Climate of Fear’: New USCIS Memo Subjects H-1Bs and H-4 Dependents to Deportation If Immigration Status Expires During Renewal Process

[Dasani_das]

http://www.indiawest.com/news/global_indian/climate-of-fear-new-uscis-memo-subjects-h--bs/article_8a1323ac-9f22-11e8-8e83-33bce2b66c6a.html

 

Deeni meaning enti 

[Anta Assamey]

Lee Francis Cissna, director of U.S. Customs and Immigration Services, testifies before the House Homeland Security Committee's Border and Marine Security subcommittee on Capitol Hill on May 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. USCIS has issued a pair of policy memos stating H-1B workers can be placed in deportation proceedings if their status expires while they are waiting for approval for renewal. “There is a chilling effect…with the release of these immigration memos,” Indian American lawyer Kalpana Peddibhotla told India-West. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

 

 

A policy memo issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services subjects H-1B workers and their dependents to deportation proceedings if they fall out of status while their application for renewal is being processed.

USCIS issued the memo — ‘Updated Guidance for the Referral of Cases and Issuance of Notices to Appear (NTAs) in Cases Involving Inadmissible and Deportable Aliens’ — on June 28. A month later, the agency postponed the implementation of the directive, stating that operational guidance was pending; therefore, the directive would be implemented once operational guidance was issued.

A second memo, issued July 13 by USCIS, states that the agency can outright issue a ‘Notice of Intent to Deny’ a petition or renewal without first issuing a Request for Evidence, per the current norm. That policy is slated to take effect this year on Sept. 11. The second memo — ‘Issuance of Certain RFEs and NOIDs; Revisions to Adjudicator’s Field Manual’ — clarifies a 2013 policy memo and states that a NOID can be issued without a request for evidence if the adjudicator determines there is little evidence to support the initial application.

 

Newark, Calif., immigration attorney Kalpana Peddibhotla told India-West it was unclear how the July 13 memo would be interpreted and implemented, and suggested that the effect of the two memos was an intentional strategy by the Trump administration to create a climate of fear.

“There is a chilling effect which may or may not be intentional, or for that matter warranted, with the release of these immigration memos,” said the Indian American lawyer.

In a July 13 press statement announcing the second memo, USCIS director L. Francis Cissna said: “For too long, our immigration system has been bogged down with frivolous or meritless claims that slow down processing for everyone, including legitimate petitioners. Through this long overdue policy change, USCIS is restoring full discretion to our immigration officers to deny incomplete and ineligible applications and petitions submitted for immigration benefits.”

“Doing so will discourage frivolous filings and skeletal applications used to game the system, ensure our resources are not wasted, and ultimately improve our agency’s ability to efficiently and fairly adjudicate requests for immigration benefits in full accordance with our laws,” said Cissna.

The July 13 directive is applicable to all immigration-related petitions, except the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was terminated last year but has been kept alive with injunctions issued by district courts in San Francisco and New York.

Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, told India-Westthat a dramatic increase in the number of Requests for Evidence for H-1B renewals has led to longer waits for application processing, leading to a larger number of highly-skilled foreign workers and their H-4 dependents who could lose their immigration status.

Anderson noted that USCIS has received a lot of push-back since the June 28 directive was issued; the agency may decide to add a grace period, he said.

 

Anderson noted that the Trump administration could not terminate the H-1B visa program outright — only Congress can do so — but could, in a back-handed manner, reduce the number of people eligible for the program, and, moreover, discourage highly-skilled foreign workers from applying.

“H-1B workers represent a very low number of employees relative to the overall workforce,” said Anderson, noting that the program only allows 85,000 applications to be accepted per year into a labor pool of more than 160 million employees.

He emphasized that a cap of 85,000 H-1B visas issued per year was far too low, and added that increasing the cap would allow American corporations to create jobs and invest in the U.S. rather than abroad.

NFAP released a report July 25 highlighting the dramatic increase in denials of H-1B applications. The proportion of H-1B petitions denied for foreign-born professionals increased by 41 percent from the 3rd to the 4th quarter of FY 2017, rising from a denial rate of almost 16 percent in the 3rd quarter to 22.4 percent in the 4th quarter.

The report also highlighted the dramatic increase in Requests For Evidence: the RFE rate was approximately 69 percent in the 4th quarter compared to 23 percent in the 3rd quarter of FY 2017.

“It took some time for the new administration to get their personnel and policies in place, but now that they have, we’re going to continue to see this trend,” Anderson told India-West.

[Amrita]

1 month ayitondi almost idi vachi kuda kada? Out of status ayite deportation proceedings even though application is in process. 

[argadorn]

12 minutes ago, Amrita said:

1 month ayitondi almost idi vachi kuda kada? Out of status ayite deportation proceedings even though application is in process. 

cancel kuda chesaru akkayi chudaledha....

[nearachakam]

Just now, argadorn said:

cancel kuda chesaru akkayi chudaledha....

em cancel chesaru..

[Bestguy]

1 minute ago, argadorn said:

cancel kuda chesaru akkayi chudaledha....

Adhi only NTA ni Hold pettaru..cancel kadu..Only NTA not all..

[nearachakam]

NOID still undi kadha

[greensboro]

6 minutes ago, argadorn said:

cancel kuda chesaru akkayi chudaledha....

Cancel cheyyaledu man. Memorandum ledu ani hold lo pettaru. Ippudu memorandum ready chesaru. Sept 11th nunchi deportations start anta

[Doravaru]

6 minutes ago, greensboro said:

Cancel cheyyaledu man. Memorandum ledu ani hold lo pettaru. Ippudu memorandum ready chesaru. Sept 11th nunchi deportations start anta

Deniki man deportation? H1 extension deny cheste na?

[jua_java]

15 minutes ago, greensboro said:

Cancel cheyyaledu man. Memorandum ledu ani hold lo pettaru. Ippudu memorandum ready chesaru. Sept 11th nunchi deportations start anta

Sure ha? Is it official ! 

[Amrita]

8 minutes ago, Doravaru said:

Deniki man deportation? H1 extension deny cheste na?

I think they have a process in place now . Deny ayyi out of status ayite we are automatically in deportation list . Mari uscis Vallu officers vachi mari tarimestaro ledo teledu . I am assuming they would if we don’t leave on time . 

[greensboro]

11 minutes ago, Doravaru said:

Deniki man deportation? H1 extension deny cheste na?

Initial rfe badulu deportation chestharu

[futureofandhra]

7 minutes ago, Amrita said:

I think they have a process in place now . Deny ayyi out of status ayite we are automatically in deportation list . Mari uscis Vallu officers vachi mari tarimestaro ledo teledu . I am assuming they would if we don’t leave on time . 

10 days time kooda ledha ??

[argadorn]

8 minutes ago, Amrita said:

I think they have a process in place now . Deny ayyi out of status ayite we are automatically in deportation list . Mari uscis Vallu officers vachi mari tarimestaro ledo teledu . I am assuming they would if we don’t leave on time . 

employer office ki veltharu i126 petition lo mana address untadhi daniki vastahru ....

[raithu_bidda1]

9 minutes ago, Amrita said:

I think they have a process in place now . Deny ayyi out of status ayite we are automatically in deportation list . Mari uscis Vallu officers vachi mari tarimestaro ledo teledu . I am assuming they would if we don’t leave on time . 

status vunna deport chesi dobbali