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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued new guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual that will significantly impact how immigration benefit requests are reviewed. The agency announced that officers must now give greater consideration to whether an applicant has engaged in anti-American activity, antisemitic activity, or has supported organizations with terrorist affiliations when making…

Immigrant employees in California are often vulnerable to abusive or exploitative employers who attempt to use immigration status as leverage in the workplace. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for unscrupulous employers to threaten workers with immigration consequences if they complain about unpaid wages, unsafe working conditions, or unlawful termination. These actions are not only illegal…

In today’s immigration climate, applying for a green card through adjustment of status is riskier than ever if you are out of lawful status or at risk of falling out of status during the application process. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has adopted new policies that allow officers to deny cases outright without…

In May 2025, the Trump administration unveiled a controversial policy setting an aggressive daily arrest quota for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), aiming for at least 3,000 arrests each day. This unprecedented approach seeks to surpass one million immigration arrests annually, marking a significant escalation in immigration enforcement within the United States. If you or…

In 2025, international students in the United States are facing unprecedented challenges due to significant shifts in F-1 visa policies under the Trump administration. These changes encompass the suspension of visa interviews, mass revocations of existing visas, and heightened scrutiny of social media activity. This article delves into the legal foundations of these developments, examines…

The L-1 visa is a powerful nonimmigrant tool used by multinational companies to transfer key personnel from their foreign offices to U.S. branches. Designed for intra-company transferees, it facilitates the movement of executives, managers, and specialized knowledge workers who have been employed by the foreign affiliate for at least one continuous year within the three…

Constructive discharge, also referred to as constructive termination, occurs when an employee resigns due to working conditions so intolerable that a reasonable person in the employee’s position would have felt compelled to resign. Under California law, a resignation under such conditions may be treated as an involuntary termination, allowing the employee to pursue legal claims…

Adjustment of status through marriage to a U.S. citizen is one of the most heavily scrutinized immigration pathways under U.S. law. Although it provides a direct route to lawful permanent residence, it also carries with it an inherent presumption of fraud, particularly under the framework of INA § 204(c) and 8 U.S.C. § 1154(c), which…

The enactment of the Laken Riley Act in January 2025 marked a substantial shift in the enforcement landscape of U.S. immigration law. Catalyzed by the tragic killing of University of Georgia student Laken Riley, allegedly by an undocumented immigrant, the law has become a flashpoint in debates over immigration enforcement, state sovereignty, and constitutional protections.…

The E-2 visa is a nonimmigrant visa that allows nationals of countries with which the United States maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation to enter the United States to develop and direct the operations of an enterprise in which they have invested, or are actively in the process of investing, a substantial amount of…