On September 30, the Massachusetts District Court issued an order staying certain provisions of an Interim Final Rule issued by the Trump administration regarding the collection of civil penalties for certain immigration-related violations. Under the rule, DHS issued fines of up to $1.8 million to individuals for failure to depart. The court found that the fines were being imposed without individual consideration and assessment, and that the rule had been issued without the required notice and comment period. However, the Trump Administration quickly issued a new final rule regarding these fines, effective October 14.
The Board of Immigration Appeals continued to issue harmful decisions. Among them, Matter of M-S-V-, which will affect immigrants’ ability to secure release on bond by making it more difficult for individuals to act as sponsors for purposes of release.
The Trump Administration announced a new rule significantly shortening the amount of time refugees are given to respond to a notice informing them that their refugee status is being revoked. Previously, refugees receiving such notices were given 30 days to appeal the ruling. The new rule shortens that response time to 1- days. This new rule furthers the administration’s push to review and revoke refugee status from people who were admitted under a prior administration. This draconian rule could result in refugees being returned to their countries of persecution in violation of international human rights law.
USCIS published a notice of proposed rulemaking that, if finalized and allowed to take effect, would end the current policy under which USCIS officers generally give deference to a prior approval involving the same facts when adjudicating a request to extend a person’s employment or stay. Such a rule would inject further uncertainty and vulnerability, while likely increasing processing times for such requests.
