Palmer Polaski Blog

In a sea of policy and enforcement changes over the first half of 2025, there are some comforting areas of continuity at USCIS worthy of highlighting. Processing times for most adjustment of status applications remain normal compared to historical trends, and naturalization applications continue to be decided extremely quickly (most offices adjudicate them in less […]

From enhanced vetting, sporadic SEVIS terminations (that were later reinstated), targeted visa revocations, ICE arrests, social media monitoring, crackdowns on activists, and temporary pausing of visa interviews (that were also reinstated), the Trump administration has shown great animosity to foreign students and scholars during its first months. These draconian policies harm the future of the […]

President Trump has claimed ramped up ICE enforcement activities, arrests, and removals since his inauguration. However, data from Syracuse University’s TRAC system show that daily arrests are only slightly (2%) up when compared to arrests under President Biden. Biden’s arrests were a result of thousands of apprehensions at the border while Trump’s are in the […]

On June 26, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that federal district courts could not issue nationwide injunctions to block executive actions. Even though lower courts directly addressed the birthright citizenship issue, the Court did not resolve the constitution interpretation of “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” in its opinion.  The majority’s inaction will cause […]

Effective June 6, 2025, USCIS rescinded the policy of categorically considering deferred action for special immigrant juveniles with an approved Form I-360. While no longer automatically granted deferred action, SIJS applicants with approved I-360s still are eligible to apply for deferred action benefits with USCIS and the protections can be granted on a case-by-case basis; […]

On June 4, 2025, the White House issued new travel bans. Effective June 9, 2025, people from certain countries are completely banned from traveling to the United States, while people from others are partially banned. The ban applies to people who are outside of the United States and do not have a valid visa as […]

After a month’s long battle, on May 30, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling giving a green light to the Trump administration to terminate the CHNV parole program. CHNV refers to the four humanitarian parole programs for certain individuals of four countries – Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela – with sponsors in the […]

On June 4, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a press release announcing that the agency will enhance its efforts to detain, and deport if it can, nonimmigrants who failed to depart at the end of their authorized stay in the United States. According to the press release, DHS is “ramping up the […]

In recent months, the Trump administration announced termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghanistan, Cameroon, Nepal, Venezuela, and most recently Haiti, amidst contentious litigation in federal court. On May 13, 2025, DHS announced that Afghanistan’s TPS designation will formally terminate on July 14, 2025. Afghanistan now joins Cameroon (ending August 4, 2025), Nepal (August […]

USCIS initiated deportation proceedings against over 26,700 foreign nationals since updating its guidelines in late February. On April 9, 2025, USCIS began reviewing social media activity of foreign nationals for evidence of antisemitic activity as a basis for denying immigration benefits. On April 11, 2025, EOIR issued a policy memorandum permitting immigration judges to pre-termit […]