Entries by Cyrus Mehta

In Honor of Justice Ginsburg: Disfavoring Piepowder Courts Against Permanent Residents in Vartelas v. Holder

Saddened by the death of Justice Ginsburg, I searched through the blogs I have written on her opinions in immigration cases. I was again reminded not only about her brilliance but how forcefully she advanced the rights of immigrants that was consistent with the Constitution and the Immigration and Nationality Act. I wrote Justice Ginsburg’s […]

The Future of Work and Visa Rules in the Age of COVID-19

Since COVID-19 afflicted the world, people have learned to work remotely from home and the office seems to be less relevant. Most white collared work can be carried out remotely through Zoom Video or Microsoft Teams. Jack Dorsey, the head of Twitter, said that the company’s employees can work from home “forever.” This view may […]

The Impossible Feat of Determining Who is an “Illegal Alien” Under Trump’s Unconstitutional Census Executive Order

In line with other xenophobic actions too numerous to keep tabs on, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum dated July 21, 2020 entitled “Memorandum on Excluding Illegal Aliens From the Apportionment Base Following the 2020 Census.” From the title itself, it is readily obvious that the Trump administration does not intend to count undocumented or […]

The Real Threat to the US Economy is Trump’s Proclamation, Not the Nonimmigrant Workers it Bans

By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box* President Trump has mastered the Dark Arts of immigration bans. On June 22, 2020, Trump signed yet another Presidential Proclamation further restricting immigration into the United States. The new proclamation is an extension of the previous proclamation issued on April 22, 2020 that suspends certain green card applications […]

Reflecting on the Supreme Court DACA Decision in Comparison to Trump’s Immigration Bans

On June 18, 2020, the Supreme Court in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California ruled that Elaine C. Duke, then-Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in 2017 when she rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, in place since […]