Maria del Carmen Ramos – Page 8 – The Immigration Bulletin

Proud to Support Third Annual HBIF Golf Tournament

Beautiful weather and golfing for a worthy cause makes for a fantastic Friday! Today is the Third Annual Hispanic Business Initiative Fund (HBIF) golf tournament in Tampa, Florida. In addition to Shumaker’s sponsorship, I was happy to sponsor a foursome. Proceeds from this event will be used for services that help create and retain jobs in ‎Florida. Some of the other event sponsors include Bank of America, Chase, PNC, Wells Fargo, Walt Disney World Resort, Suncoast Credit Union, Impact Industrial Supplies, Telemundo and UPS.

HBIF was first established in 1991 in Tampa, by community leaders and government officials who identified the need for bilingual technical assistance and support for Hispanic entrepreneurs in the area. Today, HBIF is recognized as the state’s leading nonprofit, economic development organization specializing in providing bilingual assistance to Hispanic entrepreneurs. In order to increase the number of viable, fiscally sustainable businesses, create jobs, and help the community prosper, HBIF offers a variety of services to Hispanics who wish to start or grow their business in Florida. With offices in the West Coast, Central and South Florida regions, all HBIF services to clients are free thanks to corporate donations, government grants and special fundraising events. In the last five fiscal years, HBIF has helped clients create and retain 5,287 jobs in Florida.

HBIF Tourn

DHS Asks Court to Dismiss Lawsuit Challenging H-4 Work Authorization

While the lawsuit challenging President Obama’s executive action continues to garner headlines, an additional lawsuit has been filed contesting another part of the executive actions that DHS is attempting to implement. This time the lawsuit is challenging the administration’s authority to give work authorization to the H-4 dependent spouses of certain H-1B nonimmigrants. Currently, H-4 spouses are not authorized to engage in employment unless the spouse has his/her own work visa. Continue reading “DHS Asks Court to Dismiss Lawsuit Challenging H-4 Work Authorization”

2000 Three Year Work Permits Were Issued by DHS in Violation of Injunction

In a Thursday midnight filing, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers disclosed that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued about 2,000 three-year work permits (as opposed to the currently authorized two-year permits) to illegal immigrants granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Technically, the issuance of the three-year work permits — an aspect of President Obama’s November 20 executive actions which expanded DACA — was in violation of U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen’s February 16 injunction issued in the case of State of Texas v. United States. Continue reading “2000 Three Year Work Permits Were Issued by DHS in Violation of Injunction”

Premium Processing Update for Selected H-1B Petitions

United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will begin premium processing H-1B petitions selected during its April 13, 2015 lottery by no later than April 27, 2015.

Continue reading “Premium Processing Update for Selected H-1B Petitions”

Alert: USCIS Conducts Random H-1B Lottery for FY 2016

Today, after receiving nearly 233,000 petitions, United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it conducted its lottery (a computer-generated random selection process) to select the H-1B petitions that it will adjudicate for the 65,000 general-cap and 20,000 master’s cap visas available for FY 2016. Continue reading “Alert: USCIS Conducts Random H-1B Lottery for FY 2016”

Multiple Legal Briefs Defending The President’s Executive Actions Filed

On Monday, multiple amicus briefs were filed with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of State of Texas v. United States. As way of background, a coalition of 26 states, including the State of Texas, sued the U.S. government to prevent the implementation of the President’s Executive Actions on Immigration on the grounds that the executive actions are unconstitutional and would require the states to invest more in law enforcement, health care, and education. Continue reading “Multiple Legal Briefs Defending The President’s Executive Actions Filed”

H-1B Cap For FY 2016 Has Been Reached

United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced today that it has reached the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for fiscal year 2016. Continue reading “H-1B Cap For FY 2016 Has Been Reached”

Fifth Circuit to Hear Oral Arguments on Whether to Lift Injunction on April 17

Yesterday, the Fifth Circuit granted the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) request to expedite its appeal of U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen’s injunction staying President Obama’s immigration actions. Continue reading “Fifth Circuit to Hear Oral Arguments on Whether to Lift Injunction on April 17”

OPT Program Under Attack

While a lawsuit challenging President Obama’s executive action has garnered headlines recently, another lawsuit that could negatively impact the labor supply and increase the cost of doing business for employers has largely managed to escape the media’s attention. Continue reading “OPT Program Under Attack”

USCIS Resumes Processing of H-2B Petitions

As reported on March 10, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) suffered a setback as result of a ruling by a federal district court in the Northern District of Florida on March 4, 2015. Continue reading “USCIS Resumes Processing of H-2B Petitions”