Palmer Polaski Blog

One important, yet not often highlighted, area of immigration policy under the Biden Administration has been a change in enforcement priorities for referring foreign nationals to immigration court proceedings, referred to as “prosecutorial discretion.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sets priorities in allocating its resources, so using prosecutorial discretion can help the government focus on […]

Asylum-seekers face ever-growing backlogs in obtaining asylum office interviews and decisions on their asylum claims. For example, in the 2022 fiscal year, USCIS received around 239,000 affirmative asylum applications, a historic high and a major jump from the previous year, when USCIS received approximately 62,800 affirmative applications. The backlog has increased already-significant wait times for […]

For Fiscal Year 2025, USCIS has introduced a significant change in how H-1B registrations will be selected for filing. The ever-growing number of H-1B registrations, specifically multiple registrations on behalf of the same beneficiary, was evidence that the H-1B electronic registration H-1B lottery was not working. Since USCIS introduced the H-1B electronic registration process in […]

Disappointingly, the U.S. Supreme Court held 6-3 that Texas’s SB4 could go into effect. The most controversial aspects of the bill allow state police officers to act as border patrol agents in making arrests, and even allows state court judges to issue deportation orders. The majority did not rule on the constitutionality of the bill, […]

On March 22, 2024, DHS extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Burma for 18 months, through November 25, 2025. Burmese TPS holders need to file TPS re-registration applications between March 25, 2024, and May 24, 2024. Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) are automatically extended for Burmese TPS beneficiaries through May 25, 2025. DHS also redesignated TPS […]

On January 26, 2024, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced the extension and redesignation of Syria for Temporary Protected Status for 18 months, from April 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025, due to ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in Syria that prevent individuals from safely returning.  

On February 14, 2024, President Biden issued an executive order authorizing Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) and employment authorization for 18 months for eligible Palestinians. USCIS will issue a Federal Register notice as soon as possible to provide additional information about implementation of the President’s memorandum.

USCIS is [updated] its government filing fees on April 1, 2024, in large part increasing the filing fees for most immigration petitions. USCIS’s significant changes to fees are in response to inflation adjustment and allegedly to provide increased service. The agency last updated its filing fees in 2016. Nevertheless, on March 19, 2024, a new […]

A recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report reveals that refugees and asylees have significantly contributed to the U.S. economy, generating tens of billions of dollars more in tax revenues than they have cost in government services over the past 15 years, leading to a net fiscal gain. Between 2005 and 2019, they […]

USCIS filing fees for most petitions and applications are increasing effective April 1, 2024. In a final rule just issued, USCIS advises that any benefit request postmarked on or after April 1 must be accompanied with the new fees. This is the first increase in fees since December 2016. The following are some of the […]