Sudan and Ukraine.
Both countries’ TPS and related benefits are extended until October 19, 2026.
New Publications and Items of Interest
Generative AI Playbook: The Department of State (DOS) has released The Department of State Generative AI Playbook. The playbook chronicles DOS’s “journey to develop, test, and deploy StateChat as a case study.” The playbook notes that as of June 2026, StateChat had more than 62,000 users and was adopted across 98 percent of U.S. diplomatic posts worldwide. Introductory content states that the playbook “serves as a practical guide for U.S. government agencies developing and scaling enterprise AI solutions, with a focus on GenAI technology.”
OFLC Records Management. On September 17, 2026, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) announced a new Records Management page on its website. The page covers OFLC’s records retention policy and explains how Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) retains and disposes of records. It also provides guidance on searching and retrieving case information from FLAG.
Detention center conditions. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released several reports on detention conditions, Results of an Unannounced Inspection of ICE’s Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami, Florida and Unannounced Inspection of ICE’s Florida Soft-Sided Facility (“Alligator Alcatraz”) in Ochopee, Florida.
Policy Brief: Unchecked ICE Violence Sweeps in More U.S. Citizens, People With Legal Status, and People Applying for Legal Status, by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), highlights recent actions by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement and offers solutions for reforming the system drawn from AILA’s proposal, A Better Way on Immigration. It calls for leaders in Congress to “demand accountability and reforms that ensure the nation’s immigration agencies operate in a fair, lawful, and humane manner and bring order and safety to American communities.”
Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers: ABIL is available on X (formerly Twitter): @ABILImmigration
ABIL Member / Firm News
Klasko Immigration Law Partners, LLP, has published several new client alerts: H-1B $100,000 Fee Extended for One Year, Visa Social Media Screening: Expanded Review for TN and I Applicants, Duration of Status Rule Postponed Before It Takes Effect, and DHS Proposes Eliminating 60-Day Grace Period.
Klasko Immigration Law Partners, LLP, welcomes Ian Wilson as a Senior Associate. He joins the firm’s EB-1 and corporate immigration teams and is based in the Philadelphia office. He brings experience in advising employers, universities, healthcare organizations, research institutions, and foreign nationals on employment-based immigration matters. Mr. Wilson will support the firm’s EB-1, university, and corporate immigration teams, advising universities, hospitals, and multinational companies across several industries to help organizations attract and retain international talent.
Klasko Immigration Law Partners, LLP, continues to expand its bench of nationally recognized talent, with 11 attorneys named to the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America.
Charles Kuck, of Kuck Baxter, and Stephen Yale-Loehr, of Miller Mayer, LLP, were quoted by the Bulwark in Trump to Foreign Students: F*ck Off. Mr. Kuck said, “They don’t want anyone going to H-1B. It’s 100 percent illegal. They want to make H-1B visas undesirable for U.S. employers,” he said, adding that if we educate a foreign student with, say, a nuclear engineering PhD at Georgia Tech, “and they go back to China or Russia, who do you think they’re helping?” Mr. Kuck also said, “This administration knows exactly what they’re doing, and their main goal is to end legal immigration to the United States. They’re creating a backlog so large the next administration will not be able to overcome it. This is not incompetence: It’s all intentional.” He noted that the “long-running anti-immigration movement knows where the soft spots in the immigration system are.” Mr. Kuck also said, “The system depends on good-faith compliance and adjudications. Once they stop that, it’s like taking the oil out of the engine. That’s what they’ve been doing, draining the oil.” Mr. Yale-Loehr said, “In my forty-plus years practicing and teaching immigration law, this is the most restrictive administration on immigration ever. They want to end all immigration to the United States.”
Mr. Kuck was quoted by Forbes in Judge Strikes Down Latest Version of $100,000 H-1B Immigration Fee. Mr. Kuck, one of the plaintiff attorneys in Global Nurse Force v. Trump, a case discussed in the article, said, “I am grateful that the judge saw the blatant violations of the Administrative Procedure Act and held the government to the law for the thousands of professionals who want to contribute to our great country.”
Mr. Kuck was quoted by Time in How a New Trump Administration Rule Could Restrict Access to Green Cards—and Confront Immigrants With a Tough Choice. Mr. Kuck said he expects “massive numbers of denials” of green card applications as a new public charge rule is rolled out. He noted that some clients plan to wait until after President Trump leaves the White House before filing their green card applications. Mr. Kuck says he fears that the new rule could lead to a situation where, for example, a green card applicant’s child who is a U.S. citizen receiving a public benefit, such as a free school lunch program, could lead to their parent’s application being denied.
John Fojut, of Kuck Baxter, authored a new blog post: Expedited Visa Interview Requests: What the Officer Deciding Yours is Actually Thinking.
Cyrus Mehta has authored a new blog post: When Government Threats Collide With the Ethics of Asylum Representation.
Mr. Mehta was quoted extensively by Forbes in Trump Enacts Additional Immigration Policies Against H-1B Visa Holders. He noted that the executive order delegates authority under Immigration and Nationality Act § 215(a), but that section is fundamentally an entry-control provision. “That delegation arguably supports restrictions tied to visa issuance and admission rather than [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)] adjudications of extension petitions filed by individuals already in the United States,” he said. “That could become a basis for challenge if [the Department of Homeland Security] attempts to apply the order aggressively to extensions.” Mr. Mehta also noted that the executive order “cannot rewrite the statutory framework. Section 212(n) only imposes recruitment and layoff attestations on H-1B dependent employers and willful violators. Congress specifically chose not to subject all H-1B employers to those obligations. Therefore, even though Section 3(a) of the executive order directs agencies to consider layoffs by sponsoring employers and Section 3(b) instructs [the Department of Labor] to review [Labor Condition Applications] and consider further action, it is difficult to see how the government can take enforcement action against a non-dependent employer merely because it laid off U.S. workers unless there is some independent statutory violation.” Mr. Mehta said he believes the executive order may signal heightened scrutiny of layoffs in adjudications and investigations but questions whether it can legally create new substantive requirements that Congress did not enact. “Any effort to deny petitions or impose sanctions solely because a non-dependent employer conducted layoffs would likely be in violation of the statute,” he said, adding that if USCIS “starts treating recent layoffs as evidence that U.S. workers are available, we could see a significant increase in Requests for Evidence and denials despite the lack of an express statutory basis for such inquiries.”
Mr. Mehta and Mr. Yale-Loehr were quoted by The Times of India in Cognizant Green-Card Filings Suspended Amid Fraud Probe. Mr. Mehta said, “We really do not know the facts and the basis behind the Department of Labor’s decision to suspend the PERM labor certification program. I would think that this suspension impacts labor certification applications that have already been filed, and not already approved labor certifications, based on which the second-step I-140 petitions (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) were filed and approved. However, it could spill over to other petitions and cases such as those filed under the H-1B program.” Mr. Mehta said that uncertainty over the scope and duration of the suspension could also adversely affect employee morale, particularly amid a challenging immigration environment. “The ball is in Cognizant’s court to challenge this, and we will have to see how it plays out,” he said. Mr. Yale-Loehr said, “It is unusual for the Labor Department to publicly announce an investigation and to suspend all green card filings for a company it is investigating. But that is often the way this administration works: to try to shame companies and individuals before all the facts are in.”
Mr. Yale-Loehr was quoted by USA Today (via Tri-City Herald) in They Won the Diversity Visa Lottery. Now Their American Dream Is On Hold. He said the Trump administration’s actions in delaying diversity visa processing after a court order to resume it “undermine the rule of law. The reason we have courts is that if an agency violates the law, a court is supposed to be able to issue an order and expect that the agency will follow that court order. Here we see foot-dragging by the State Department to try to indirectly circumvent the court order.”
Mr. Yale-Loehr authored If You Thought Immigration Policy Couldn’t Get Any Crueler, an op-ed about the new public charge rule, published by the New York Times.
Mr. Yale-Loehr was quoted by The Hill in International Students Fear Midterms Won’t Help Pro-Palestinian Activists Targeted by Trump. He said, “The midterms won’t matter because immigration is an executive function, and even if the Democrats control the House and the Senate, the Trump administration can still put international students who speak out into immigration proceedings and try to deport them.” Mr. Yale-Loehr added, “There may be a little more controversy. There could be some oversight hearings as to whether that is appropriate or not. But, technically, the Congress cannot forbid the Trump administration from going after international students.”
Mr. Yale-Loehr was quoted extensively by Firstpost in ‘U.S. is Shooting Itself in the Foot’: Expert on Trump’s H-1B Crackdown. He said, among other things, that the United States “is shooting itself in the foot by not allowing the best and the brightest to be able to come here to study or to work after they finish their studies.” Mr. Yale-Loehr noted that “Trump’s first administration primarily focused on tougher enforcement and going after people who are illegally in the United States. This administration is doing that, but also trying to restrict all immigration, legal and illegal.”
Government Agency Links
Follow these links to access current processing times of the USCIS Service Centers and the Department of State’s latest Visa Bulletin with the most recent cut-off dates for visa numbers:
USCIS case processing times online: https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/
Department of State Visa Bulletin: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html