Hello everyone.   President Biden  and Vice-President Harris have been working on immigration issues.  President Biden has nominated  Ms. Ur Jaddau to be head of USCIS. Ms. Jaddau is the daughter of Mexican and Iraqi parents.  She has over twenty years of experience in US immigration law and policy.  She is also an attorney,  who was chief counsel for USCIS.   In announcing her goals, she as has stated on the record that she will make USCIS fiscally solvent, reduce backlogs and upgrade USCIS’ technological capabilities.  It is very important that she recognizes the serious backlogs that exist and wants to address those backlogs.  It is  good that she is an attorney and understands the immigration system and process.  It is  good she is the daughter of immigrants.   She will bring a whole new approach to USCIS operations.  The Trump administration  misused USCIS and the leadership it installed at USCIS was quite anti-immigrant and generally stubborn and  inflexible.   It will take her time to get things in order and as sure as the sun rises the Republicans in the Senate will oppose her appointment, because that is what Senate Republicans do, oppose everything, and offer no solutions.  I feel quite confident she will be appointed unless something unforeseen comes up.

There is  very good news for our long-suffering Haitian brothers and sisters.  I write this because the Haitians have suffered a great deal when it comes to any favorable immigration relief for them.  The termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) by the Trump administration when Haiti was still suffering the effects of a devastating earthquake,   severe political instability, extreme poverty, and high crime was nothing short of cruel.  President Biden, last week,   announced his administration will extend deportation protections and work permits for 54,000 Haitian immigrants living in the US. And will allow hundreds of thousands of other eligible Haitians to request relief in accordance with TPS.    DHS Secretary Mayorkas announced USCIS/DHS will extend TPS for 18 months. This allows current recipients to renew their protections and very importantly allows other eligible Haitians to apply for TPS provided they arrived in the US before Friday May 21.  This could result in protection under TPS for a further 150,00 Haitians.   Well-deserved and great news.

If you need representation in an immigration matter or have any questions regarding the topics in this article, or regarding US immigration law, feel free to contact me.  I may be contacted at (305) 648 3909 or via e-mail at [email protected].    Walk good.

About the Author

Oliver J. Langstadt is a Jamaican American attorney admitted to practice law in the state of Florida.  He was raised in St. Mary Jamaica, near Highgate. He completed his high school education at the Priory School in Kingston, Jamaica. He attended the University of Miami School of Law and graduated with his law degree in 1985.  He has been practicing law and immigration law for over twenty-five years.   He is well-seasoned in all aspects of immigration law, including family petitions, immigrant visas, non-immigrant visas, business visas, investor visas, waivers from removal and unlawful presence, naturalization applications, and removal defense.  He may be contacted at 305 648 3909 or via e-mail, at [email protected]   He welcomes the chance to be of service regarding your US immigration cases and matters.

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