Increase in Biometric Appointments for Green Cards & other Immigration News for December 4, 2020
Biometric Appointments are Being Scheduled for Adjustment of Status (Green Card) and Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver Cases
We came back from the Thanksgiving holiday to dozens of biometric (fingerprint) appointments for Adjustment of Status (Green Card) cases scheduled by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
I have noticed that the USCIS is starting to move faster since the election.
This year, the USCIS claims that it modernized biometrics collection and biometrics use to include identity verification, secure document production and records management to protect individuals against identity theft.
President-Elect Biden Views Obama’s Mass Deportations as a “Big Mistake”
Over 3 million individuals were deported under the Obama Administration primarily through expedited removal at the United States/Mexican border. The Trump administration instituted more than 400 draconian immigration executive actions.
President-Elect Biden has said he would govern differently from President Barack Obama, and he has stated that deporting people who had not committed any crime other than crossing the border was a "big mistake".
Biden’s immediate plan on immigration enforcement is to halt deportations for the first 100 days of his presidency.
Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) Limits Appellate Court TPS Decisions to Adjustment of Status Cases
Different appellate courts have held different decisions in this area.
The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruled in Matter of Padilla Rodriguez, 28 I. & N. Dec. 164 (B.I.A. 2020), that those foreign nationals are “admitted” into the U.S. only for purposes of adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence and only within the 6th, 8th, and 9th Circuits. (The 3rd and 11th Circuits have held that TPS is not admission for any purpose.) The BIA stated that once TPS terminates, an individual who was not otherwise admitted or paroled into the U.S. remains inadmissible and subject to removal proceedings.
This newsletter is a general information regarding recent changes in immigration law. Every matter is different. If you believe a recent change applies to you, please contact my office. If you know someone who it applies to, please refer them to my office. Thank you.
