Immigration law is at the forefront of public dialogue these days. Womble Bond Dickinson’s Immigration Solutions team helps employers navigate high-stakes, constantly shifting immigration challenges to avoid potential problems and secure the talent they need to make their companies thrive. The following newsletter, drafted by Womble Bond Dickinson Immigration Solutions attorneys, covers some of the recent and most important developments in immigration law.

5/28/2024     Axios reported that the U.S. Department of Justice filed lawsuits against two more states in May to prevent them from implementing new state laws targeting immigrants. Lawsuits were filed against Iowa and Oklahoma over new state laws that charge undocumented immigrants with either a criminal misdemeanor or a felony for entering the country without authorization. 

5/15/2024    The Associated Press reported that the Biden Administration is preparing more changes to the nation’s asylum system meant to speed up processing and potential removal of migrants who continue to arrive at the southern border, an interim step as President Biden continues to mull a broader executive order to crack down on border crossings that may come later this year. The change under consideration would allow certain migrants who are arriving at the border now to be processed first through the asylum system rather than going to the back of the line.

5/14/2024    A U.S. District Court approved a joint proposed injunction to allow certain visa applicants who were refused visas under Presidential Proclamation 9645 to receive a one-time, non-transferable fee credit to submit a new visa application, and to allow eligible class members to have the option to obtain a prioritized visa appointment. This operates as a visa reconsideration process, including waived application fees, to nearly 25,000 community members from Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen who were impacted by the Trump administration’s travel ban.

5/13/2024    U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) published a final rule permitting private attorneys, interpreters, and others to attend certain appointments at passport agencies and centers and at U.S. embassies and consulates overseas to assist the person requesting services or applying for a benefit. This rule is effective beginning June 12, 2024.  

5/7/2024    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) determined that for June 2024 adjustment of status applicants in all family-sponsored preference categories must use the Dates for Filing chart from DOS’s June Visa Bulletin, and all employment-based preference categories must use the Final Action Dates chart.

5/2/2024    DOS published the June 2024 Visa Bulletin.  It includes a note that, due to high demand in the EB-2 and EB-3 preference categories, next month’s visa bulletin will most likely see a retrogression of the worldwide final action dates in these categories to hold number use within the maximum allowed under the Fiscal Year 2024 annual limit.