THE GIBSON REPORT — 11-16-20 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group — Tales Of The Destructive Death Throes Of A Defeated Regime & Other News From The Twilight Zone!

Elizabeth Gibson
Elizabeth Gibson
Attorney, NY Legal Assistance Group
Publisher of “The Gibson Report”

COVID-19

Note: Policies are rapidly changing, so please verify information on the relevant government websites and with colleagues on listservs as best you can.

 

EOIR Status Overview & EOIR Court Status Map/List: Hearings in non-detained cases at courts without an announced date are postponed through, and including, December 4, 2020. NYC non-detained remains closed for hearings.

 

TOP NEWS

 

Biden plans sweeping reversal of Trump’s immigration agenda, from deportations to asylum policy

CBS: While the COVID-19 public health crisis and its impact on the U.S. economy will preoccupy President-elect Joe Biden during his first weeks in office, the incoming Democratic administration is also expected to quickly start dismantling President Trump’s immigration agenda. See also Biden might need years to reverse Trump’s immigration policies on DACA, asylum, family separation, ICE raids, private detention and more and Trump Could Further Rattle Immigration Law Before His Exit.

 

Trump officials unveil new U.S. citizenship test, as advocates worry it is too long, difficult and politicized

WaPo: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials said the updated exam will take effect Dec. 1, though elderly applicants who have been green-card holders for at least 20 years will be allowed to take the shorter version instead. See also More Green Card Holders Are Becoming U.S. Citizens.

 

Federal judge rules acting DHS head Chad Wolf unlawfully appointed, invalidates DACA suspension

NBC: A federal judge in New York City on Saturday said Chad Wolf has not been acting lawfully as the chief of Homeland Security and that, as such, his suspension of protections for a class of migrants brought to the United States illegally as children is invalid.

 

Migrant Children Will No Longer Be Held in Detention in Mexico

Vice: The reform, which took effect this week, also gives migrant children temporary legal status in Mexico in order to avoid immediate deportation and allow time for them to seek legal avenues for staying in the country.

 

ICE launches billboards in Charlotte featuring at-large public safety threats

ICE: These individuals were previously arrested or convicted of crimes in the U.S. but were released into the community instead of being transferred to ICE custody pursuant to an immigration detainer.

 

Under Trump asylum policy, hundreds of Cubans remain locked up in US detention centers

AZ: The number of Cuban migrants arriving at the southern border tripled from 7,079 in fiscal year 2018 to 21,499 in fiscal year 2019, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. Meanwhile, the backlog of Cuban migrants in federal immigration courts has soared 347 percent, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.

 

The National Book Awards named their first undocumented finalist

CNN: The stories she tells in “The Undocumented Americans” aim to reveal the complex lives of people who are often oversimplified or overlooked — who, as she puts it in her book’s introduction, “don’t inspire hashtags or T-shirts.”

 

First Undocumented Immigrant To Pass Bar In US And Practice Law In California Casts First Vote As Citizen

CBS: In 2014, Attorney Sergio Garcia became the first undocumented immigrant in the United States to pass the bar and practice law in California without being a citizen. He was honored with a Medal of Valor by then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris for the achievement. Now in 2020, he’s earned his citizenship and he was able to vote for the first time in the election.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

Asylum Bars Effective 11/20, TRO Hearing 11/18

Pacer: A motion for a temporary restraining order will be heard in Pangea Legal Services v. DHS, 3:20-cv-07721 (N.D. Cal. filed Nov. 2, 2020) two days before the new asylum bars are scheduled to go into effect.

 

BIA Rules It Is Inappropriate for the Board to Use Discretion to Reopen and Vacate an IJ’s Frivolousness Finding

The BIA ruled that absent ineffective assistance of counsel, or a showing undermining the validity and finality of the finding, it is inappropriate for the Board to exercise its discretion to reopen a case and vacate an IJ’s frivolousness finding. Matter of H-Y-Z-, 28 I&N Dec. 156 (BIA 2020) AILA Doc. No. 20111334.

 

Supreme Court Justices Appear Skeptical of Trump Administration’s Arguments in Immigration Case

Law&Crime: The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Monday in an immigration case about whether the government must provide relevant information in one statutory notice or whether inadequate notice can be cured by sending multiple documents over time. Those arguments did not appear to go well for the time-limited Trump administration.

 

Los Angeles-Area Individual Pleads Guilty to Arranging Fraudulent Marriages for Immigration Purposes

Chang Yu “Andy” He, of Monterey Park, CA, and the owner of Fair Price Immigration Service, pled guilty to a federal conspiracy charge to commit marriage fraud. Specifically, He planned to arrange fraudulent marriages for three pairs of Chinese nationals and U.S. citizens to obtain green cards. AILA Doc. No. 20111338

 

USCIS Updates Policy Guidance on Age and “Sought to Acquire” Requirement Under the Child Status Protection Act

USCIS updated policy guidance clarifying that USCIS calculates an applicant’s CSPA age using the petition underlying the AOS application. The guidance also clarifies how USCIS determines the age of derivatives of widow(er)s, and how applicants may satisfy the “sought to acquire” requirement. AILA Doc. No. 20111337

 

USCIS Updates Policy Guidance on Civics Educational Requirement for Purposes of Naturalization

USCIS updated policy guidance on the naturalization civics test, increasing the general bank of questions to 128, the number of exam questions to 20, the number of correct answers needed to pass to 12, and providing for officers to ask all 20 test items even if applicants achieve a passing score. AILA Doc. No. 20111331

 

DOS Announces Phased Resumption of Routine Visa Services

DOS updated its announcement and FAQs on the phased resumption of visa services, noting that resumption would occur on a post-by-post basis, but that there are no specific dates for each mission. DOS also announced that it has extended the validity of Machine Readable Visa (MRV) fees to 12/31/21. AILA Doc. No. 20071435

 

RESOURCES

 

Transition Memos:

Other:

 

EVENTS

 

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, November 16, 2020

Sunday, November 15, 2020

Saturday, November 14, 2020

Friday, November 13, 2020

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Monday, November 9, 2020

 

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Already looking forward with great anticipation to Elizabeth’s report for January 25, 2021!

Also, many thanks and deep appreciation to the heroes at Pangea Legal Services, part of the “West Coast Division of the New Due Process Army” for  filing the timely challenge to the regime’s latest bogus asylum regulations. See “Item #1” under “LITIGATION.”

Due Process Forever!

PWS

11-18-20

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