Unemployment benefits wrongly denied to TPS holders in California

Last week I learned that in California, the Employment Development Department (EDD) suspended the unemployment benefits of at least two Salvadorans who are under the protection of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program because their employment authorization cards had expired. A ... Read more

What a company should do if it receives a notice from ICE

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, has been conducting a wave of audits of companies to verify whether they are complying with the law in hiring employees. This affects not only the owners or managers of the companies, but also the employees. ... Read more

Issuance of new naturalization certificate begins

Starting today, naturalization certificates issued to new U.S. citizens will be different. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced the redesign of the certificates (Form N-550), with new security features to reduce fraud and prevent forgery of the document. The redesigned ... Read more

Immigration backlog increases

The number of cases currently pending and awaiting resolution by the immigration courts rose to 261,083 by the end of September. The backlog continues to grow, according to statistics compiled by Syracuse University's TRAC. To get an idea of the increase, check out this graph: The time to ... Read more

EOIR launches new website

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) today announced the launch of its new website: www.justice.gov/eoir. According to office officials, the intent is to make it easier for users to navigate the site. Among the new features of the redesigned site is an Action Center with a new ... Read more

Immigrants in Georgia initiate lawsuit against the 287th Amendment

Three Georgia immigrants have filed a lawsuit challenging a state law that allows local authorities to enforce federal immigration law. They are also seeking to have the lawsuit declared a class action so that many other immigrants will also be represented. According to experts, the lawsuit, filed last week ... Read more

How to report notaries public

In recent months, I have been consulted by a large number of people whose cases have been harmed because they previously went to notaries public or immigration "consultants" to do their immigration paperwork. Some of the people who consulted with me had valid cases, but because they used a notario who misadvised them, there is now nothing ... Read more

Visa Lottery Registration Period Opens

Tomorrow begins the registration period for the "diversity visa" lottery, as the U.S. State Department's annual visa lottery is commonly known. Through this program, approximately 50,000 visas will be raffled for fiscal year 2012. The last day to ... Read more

Senators introduce immigration reform bill

Senator Bob Menendez and Senator Patric Leahy, both Democrats, introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the Senate on Wednesday, one day before Congress is scheduled to recess. The Senate will be in recess until November 12. This means there will be no movement or debate on the immigration issue until ... Read more

No controversial change will be made to automated information system

After pressure from attorneys, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and groups representing thousands of immigrants, certain changes proposed in August to the immigration case information system will not be made. In the middle of last month, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) had ... Read more

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