Thread: USCIS Updates Notice to Appear Policy Guidance to Support DHS Enforcement Priorities

USCIS Updates Notice to Appear Policy Guidance to Support DHS Enforcement Priorities

July 5, 2018

WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued updated guidance (PDF, 139 KB) today that aligns its policy for issuing Form I-862, Notice to Appear, with the immigration enforcement priorities of the Department of Homeland Security.

A Notice to Appear (NTA) is a document given to an alien that instructs them to appear before an immigration judge on a certain date. The issuance of an NTA commences removal proceedings against the alien. Under the new guidance, USCIS officers will now issue an NTA for a wider range of cases where the individual is removable and there is evidence of fraud, criminal activity, or where an applicant is denied an immigration benefit and is unlawfully present in the United States.

“For too long, USCIS officers uncovering instances of fraudulent or criminal activity have been limited in their ability to help ensure U.S. immigration laws are faithfully executed. This updated policy equips USCIS officers with clear guidance they need and deserve to support the enforcement priorities established by the president, keep our communities safe, and protect the integrity of our immigration system from those seeking to exploit it,” said USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and requestors are exempted from this updated guidance when: (1) processing an initial or renewal DACA request or DACA-related benefit request; or (2) processing a DACA recipient for possible termination of DACA. As explained in the concurrently issued DACA-specific guidance, USCIS will continue to apply the 2011 NTA guidance (PDF, 77 KB) to these cases. USCIS will also continue to follow the existing DACA information-sharing policy regarding any information provided by a DACA requestor in a DACA request or DACA-related benefit request.

USCIS, along with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), has legal authority under current immigration laws to issue NTAs. This Policy Memorandum updates the guidelines USCIS officers use to determine when to refer a case to ICE or to issue an NTA.

The revised policy generally requires USCIS to issue an NTA in the following categories of cases in which the individual is removable:

• Cases where fraud or misrepresentation is substantiated, and/or where an applicant abused any program related to the receipt of public benefits. USCIS will issue an NTA even if the case is denied for reasons other than fraud.

• Criminal cases where an applicant is convicted of or charged with a criminal offense, or has committed acts that are chargeable as a criminal offense, even if the criminal conduct was not the basis for the denial or the ground of removability. USCIS may refer cases involving serious criminal activity to ICE before adjudication of an immigration benefit request pending before USCIS without issuing an NTA.

• Cases in which USCIS denies a Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, on good moral character grounds because of a criminal offense.

• Cases in which, upon the denial of an application or petition, an applicant is unlawfully present in the United States.

The revised policy does not change the USCIS policy for issuing an NTA in the following categories:

• Cases involving national security concerns;
• Cases where issuing an NTA is required by statute or regulation;
• Temporary Protected Status (TPS) cases, except where, after applying TPS regulatory provisions, a TPS denial or withdrawal results in an individual having no other lawful immigration status;
• DACA recipients and requestors when: (1) processing an initial or renewal DACA request or DACA-related benefit request; or (2) processing a DACA recipient for possible termination of DACA.

Under separate policy guidance (PDF, 77 KB) issued concurrently, USCIS officers will continue to apply PM 602-0050, Revised Guidance for the Referral of Cases and Issuance of Notices to Appear (PDF, 77 KB) (NTAs) in Cases Involving Inadmissible and Removable Aliens, dated November 7, 2011, to the issuance of NTAs and Referrals to ICE for DACA recipients and requestors.

Interim and final policy memos are official USCIS policy documents and are effective the date the memos are issued.

For more information on USCIS and our programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), YouTube (/uscis), Facebook (/uscis), and Instagram (@USCIS).

Last Reviewed/Updated: 07/05/2018

https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-rele...ent-priorities

Trump administration expands government's deportation powers

Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin deportation for fraudsters, bogus applicants



9:42 p.m. on Thursday, July 5, 2018

The Trump administration has expanded the government’s deportation powers, issuing guidelines urging officers at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services — the legal immigration agency — to begin the removal process for people who use fraudulent documents or who illegally took government benefits.

USCIS officers have always had powers to begin deportation proceedings, but in the past had usually referred cases to other parts of Homeland Security for decisions on deportation.

Now, though, the agency is flexing those powers, with guidance memos telling officers to look for instances where they can begin the deportation process for people they deem illegal immigrants.

The memos, dated June 28, tell agency employees to be on the lookout for people who apply for naturalization or other legal immigration benefit but who have criminal records, used bogus documents, lied about their applications or had abused public benefit programs.

In the past those might have been enough to reject the application, but USCIS would either drop the issue at that point or refer the case to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for possible deportation. Under the new guidelines USCIS employees are now urged to begin the deportation process themselves.

That involves issuing a Notice to Appear, or NTA, which signals the beginning of the deportation process. Someone who receives an NTA then must go before an immigration judge, has the chance to appeal, and only then is deported.

“For too long, USCIS officers uncovering instances of fraudulent or criminal activity have been limited in their ability to help ensure U.S. immigration laws are faithfully executed,” USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna said in announcing the changes.

“This updated policy equips USCIS officers with clear guidance they need and deserve to support the enforcement priorities established by the president, keep our communities safe, and protect the integrity of our immigration system from those seeking to exploit it.”

The new guidance reclaims USCIS’s role as a gatekeeper and expands the number of government employees on the lookout for deportable migrants.

“When fraud, misrepresentation, or evidence of abuse of public benefit programs is part of the record and the alien is removable, USCIS will issue an NTA upon denial of the petition or application, or other appropriate negative eligibility determination,” the guidance says.
USCIS says the move is about efficiency. In the past, it had to wait on ICE to make decisions and ICE would have to track someone down to issue them an NTA.

Now, USCIS will be able to do that immediately.

One effect could be to discourage people with bogus claims from coming forward to apply, since they now run a greater risk of ending up in deportation proceedings.

People applying under the Obama-era DACA program are exempted from the new guidance, meaning illegal immigrant “Dreamers” won’t generally have to worry about being put in deportation if their claim is rejected.

The prohibition on sharing their information with ICE is also still in place, according to a second memo released Thursday.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...-deportations/

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