As of July 2022, 38 states have legalized the medical use of cannabis to differing degrees. Each jurisdiction has its own criteria regarding what conditions cannabis can be prescribed for, in what amounts, and the process for issuing medical marijuana licenses. Based on this, immigrants may believe using marijuana in a state that has legalized it will not hurt or impact their immigration status. Unfortunately, that is READ MORE READ MORE

Designation of Ukraine to Temporary Protected Status On March 3, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) announced that in light of “Russia’s premeditated and unprovoked attack on Ukraine has resulted in an ongoing war, senseless violence,” Ukraine would be added to the list of countries for which citizens may be granted Temporary Protected Status in the United States. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that “Ukrainians [have READ MORE READ MORE

Federal Government Will Extend Length of Work Authorization for Some Immigrants The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has announced plans to increase the validity length of work authorization cards for certain immigrant classifications. This is an effort to reduce the times that immigrant workers would need to file the applications. USCIS is currently facing an enormous backlog of nearly 4 million applications, leading to inordinately long delays READ MORE READ MORE

United States Chamber of Commerce CEO Calls for Doubling Legal Immigration This week, Suzanne Clark, the CEO of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, advocated for the federal government to double the size of legal immigration into the country in order to address widespread worker shortages. During the Chamber’s annual State of American Business address, Ms. Clark also asked for legal relief for undocumented immigrants brought to READ MORE READ MORE

Remain in Mexico Program Expands While Federal Court Appeals Continue Despite calls from the Biden administration to end the Migrant Protection Protocols program, more commonly known as the “MPP” or the “Remain in Mexico” program, the policy has continued to be used. It has now expanded from parts of Texas into the border areas near San Diego, California. The program keeps asylum seekers at the southern border READ MORE READ MORE