With the expiration of Title 42 on May 11, 2023, we thought it apt to share the Last Week Tonight with John Oliver April 30, 2023 episode “Biden and the Border” which examines President Biden’s failure to deliver on a key campaign promise to asylum seekers allowing them back on US soil to file for asylum. The British-American comedian, political commentator, and television host, appropriately notes “we’re just entering a different phase of an immigration dystopia, particularly for asylum seekers.” Mr. Oliver shines a light on the administration’s “bad policy and s*itty apps”, namely the “CBP One” app.
Read moreCBP Stampless Entry and Electronic I-94s
In an effort to increase efficiency and streamline the admissions process, US Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) has simplified entry into the United States by instituting an automated I-94 process for most nonimmigrants arriving by air and sea. What began as a pilot program in certain ports of entry in April 2022, has become standard procedure across all US ports of entry.
Read moreESTA Fee Increase
United States Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) announced the fee to travel to the United States utilizing the Visa Waiver Program (“VWP”) will increase from $14 to $21, effective May 26. 2022. The fee increase will affect those traveling to the US under the VWP, which permits citizens or nationals of forty participating countries to travel to the US for tourism or business for stays of ninety days or less utilizing electronic travel authorization through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (“ESTA”) .
Read moreProof of COVID-19 Vaccination Required for All Foreign Travelers at US Land Borders
Effective January 22, 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) will require non-US citizens traveling across the land border for both essential and non-essential reasons to be fully vaccinated. The recent announcement confirms, “[t]hese new restrictions will apply to non-U.S. individuals who are traveling for both essential and non-essential reasons. They will not apply to U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents, or U.S. nationals.”
All foreign national travelers, whether traveling for non-essential or essential reasons, must attest to their vaccination status and to present proof of vaccination to CBP officers upon request. To be considered fully vaccinated, fourteen days must have passed since the traveler’s final shot of their vaccine. CBP follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (“CDC”) protocols regarding acceptable “proof of vaccination, including which vaccines are permissible.”
Pre-arrival COVID-19 testing is not required for entry via a land port of entry or ferry terminal.
Croatia Has Been Added to the Visa Waiver Program
In a September 28, 2021 press release, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas, in coordination with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken announced that Croatia will be added as a new participant in the Visa Waiver Program beginning no later than December 1, 2021. Croatia will be the 40th country to be part of the B-1/B-2 Visa Waiver Program (“VWP”), and nationals of Croatia will be able to apply for visa-free visitor travel through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (“ESTA”).
Read moreThe Guardian: "'Treated like a terrorist': US deports growing number of Iranian students with valid visas from US airports"
In December 2019, Mohammad Elmi, an Iranian national, traveled to Los Angeles to begin a PhD program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. But upon trying to enter the US, Elmi was stopped by US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) and searched and repeatedly questioned for hours. His wife, Shima Mousavi, who is pursuing a master’s degree in California, waited near the airport for eight hours before her phone rang. “I’m so sorry,” Elmi told her. “They are sending me back to Iran.”
Read moreThe Washington Post: “FBI, ICE find state driver’s license photos are a gold mine for facial-recognition searches.”
Federal Bureau of Investigation and Immigration Customs Enforcement agents use state department of motor vehicle databases for facial-recognition purposes, reveal newly released documents. These records, obtained by researchers with Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology and shared with The Washington Post, contain thousands of facial-recognition requests, internal documents, and emails over the past five years.The Washington Post reports that “DMV records contain the photos of a vast majority of a state’s residents, most of whom have never been charged with a crime,” affecting millions of Americans whose photos are being used without their knowledge. Lawmakers across the aisle have criticized the technology as a “dangerous, pervasive and error-prone surveillance tool.”
Read moreThe Atlantic: This Is Exactly What Privacy Experts Said Would Happen
According to a statement that the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency released last week, photos of travelers and their vehicle license plates snapped at a US border control point have been hacked. In an email statement to journalists, CBP confirmed that an undisclosed subcontractor transferred copies of license plates and travelers’ photos from federal servers to its own company network without CPB’s authorization. CBP reports that its own servers were unharmed by any cyber attack.
Read more5 of the Most Important Federal Agencies Involved with US Immigration
We have previously written about the abundance of acronyms that are used by US immigration attorneys. At our office, some of those acronyms we use most frequently include: USCIS, CBP, DHS, DOS, and DOL, all of which happen to be five of the most important federal agencies involved in US immigration. (Immigration & Customs Enforcement—i.e., ICE—also has a large impact on some US immigrants, but our firm does not often work with this agency.) In this post, we provide a brief introduction to five of the federal agencies we work with most often, explain their areas of oversight, and how they are related.
Read moreIncreased Denial Rates for H-1B and L-1s
H-1B denial rates in the US are reaching high levels compared to previous years, and L-1 visa applicants are facing challenges with renewals at the US/Canada border, according to recent reports. Data released through the H-1B Employer Data Hub from US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) shows that denial rates for initial H-1B petitions between FY 2010 and FY 2015 never exceeded eight percent, and today the rate is three to four times higher at thirty-two percent, analysis from The National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) shows.
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