Page 3 - Us Immigration Law

Judge temporarily blocks US bid to deport Guatemalan, Honduran children

An Arizona judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration's effort to remove Guatemalan and Honduran children living in shelters or foster care after coming to the US alone, according to a decision Thursday. US District Judge Rosemary Marquez in Tucson extended a decision made over the Labor Day weekend. Lawyers for the children said their clients have said they fear going home, and that the government is not following laws designed to protect migrant children. A legal aid group filed a lawsuit in Arizona on behalf of 57 Guatemalan children and another 12 from Honduras between the ages 3 and 17. Nearly all the children were in the custody of the US Health and Human Services Department's Office of Refugee Resettlement and living at shelters in the Phoenix and Tucson areas. Similar lawsuits filed in Illinois and Washington, DC, seek to stop the government from removing the children. The Arizona lawsuit demands that the government allow the children their right to present their c

Indian IT firms slash H-1B dependence as US tightens immigration rules

Indian IT companies are reportedly cutting down on H-1B visas, hiring more locally in the US, as tougher immigration rules, rising costs, and AI-led changes reshape global outsourcing models

South Korean plane heads to US to bring workers detained during ICE raid

A South Korean charter plane left for the US on Wednesday to bring back Korean workers detained in an immigration raid in Georgia. A total of 475 workers, more than 300 of them South Koreans, were rounded up in the Sept 4 raid at the battery factory under construction at Hyundai's sprawling auto plant west of Savannah. Some were shown shackled with chains around their hands, ankles and waists in video released by US authorities. South Korea's government later said it reached an agreement with the US for the release of the workers. South Korean TV footage showed what it said was the charter plane taking off at Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul, on Wednesday morning. The plane will return to South Korean with the detained workers on Thursday afternoon, media reports said. The workplace raid by the US Homeland Security agency was its largest yet as it pursues its mass deportation agenda. It targeted Georgia, where many large South Korean businesses operate and plan fut

US immigration raid disrupts construction at multiple Korean battery plants

LG Energy has issued an internal notice calling for the immediate return of all workers and contractors traveling in the US under a short-term visa waiver programme, commonly referred to as ESTA

US immigration agents arrest hundreds in raid at Georgia Hyundai plant

immigration officials, making it the largest single-site enforcement operation in the US Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) history

Alligator Alcatraz must wind down operations, says US federal judge

US District Court Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami on Thursday barred immigration authorities from bringing more detainees to the makeshift facility in the Florida Everglades

US to screen immigrants for 'anti-Americanism' in process to get green card

Immigrants seeking a legal pathway to live and work in the United States will now be subject to screening for anti-Americanism', authorities said Tuesday, raising concerns among critics that it gives officers too much leeway in rejecting foreigners based on a subjective judgment. US Citizenship and Immigration Services said officers will now consider whether an applicant for benefits, such as a green card, endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused" anti-American, terrorist or antisemitic views. America's benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies, Matthew Tragesser, USCIS spokesman, said in a statement. Immigration benefits including to live and work in the United States remain a privilege, not a right. It isn't specified what constitutes anti-Americanism and it isn't clear how and when the directive would be applied. The message is that the US and immigration agencies are going to be less tolerant of ...

20 states, DC sue DOJ over cuts to crime victim funds tied to immigration

A coalition of attorneys general from 20 states and Washington, DC, is asking a federal judge to stop the US Department of Justice from withholding federal funds earmarked for crime victims if states don't cooperate with the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts. The lawsuit filed Monday in Rhode Island federal court seeks to block the Justice Department from enforcing conditions that would cut funding to a state or subgrantee if it refuses to honour civil immigration enforcement requests, denies US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers access to facilities or fails to provide advance notice of release dates of individuals possibly wanted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement because of their immigration status. The lawsuit asks that the conditions be thrown out, arguing that the administration and the agency are overstepping their constitutional and administrative authority. The lawsuit also argues that the requirements are not permitted or outlined in t

As Trump cracks down on student visas, other countries see opportunity

In China, wait times for US visa interviews are so long that some students have given up. Universities in Hong Kong are fielding transfer inquiries from foreign students in the US, and international applications for British undergraduate programs have surged. President Donald Trump's administration has been pressuring US colleges to reduce their dependence on international enrolment while adding new layers of scrutiny for foreign students as part of its crackdown on immigration. The US government has sought to deport foreign students for participating in pro-Palestinian activism. In the spring, it abruptly revoked the legal status of thousands of international students, including some whose only brush with law enforcement was a traffic ticket. After reversing course, the government paused new appointments for student visas while rolling out a process for screening applicants' social media accounts. The US remains the first choice for many international students, but institutions ...

Trump's immigration overhaul: What it means for H-1B and citizenship tests

US to prioritise high-wage roles in visa lottery; tougher naturalisation standards planned

Trump deploys more immigration agents to NYC after migrant shoots officer

The shooting occurred Saturday night near the George Washington Bridge, where an off-duty US Customs and Border Protection officer was sitting with a friend along the Hudson River

Indian-origin Subway owner arrested over US visa fraud, fake robberies

Chandrakant 'Lala' Patel and four police officers face visa fraud charges in a decade-long scam exploiting US immigration laws through staged crimes

'Buying' American spouse won't get you US citizenship, Trump admin warns

Trump administration warns immigrants that fake marriages won't lead to US citizenship, as crackdown on marriage fraud takes centre stage

Screening continues even after visa approval: US Embassy in India

The US Embassy in India has warned that visa screening continues after approval. Visa holders must follow all US laws or risk visa cancellation and deportation, according to an official advisory

US may deport El Salvador native to Mexico or South Sudan: ICE official

The Trump administration hasn't decided where it would deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia if he is freed from a Tennessee jail, but a US immigration official said Thursday that Mexico and South Sudan could be willing to accept the El Salvador native. Thomas Giles, an assistant director for US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, testified in a Maryland federal court that ICE would detain Abrego Garcia as soon as he's released to await trial on human smuggling charges. US District Judge Paula Xinis is considering Abrego Garcia's request to order the US government to send him to Maryland instead, a bid aimed at preventing the Trump administration from trying to deport him again. Abrego Garcia became a flashpoint over Republican President Donald Trump's immigration policies when the Salvadoran national was wrongfully deported to his native country in March. Facing mounting pressure and a US Supreme Court order, the administration returned him last month to face the smuggling charges. The ..

H-1B visa holders safe abroad-but long absences may invite US govt scrutiny

H-1B visas can't be cancelled just for staying abroad too long, say experts. But extended absences may raise questions at US ports of entry

Govt to deport Abrego Garcia to country that's not El Salvador: Prosecutors

Federal prosecutors told a judge in Maryland on Thursday that the government plans to initiate removal proceedings against Kilmar Abrego Garcia and to deport him to a country that is not his native El Salvador upon his release from a Tennessee jail. But the prosecutors also said that they would comply with all court orders and that their plans are not imminent. Attorneys for Abrego Garcia earlier asked the judge in Maryland to order his return to that state when he is released from jail, an arrangement that would prevent likely attempts by immigration officials to quickly deport Abrego Garcia. The Maryland construction worker became a flashpoint over President Donald Trump's immigration policies after he was mistakenly deported to his native El Salvador in March. He's been in jail in Tennessee since he was returned to the US on June 7 to face federal charges of human smuggling. US Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville has ruled that Abrego Garcia has a right to be released .

Visa application must be assessed on merit: MEA on US social media scrutiny

The statement comes hours after the US Embassy in India said that the visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles in visa applications

SC allows Trump to restart deportation of migrants away from home countries

The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to restart swift removals of migrants to countries other than their homelands on Monday, lifting for now a court order requiring they get a chance to challenge the deportations. The high court's action came after immigration officials put eight people on a plane to South Sudan in May, a move that US District Judge Brian E Murphy in Boston found violated his order. The migrants from countries including Myanmar, Vietnam and Cuba had been convicted of serious crimes in the US and immigration officials have said that they were unable to return them quickly to their home countries. Authorities instead landed the plane at a US naval base in Djibouti, where the migrants were housed in a converted shipping container and the officers guarding them faced rough conditions even as immigration attorneys waited for word from their clients. The case comes amid a sweeping immigration crackdown by Republican President Donald Trump's administration,

Vance blames California Democrats for protests, mocks Sen Padilla as 'Jose'

Vice President JD Vance on Friday accused California Gov Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of encouraging violent immigration protests as he used his appearance in Los Angeles to rebut criticism from state and local officials that the Trump administration fuelled the unrest by sending in federal officers. Vance also referred to US Sen Alex Padilla, the state's first Latino senator, as Jose Padilla, a week after the Democrat was forcibly taken to the ground by officers and handcuffed after speaking out during a Los Angeles news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on immigration raids. I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question, Vance said, in an apparent reference to the altercation at Noem's event. I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn't a theater. And that's all it is. They want to be able to go back to their far-left groups and to say, Look, me, I stood up against border enforcement. I stood up against Donald Trump,' Vanc