News & Updates
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 13, 2020 Contact: Ahlam Moussa, ahlam@asistahelp.org Changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy were announced August 2, 2019 that create significant additional barriers for victims of crime who cooperate with law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of their crimes. ASISTA, represented by Protect Democracy and the Constitutional Accountability Center, filed suit today…
Read MoreYesterday, ASISTA, along with our partners, submitted an amicus brief challenging EOIR’s erosion of docketing tools like continuances and administrative closures. This errosion results in limiting access to critical immigration relief for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and other serious crimes. ASISTA was joined in this brief by American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence (API-GBV), National Immigrant Justice…
Read MoreASISTA has developed this Practice Advisory: The Impact of Matter of Mayen, 27 I&N 755 (BIA 2020), which provides a detailed overview of provisions in this precedential decision, discusses its intersection with other BIA decisions on continuances, and provides best practices for requesting continuances for U visa applicants in removal proceedings. We’ve also summarized our key…
Read MoreThis week, ASISTA, along with our partners, submitted an amicus brief in the case Northwest Immigrant Rights Project v. U.S.Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. This brief challenges USCIS’s sweeping changes to fee waiver policies which limit access to critical immigration relief for immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human…
Read MoreOn January 21, 2020, ASISTA submitted comments in response to a proposed rule issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security establishing several new bars to asylum, including creating barriers for immigrant survivors of gender-based violence. Read ASISTA’s comment here.
Read MoreOn December 30, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) placed an alert on their website for Form I-918, Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status, stating: Alert: We may reject your Form I-918 or your Form I-918 Supplement A if you leave a field blank, unless the field is optional. Optional fields include the safe mailing address as well…
Read MoreThis amicus brief, submitted to the Southern District of Florida, addresses USCIS’s requirement that self-petitioners show shared residence with their abuser during the marriage. With deep gratitude to Prof. Rebecca Sharpless and law students Meredith Hoffman and Olivia Parise from the University of Miami School of Law’s Immigration Clinic for their hard work on this…
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As 2019 comes to close, we’ve taken a look back at the work we’ve done this year, and all we can do with your support in 2020. Learn more about our work this year here.
Read MoreOn Friday November 22, 2019, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals published a decision reversing the district court’s dismissal of a suit challenging a U visa petition denial for lack of jurisdiction. The panel held that § 701(a)(2) of the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) and 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) do not bar judicial review of…
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ASISTA Comment on USCIS’ Harmful Proposed Rule on Fees
On December 30, 2019, ASISTA submitted its organizational comment in response to USCIS’ new proposed rule which increases immigration fees, further limits the criteria and availability of fee waivers, and includes a transfer of millions of dollars from USCIS to ICE. You can read ASISTA’s comprehensive comment here.
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