April 21
Dear Friends and Clients,
Many of you have asked us about the below tweet from the President.
While it is not yet in place, it will likely happen soon.
I have not seen any draft text of this Executive Order (EO) and I have been told there is a lot of work that needs to be done to finalize it. The key details as to the forthcoming EO’s scope remain in flux and the situation is very fluid.
From what I have heard the legal basis for the suspension of Immigration processing is under INA 212(f) to suspend the entry of immigrants into the country.
As such, it stands to reason (and we can only hope) that the scope of this ban will only affect the ability of immigrants outside of the country to get in, and immigrant and nonimmigrant workers that are already here legally won’t be impacted, so long as they don’t leave the U.S. in the near future.
What that could mean (and again we hope) that cases will still be adjudicated for those in the U.S. changing status to other visas. But that is not by any means being stated anywhere and may require lobbying or even litigation.
I have heard there will likely be exceptions for agricultural workers and health care workers, given their importance to our national recovery efforts. However, I have heard that Congressmen will ask the President for the exceptions to be increased. We have heard the ban or suspension may be 90 days.
We will keep you posted. Feel free to reach out. If you have items you need to get us to produce your case please get them to us so we can try to get it in before the suspension.
We value your business and are hear for you if you need us. Stay healthy during these difficult times. We will all get through this together.
Take care,
Jon Velie
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