Amezola Legal Group, APC

05/27/2026

05/23/2026

Some things have not changed, others were altered but 75 years of precedent law cannot be undone by a memo.

What the USCIS memo does make clear is that it has never been more important to have a skilled and experienced immigration attorney at your side if you are seeking an AOS. Please contact us for a full evaluation of your case. (619) 255-7310.

……….…Read memo below………

Release Date: 05/22/2026

Updates to processing green card applications inside the United States.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced a new policy memo reiterating the fact that, consistent with long-standing immigration law and immigration court decisions, aliens seeking adjustment of status must do so through consular processing via the Department of State outside of the country. Officers are directed to consider all relevant factors and information on a case-by-case basis when determining whether an alien warrants this extraordinary form of relief.

“We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly. From now on, an alien who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances. This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes. When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the U.S. illegally after being denied residency,” said USCIS Spokesman Zach Kahler.

“Nonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the U.S. for a short time and for a specific purpose. Our system is designed for them to leave when their visit is over. Their visit should not function as the first step in the Green Card process. Following the law allows the majority of these cases to be handled by the State Department at U.S. consular offices abroad and frees up limited USCIS resources to focus on processing other cases that fall under its purview, including visas for victims of violent crime and human trafficking, naturalization applications, and other priorities. The law was written this way for a reason, and despite the fact that it has been ignored for years, following it will help make our system fairer and more efficient.”

For more information, see the policy memo to USCIS immigration officers.

05/22/2026

05/04/2026

Renewal wait times for the Obama-era program that allows people who were brought to the U.S. as children to temporarily remain in the country and work have increased dramatically in the past year.

04/29/2026

California to share data on immigrant drivers nationally ...

California's DMV is sharing data about 1 million unauthorized immigrants so its driver licenses will still be accepted at airports.

04/29/2026

Practice Alert: New Vetting Process at USCIS likely Resulting in a “Hold” on Many Adjudications4/28/26 AILA Doc. No. 26042805. Adjustment of Status, Asylum & Refugees, Business Immigration, DACA, Family Immigration, T & U Status, VAWAOn April 27, 2026, AILA members began reporting that USCIS field and asylum offices across the country were notifying applicants and attorneys that adjudications were subject to a hold. Reports indicated that this was impacting adjustment of status cases and asylum cases, but that it could be a much broader hold impacting all USCIS adjudications.Although USCIS has not yet officially announced this public hold, AILA has learned through various credible sources that this hold is as a result of a new security vetting process that took effect on April 27, 2026. The new vetting process will require fingerprints to be resubmitted for almost all pending cases (with the possible exception for Naturalization applicants with scheduled oath ceremonies) for which fingerprints were previously submitted for FBI checks prior to April 27, 2026. Once those cases have completed the updated vetting process, new cases would be submitted for fingerprint checks. It is unclear how long of a delay this new process will cause or how many applications are impacted.AILA will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as necessary…

04/27/2026

The Department of Homeland Security suspended processing many green card applications, allowing ICE to arrest legal immigrants, including refugees, parolees, and spouses of US citizens. This is a deliberate effort to boost ICE arrests by thwarting people’s efforts to stay on the right side of the law, says Cato’s David Bier.

Learn more: https://ow.ly/9uu850YOaXT

04/25/2026

Immigrants with DACA were protected from deportation, but since Trump’s return, the government has arrested nearly 300 DACA recipients, including 75 in Texas.

04/22/2026

Senate Democrats Demand Answers for DHS ‘Slow-Walking’ DACA Renewals...

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients shouldn’t be at risk because of agency delays, senators wrote in a letter first shared with NOTUS.