Trump – Page 2 – Sound Immigration

How does the Trump Immigration Ban impact USCIS applications (I-485, N-400, I-90, etc.)?

How will Trump's Immigration Bad affect applications that are pending with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services? That is a question we have been getting many times every day. What if you have a naturalization application (N-400)? What if you applied…

Immediately barred from U.S. – citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen

Updated January 29, 2017 - 0930 PST. On Friday, January 28, 2017, President Trump signed what has been called the "extreme vetting" Executive Order. The Order - among other things - bars immigration from citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan,…

Executive Order will end DACA/Dream Act, but should not cause mass deportations

President Trump will end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) according to a draft memorandum leaked yesterday. The program will be ended immediately, but work authorization cards will remain valid and DACA holders will not automatically be placed into deportation…

Order ends visas in 7 countries (more later) and suspends refugee program

An Executive Order will end visas from seven countries and could be a first step toward banning immigration by Muslims. We have reviewed a draft copy of the Executive Order, which has not yet been signed by the President. The…

Executive Order on protecting taxpayer resources

Today we received a leaked copy of a draft Executive Order that may be released later this week. If signed, this Executive Order would impose harsh new rules against immigrants, requiring them to meet new standards for showing self-sufficiency. It would…

Trump’s January 25th executive order on “interior enforcement.”

Today Trump issued two executive orders aimed at tightening immigration enforcement in the United States. He has not yet issued the much-anticipated order on refugees and cutting off visas from "terror-prone" countries. That order is expected tomorrow - we will…

Trump’s YouTube is good(ish) news for immigrants

Yesterday president-elect Donald Trump took to YouTube to update the nation on what he plans to do during his first 100 days in office. As we analyzed here, he had previously identified a number of serious immigration policy matters that…

Will Trump make it harder to get an approved I-751, or stop the program?

We have been fielding a lot of nervous emails from clients and community members going through the I-751 petition process. They are worried about whether the Trump administration will make this process more difficult, or altogether stop the I-751 program.…

Trump’s first immigration policy changes

If Donald Trump’s own words are taken seriously then his administration will make massive changes in United States immigration policy. This post examines the first five changes that Trump claims he will make when he takes office. Another post will…

Will Trump make it harder to get a U-Visa?

Immigrant families across the United States are worried about what a Trump presidency will mean for them. If you have applied for a U-Visa as a crime victim, or are planning to, will President Trump make it harder to get…

What goes into an I-864 Affidavit of Support lawsuit complaint?
I’ve been representing clients in lawsuits to enforce the USCIS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support for about a decade at this point. Over that time, I’ve made a lot of changes to the template that we use for federal lawsuit complaints. (A complaint is the initial case document that sets forth the plaintiff’s legal claim…
What is a joint sponsor’s liability under the Form I-864, Affidavit of Support?
A joint sponsor (also called co-sponsor) has the same liability under an Affidavit of Support as the primary sponsor. By signing the USCIS Form I-864, the joint sponsor agrees to “joint and several” liability on the contract. The sponsored immigrant can sue the joint sponsor for financial support in state or federal court. A joint…
Can you enforce the Form I-864 Affidavit of Support in a divorce case?
Yes – in most states the USCIS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support can be enforced in a divorce case. A family law court has the authority to enforce the I-864 either (1) as a breach of contract claim or (2) through spousal maintenance (also called alimony). But as discussed below, divorce court is not necessarily…
USCIS Form I-864 enforcement in divorce court – another cautionary tale (Marriage of Bychina)
It is a theme that I have written about many times on this blog and elsewhere. Yes, the Affidavit of Support can theoretically be enforced in family law proceedings. But in practice, beneficiaries frequently encounter problems in that forum. Here is another example. Marriage of Bychina was a family law case in Illinois. See No.…
How do you calculate damages under the I-864, Affidavit of Support
In an important ruling for one of our I-864 enforcement clients, a Court ruled today that damages under the USCIS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support are determined based on taxable income. In Flores v. Flores, the Western District of Washington ruled that the term “income” is governed by the definition contained at 8 C.F.R. §…
How do you settle a claim under the USCIS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support?
As I explain elsewhere on this blog, almost all claims under the USCIS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support result in settlement. To get an idea of how long that process takes, read this post. Having settled many of these claims, here is an overview of how we generally approach settlement. What goes into an Affidavit…
Can you enforce the Form I-864 Affidavit of Support with a preliminary injunction?
Non-citizens needing to enforce the USCIS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support are usually in serious need of help. To have a claim under the Affidavit, their income needs to be below 125 percent of the poverty line. That’s about $1,400 per month for a household of one. But a lawsuit can take months or even…
What affirmative defenses are available to Form I-864 sponsors? None.
The Eleventh Circuit has held that the common law defenses of unclean hands, anticipatory breach, and equitable estoppel are unavailable to a sponsor who has signed a USCIS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support. Blevich v. Thomas, 17 F.4th 1048 (11th Cir. 2021). Belevich joins a growing line of cases that stand for the proposition that…
The federal right to immigration “alimony” under the Form I-864, Affidavit of Support
A version of this article first appeared in the Side Bar journal for the Litigation Section of the Federal Bar Association (Spring 2021). If you are like most federal litigators – this author included – you would never enter divorce court unless your name was on the case caption. The vitriol, the sabotage, the meanness.…
How long does the I-864 support last?
A sponsor's obligation under the Form I-864 lasts indefinitely. It terminates only upon one of five Terminating Events, including when the green card holder has 40 quarters of work or becomes a U.S. citizen. It *does not* terminate automatically after ten years, even though lawyers mistakenly