Immigration Update – September 10, 2024

Headlines:

District Court Extends Stay on Keeping Families Together PIP Applications – Parole grants are paused, but U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will continue to collect applications.

DOS Announces Creation of a Lightering Visa Classification – The U.S. Department of State announces two new visa classifications for noncitizens seeking to transit the United States to join a vessel engaged in foreign trade or lightering activities.

CBP Issues Directive on the Handling, Storage, Transference and/or Return of Detainee Personal Property – Customs and Border Protection (CBP) provides a directive with additional guidance on its policies regarding the handling, processing, and return of detained individuals’ personal property at CBP facilities.

Details:

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District Court Extends Stay on Keeping Families Together PIP Applications

On September 4, 2024, a Texas District Court issued an order extending the administrative stay preventing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from approving any Keeping Families Together parole-in-place (PIP) applications for an additional 14 days, through September 23. In the meantime, USCIS can continue to accept and review PIP applications but cannot grant parole.

USCIS has said it would continue to accept applications but not grant parole under the program while the stay is in place. USCIS also noted that the district court’s stay “does not affect any applications that were approved before the administrative stay order was issued at 6:46 p.m. Eastern Time on Aug. 26, 2024.” The court set forth a detailed expedited schedule for further court filings up to October 10, 2024, with extensions possible through mid-October, followed by “an expedited hearing on preliminary relief and summary judgment, and if necessary a consolidated bench trial.”

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DOS Announces Creation of a Lightering Visa Classification

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has announced that starting September 5, 2024, the Department will begin implementing two new visa classifications for noncitizens seeking to transit the United States to join a vessel engaged in foreign trade and undertaking lightering activities for a period not to exceed 180 days. Lightering is the ship-to-ship transfer of liquid cargo. The new visa classification permitting transit to join a lightering vessel is the C-4 visa. The new visa classification permitting crewmembers to perform lightering activities is the D-3 visa. Additionally, applicants may be eligible for a combination C-4/D-3 visa. Unlike C-1 and C-1/D visa holders whose stay in the United States cannot exceed 29 days, C-4, D-3, and C-4/D-3 visa holders are allowed to stay in the United States for a period not to exceed 180 days.

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CBP Issues Directive on the Handling, Storage, Transference and/or Return of Detainee Personal Property

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) provides a directive, effective August 2024, with additional guidance on its policies regarding the handling, processing, and return of detained individuals’ personal property at CBP short-term holding facilities.

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