The Lopez Law Firm, PLLC

06/06/2026

🚨 MAJOR IMMIGRATION RULING — June 5, 2026

A federal court just struck down the Trump administration’s sweeping freeze on immigration benefits for nationals of 39 countries. In Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS (D.R.I.), Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. vacated four USCIS policies — including the Global Asylum Hold, the Benefits Hold, the Re-Review Policy, and the Country-Specific Factors Policy — finding all of them unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The court found that affected immigrants had done everything right — filed the paperwork, paid the fees, attended interviews — yet were left without work, without legal status, and without any ability to plan for their futures.

Judge McConnell was blunt in his condemnation:

“USCIS: claims statutory and regulatory authority that it does not possess; makes decisions without the reasoned explanations that it must provide; acts without regard for the reliance interests of applicants that it must consider; and justifies its actions with pretextual concerns of ‘national security’ that mask anti-immigrant sentiments that it is forbidden from letting influence its decision-making. In legal terms that means USCIS’s actions are contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious.”

The ruling is nationwide in effect through vacatur — not merely a preliminary injunction. The government is expected to appeal.

📌 Please stay tuned — the government will likely seek a stay and appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which will have the final word before any potential Supreme Court review. We will keep you updated as this develops.

U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy sided with Rhode Island's top election officials and civil rights advocates, writing that federal law does not permit the U.S. Department of Justice “to conduct ...

05/27/2026

Last Friday (May 22, 2026), USCIS announced a policy change using "discretion" to essentially rewrite the law that Congress created and expanded since 1952 — treating it as a "loophole" to be closed and calling adjustment of status "an act of administrative grace." It isn't. It is a benefit Congress deliberately created and has repeatedly expanded to keep families together, support workers, and protect vulnerable people.

This policy is unlawful. There will be legal challenges.

And here's something important: leaving the United States to consular process abroad may actually put you in a worse legal situation — not a better one.

This is not the time to navigate this alone. Representation and a strong legal strategy matter more than ever.

If you have questions about a pending application or are considering filing, we are here for you.
📅 Schedule a consultation at www.lopezcarolinas.com
📍 Charlotte, NC

USCIS issues policy memo asserting that adjustment of status is "administrative grace," not a right and directs officers to weigh all factors requiring applicants to show outstanding equities to overcome adverse factors.

05/22/2026

We are proud to announce a positive result for a client that impacts the immigration court system. What's the lesson to learn - "haste makes waste" and immigration judges should respect a noncitizen's statuory right to counsel.

The Fourth Circuit stated in our case:
"The Immigration and Nationality Act guarantees noncitizens who are in removal and asylum proceedings “the privilege of being represented, at no expense to the Government, by counsel of” their choosing. 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(4)(A). Just weeks before two key deadlines in her case, the attorney who had been representing petitioner Josselyn Gabriela Rodriguez-Solis for more than a decade sought and was granted permission to withdraw. After an immigration judge (IJ) denied Rodriguez-Solis’s request for time to find a new lawyer, she was forced to proceed pro se at the final merits hearing for her asylum claim. We hold the IJ’s actions violated Rodriguez-Solis’s statutory right to counsel and remand to the Board of Immigration Appeals to consider in the first instance whether that violation prejudiced her. We thus need not reach Rodriguez-Solis’s alternative argument that the IJ also violated her rights under the Due Process Clause."
Kudos to Ben Winograd for taking on the case and Parisa Sadeghi who argued this before the 4th Circuit on behalf of our client.

05/16/2026

9 to 1, the government has been told it is breaking immigration law by federal judges, including a majority of Trump-appointed judges. It’s extreme lawlessness by the government that should not happen, and at the end of the day, our country is worse off for it.

A POLITICO analysis reveals judges have ruled against ICE detention practices in roughly 90 percent of cases since the agency mandated that millions of immigrants must be locked up while they face deportation proceedings.

07/28/2020

Power outage in our building for today July 28, 2020. We have closed the office for the day but will have staff working from home remotely today.

03/30/2020

Due to this pandemic, we have changed the way we conduct business for the safety of our employees, as well as the safety of all of our clients.

For clients and for prospective clients who would like consultations, we will be conducting meetings over the internet through zoom technology. We will work with you so we can see each other and speak to each other through video.

We also ask that clients work with us in sending documentation by mail and email.

We understand that there are clients who would like to bring original documents and payments during business hours; we will be installing a dropbox outside our office. We ask that you contact us before you do so, so we can give you instructions.

Thank you for working with us during these difficult times.

02/01/2020

The new public charge rule will go into effect on February 24, 2020 for individuals seeking permanent resident status (greencard). Please see the flyer published by the NC Justice Center for information regarding how it may affect you. In many instances, it does not.

La nueva regla de cargo público estará implementado el 24 de febrero para conseguir la residencia permanente (el “greencard”). Vea la publicación adjunto en español para averiguar cómo elle afecta. En muchas instancias, no le afecta.

01/27/2020

Bad news but not surprising - the public charge rule will be implemented and will result in much more bureaucratic obstacles to obtain status in the United States.

In 5-4 ruling, the high court allowed U.S. officials to implement a sweeping rule that critics warn will shut America's doors to low-income immigrants and people of color.

01/16/2020

We have known the brother, sister and mother for 4-5 years. One won her asylum a few years ago and is now a permanent resident. The other one won his permanent resident status in Immigration Court today! Congratulations to this family!! We could not be happier today!

01/08/2020

Literally these are the first clients that ever wanted a selfie with an attorney at this firm. We were thrilled that the gentleman received his greencard and appreciated representing this couple together. We wish them the very best.