U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has announced an extension of its interim policy that allows employers to inspect the Form I-9 requirement virtually through August 31, 2021. This flexibility was first issued by ICE in March 2020, due to the pandemic, and has been extended multiple times since. COVID-19 Flexibility Extended Form I-9 flexibility policy was set to expire on May 31, 2021. The policy applies READ MORE READ MORE

White House Terminates “Remain in Mexico” Program On Tuesday, the Biden administration formally ended the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” program, which had imposed potential asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their applications for asylum processed in the U.S. immigration court system. The Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, issued a memo stating that the policy had not helped with border management. The policy had not READ MORE READ MORE

Owing to the catastrophic spread of the coronavirus, a federal judge last spring ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release detainees with certain medical conditions. Eighteen detainees were released but continued to appear for their immigration court hearings from outside detention facilities. Attorneys of released immigrants now fear their medically vulnerable clients may be re-arrested and sent to Pennsylvania jails to continue their detention. Lag READ MORE READ MORE

On May 10, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the revival of the Obama-era program International Entrepreneur Rule (IER). In 2018, the Trump administration proposed to eliminate the IER rule, which allows certain foreign-born entrepreneurs to stay in the U.S. for up to five years. The DHS estimates that once the program is implemented, about 3,000 foreign entrepreneurs per year would qualify. This would result READ MORE READ MORE

State Bill Would End ICE Contracts in New Jersey The Law and Public Safety Committee of the New Jersey State Senate has advanced a bill that would bar local governments and private prisons from entering into any contracts to house or detain people for civil immigration violations. The New Jersey bill would also prohibit the renewal of any existing contracts, including between both Hudson and Bergen county READ MORE READ MORE