Trump’s Immigration Toilet Finally Flushes

The light of freedom from an ignorant imposter claiming to be a greater president than Abe Lincoln is finally around the corner. Trump can no longer defecate on our proud immigration process which not only founded the U.S., but also leads our future. Our Constitution will soon return to being the supreme law of the land instead of being used as Trump’s toilet paper. Rather than taking immediate action against the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump is too busy lying about election fraud and ignoring the fact that thousands of Americans, both documented and undocumented, are dying on a daily basis. Millions of Americans in every state have had their lives destroyed, turned upside down, or have been hurt due to Trump’s inaction and white supremacism. No plans to contain the spread of the virus on a national basis have ever entered Trump’s thoughts. He was too busy unleashing his racist and hate-filled ant-immigration policies, which the judiciary has consistently stayed, overturned, or voided. The American people have spoken – we have had enough of Trump’s racist excrement and it is finally time to flush.

Trump’s Changes to Dismantle the H-1B Program Flushed Down the Toilet

On December 1, 2020, a U.S. district court in California vacated two rules that made significant changes to the H-1B visa program for temporary professional workers. The court made its decision not on the merits of the rules but rather because the agencies did not follow notice-and-comment requirements that would have given the public an opportunity to weigh in.The Department of Labor’s (DOL) rule raised prevailing wages for nonimmigrant H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 foreign workers and immigrant EB-2, EB-3, and foreign workers by changing wage computations. The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) rule would have revised the definition of an H-1B “specialty occupation” and added definitions for “worksite” and “third-party worksite,” among other changes. The DOL rule took effect in October; the DHS rule was to take effect December 7, 2020.The court acknowledged the Trump administration’s point that the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in its scope and impact, and qualifies as an emergency. The court said, however, that the question was whether the government had demonstrated that the impact of the pandemic on domestic unemployment justified dispensing with the “due deliberation” that normally accompanies rulemaking to make changes to the H-1B visa program. The court concluded that the government had not demonstrated this.

The October 2, 2020 Massive Filing Fee Hike Cancelled, but Premium Processing Now Costs $2,500.00

The USCIS published a final fee rule on August 3, 2020 that was to become effective 60 days later, on October 2, 2020. The rule specified: “Any application, petition, or request postmarked on or after this date must be accompanied with the fees established by this final rule.” The rule also made changes to Form I-765, Form I-129, premium processing, and other fee processing changes. However, on September 29, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a nationwide preliminary injunction and stay on implementation of the 2020 final USCIS fee rule. Although the USICS officially states on its website that the old filing fees are still in effect, the new Premium Processing fee increase from $1,400.00 to $2,500.00 escaped the Court’s injunction because the USCIS quietly raised it on October 19, 2020.

DACA Is Back!

Trump’s attempt to kill DACA failed and is also in the sewer. His attempt to take back what Obama gave to the Dreamers – a work and travel permit, so desperately needed by young Dreamers who through no fault of their own have no immigration papers to fully pursue the American Dream is now completely flushed down the toilet as well. Pursuant to a Court order, the USCIS is now accepting new DACA applications. Please read the USCIS announcement here for more information on the revived DACA program.

Please note that the information provided on this website is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed nor relied upon as legal advice nor the formation of an attorney-client relationship. For a free consultation with Attorney Thomas M. Lee, please contact us.