EXPEDITED REMOVAL remain in force. This means that only
noncitizens stopped by immigration officers within 100 miles from the border and cannot prove 14 days of continuous physical presence in the U.S. are subject to removal without a Judge’s order. Generally, noncitizens only need to show that they have entered legally or they have been in the U.S. more than two (2) WEEKS, and they cannot be deported without a judge’s order.
And when brought before an Immigration Judge in court proceedings they may be eligible for all kinds of protections.
PRETZEL RULES
A few weeks ago, the U.S. government filed a lawsuit against two executives of an I.T. (Information Technology) company near San Francisco. The accusation: VISA FRAUD by filing petitions for dozens of H-1B work visas, claiming that the beneficiaries would work IN-HOUSE for the petitioning company – but then outplacing them to work at the sites of other companies. In other words: operating as a STAFFING AGENCY without being one and without meeting the requirements imposed on a staffing agency.
The two accused executives deny all charges and claim that they complied with all legal requirements.
The case is just beginning, and the outcome will be a long time in coming.
I call the RULES which were allegedly violated PRETZEL RULES, because they are so convoluted and flowing back and forth that they resemble a pretzel.
Or, perhaps, the Beneficiary must become a pretzel to fit the rules.
LOCAL FILING OF PETITIONS
The U.S. Department of State noticed that some wars are going on in different places. On March 17, 2022 it published an instruction permitting certain American citizens (not Green Card holders) to file I-130 visa petitions for certain relatives at U.S. Consulates overseas.
A U.S. citizen who is physically present overseas with Afghan, Ethiopian or Ukrainian IMMEDIATE RELATIVES (spouses, parents or unmarried children under age 21), may file an I-130 petition on behalf of such relatives at the American consulate in the country where the U.S. citizen is staying – subject to two conditions:
(a) That the U. S. citizen had not already filed a petition for those IMMEDIATE RELATIVES while in the U.S., and,
(b) That the relatives fled Ukraine after February 1, 2022, or Afghanistan after August 2, 2021, or Ethiopia after November 1, 2020.
The State Department publication does not explain what happens to the petition after it gets filed at the local American consulate.
