USCIS announced that the current lapse in annual appropriated funding for the US government does not affect most USCIS operations and fee-funded activities. USCIS offices will remain open, and all individuals should attend previously scheduled interviews and appointments. Additionally, USCIS will continue to accept petitions and applications with only certain exceptions.
Read moreHappy Holidays from DLG!
For our final post of the year on our blog we thought we’d close out with our view from outside our office windows. That’s right, we get to stare at the Empire State Building and (sometimes) the moon every day! Don’t worry, we’ll be back in January with lots of fresh content. Please note our office will be closed for the holidays on December 24th, 25th, 26th, and 31st. We will also be closed on January 1st, 2019. We wish everyone a wonderful rest of 2018 and a Happy New Year!
CNN: “Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks at naturalization ceremony on the anniversary of Bill of Rights signing.”
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently spoke at a naturalization ceremony in the rotunda of Washington D.C.’s National Archives where thirty-one men and women become new citizens. As she’s done before, Justice Ginsburg shared her own immigration story: "My own father arrived in this land at age 13 with no fortune and speaking no English,” she said. “My mother was born four months after her parents—with several children in tow—came by ship to Ellis Island. My father and my grandparents reached, as you do, for the American dream." She asked the attendees: “What is the difference between a bookkeeper in New York City's Garment District and a Supreme Court Justice? One generation.”
Read moreOnly Immigration Stories
Birthdays, Presents, and Parties!
This week was a whirlwind at the firm. We celebrated four December birthdays (happy birthday to Briana, Ashley, Gaby, and Adrianna!), exchanged gifts with our “Secret Holiday Friends,” and held our annual DLG Holiday Party at the Institute of Culinary Education where we made some delicious herb and cheese raviolis, New York strip steak with twice-fried frites and charred broccoli, and a lovely pumpkin tart with a ginger cookie crumb crust and caramel whipped cream. (Okay, we had a few drinks too.) It was a lot of activity but totally worth it. Now we just need a nap. And an eggnog.
ProPublica: “A Defendant Shows Up in Immigration Court by Himself. He’s 6.”
Wilder Hilario Maldonado Cabrera, a Salvadoran boy, was the youngest defendant on the juvenile docket in immigration court in San Antonio, Texas shortly before Thanksgiving this year. Wilder, six years old, was one of the last children affected by the administration’s zero-tolerance policy. He was separated from his father on June 6 after they crossed the US/Mexico border to seek asylum. Wilder’s father was detained separately, while Wilder’s mother remained in El Salvador.
Read moreMigrant Is a Misnomer
Rose III
Rose III by German artist Isa Genzken was permanently installed earlier this fall at Zuccotti Park in downtown Manhattan. Weighing 1,000 pounds and standing over twenty-six feet tall, the yellow rose is forged from painted steel and is based on an actual rose that the artist herself picked, according to ArtNet. The sculpture was developed for production at her foundry Kunstgeisserei in St. Gallen, Switzerland. For Genzken, who has worked in various mediums, giant flowers have been a recurring theme for her. Laura Hoptman, executive director of the Drawing Center, tells ArtNet: “The Rose is both an homage to a city that Genzken knows and loves, and a strong statement for unity and equality that every passerby in this city of millions can enjoy.”
DHS Proposes Changes to the H‑1B Visa Lottery Process
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced last week a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions to first electronically register with US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) during a designated registration period. Under this proposed rule, USCIS would also reverse the order by which USCIS selects H-1B petitions under the H-1B regular cap and the advanced degree exemption, a move the agency says would result in “a more meritorious selection of beneficiaries” by increasing the number of individuals with a master’s or higher degree from a US institution of higher education selected in the H-1B cap lottery.
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