Author Archives: Frank Rizzo

Eight former immigration judges who spoke to Law360 say the rough treatment of the immigration courts in President Donald Trump's second term poses an unprecedented threat to judicial independence and is eroding immigrants' due process rights.

The Seventh Circuit held Friday that an Illinois federal judge overstepped in requiring a top Border Patrol official leading the Trump administration's immigration enforcement surge in Chicago to appear before her every weekday ahead of a Nov. 5 preliminary injunction hearing, saying she put herself in the position of "an inquisitor rather than that of a neutral adjudicator."

A Pittsburgh-based Meta employee and Carnegie Mellon University graduate claims mishandled paperwork by attorneys at Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC forced him to temporarily leave the U.S. after an extension of his legal status was denied.

The Secretary establishes new regulations on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) program under 34 CFR 685.219 by adding or clarifying provisions to exclude employers that engage in specific enumerated illegal activities such that they have a substantial illegal purpose, including defining obligations and processes tied to making such a determination of an employer, clarifying that borrowers will receive full credit for work performed, until the effective date of the Secretary's determination that an employer is no longer a qualifying employer under the rule; and establishing methods for an employer to regain eligibility following a determination of ineligibility by the Secretary. These regulations ensure that taxpayer dollars are not misused by preventing PSLF benefits from going to individuals employed by organizations that have a substantial illegal purpose. The revisions strengthen accountability, enhance program integrity, and protect hardworking taxpayers from shouldering the cost of improper subsidies granted to employees of organizations that undermine national security and American values through criminal activity.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes to modify and reissue a DHS system of records notice (SORN) titled, "Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)-004 Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program (SAVE)." As described in this modified SORN, USCIS, an agency within DHS, collects and maintains records on applicants for public benefits, licenses, grants, governmental credentials, and other statutorily authorized purposes through the SAVE program. SAVE allows registered user agencies to verify the immigration status/category ("immigration status") and U.S. citizenship (including for U.S. citizens by birth, naturalized and certain acquired citizens) of individuals applying for or receiving a public benefit, license or other authorized purpose ("benefit"). "Acquired citizenship" refers to U.S. citizenship conveyed to children through the naturalization of parents or, under certain circumstances, at birth to foreign-born children of U.S. citizens, provided certain conditions are met. DHS/USCIS is updating this SORN to include updates and modifications to the (1) purpose(s) of the system, (2) categories of individuals covered by the system, (3) categories of records in the system, (4) records source categories, and (5) routine uses of records maintained in the system. Additionally, this notice includes non-substantive changes to simplify the formatting and text of the previously published notice. This modified system will be included in DHS's inventory of record systems.