For more than two decades, the Board of Immigration Appeals has treated some vacated criminal convictions as continuing to exist for immigration purposes. Under Matter of Pickering, 23 I&N Dec. 621 (BIA 2003), the critical question was why the criminal court vacated the conviction. A vacatur based on a substantive or procedural defect eliminated the […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* In recent weeks, reports have abounded of increased ICE arrests at domestic airports. Arrests occurred at airports in at least 15 different states, which some of the impacted noncitizens traveling only on domestic flights. Although airport ICE arrests are not a new phenomenon, particularly during the Trump administration, […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* In its June 28, 2024 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Supreme Court abolished the long-standing Chevron doctrine. Under this doctrine, courts were required to defer to the government agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous statute. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, stated that “Chevron […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Barbara did far more than invalidate an overreaching executive order – it prevented a wholesale destabilization of American citizenship that could have echoed backward through generations. By a narrow but decisive majority, the Court rejected President Trump’s attempt to narrow birthright […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* On April 23, 2025, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Blanche v. Lau, a case that confronted the issue of whether the government, in seeking to remove a lawful permanent resident (LPR) who was paroled into the United States on the basis that he committed a crime […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* On April 23, 2025, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Blanche v. Lau, a case that confronts the issue of whether the government, in seeking to remove a lawful permanent resident (LPR) who was paroled into the United States on the basis that he committed a crime […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* Recently, reports have surfaced of issues with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Preclearance in Abu Dhabi – namely, that beneficiaries who had been outside the United States were asked questions about whether the conditions described in the Labor Conditions Application (LCA) had been complied with while they […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* In recent weeks, President Trump has dispatched ICE agents to some major airports, purportedly to fill in for TSA workers who are furloughed as a result of the DHS shutdown. Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar, has hinted that ICE agents may remain in airports even after […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* On February 27, 2026, USCIS published a new edition of Form I-129, which it will accept exclusively beginning April 1, 2026. The new edition of Form I-129 introduces several new fields in the H-1B and H-1B1 Data Collection and Filing Fee Exemption Supplement. Question 7 through 11 on […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* In early 2023, under the Biden administration, USCIS had reversed its longstanding policy of recognizing only the Final Action Dates (FAD) in the State Department Visa bulletin as protecting a child’s age under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), and agreed to use the Dates for Filing (DFF) […]
