Tag: DACA

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Latest Court Ruling Affects First Time DACA Applicants

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On July 16, 2021, a federal court Judge Andrew Hanen ordered the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to stop the processing and approval of new DACA applications. What is the impact of this decision on DACA recipients and those with pending DACA applications?

Jose turned 18 years old in January 2021.  When Jose was 5 years old, he was brought to the United States by his Aunt and his immigration status was never legalized. He practically grew up in the United States and completed his high school education and dreams, one day, of becoming a physician.

When President Biden was elected, Jose filed for protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. This is the first time that he applied for DACA.  The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services acknowledged receiving his application but no action has been taken so far.  On Friday, July 16, 2021, Jose learned that the Federal Court Judge ruled against new DACA applicants. What are the chances that he will be granted employment authorization and protection under DACA?

The DACA Program

In 2012 President Obama created a policy called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), calling for deferred action for certain undocumented young people who came to the U.S. as children. Applications under the program began on August 15, 2012. More than 800,000 DACA eligible individuals filed for protection and employment authorization under this DACA program.

Legal Challenges

DACA has always been the subject of legal challenges where certain States question the legality of the DACA program. When former President Trump took office, he immediately issued an order rescinding DACA. Several lawsuits were filed questioning the rescission of the DACA program.

On June 18, 2020, in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of University of California,the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Trump administration’s termination of the DACA program and ruled that the termination of DACA was “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). While it ruled against its termination, the Court did not rule on whether or not DACA itself is lawful, but merely held that the Trump administration did not follow the law when it tried to terminate the program. In Casa de Maryland v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security,  a federal judge in the U.S. District Court of Maryland ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reinstate the DACA program to its 2017, pre-termination status and to start accepting new applications.

On July 16, 2021, Judge Andrew Hanen, a federal judge in the State of Texas, issued a ruling declaring DACA as unlawful since, according to his decision, the Department of Homeland Security has no authority to create DACA and to prevent immigration officials from enforcing the removal provisions of the law.

Impact of the Decision: First Time DACA Applicants Adversely Affected

Jose’s application as illustrated above will be put on hold as a result of the recent decision.

Those who have received prior DACA protections and employment authorizations are not affected by the decision. Unfortunately, first time DACA applications will be placed on hold by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services which means that no new DACA applications will be approved at this time. The federal Court decision blocked USCIS from approving any new DACA cases. Hence, all individuals who have submitted DACA initial applications (those that never had DACA and are applying for the first time) and have not received an approval from USCIS will have their application held. This applies to all initial cases that were not approved prior to July 16, 2021.

What about individuals who already had prior DACA for the first time and are renewing? If an applicant was recently granted DACA for the first time, his/her DACA will remain valid and may be renewed.

Future of DACA

President Biden vowed to appeal the federal court decision. But while this is on appeal, the new DACA applicant’s fate will be put on hold. The more permanent solution is for Congress to pass the American Dream and Promise Act which bill is waiting to be passed.

President Obama emphasized the importance of passing legislation to protect our DREAMers.  On his Twitter posting, he said that “For more than nine years, DREAMers have watched courts and politicians debate whether they’ll be allowed to stay in the only country many of them have ever known, it’s long past time for Congress to act and give them the protection and certainty they deserve.”

Let us continue to strongly support our DREAMers, by calling and urging our representatives in Congress to pass the American Dream and Promise Act. Undeniably, our young DREAMers deserve better.

(Atty. Lourdes Santos Tancinco, Esq. is an immigration attorney with the Tancinco Law Offices, a San Francisco CA based law firm. She may be reached at 1 888 930 0808, law@tancinco.com , facebook.com/tancincolaw, or through her website www.tancinco.com)

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7 Immigration Policy Changes Important to Filipinos

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On his first day in office, President Joe Biden will introduce hundreds of pages of immigration executive orders that will cover most of the policies he pledged to change. With several provisions that are proposed, the more than 4 million Filipinos residing in the United States and their relatives still waiting to migrate are looking forward to major change in policies. Below are 7 immigration related agenda that may have the most impact for Filipinos.

1. The DACA Program

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients are immigrants who arrived in the United States at a very young age. After several attempts to pass legislation to confer legal status to this category of immigrants and the failure of Congress to pass law, former President Obama issued an Executive Order giving these young immigrants protection from deportation and issuing them employment authorization. When President Trump came into office in 2017, one of his first executive actions was to rescind the DACA program. More than 800,000 DACA recipients were affected by Trump’s rescission of the program. Court litigation ensued and the Supreme Court affirmed the legality of the DACA program. While the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services started implementing the DACA protections to initial applicants, it did so only a few months ago leaving thousands of DACA recipients still in limbo about their status.

During this pandemic crisis, more than 200,000 DACA recipients are considered essential workers. Thus, in the Biden proposal, green cards or permanent immigrant visas will be granted to DACA recipients with a pathway to U.S. citizenship in three (3) years.

2. FWVP Program

More than 200,000 Filipinos were conscripted to join the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II (WWII)when the Philippines was still a territory of the United States. Under the War Powers Act, those who fought under the American flag may be entitled to apply for U.S. citizenship. All 66 allied countries nationals who fought side by side with the Americans during WWII were able to obtain U.S. citizenship but not the Filipino Veterans. A 1946 Rescission Act was enacted declassifying their services during WWII as not considered services for purposes of the veteran benefits. Hundreds of thousands of veterans lost their opportunities to apply for U.S. citizenship until 1990, when the Immigration and Nationality Act was enacted allowing belatedly the then 70 and 80 year old veterans to apply for U.S. citizenship.

As soon as they became U.S. citizens, they started filing petitions for their children. As the system in place takes more than 20 years to be current due to the severe backlog, most of the veterans who came in 1990s have already passed away. In the last 5 years, approximately 8,000 veterans are still alive but they have been slowly reducing in numbers. The Obama Administration proposed a Parole program specifically for the families of the veterans to enter the United States and be reunited with their veteran parents who are now of advanced age and sickly. This parole program is the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program. This Program only has a 5 year validity until 2021. Last December 2020, the Trump administration issued a notice to rescind the FWVP after 60 days of comment period. President Biden should consider supporting legislation that will give immediate green card status to families of the veterans; or, if not, extend the FWVP program.

3. Family Reunification

Family unity is very important to immigrants, and this applies most specially to Filipino immigrants. Petitioning immediate relatives by U.S. citizens is faster than petitioning adult children and siblings. For those being Petitioned from the Philippines the waiting period for visas to become available for adult married children and siblings of U.S. citizens takes approximately 20 years. And for those who are unmarried adult children, the waiting period is approximately 10 years.

With the pandemic crisis, even those whose visas are available who waited more than 20 years are not being processed at the U.S. Embassy because of the Trump Presidential Orders banning certain immigrants from entering the United States. Visa applications of parents and fiances of U.S. citizens are also put on hold at the U.S. Embassy. President Biden should reform the immigration system by adding more visas to the Family based category to reduce the backlog and make it faster for U.S. citizens or green card holders to petition their family members. Trump’s Presidential Proclamations 10014 and 10052 banning the entry of immigrants and processing of their visas at the U.S. Embassy must be revisited and rescinded.

4. Pathway to Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants

About 2% of the 11 million undocumented immigrants are unauthorized Filipino immigrants. These are mostly those who fell into the cracks because of the broken immigration system leaving them no option to legalize their status. These unauthorized immigrants are with their family members in the U.S., are hardworking and regularly pay taxes. It is just an opportune time to provide them a pathway to U.S. citizenship.

The Biden administration is introducing the immigration reform bill that will allow unauthorized immigrants an 8 years pathway to citizenship by granting them green cards after 5 five years and allowing them to obtain U.S. citizenship in 3 years. This proposal is the centerfold of the immigration bill introduced by Biden and needs to be passed by Congress to become effective.

5. Public Charge Rule

One of the salient feature of the Trump legacy on immigration is not just curbing illegal immigration but also legal immigration. Deeply disguised as promoting national interest, the public charge rule also known as the wealth test prohibits the grant of immigrant visa if the petitioner or the beneficiary does not have enough financial resources to show that the beneficiary will not rely on public assistance for their subsistence. Restrictive rules were issued making it difficult for US citizens with meager income to be reunited with their families. There is also the 2019 Trump “uninsured ban” rule where those coming to the United States must be able to show proof within 30 days of arrival that they have health care insurance coverage. All these restrictive rules have become barriers to lawful immigration and it is cloaked in a way that benefits the U.S. when in fact it is based on the Trump administration’s assumption that immigrants are a drain to the nation’s resources. This has to change. Most of Filipino immigrant families are educated and bring their skills and knowledge to flourish and succeed in this country. President Biden should rescind the restrictive changes made by the Trump administration related to the public charge rule.

6. Healthcare Workers

During this global pandemic, the Filipino immigrants who are admired most as heroes are our health care workers. We have many Filipino caregivers, physical therapists, medical practitioners and nurses. These essential workers have proven their worth especially during this time of crisis. Current immigration law makes it difficult for most healthcare workers to obtain their immigrant visas. Even when the priority dates for employment-based third preference became current for Philippine nationals, it is usually still subject to long delays of months or years for the healthcare professionals to migrate to the United States. The increasing need for the essential healthcare workers had never been critical and President Biden should consider re-establishing a temporary visa category for nurses like before such as the H1C and H1A visas. This category will make it faster for healthcare workers to enter the United States.

7. Other Employment Based Visas

Philippines was included again in the list of those countries eligible to participate in a temporary working visa program or the H2B. Realizing how it will be in the best interest of the U.S. to make sure that the Filipinos are added to the workforce in the construction of military bases in Guam. This is a positive development. But also, there are Filipinos who are holders of H1B, J and L visas that have been affected by the Presidential Proclamation banning them from entering except those covered by litigation. President Biden should rescind this proclamation and reverse the H1B regulatory changes that Trump released prior to his departure from the White House.

All 7 immigration issues are just a few of the immigration priorities of the Biden Administration. As we maintain our faith in the new administration, we also hope that the Democratic led Congress will find it a priority to pass the Biden’s immigration reform bill for all these provisions to have a meaningful impact on our Filipino immigrants and their families.

(Atty. Lourdes Santos Tancinco, Esq. is a San Francisco based immigration attorney and an immigrant rights advocate. She may be reached at 1 888 930 0808, law@tancinco.com, or facebook.com/tancincolaw, or through her firm’s website at www.tancinco.com)

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Updates

What Changes in Immigration Policies are Expected under a new Biden Administration?

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As President Joe Biden takes his oath of office on January 20, 2020, the immigrant community is looking forward to a new vision of the United States as a more welcoming country. After 4 years of cruel and inhumane immigration policies specifically relating to asylum restrictions, interior enforcement and separation of children at the border, a more compassionate administration is taking over. President Biden plans to rescind asylum restrictive policies, reform the parole programs and improve the immigration system, among others.

Below are some of the main focal points of the proposed immigration changes.

Pathway to Citizenship for the 11 Million Unauthorized Immigrants

On his first day of office, President Biden will roll out a comprehensive immigration bill that will provide a pathway to U.S. citizenship for long time residents and those who have been present in the United States without legal status. The bill will cover those immigrants who have been in the United States as of January 1, 2021. The proposed legislation will have an eight (8) year pathway where qualifying immigrants will have temporary status for five(5) years and then they will be granted green cards after meeting certain qualifications which is payment of taxes and background checks among others. After being granted green cards, these immigrants will be able to apply for citizenship three (3) years thereafter.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and those in temporary protected status (TPS) program have a faster route to citizenship. They can apply for a green card immediately. DACA recipients are the children who arrived in the U.S. at a young age and have had no lawful status. With the DACA program, they are protected from being deported. TPS, on the other hand, refers to those immigrants from strife torn countries many of whom are from El Salvador.

100 Days Moratorium on Deportation

President Biden promised a moratorium on deportation during his first 100 days in office. Unlike the prior Trump administration where there was intense interior enforcement that caused fear in the immigration community, a moratorium on deportation will mean a more compassionate approach to dealing with unauthorized immigrants and most especially for those who have strong family ties in the United States and who do not have criminal case histories.

Reversing Trump’s Proclamations

President Biden pledged to move quickly to reverse several Trump proclamations. A memorandum is expected to be issued on his first day that will delay for 60 days the implementation of last minute regulations promulgated in the last days of the Trump presidency.

Three Presidential Proclamations must be reversed immediately. First, the two Presidential Proclamations (10014 and 10052) signed in April 2020 and June 2020 suspended entry of certain immigrants and non-immigrants to the United States following the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Outbreak. With certain exceptions, the latter Proclamation 10052 curtails the ability of H1B visa, H2B visa and L1 visa and certain categories of the J visa from entering the United States. These two proclamations while they were issued during the pandemic to avoid risk to the U.S. labor market are more a restriction on the entry of lawful immigrants especially for parents and adult children of U.S. citizens. Trump extended these two proclamations to be effective until March 31, 2021.

Aside from these Presidential Proclamations, there is also the October 2019 Proclamation referred to as the Uninsured Ban. This proclamation bars entry of immigrants without “approved” health insurance. Obviously, this was meant to curb legal immigration by making it harder for low income immigrants from reuniting with their immediate family members in the US.

The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the legality of these bans. President Biden must act to immediately reverse this Proclamation. However, despite a firm intent to invalidate Trump’s proclamations, it may not be a smooth process for the Biden administration given prior Court rulings. Reversing proclamations require the government to address the scope of authority and rationale behind the policies.

Bill Must Be Passed in Congress

The Biden Administration has a considerable number of priorities in his first 100 days. With the number of COVID-19 related casualties rising each day, President Biden will surely prioritize the Covid-19 issue and take clear measures to deal with the pandemic crisis. While the proposals and plans to change immigration policies are positive developments contrary to the prior anti-immigration agenda, it may not be easy to implement them without legislation passed in Congress. The hope is that the Democratic controlled Congress led by Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer must take active roles in prioritizing the passage of the Biden immigration reform bill.

(Atty. Lourdes Santos Tancinco, Esq. is a San Francisco-based immigration attorney and an immigrant rights advocate. She may be reached at 1 888 930 0808, law@tancinco.com, facebook.com/tancincolaw, or through her firm’s website.)

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Updates

DHS Memorandum Policy on DACA contrary to Supreme Court ruling

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On June 18, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court handed a decision invalidating the September 2017 Trump’s administration’s rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). After one month from the decision, on July 28, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a Memorandum affecting more than 640,000 DACA recipients. The Memorandum states that it will begin to wind down legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. While it conducts a review of the program it will reject all initial DACA applications and will limit the protection for those renewing their DACA applications to one year, rather than two years.

1. What Does This New Policy Mean To The DACA Recipients?

Two categories of DACA recipients are affected: first, the current DACA recipients or those who are already receiving the DACA protections from June 2012 to the present; and second: new DACA applicants: those who became eligible beginning September 2017 were it not for Trump’s rescission.

For the first category, current DACA recipients: They will be limited to one year protection and one year employment authorization card instead of the usual 2 years. Furthermore, they will not be allowed to apply for advance parole.

For the second category, new DACA applicants who have been eligible for DACA are now prevented from applying for DACA protections because of the Trump administration’s recent policy memorandum. These are the thousands of young immigrants who have been waiting to qualify and apply for DACA protections.

2. What are the Administration’s reasons for limiting the applicability of DACA?

The reasons are stated in the DHS memorandum released: (1) Congress should have sole authority to resolve whether DACA should continue and (2) concerns about enforcement policy that enforcing the law against those in unlawful status will not be consistently exercised if it favors a group like the DACA population. These are all flimsy excuses that run contrary to vast majority of the Americans who support protection for these young immigrants. And more importantly, these reasons do not justify issuance of this policy that runs contrary to a judicial decision of the Supreme Court and that of the District court of Maryland requiring the USCIS to accept new DACA applications.

3. What steps should present and future DACA recipients take in view of this new policy?

In view of this policy, DACA recipients should be aware of the limitations of their protections which is only one year now, and that they should not allow their DACA protections and employment cards to expire. If their employment cards are expiring the DACA recipients should renew early. And for new DACA applicants, they should hold off to the filing of new applications until this policy is reversed or rescinded. For our readers, please contact your legislators to urge them to pass the The American Dream and Promise Act, a bill if enacted would result in a permanent fix to this issue of our Dreamers by creating a pathway to U.S. citizenship.

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Webinar: Immigrants in the Time of Racial Unrest, Pandemic, and Trump

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WEBINAR: What challenges are facing U.S. immigrants in this time of racial unrest and global pandemic?

Pulitzer Prize winner and Immigrant Advocate Jose Antonio Vargas joins Attorney Lourdes S. Tancinco in discussing the challenges immigrants face in the current climate of racial intolerance and deadly pandemic in webinar held last August 10, hosted by PositivelyFilipino.com.

If you’re a DACA dreamer or concerned with other Trump policies (green cards issued abroad, working visas, and foreign students stranded by the virus), this webinar is for you.

WATCH IT BELOW:

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How Recent COVID-19 Operational Changes in U.S. Immigration Agencies Impact Your U.S. Immigration Petitions/Status

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As most U.S. government agencies resume operation, Tancinco Law, P.C. compiles a summary of what you need to know about your immigration petitions pending with different offices. In addition, we also have described travel restrictions imposed in the Philippines and the United States as it relates to a Filipino/American citizen traveler.

U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICE (USCIS)

Emergency Services

On June 4, 2020, the local U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that their local offices have re-opened for non-emergency in person services. As of this writing, USCIS is only scheduling local InfoMod appointments. These are cases where the individual has an emergent need such as ADIT stamp or proof of lawful residence and issuances of advance parole.  Physical interview schedules or rescheduled on immigrant benefit applications are yet to be mailed. Slowly USCIS will safely resume in person services. Those who need emergency document services may make an appointment www.uscis.gov/contactcenter or call 1 800-375-5283.  There will be no entry for those with no appointments. No walk in visits at the USCIS.

Naturalization: Oath Taking Ceremonies 

Notices of rescheduled oath taking ceremonies will be mailed out. So those who passed their citizenship tests and are waiting to take their oath will soon receive notices. As USCIS safely resumes in-person services, some naturalization ceremonies may be conducted differently than in the past. You may receive supplemental information from USCIS that provides detailed instructions for your ceremony. 

Biometrics

USCIS announced that in certain cases, it will issue notifications of biometrics reuse to eligible individuals instead of coming to the Application Support Center for biometrics. For those not eligible for the reuse of biometrics, notices of new schedule will soon be mailed on their cancelled biometrics appointments. If you do not receive notification of biometrics or appointments within 90 days of USCIS opening, you may call 1-800-375-5283.

DEPARTMENT OF STATES: CONSULAR PROCESSING

NATIONAL VISA CENTER (NVC)

Applications and submissions of documents with the National Visa Center’s online platform ,CEAC, is fully operational.

As of June 1, 2020, the National Visa Center will no longer accept or respond to inquiries through mail. Inquiries including urgent medical or humanitarian situations are to be submitted through a Public Inquiry Form at https://nvc.state.gov/inquiry. As of June 1, 2020, NVC is responding to inquiries received on May 23, 2020.

Documents will only be mailed if there are explicit instructions from the National Visa Center to do so and those instructions were received through email, telephone call or letter from the National Visa Center.

Beneficiaries of visa petitions are reminded of the “one year contact” requirement that they should apply for the immigrant visa within one year of notice of visa availability or risk termination of the registration  or revocation of the visa petition.

U.S. EMBASSY IN MANILA

The Department of State announced that each post will reopen on their own timeline based on the situation in the respective country. 

On Visa Applications and Interviews:

As per June 8, 2020 communication with the U.S. Embassy in Manila the following response was provided:

The U.S. Embassy in the Philippines has canceled all immigrant and nonimmigrant visa interviews scheduled through July 3 due to the Philippines’ community quarantine measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

We will resume routine visa services as soon as possible but are unable to provide a specific date at this time. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

After the community quarantine is lifted in Metro Manila, all affected applicants should reschedule their visa interviews through the Embassy call center by phone at +63 (2) 7792-8988 or +63 (2) 8548-8223, or through the online appointment system at ustraveldocs.com/ph.

There is no fee to change an appointment and visa application fees are valid for one year in the country where the fee was paid.

With no specific date and time to reopen, all visa applicants who wish to reschedule their interview may call the phone numbers provided or go online and access the U.S. Embassy’s online appointment system.

On Expired Visa and Inability to Travel Because of COVID-19

If a visa has been issued but the applicant cannot travel, the U.S. Embassy in Manila when it opens may be able to reprint a visa foil if the underlying documents have not expired. Where the documents expire while waiting to be able to travel to the U.S. the applicant will be required to obtain new documents. 

IMMIGRATION COURTS

The immigration judges continue to hear cases of individuals who are in detention. 

On Monday, June 15, 2020, Honolulu Immigration Court will resume hearings for non detained cases.

For individuals within the jurisdiction of Boston, Buffalo, Dallas, Hartford, Las Vegas, Memphis and New Orleans, immigration court hearings for non-detained cases will resume on Monday June 29, 2020. In all other immigration courts outside of those mentioned, hearings are postponed through and including Friday June 26, 2020. Those with hearing notices scheduled on or before June 26, 2020 will receive new Notices of Hearing. It is more important to check with your legal counsel about the status of your hearing with the immigration court so as not to miss your hearing dates.

IMMIGRATION & CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT (ICE)

ICE Arrests

ICE maintains that in light of the ongoing COVID-19, the agency adjusted its enforcement posture beginning March 18, 2020 and limited arrest to those cases that are with highest priorities to promote life saving and public safety activities. Note that this does not mean that they are suspending arresting individuals with criminal history or those subject to mandatory detention.

ICE emphasized that it shall abide by its sensitive locations policy during the COVID-19 crisis and will not carry out enforcement operations at or near health care facilities, such as hospitals, doctors offices, accredited health clinics & emergent or urgent care facilities. Note though that ICE agents are present during protests despite the fact that these are considered sensitive locations. Unauthorized immigrants including DACA recipients joining the rallies/protests must be aware of their rights should they be taken into custody.

ICE Check Ins

Individuals required to report regularly to ICE for in person check-ins have been allowed to do so through alternative means. As of April 17, 2020, the in-person reporting has been temporarily suspended. However, individuals who are subject to the reporting requirement in lieu of detention/removal are still mandated to report either by calling or telephone check ins. For stays of removal applications, ICE-ERO will accept I-246 by mail.

 

TRAVEL TO THE PHILIPPINES AND UNITED STATES

Travel to the Philippines

Under existing guidelines, arriving U.S. citizens or non Filipinos are still not allowed to enter the Philippines even after 31 May 2020. Only OFWs, Foreign nationals married to Philippine citizens including their dependent children and foreign diplomats are allowed to enter the country.

All non-Filipinos who intend to depart the country can leave anytime. Filipinos are not allowed to leave unless they are OFWs, permanent residents, or holders of student visas in their countries of destination.However, they may have challenges in booking a flight as most of the international flights remain suspended.

Passengers Not Subject to the Restrictions and Who Are Arriving in the Philippines Subject to Mandatory Quarantine

All travelers to Manila will undergo the usual thermal scan upon arrival. If a passenger is showing symptoms of the COVID-19, s/he will undergo a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test. Travelers whose test results are positive will be transferred to a designated hospital for further medical management.

Those who do not have symptoms will undergo a mandatory quarantine where a baseline rapid test will be conducted. While waiting for the results, passengers must stay in either a government designated quarantine facility or in a Bureau of Quarantine approved quarantine hotel for 14 days.

After quarantine is completed, individuals may go about their travel plans subject to quarantine protocols of the local government of their destination.

Filipinos who are not OFWs and Non-Filipinos will shoulder their own payment for the accommodation.

Traveling to the United States

Philippine citizens are not banned from entering the United States as long as they have valid U.S. temporary or permanent resident visas. Those who traveled internationally in the past 14 days and return to the United States, they are required to self quarantine, stay home and monitor their health. 

Unless the traveler is a U.S. citizen or a permanent lawful resident (green card holder), s/he will be banned from entering the U.S. if s/he traveled from the following countries: China, Hong Kong and Macau, Iran, the UK and Ireland Schengen area which encompasses the following 26 European Countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents of the United States, certain family members, and other individuals who meet specified exceptions who have been in one of the countries listed above in the past 14 days will be allowed to enter the United States through on of these airports: 

  • Boston-Logan International Airport (BOS), Massachusetts
  • Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Illinois
  • Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Texas
  • Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), Michigan
  • Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Hawaii
  • Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), Florida
  • George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), Texas
  • Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Georgia
  • John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York
  • Los Angeles International Airport, (LAX), California
  • Miami International Airport (MIA), Florida
  • Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), New Jersey
  • San Francisco International Airport (SFO), California
  • Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Washington
  • Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD), Virginia 

After arriving in the United States from one of these countries, CDC recommends that travelers stay home and monitor their health for 14 days. 

(Lourdes Santos Tancinco, Esq is a partner at the Tancinco Law P.C. Her office is located at One Hallidie Plaza, Ste 818, San Francisco CA 94102 and may be reached at 1-888-930-0808; email at law@tancinco.com, www.facebook.com/tancincolaw or check their website at tancinco.weareph.com/old.) 

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Updates

2020 U.S. Immigration Outlook for Filipino Immigrants

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2020 is a Presidential election year. Whether the United States will have a new or a re-elected President, immigrants and their families will be facing major changes in immigration policies. Let’s examine and determine the prospects of 8 major immigration policy changes that may affect our Filipino immigrants.

The Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program (FWVP)

The FWVP program was created in June 2016 in recognition of the extraordinary contributions and sacrifices of Filipino veterans during WWII. This program allowed their family members to join the veterans or their widows in the U.S. while their visa petition is waiting for visa availability. After 3 years, several hundreds of family members were allowed in on parole under the FWVP program. As part of the administration policy to eliminate parole programs, the USCIS announced in August 2019 that it will terminate the FWVP. Advocacy groups like the Asian American Advancing Justice, FilVetRep, and the Bayanihan Equity Center, among others, have been working hard to preserve the program. This 2020, unless the administration changes its mind about terminating the program, FWVP program will end after USCIS issuance of its final rules.

Increased USCIS Fees

In November 2019, USCIS announced that it will increase fees on petitions and applications. Among the many applications that are going to be affected are (1) Adjustment of Status application, an increase from $1,225 to $2,195; (2) DACA fees will increase from $495 to $765, an overall increase of 55 percent; (3) Naturalization application will increase by 83 percent, raising the fee from $640 to $1,170. Aside from the increase in fees, USCIS is eliminating fee waivers for naturalization, adjustment of status, green card replacements and renewal and employment authorization. The increase will take effect this 2020 and only after USCIS releases its final regulations.

Backlog in Family Petitions

As of November 2019, there are 291,392 approved visa petitions on behalf of Filipino nationals filed by their US citizens or green card holder relatives, awaiting visa availability with the National Visa Center. The backlog is still severe and there is still lengthy wait for visa availability in certain preference petitions. For Filipinos with petitions under the F3 and F4 visa category, the waiting period is more or less 21 years and for those whose petitions are F1 or F2B the waiting period is approximately 11 years. There are bills (RELIEF Act, S.2603 and H.R. 5327) pending before the 116th Congress which if passed will increase visa numbers and eliminate backlogs. Until these bills are passed into law, expect decades of waiting for certain petitions on behalf of Filipino nationals.

H1B Visa

On January 9, 2020, USCIS released its regulations on the registration system for H1B visa petitions. Instead of filing a full petition for a foreign national employee, the U.S. employer must complete a registration process that requires basic information about the H1B employer and the employee being petitioned. USCIS will open registration period from March 1 through March 20, 2020. Only those selected by USCIS lottery system will be able to file H1B petitions to meet the 65,000 cap.

Public Charge

Under the law, a visa applicant will not be allowed to enter the United States if the government believes that they are likely to become public charge or reliant on government assistance. In 2019, the USCIS issued a new definition of public charge rule to include those who receive either cash or non-cash benefits like housing or health care, from the government for more than 12 months during the 3 year period. The implementation of this public charge rule is suspended because of court litigation filed by several States and advocacy groups challenging the legality of the rule. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on this case this 2020. If the public charge rule takes effect, the legal impact will be on low income legal immigrants petitioning their relatives.

Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals or DACA program was created in 2012 to grant young immigrants deferred status and employment authorization. In 2017, Trump announced that it was ending DACA. This resulted in several lawsuits filed against the administration challenging the decision to terminate DACA. The case was heard by the Supreme Court in November 2019 and a decision is expected anytime before June 2020. In the meantime, DACA recipients are allowed to renew their DACA status and employment authorization.

REAL ID

Beginning October 1,2020, federal agencies including Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will only accept state issued driver’s licenses that are REAL ID compliant. This means that the state licensing agency must issue REAL IDs to those with valid identification and legal status. Those who are still in unauthorized status may not be issued READ ID compliant driver’s licenses and identification that will allow them to access federal offices or travel domestically through commercial airlines.

H2B Visa

In January 2019, nationals from the Philippines were banned from receiving H2B temporary working visas for one year. As of this writing, there is no update yet from the USCIS if in 2020, the Philippines will be allowed to become beneficiaries of new H2B visas.

These 8 immigration policies are just among the many policies that are anticipated to affect our Filipino immigrant community. The enforcement of immigration law has consistently been the highest priority of the Trump administration resulting in hundreds of thousands of ICE arrest since he took oath as U.S. president. After a decade, we still have not seen a major overhaul and change in immigration law. Hopefully, this 2020 decade, our leaders will finally pass a more humane and sensible immigration reform law; a more compassionate, relevant and rational one that will replace the dysfunctional immigration system we have right now.

(Atty. Lourdes Santos Tancinco, is an immigrant advocate, founder and a principal partner at the Tancinco Law Offices, San Francisco CA based law firm. She may be reached at 1 888 930 0808, law@tancinco.com, facebook.com/tancincolaw, or through tancinco.weareph.com/old)

Categories
Updates

Trump ending WWII Filvets parole–what it means to veterans’ families

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On August 2, 2019, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced its plan to terminate the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program (FWVP). This program was conceived almost 3 years ago during the Obama Administration and is set to terminate in 2021.

Will the announcement last week pre-terminate the program? What will happen to the families of Filipino veterans who have pending or approved FWVP?

Understanding the FWVP

Upon hearing the news of the USCIS plan to terminate the FWVP, several veterans’ advocates in our community were alarmed by its adverse impact on our elderly Filipino veterans and their families. Indeed, the FWVP was conceived by former President Obama as part of its 2015 Modernizing and Streamlining of the Immigration System. At the time, there was a mandate to allow certain families of Filipino veterans to enter the United States and the legal way to address this was to allow the families on urgent humanitarian reason or significant public benefit.

The FWVP program since its inception has allowed veterans and their widows to live with their families on parole status. After serving under the U.S. flag during World War II without their sacrifices recognized and their benefits granted, the elderly veterans sought to have family unity during their twilight years. Through the FWVP, sons and daughters of veterans were able to provide the much needed care for their aging parents.

No Immediate Termination of the FWVP Until Further Notice

The latest announcement of the USCIS as it is published indicates that this is a “plan” much like the announcement made a couple of months ago that ICE planned to conduct “mass raids of millions of undocumented.” What this means is that there is no immediate termination of the FWVP, so all those who are on parole status under the FWVP must not fear having to immediately leave the U.S. at the expense of abandoning their elderly veterans or veterans’ widow.

Put in the context of the DACA rescission in 2017, a change in policy may not take place immediately without violating constitutional due process. Lawsuits are still pending on DACA rescission and DACA recipients continue to receive their employment authorization document.

So unlike the rescission of the DACA program, the USCIS clearly indicated that it will allow the current FWVP parole beneficiaries to maintain their current period of parole through expiration. Also, those who have pending FWVP requests with the USCIS will be processed to completion.

Renewal of FWVP

There is no mention in the announcement that renewals or new applications may be filed. Until and unless there is a clear guidance on how renewals or new applications are processed, USCIS at its discretion should consider adjudicating these applications. At the very least, if these are not processed under FWVP, they may be filed and classified as “non-categorical” or the general grant of humanitarian parole, which may not have the same ease of USCIS approval compared with those filed under a categorical parole such as the FWVP.

The FWVP was intended for our Filipino World War II veterans, but based on our experiences at the Bayanihan Equity Center (f.k.a. Veterans Equity Center), hundreds of veterans had passed away before they were able to benefit from this program. With very few of them alive, why deprive them of the benefit of being reunited with their families? As a community, we have to continue to uphold our heroes’ dignity and not cut them down of their much needed family support.

(Atty. Lourdes S. Tancinco is veterans advocate, an immigration attorney based in San Francisco CA. She may be reached at law@tancinco.com, tancinco.weareph.com/old, facebook.com/tancincolaw, or at 1-888-930-0808)

Categories
Updates

Update on DACA: Has the DACA Program Ended Yet?

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On November 8, 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the rescission of the DACA program by the Trump Administration is arbitrary and capricious. What does this ruling mean to DACA applicants?

The Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals, commonly referred as DACA, begun in 2012 allowing non-citizens who entered the United States as children, who have clean criminal records, and who meet certain eligibility requirements – to apply for two-year renewable periods of deferred action. Deferred action is a revocable decision by the government not to deport an otherwise removable person from the country. Those granted deferred action are issued an employment authorization document for limited periods of time.

Josh is a Filipino DACA recipient. He entered the United States when he was only 9 years old as a visitor visa holder. His parents are still without legal status but Josh was able to get DACA protection in 2016. He is now gainfully employed in a financial institution and has been a good citizen. When he was about to renew his DACA employment authorization, Joshua was told that he only has a small window to benefit from the DACA program as a result of the Trump Administration’s announcement in September 2017, that the DACA program is to be terminated in phases.

Lawsuits were filed in Northern District of California after the Trump announcement of the DACA rescission in September 2017; in January 2018, the District Court ruled that the DACA rescission was unlawful. Hence, a resulting nationwide preliminary injunction was issued to hold off Trump’s plan to phase out the DACA program.

The Trump administration continued to argue for the validity of the DACA termination arguing its case with the Court of Appeals. The primary bases of the government in stating that the DACA program is illegal was that DACA was “effectuated without proper statutory authority and is unconstitutional.” Without waiting for a decision from the Court Appeals the government filed in November 5, 2018 a petition for writ of certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court arguing on the legality of the DACA rescission.

On November 8, 2018, three days after filing the petition before the Supreme Court, the Ninth Court of Appeals ruled that the DACA rescission was unlawful, arbitrary and capricious. It also affirms the District Court’s issuance of a preliminary injunction and thus holding off to the termination of the DACA program.

As a result of the affirmation of the preliminary injunction, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will continue to receive and adjudicate renewal of DACA applications with the following exceptions:

  1. That new applications from applicants who have never before received deferred action need not be processed;
  2. That the advance parole feature need not be continued for the time being for anyone; and
  3. That DHS may take administrative steps to make sure fair discretion is exercised on an individualized basis for each renewal application.

Hence, in the case of Josh above, and based on recent developments on DACA, he can still be permitted to renew his DACA protection and seek renewal of his employment authorization document.

The fate of the DACA program is now with the U.S. Supreme Court. With the current structure of the court and the recent appointment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, several of us immigration advocates are quite apprehensive about the future of the DACA program. Meanwhile, considering that it has not ended, DACA recipients must continue to avail of its benefit.

In concluding the panel’s recent decision, Justice Wardlaw of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals emphasized how important it is for the government to be “democratically accountable” to the public in the exercise of its discretion in the enforcement of immigration law. It stated in part, “whether Dulce Garcia and the hundreds of thousands of other young dreamers like her may continue to live productively in the only country they have ever known is, ultimately, a choice for the political branches of our constitutional government. With the power to make that choice, however, must come accountability for the consequences.”

(Atty. Lourdes Santos Tancinco, Esq. is a San Francisco based immigration attorney and an immigrant rights advocate. She may be reached at 1 888 930 0808, law@tancinco.com, or through facebook.com/tancincolaw.)