DOJ Petitions for DACA Plus and DAPA

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DOJ Petitions for New Supreme Court Hearing: DACA Plus and DAPA

The Department of Justice has filed a petition for a rehearing with the Supreme Court on the United States v. Texas case. This is the DACA/DAPA case that was decided with a 4-4 deadlock last month. That tie rendered the DACA plus and DAPA programs unable to go into effect. The decision left the ruling of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in effect. The Fifth Circuit had upheld the decision of the district court in Texas, in which the federal judge had ruled the programs could not go into effect. The reason was that the Obama Administration had not followed the procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act for promulgating and implementing rules with President Obama’s executive actions for DACA plus and DAPA programs.

The reason that there were eight Supreme Court justices ruling on the case instead of the traditional nine is because Justice Antonin Scalia died during the term and a replacement has not yet been voted on and approved by the Senate. The Department of Justice is petitioning for a nine member court to hear its case on behalf of DACA plus and DAPA. It states in its petition, “[t]his Court therefore should grant rehearing to provide for a decision by the Court when it has a full complement of Members, rather than allow a nonprecedential affirmance by an equally divided Court to leave in place a nationwide in-junction of such significance.”

Wrong Kind of Doctor

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One Immigrant Story: Becoming the Wrong Kind of Doctor

A famous immigrant stereotype is the Indian doctor. Doctor usually means medical physician, not 18th century French historian.

The Guardian has a feature: how did you get here? Recognizing that the 11% of Americans who are foreign born have unique and interesting backgrounds and stories of how they came to the United States, the site’s feature allows individuals to share their unique stories.

Mita Choudhury’s parents left India for London in 1961. Her parents would not have been able to immigrate to the United States in 1965 because of the Reed-Johnson Act (Asian Exclusion Act), which had effectively banned immigration from Asian countries in 1924. They arrived in the United States in 1970, which would make them part of the first wave of Indian immigrants after the Asian Exclusion Act was superseded.

Dr. Choudhury ends her piece by writing:

I make the 18th century my home. In theory, 18th century society had no place for someone like me except to be gazed upon as an exotic other.

Nevertheless, the same period also fostered a spirit of critical inquiry that demanded you interrogate your own society like an outsider. It rejected the boundaries that undermined individual dignity and common humanity.

The education I received and work to pass on to students upholds these values, which are also the core principles of the US, a country established in the 18th century. Now I must ask: are these principles being compromised by a fearful nationalism that discourages outsiders with its angry rhetoric of borders and walls?

August Visa Bulletin

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August Visa Bulletin: USCIS Announces Only Final Action Date Can Be Used

The August Visa Bulletin was released last week, and it contained significant retrogressions (EB-2 worldwide). Other categories have been experiencing retrogression as the fiscal year draws to a close. September 30 is the final date of the fiscal year and October 1 is the inaugural day of the new fiscal year. USCIS announced that the final action priority date cannot be used for filing adjustment of status applications. This is instead of the more friendly filing action priority date, which is usually a few months before the final action priority date. This is for employment-based and family-based adjustment of status applications.

Immigrants Made American Fashion

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Immigrants and American Fashion

Some of the most popular American fashion icons – Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, and Ralph Lauren – were children of immigrants from Eastern Europe whose parents worked in New York City’s garment industry. Calvin Klein, DKNY, and Ralph Lauren are among the most recognizable global clothing brands. Levi Strauss, founder of Levi’s and blue jeans, was an immigrant from Germany. Levi’s, of course, popularized the iconic blue jeans, which are synonymous with American.

The fashion baton has been passed onto Asian-Americans and Asian immigrants. This Fusion article showcases the creativity and innovations of Asian Americans and Latino Americans who are becoming the icons of fashion.

EB-1 Case for Career Transition

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Matter of K-S-Y: From Player to Coach

The AAO decided the Matter of K-S-Y in March of this year, finding in favor of the beneficiary judo coach. The judo coach was able to petition as an Alien of Extraordinary Ability (EB-1), based upon his expertise as a judo athlete. Alien of Extraordinary Ability is a pathway to Permanent Residence and does not tie the individual to a specific employer. The court decided that “area of expertise” may include the field in its entirety and not just one specific occupation within the general field.

The case specifically concerned a judo athlete making the transition from athlete to coach. Many coaches in sports begin as players and later make the transition when they retire as an athlete to a coaching position. The court recognized that athlete to coach is not the only career transition that may occur within an area of expertise, pointing to athlete to broadcaster and musician to instructor as other possibilities.

The EB-1 category is created for a petitioner to apply as an individual of “extraordinary ability.” This is a high standard to meet. The petitioner could not merely rely being an excellent judo athlete in his performance days. He had also taken many steps to establish himself as a coach. There are currently calls for USCIS to adopt this case as a precedential decision.