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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
@ReichlinMelnick
Jun 30, 2020 • 17 tweets • 9 min read • Read on X
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Some highlights from the Spring Regulatory Agenda, which is now out.

There's now a suggestion that the USCIS fee rules might not come until September, interestingly enough. Not sure I believe that.

reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge… Image
There's a new proposal to formalize some of the extensions to H-2A visas that USCIS has granted due to COVID. reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge… Image
WHOA. For the first time, the Trump administration reveals it's working on a regulation to eliminate the I-601A provisional waiver of unlawful presence. reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge… Image
The Trump administration is also planning to take a hammer to the current U Visa process, revising the "bona fide" determination and "introducing an employment authorization process for bona fide petitions based on a favorable grant of discretion." Yikes. reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge… Image
On the DOJ front, here's what seems like an attempt to limit cancellation of removal for undocumented immigrants even further, by redefining what "continuous physical presence" means.

No clear details, though. reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge… Image
DOJ is also going to propose a new regulation restricting motions to reopen in immigration court.

reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge… Image
WHOA. DOJ wants to propose a regulation implementing one of the "hidden weapons" in the Immigration and Nationality Act that would allow immigration judges to impose civil contempt sanctions.

Could be a double-edged sword, to be sure. Good and bad parts.

reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge… Image
Another new DOJ rule put in the agenda for the first time would redefine what "good cause" means for a continuance—an attempt to insulate AG Sessions and Barr's decisions from judicial review. reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge… Image
Fixing broken thread:

DOJ wants to impose new conditions on the filing of a change of address form in immigration court. That's... worrying.

reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge… Image
DOJ wants to "amend existing regulations to clarify the procedures for filing charging documents and commencing proceedings before the immigration court."

What would this be? New electronic filing procedures? reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge… Image
Moving to the Department of State, here's something (ominous? mundane?) newly published in the regulatory agenda that'll "propose new types or formats of documents the Department would require to establish identity and eligibility for an immigrant visa."

reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge… Image
There's also a new proposal to amend rules around the Summer Work Travel Program for exchange visitors on J visas (of course, all currently blocked anyway). reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge… Image
Here's another J-visa related regulation to clarify that Au Pair program rules preempt state rules. A pretty direct response to a 1st Circuit decision that Massachusetts minimum wage laws aren't preempted, requiring au pairs be paid minimum wage. wbur.org/news/2020/06/2… Image
There's also this rule newly in the Agenda about the "the scope and procedures for a pilot program under which consular officers will require certain individuals applying for ... [B-1/B-2] visas to post a Maintenance of Status and Departure Bond." Yikes. reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge… Image
Here's a planned interim final rule that seems like it's coming soon, which says that "The Department is updating 22 CFR 42.63 to reflect the required documents for immigrant applicants to establish identity and eligibility."

That's pretty ominous. reginfo.gov/public/do/eAge… Image
And that's it, I didn't find any other rules that were listed as never published before in the Unified Agenda.

Lots of indications about what the Trump administration would be doing if they get another term in office. Not a lot great!
Realized I didn't link my tweet about one the most consequential new rules into this thread. So here's IMHO the worst new thing in the Spring Unified Regulatory Agenda.

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More from @ReichlinMelnick

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
Feb 5
🚨HOLY CRAP. The Trump admin just took a SLEDGEHAMMER to due process, largely eliminating the Board of Immigration Appeals process and MANDATING DISMISSAL of ALL appeals (which cost $1,000 thanks to OBBBA) filed after March 9 unless a majority of the BIA votes to hear the case. Image
The Trump admin is ALSO changing the rules so that rather than 30 days to file a Notice of Appeal, people will now only have 10 days in most cases.

That's just 10 days to find $1,000 and appellate counsel for an appeal the government says it will likely automatically deny! Image
The goal is clear; mass deportations over due process. An order of removal does not become "final" until the Board of Immigration Appeals denies an appeal. After that, ICE can deport the person unless they file ANOTHER appeal to a federal circuit court AND get an emergency stay.
Read 5 tweets
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
Feb 3
This is a LIE. The most recent Haitian TPS grants began in August 2021, after President Moïse was assassinated by mercenaries, plunging Haiti into chaos. Thousands were killed in an earthquake two weeks later.

Since then, it’s been redesignated twice as the situation worsened.
Only about 1 in 7 people with Haitian TPS were protected in 2010 or 2011 after the earthquake. The Obama admin extended TPS for those ~50,000 people in 2012, 2014, and 2015, given the slow recovery. Here's Judge Reyes summarizing it.

In 2017, the Trump admin tried to end it. Image
Image
The fate of the 50,000 people with Haitian TPS was tied up in court battles through Trump's first term. Long story short, the admin failed to end TPS for them.

After Biden took office, President Moïse was assassinated and the situation in Haiti took a massive turn for the worse.
Read 6 tweets
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
Feb 3
NEW: Judge Reyes blocks the Trump admin from ending Temporary Protected Status for roughly 350,000 Haitians granted protection in the years following the assassination of President Moïse in July 2021.

She begins with a comparison: President Washington versus Kristi Noem. Image
Judge Reyes begins by explaining who the plaintiffs are: not "killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies" as Kristi Noem suggested.

They are a neuroscientist, a software engineer, a laboratory assistant, a registered nurse, and an economics major. All were facing deportation. Image
Right at the top, Judge Reyes lays out her official findings, after reviewing the evidence. She says it is "substantially likely" that Secretary Noem's decision to end Haitian TPS was "preordained" and based on Secretary Noem's general "hostility to nonwhite immigrants." Image
Read 20 tweets
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
Jan 30
BIG news from Bloomberg, which confirms that ICE has gone ahead and *purchased* some commercial warehouses with the aim of converting them into mass detention camps.

This is likely to be the big detention story of 2026 — the literal warehousing of people in converted buildings. Image
ICE has already spent $172 million to purchase two warehouses, one in Hagerstown, MD and one in Surprise, AZ.

ICE will then have to pay more to convert them into makeshift detention camps. Leaked reports suggest each of these two warehouses will hold 1,500 people each. Image
The Hagerstown and Surprise warehouse detention camps are set to be DWARFED by the purchase of a massive warehouse in El Paso where ICE wants to hold 8,500 people, making it instantly the second-largest jail in the entire United States (behind only Rikers Island in NYC). Image
Read 6 tweets
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
Jan 21
🚨HOLY CRAP. An ICE whistleblower just revealed a secret memo authorizing ICE officers to break into homes without a judicial warrant, which DHS's own legal training materials say is unconstitutional!

ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth. Image
ICE secretly told its officers that any time someone has been ordered removed, ICE can break down their door.

It has been accepted for generations that the only thing which can authorize agents to break into your home is a warrant signed by a judge. No wonder ICE hid this memo! Image
Image
Chillingly, the whistleblower says that ICE trainers were directed (no paper trail?) to train all of ICE's new recruits that these administrative warrants authorize breaking into peoples' homes, even though DHS's own training materials still make clear that's illegal! Image
Read 9 tweets
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
Jan 18
Noem's claim is FALSE. Here is ICE's own data on the detention population among those arrested by ICE:

- 43% no criminal record (up from 6% last January)
- 29% one or more prior conviction*
- 28% one or more pending charge

*two most common are traffic and immigration offenses Image
Noem was confused by the question and defaulted to a different claim ICE makes; that 70% of people *arrested* by ICE have a prior criminal record or pending charges (also way down from January 2025).

As I've documented, that hasn't been true for MONTHS. Image
HOWEVER, total ICE arrests include thousands of people in criminal custody who are being transferred to ICE.

As of October, 2 out of 3 people arrested by ICE outside of a custodial setting, i.e. in American communities, have no criminal record. That's what Americans are seeing. Image
Read 8 tweets

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