Headlines
Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship – The Supreme Court ruled that children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are automatically citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
USCIS Extends Work Authorization for Seven TPS Countries Under Court Order – The guidance, which states that work authorization is extended to July 10, 2026, for eligible Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries as outlined in each notice, includes Burma, Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia, Syria, South Sudan, and Yemen.
DHS Proposes to Implement EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act – The Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule that would implement the EB–5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022.
USCIS Opens Asylum Office in Atlanta – The Atlanta Asylum Office, which covers Georgia and Alabama, is expected to move into a permanent location in 2027. Until then, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will use three designated locations for asylum interviews.
Supreme Court Increases Re-Entry Risks for Green Card Holders With Criminal History – The Court ruled 6-3 that border officers do not need clear and convincing evidence of a crime at the time of re-entry to reclassify a returning green card holder as applying for admission for the first time.
Supreme Court Rules That Trump Administration Can Proceed With Termination of TPS for Haiti and Syria – The Court held that the Temporary Protected Status statute bars judicial review of non-constitutional claims.
Court of Appeals Rules That DHS Can Apply Expedited Removal Inside the United States – The court ruled that the Department of Homeland Security’s policy is lawful and rejected a partial stay decision by a lower court and a claim by plaintiffs that the policy violates the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Federal Judge Blocks ICE From Arresting Noncitizens at Immigration Courts – A federal judge blocked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from arresting noncitizens at immigration courts and struck down its 12-hour-detention waiver.
DHS Proposes to Raise Naturalization Fees and End Reduced-Fee Option and Fee Waivers – The Department of Homeland Security issued a proposed rule to increase naturalization fees, end a reduced-fee option (except for qualified current and former armed forces service members), and end the availability of fee waivers.
Warning: Fake USCIS Web Pages – Practitioners are warning U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) users about fake web pages that may pop up when a person is navigating to or within the USCIS website.
DOS Creates $750 Fee for Expedited B-1/B-2 Nonimmigrant Visa Interview Appointments – The new fee, effective July 1, allows eligible B-1/B-2 visa applicants to secure an interview appointment at selected posts within 10 business days, subject to availability.
Visa Bulletin for July 2026 Includes Updates for China, India, Philippines – The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for July 2026 includes updates in several employment-based green card categories.
Federal Court Pauses Decision to Declare $100,000 H-1B Fee an Unlawful Tax – On June 12, 2026, a U.S. district court partially stayed its decision on June 8, 2026, that vacated a Department of Homeland Security policy imposing a $100,000 fee on certain new H-1B petitions.
USCIS Follows Compliance Order to Resume Processing of Applications for Nationals From 39 Countries, But Files Appeal – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued an alert under a court order and subsequent compliance order. The court vacated policy guidance based on several presidential proclamations that resulted in a freeze on the processing of hundreds of thousands of green card, work permit, and asylum applications for nationals of 39 countries. USCIS has filed an appeal of the decision vacating the policies.
USCIS ‘Quietly’ Lifts Processing Holds for Physicians – According to reports, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has “quietly” lifted processing holds in the United States on pending immigration benefit applications for physicians. This includes H-1B petitions filed by U.S. employers for physician employees and J-1 waiver-related adjustment of status applications.
India Per-Country Limit Reached in EB-5 Unreserved Category – The Department of State has issued all available immigrant visas in the employment-based fifth preference unreserved category for applicants chargeable to India for fiscal year 2026.
DOS Plans Drastic Cuts to Visa-Processing Posts in Africa – According to reports, the Department of State plans to reduce visa-processing capabilities at U.S. posts in Africa from almost 50 posts to 20 regional hubs.
The News in Detail
Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship
On June 30, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Trump v. Barbara that children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The majority thus struck down President Trump’s executive order declaring that such children do not qualify for citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment or the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, noted:
When the principal dissent does grapple with the operative legal text—“subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States—it has little to say. It argues only that a person is “subject to the jurisdiction of the government of his domicile.” … But that is not the question. The question is whether a person is “subject to the jurisdiction” of the government of the country in which he is physically present, even if he is only there temporarily. He is (unless he falls under one of the familiar exceptions, such as for ambassadors).
USCIS Extends Work Authorization for Seven TPS Countries Under Court Order
On July 1, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted new guidance on termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and work authorization for certain TPS recipients affected by a court order.
The guidance, which states that work authorization is extended to July 10, 2026, for eligible TPS beneficiaries as outlined in each notice, includes Burma, Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia, Syria, South Sudan, and Yemen.
USCIS said that when completing the Expiration Date (if any) fields on Form I-9, the employer should input “as per court order” in Section 1 and “July 10, 2026” in Section 2, along with a note in the additional information box.
DHS Proposes to Implement EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act
On July 2, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a proposed rule that would implement the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), which former President Biden signed on March 15, 2022.
In addition to DHS’s general call for comments, the agency is specifically seeking comments on:
A. Audits and a regional center’s record-keeping requirements;
B. The types of projects that may meet the definition of an infrastructure project;
C. The high unemployment area designation process, including the most appropriate data sources to calculate weighted unemployment average of census tracts and how a regional center should renew the designation of a previously designated high unemployment area;
D. Redeployment of alien investor capital, including the process a regional center should use to document its compliance with the statutory requirements; and
E. The process for registering direct and third-party promoters of a regional center, new commercial enterprise, or job-creating entity.
DHS also invites comments on the economic analysis supporting the rule and the proposed form revisions. Written comments must be submitted by August 31, 2026.
USCIS Opens Asylum Office in Atlanta
On July 1, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is opening an asylum office in Atlanta, Georgia. Beginning July 8, 2026, the Atlanta Asylum Office will conduct interviews for affirmative asylum applicants at three locations.
Those filing for asylum and those who have already filed for asylum who are under the jurisdiction of the Atlanta Asylum Office, which covers Georgia and Alabama, will have their interviews scheduled at one of these locations:
- A new, temporary asylum office location in Atlanta;
- The USCIS Atlanta Field Office; or
- The USCIS Montgomery Field Office in Alabama.
The Atlanta Asylum Office is expected to move into a permanent location in 2027. Until then, USCIS will use the above locations for asylum interviews. The interview notice will include information about where to go for the interview.
The announcement includes mailing and physical addresses for the interview locations noted above.
Supreme Court Increases Re-Entry Risks for Green Card Holders With Criminal History
On June 23, 2026, the Supreme Court decided Blanche v. Lau, a case about the rights of green card holders when they return to the United States after a trip abroad. The case involved a green card holder who was returning from overseas with a pending criminal charge. A border officer used that pending charge to reclassify him as someone applying for admission for the first time. That reclassification changed which legal rules applied to him and put him at risk of removal.
The Court ruled 6-3 that border officers do not need clear and convincing evidence of a crime at the time of re-entry to reclassify a returning green card holder this way. The government can use evidence gathered later, including a conviction that happens after the person has already re-entered, to justify the reclassification, making removal and loss of green card status more likely.
This ruling is relevant only to green card holders who:
- Have a pending criminal charge or are under investigation;
- Have a prior arrest or conviction, even for a minor offense or one that is old or resolved; or
- Are currently facing any allegation of criminal conduct.
Such a change in status can lead to loss of procedural protections, including who bears the burden of proof in any removal proceeding, confiscation of a person’s physical green card and, in some cases, mandatory detention with no right to a bond hearing.
Supreme Court Rules That Trump Administration Can Proceed With Termination of TPS for Haiti and Syria
On June 25, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled in Mullin v. Doe that the Trump administration can proceed with termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti and Syria during litigation. The Court reversed the related lower court injunctions and by its holding also instructed federal courts to limit their future review of TPS terminations. Practitioners warned of the near-term implications for all TPS holders from countries whose designations have been terminated during the Trump administration.
The Court held that the TPS statute bars judicial review of non-constitutional claims, and that plaintiffs were “unlikely to prove that race was a motivating factor in the decision to terminate Haiti’s TPS designation, and it follows that they are not entitled to interim relief on their equal protection claim.”
Justice Elena Kagan’s dissent noted, among other things, that “the TPS statute mandates that [the Department of State] also advise on…whether, since an earlier TPS designation, the conditions in a country (here, Haiti and Syria) have become safe. The State Department did not do that here, so the Secretary did not fulfill her consultation requirement.” She also pointed out that “the majority claims to see no evidence that race played any role in the Haiti decision. But the evidence is there, plain to see, in the President’s statements, which the majority (and for that matter, his own lawyers) cannot even bear to repeat. Once that much is established, the case for interim relief is made: There is no dispute that the plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm absent postponement of the TPS decisions. So the plaintiffs are entitled to stay in this country while these suits go forward.”
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) said in a statement that it was “deeply alarmed” by the ruling and that it “undermines national and economic interests.” AILA President Jeff Joseph said, “Even the Department of State says that no part of Syria is safe, and has issued security advisories due to unrest in Haiti. Conditions are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Yet, the Supreme Court’s decision today could force these individuals back to these devastating conditions in a matter of days. It also allows the Administration to arbitrarily terminate all other TPS designations with impunity going forward.”
Benjamin Johnson, AILA Executive Director, said, “I want every member of Congress to look around their community and state, to listen to employers and residents about what harm will come if TPS holders are forced back to dangerous conditions and removed from the communities they have become integral to.”
Haitian and Syrian TPS holders’ work authorization is set to expire on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. The ruling is likely to accelerate the resolution of pending challenges to the administration’s decisions to end work authorization and status for other TPS-designated countries. As such, others with TPS also likely will see their work authorization end in the coming weeks and months.
Court of Appeals Rules That DHS Can Apply Expedited Removal Inside the United States
On June 23, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled 2-1 in Make the Road New York v. Markwayne Mullin that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can apply expedited removal nationwide to “certain aliens who cannot demonstrate continuous physical presence in the United States for at least two years.”
According to the majority, DHS may follow its policy to place in expedited removal, with limited exceptions, those who are inadmissible “because they lack valid documentation or entered via fraud or willful misrepresentation, have not been admitted or paroled, and have not affirmatively shown, to the satisfaction of an immigration officer, that they have been continuously present in the United States for the two years immediately preceding the determination of inadmissibility.” The majority rejected a partial stay decision by the lower court and a claim by plaintiffs that the policy violates the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Circuit Judge Wilkins, dissenting in part, noted that the fact that the procedures implementing the DHS policy “do not require (1) DHS to ask the persons when they entered the country, or (2) DHS to advise persons that expedited removal applies only if the person has not been continuously present in the country for two years, violates due process.” A procedure “that can result in persons being deported pursuant to the expedited removal statute without even being asked how long they have been in the country might satisfy due process for persons encountered at the border, but it is woefully inadequate for persons encountered in the interior of the country,” he said.
Federal Judge Blocks ICE From Arresting Noncitizens at Immigration Courts
On June 23, 2026, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California blocked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from arresting noncitizens at immigration courts and struck down ICE’s 12-hour-detention waiver.
“It is now clear that the lack of connection between ICE’s stated rationales for the 2025 courthouse-arrest policies and the expansion of arrests at immigration courthouses results not from merely unreasoned decision-making but a complete lack of decision-making,” U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts said. He explained, “For 80 years, Congress has commanded federal agencies to think before they act. That instruction—codified in the [Administrative Procedure Act (APA)]—does not require an agency to make the choice that a reviewing court might deem preferable. But it demands that an agency at least provide sound reasons for following its chosen course.” Judge Pitts concluded that “each of the challenged policies is arbitrary and capricious in contravention of the APA.”
DHS Proposes to Raise Naturalization Fees and End Reduced-Fee Option and Fee Waivers
On June 23, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a proposed rule to increase naturalization fees, end a reduced-fee option (except for qualified current and former armed forces service members), and end the availability of fee waivers.
The proposed rule summarized the fee changes in the table below:
Warning: Fake USCIS Web Pages
Practitioners are warning U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) users about fake web pages that may pop up when a person is navigating to or within the USCIS website. The pages look real at first glance but include misinformation and an incorrect URL and logo.
The official USCIS website is at https://www.uscis.gov/. Below is a screenshot example of a fake page URL:
DOS Creates $750 Fee for Expedited B-1/B-2 Nonimmigrant Visa Interview Appointments
The Department of State (DOS) published a temporary final rule, effective July 1 through December 31, 2026, to create a $750 fee for an expedited B-1/B-2 business and tourism nonimmigrant visa (NIV) interview appointment. The new fee allows B-1/B-2 visa applicants to secure an interview appointment at selected posts within 10 business days, subject to availability.
DOS said that this service “will be an optional premium addition to the standard NIV application fee and will be offered only to applicants at limited posts as published on travel.state.gov and in limited quantities.” It is being offered as a pilot program “to assess demand from applicants for visas who seek to bypass longer wait times for visa interviews,” DOS explained.
Immigration attorneys have noted that the pilot program appears to create a separate, fee-based pathway to expedited B-1/B-2 visa appointments that does not require applicants to demonstrate urgent circumstances, such as significant business needs, medical emergencies, humanitarian issues, or other compelling reasons. The new fee only expedites the visa appointment, not processing otherwise, and the usual fees are still required. The expedited appointment does not guarantee visa issuance, and it does not expedite any later adjudicative steps, including administrative processing.
Visa Bulletin for July 2026 Includes Updates for China, India, Philippines
The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for July 2026 includes updates for China, India, and the Philippines in several employment-based green card categories:
- Retrogression in the EB-1 category for India. High demand has made it necessary to retrogress the final action date to hold number use within the fiscal year (FY) 2026 annual limit. Further retrogression or making the category unavailable may be necessary in the coming months if India’s pro-rated limit in this category is reached before the fiscal year ends.
- Unavailability of EB-2 numbers for India. India’s pro-rated EB-2 limit was reached, and the category is unavailable for the remainder of FY 2026. In October, when the new fiscal year starts, the final action date is likely to advance but will depend on demand for EB-2 numbers by Indian applicants and the FY 2027 annual limit on employment-based visas.
- Visa availability in the EB-2 category for China. It may be necessary to retrogress the final action date or make this category unavailable in the coming months to hold number use within the maximum allowed under the FY 2026 annual limit.
- Visa availability in the EB-3 category for the Philippines. It may be necessary to retrogress the final action date or make this category unavailable in the coming months to hold number use within the maximum allowed under the FY 2026 annual limit.
- Unavailability of EB-5 unreserved numbers for India. India’s pro-rated EB-5 unreserved limit was reached, and the category is unavailable for the remainder of FY 2026. In October, the final action date is likely to advance but will depend on demand for EB-5 unreserved numbers by Indian applicants and the FY 2027 annual limit on employment-based visas.
Federal Court Pauses Decision to Declare $100,000 H-1B Fee an Unlawful Tax
On June 12, 2026, a U.S. district court partially stayed its decision on June 8, 2026, that vacated a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy implementing Presidential Proclamation 10973 by imposing a $100,000 fee on certain new H-1B petitions. The court allowed an alternative request for an administrative stay pending a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on an anticipated motion to stay pending appeal from the defendants, provided the defendants file such a motion by Thursday, June 18, 2026.
In the June 8 decision, the court said that the $100,000 fee constituted an unauthorized supplemental tax. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs (20 state attorneys general), finding the Proclamation and the policy implementing it to be arbitrary and capricious, unconstitutional, and contrary to law.
USCIS Follows Compliance Order to Resume Processing of Applications for Nationals From 39 Countries, But Files Appeal
On June 12, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued an alert under a court order, and subsequent compliance order, in Dorcas v. USCIS. The court had vacated policy guidance (PM 602-0192, PM 602-0194, and PA 2025-26) based on several presidential proclamations that resulted in a freeze on the processing of hundreds of thousands of green card, work permit, and asylum applications for nationals of 39 countries. On June 12, USCIS filed an appeal of the decision vacating the policies.
The court has required processing of the applications, but not approval; applicants must still meet eligibility requirements. Travel bans on certain countries are also still in place, as is the USCIS adjustment-of-status memorandum. Due to the complexities involved, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers (ABIL) recommends contacting an attorney in specific cases, especially before international travel. ABIL also recommends that foreign nationals carry proof of their immigration status while in the United States.
USCIS ‘Quietly’ Lifts Processing Holds for Physicians
According to reports, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has “quietly” lifted processing holds in the United States on pending immigration benefit applications for physicians. This includes H-1B petitions filed by U.S. employers for physician employees and J-1 waiver-related adjustment of status applications.
Physicians were added on June 12, 2026, to the USCIS list, which includes individual or group cases with an established internal process for lifting holds that requires “comprehensive review by multiple offices.” The list is included in Update on USCIS’ Strengthened Screening and Vetting.
India Per-Country Limit Reached in EB-5 Unreserved Category
On June 10, 2026, the Department of State (DOS) announced that as of June 5, it had issued all available immigrant visas in the employment-based fifth preference (EB-5) unreserved category for applicants chargeable to India for fiscal year 2026.
The annual limits will reset with the start of the new fiscal year on October 1, 2026. At that point, embassies and consulates may resume issuing immigrant visas in this category to qualified applicants, DOS said.
DOS Plans Drastic Cuts to Visa-Processing Posts in Africa
According to reports, the Department of State (DOS) plans to cut most visa-processing capabilities at its posts in Africa from almost 50 down to 20.
Based on an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press, the 20 hubs to remain open for processing include Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Accra, Ghana; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Cape Town, South Africa; Dakar, Senegal; Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania; Djibouti, Djibouti; Johannesburg, South Africa; Kampala, Uganda; Kigali, Rwanda; Kinshasa, Congo; Lagos, Nigeria; Lome, Togo; Luanda, Angola; Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; Monrovia, Liberia; Nairobi, Kenya; Port Louis, Mauritius; Praia, Cape Verde; and Yaounde, Cameroon.
Charles Kuck, of Kuck Baxter, was quoted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in Georgia Stakeholders Cheer Supreme Court Upholding Birthright Citizenship. He said that if the Supreme Court had not upheld birthright citizenship, the consequences would have stretched far beyond the rural parts of the state: “There are vast swaths of cityfied Georgia where this is just as big an issue as it is down in the Vidalia onion fields. Just walk into any restaurant kitchen in metro Atlanta and you will see what I’m telling you is true.”
Mr. Kuck was interviewed on LiveNOW about the Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship ruling.
