Headlines:
First Circuit Denies Keep in $100,000 H-1B Payment Case – The $100,000 H-1B utility payment stays vacated pending a call on the deserves within the underlying enchantment.
Court docket Points Administrative Keep of Sure USCIS Insurance policies Associated to TPS-Primarily based EAD Expiration and Asylum Charges – A U.S. district court docket issued an order granting, partially, plaintiffs’ emergency movement for an administrative keep of sure USCIS insurance policies based mostly on H.R. 1 (the “One Large Lovely Invoice Act”). The plaintiffs are membership-based organizations representing people holding Short-term Protected Standing and pending asylum candidates.
DHS Is Assessing Day by day Fines for Failure to Depart the USA After Elimination Order – The Trump administration has begun issuing letters assessing fines of $998 per day for a person’s failure to depart the USA after receiving an order of elimination, no matter whether or not the individual is pursuing an alternate type of immigration aid or has a piece allow or different permission to stay in the USA.
DOS Declares ‘B’ Visa Expedited Appointment Pilot Program, Beginning With Mission Mexico – The Division of State is testing a voluntary, non-obligatory nonimmigrant visa expedited appointment program for B visas at choose U.S. embassies and consulates by means of December 31, 2026, beginning with Mission Mexico (embassy and all consulates).
USCIS Updates TPS Steering for Haiti – On July 24, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers (USCIS) posted an replace concerning the standing of employment authorization paperwork (EADs) for non permanent protected standing (TPS)-holders from Haiti. TPS and related EADs stay legitimate and prolonged per a court docket order.
Particulars:
First Circuit Denies Keep in $100,000 H-1B Payment Case
On July 24, 2026, the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the First Circuit denied a movement to proceed a keep in State of California v. Mullin. In that case, plaintiffs (a gaggle of 20 states[1]) challenged a proclamation by President Trump requiring that $100,000 be paid with every H-1B petition. The plaintiffs argued that the actions taken by a number of federal companies to implement the proclamation had been unlawful and unconstitutional. Additionally they claimed that the coverage would hurt their states and result in staffing shortages in public universities, Okay-12 colleges, and healthcare programs.
A district court docket beforehand vacated the coverage as unlikely to succeed on the deserves however granted a brief administrative keep. The First Circuit agreed with the decrease court docket and famous that the plaintiff states had been prone to be considerably injured by the keep. The First Circuit’s order implies that the $100,000 H-1B utility payment stays vacated pending a call on the deserves within the underlying enchantment.
It’s broadly anticipated that the Trump administration will petition the Supreme Court docket if it loses on the deserves within the First Circuit. A last First Circuit determination is just not anticipated till a while in 2027.
Court docket Points Administrative Keep of Sure USCIS Insurance policies Associated to TPS-Primarily based EAD Expiration and Asylum Charges
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers (USCIS) not too long ago introduced that on July 21, 2026, a U.S. district court docket issued an order in Venezuelan Affiliation of Massachusetts v. USCIS granting, partially, plaintiffs’ emergency movement for an administrative keep of sure USCIS insurance policies based mostly on H.R. 1 (the “One Large Lovely Invoice Act”). Plaintiffs are membership-based organizations representing people holding Short-term Protected Standing (TPS) and pending asylum candidates.
USCIS stated it would adjust to the court docket’s order pending additional judicial proceedings. The court docket’s order stays the next parts of USCIS’s insurance policies:
- Utility of H.R. 1 to TPS-based employment authorization doc (EAD) expiration deadlines, which means that any beforehand prolonged TPS-based EAD will preserve its prior expiration date;
- Rejection of asylum purposes for failure to pay the annual asylum payment (AAF);
- Termination of labor authorization because of failing to pay the AAF; and
- Initiation of elimination procedures based mostly solely on an individual’s failure to pay the AAF.
The court docket stated that the executive keep will stay in impact till an order to be issued by August 5, 2026. USCIS famous that the court docket’s order “expressly permits USCIS to proceed accumulating the AAF. Subsequently, any alien to whom USCIS despatched or sends a discover concerning the AAF should pay the payment based on the directions in that discover. All different charges and necessities of H.R. 1 proceed in impact.”
DHS Is Assessing Day by day Fines for Failure to Depart the USA After Elimination Order
The Trump administration has begun issuing letters assessing fines of $998 per day for a person’s failure to depart the USA after receiving an order of elimination, no matter whether or not the individual is pursuing an alternate type of immigration aid or has a piece allow or different permission to stay in the USA. On July 23, 2026, the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) introduced that below a streamlined course of, it has issued greater than $84 billion in civil fines for failure to depart.
DHS has despatched greater than 100,000 such letters, that are accompanied by fliers explaining find out how to self-deport. The fines can add as much as greater than $1 million. In a single case, the letter gave the recipient 15 days to contest the choice. However after submitting an enchantment, the letter recipient acquired a second letter threatening her credit score and referral for assortment litigation, and stating that her debt can be thought-about in any future immigration proceedings. Many such appeals have been denied, based on legal professionals interviewed by the New York Occasions, together with a 68-year-old man whose U.S. citizen spouse has most cancers and who had acquired DHS’s permission to stay in the USA after receiving an order of elimination in 2012. His letter stated he owed $579,838.
Advocates and attorneys for particular person shoppers have filed a number of federal lawsuits to dam the coverage on due course of and constitutional grounds.
DOS Declares ‘B’ Visa Expedited Appointment Pilot Program, Beginning With Mission Mexico
On July 22, 2026, the Division of State (DOS) introduced that it’s testing a voluntary, non-obligatory nonimmigrant visa expedited appointment program for B visas at choose U.S. embassies and consulates by means of December 31, 2026, beginning with Mission Mexico (embassy and all consulates).
Beneath the pilot program, eligible candidates for B visas—these making new appointments or holding current appointments with unexpired machine-readable visa (MRV) payment receipts—could pay a $750 payment per appointment to schedule a visa interview inside 10 enterprise days (topic to availability). Candidates should first comply with the same old course of to pay the $185 MRV payment and schedule an interview appointment. If expedited appointments can be found, these appointments might be seen for candidates to pick when scheduling their appointments, DOS stated. After an applicant selects an expedited appointment date and time, the $750 payment cost have to be accomplished inside 10 minutes to safe the appointment.
DOS famous that further pilot areas could also be introduced all through the pilot interval.
USCIS Updates TPS Steering for Haiti
On July 24, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers (USCIS) posted an replace concerning the standing of employment authorization paperwork (EADs) for non permanent protected standing (TPS)-holders from Haiti. TPS and related EADs stay legitimate and prolonged per a court docket order.
In keeping with USCIS, when finishing the expiration date (if any) fields on Type I-9, employers ought to enter “as per court docket order” in Part 1 and “July 27, 2026” in Part 2 together with a observe within the further data field. Employers could obtain the Alert and TPS Haiti webpage and connect them to Type I-9. When finishing a case in E-Confirm, employers ought to enter the expiration date of “July 27, 2026” from the Type I-9.
USCIS recommends checking the USCIS TPS Haiti webpage frequently for updates.
[1] The plaintiff states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
