Attorney Robert Pascal | Immigration Attorney

In the latest tightening of the screws to the Immigration courts, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has constrained the discretion of  Immigration Judges in showing leniency toward detainees, and restricting the ability of asylum detainees to be released. Essentially, Jeff Sessions has ruled that Immigration Judges are not allowed to use their discretion to terminate or dismiss cases. Such decisions would have to be made by the US Department of Homeland security. Although this may be a more hardline approach, it will surely add to the already backlogged court dockets and slow the flow of immigration cases through the system.  

If you are deciding to file any USCIS petitions on your own, a word of warning. If you make a mistake , you may lose your filing fees. If you didnt read in the news last July, the USCIS released a policy memorandum that significantly affects the decision making ability of the USCIS and the potential affects on the applicant. According to this new policy, previous applications that had incorrect information or lack of required documentation were routinely issued a RFE (Request for Evidence) or a NOID (Notice of Intent to Deny). Applicants were routinely given 60-90 days to provide the necessary information or documentation before an application would be denied. Under the new policy, the adjudicators can now summarily deny an application if the required documentation or information is missing without first issuing an RFE or NOID. The effect is that innocent filers risk losing all of their filing fees for a single error and may also be faced with placement in removal proceedings.