Gasparian Spivey Immigration

06/09/2026

The administration will certainly appeal, but this is a positive step. "The Court finds that the Policy imposes a tax on H-1B petitions without the requisite delegation by Congress," U.S. District Court Judge Leo Sorokin ruled.

A federal judge on Monday struck down the Trump administration's $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas. The administration announced the fee as a way of preventing foreign workers from taking American jobs.

06/08/2026

Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, speaking to the Daughters of the American Revolution:

"I think I can afford to give you the text, because it so happens that—through no fault of my own—I am descended from a number of people who came over in the Mayflower. But more than that, my ancestors on both sides—and when you go back four generations or five generations it means thirty- two or sixty-four of them—every single one of them without exception was in this land in 1776. And there was only one Tory among them! [laughter]
And so, the text is this: Remember always that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists."

05/25/2026

As we've observed over the last year-plus, the current administration makes decisions even though they make life worse for Americans. Contractors in Tennessee tell WJHL in Nashville how the administration's immigration policies are hurting the home-building industry in the state. Homes are more expensive because supply is tight.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently issued a policy memo stating “adjustment of status” should only be granted in “extraordinary circumstances.” Language attorneys said it could make…

05/22/2026

I am howling at the latest volley of USCIS. Let’s be clear, USCIS has blatantly said that they will not follow the statute passed by congress. USCIS – the executive branch- has stated that it will not do the job that congress and the American people have assigned to it.

A person has arrived on a visa, maintained status, worked, paid taxes, is not violating the law by seeking permanent residence inside the US. They are following a strict regimented path with no room for error. A path that often takes years or decades to navigate.

Clearly, it is time to sharpen our pens. The battle will be held in courts, but it also needs to be taken to the ballot box.

Vote
Assemble
Protest
Sue
Love
Repeat

Today, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a memo that changes the procedure for adjustment of status. to leave the country and seek the change through consular processing with the State Department. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced a new policy…

05/22/2026

In the long run, we need comprehensive immigration reform. So many of the issues being weaponized by the current administration are the byproduct of a system that needs repair. The last year-plus have been bad enough that people on both sides of the aisle are starting to envision meaningful change. Here's our summary, along with some actions states are taking now.

Now Hostility toward Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the government’s immigration enforcement efforts are undeniable. immigration system.” Recently, the American Immigration Council (AIC) laid out some basic principles for comprehensive immigration reform, focusing on compliance,.....

05/13/2026

“'Petitioners are more than just names on a pleading. Petitioners have lived in the United States for years or decades,' Judge Eric Clay, an appointee of Bill Clinton, wrote for the majority in Monday’s ruling, which was joined by Judge Guy Cole, Jr., another Clinton appointee.

“'All appear to contribute to their neighborhoods and local communities. Many are the primary breadwinners or essential caregivers for their families, which include their children who were born here and are citizens of the United States … [O]ur understanding of [immigration law] ensures that noncitizens like Petitioners should have a forum to explain that their backgrounds and connections to their communities justify release on bond.'”

The 6th Circuit said detainees must have a chance to argue for their release.

05/11/2026

Recently, we put up a blog post on the way ICE and the current administration have created problems for the upcoming World Cup. Today Axios reported that Chelsea, a suburb of Boston with a majority-Latino population, has decided to go ahead with its plans for more than 60 World Cup-related activities including showing of games with Spanish-language broadcasts.

"We want people to not be afraid to be Latino here in our streets," said city manager Fidel Maltez.

"We cannot prevent an immigration enforcement agent to enter a public space," he also said.

Chelsea officials hope public watch parties will boost the city's spirits and economy.

04/29/2026

Immigrants applying for visas in the States go through a serious vetting process and have done so for a long time. That hasn't stopped the current administration from acting as if anyone who wanted a visa got one, no questions asked. Using that lie as a pretext, they have created redundant, repetitive systems that serve no function other than delay the issuance of visas and frustrate applicants.

On Tuesday, USCIS began using what it calls an "enhanced" security check system and now needs those applicants who needed to supply fingerprints to re-submit them, and adjudication of relevant visa applications will be paused until it can restart with the new system.

According to USCIS, "any delay in decision issuance should be brief and resolved ​shortly." You can decide for yourself what "brief" and "shortly" mean in that sentence.

President Donald Trump's administration has mandated what it calls "enhanced" security checks for immigration applicants, according to internal guidance sent ​to the employees of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which ‌is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

04/28/2026

Same old story: Our current administration's hostile posture toward people from other countries backfires yet again. The World Cup will be in North America this summer, and that posture - and specifically, the behavior of ICE - means that neither FIFA, soccer fans, the host cities, or American businesses are going to get what they hoped for when the tournament was announced in 2018.

“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, the FIFA World Cup 2026 will be one of the greatest and most spectacular events in the history of mankind, right here in the United States of America,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement to Al Jazeera last week. The President is fo...

04/27/2026

This Dara Lind column on the immediate future of TPS is really interesting as it digs into one of the core tensions in the immigration system as it currently exists - it erases "the differences between someone who’s lived in the U.S. for years and someone who’s just arrived or is still on their way."

There's a lot of good stuff in her, including an accurate take on the way immigration law is made these days.

The showdown could lead to long-awaited certainty for thousands of people whose futures in the U.S. hang in the balance.