Deep Trigger
Registered Users (C)
I got this today
Hi, Mr. xxxxxxxxx
As many of you know there have been some very positive developments in the processing of TRIG cases. Please note that these are not official notes from the meeting, just what I understood and wrote down during the meeting, the acronyms for groups may not all be correct:
· On August 10, the Secretary of Homeland Security signed an exemption for persons previously granted status whose applications for adjustment or other later benefits are on hold based on perceived terrorism-related inadmissibility. Here is a link to the notice in the Federal Register: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-08-17/html/2012-20278.htm.
Human Rights First has written a short overview of the new exemption:
o This covers asylees and refugees (persons previously granted asylum or refugee status), as well as persons previously granted TPS or adjustment of status under NACARA or HRIFA, or previously granted a similar immigration benefit other than a non-immigrant visa; "previously" in this context means before the date of this exercise of authority, which Secretary Napolitano signed on August 10. This exemption also applies to anyone who is the beneficiary of an I-730 filed at any time by an asylee or refugee who was granted asylum/refugee status prior to August 10.
o It waives inadmissibility based on material support to, solicitation of funds/things of value/members for, or receipt of military-type training from or on behalf of, organizations that were "Tier III" groups (in DHS's view) at the time of the applicant's support to the group, with certain exceptions noted below. It does NOT cover anyone who actually fought (or engaged in other acts, other than "material support," that fall within the INA's broad view of "terrorist activity.") It also does NOT cover people whose inadmissibility stems from connections to Tier III groups that DHS sees as particularly problematic. The full range of bad acts that will lead to this assessment is noted in the Federal Register notice, and includes (1) any group that, while a Tier III group at the time of the applicant's connection to it, was AT ANY TIME listed/designated as a Tier I or Tier II group; (2) any group that has AT ANY TIME targeted U.S. interests or persons, or engaged in any of a number of very serious violations of human rights or international humanitarian law, including a pattern or practice of torture, genocide, or the use of child soldiers, all this as defined by relevant provisions of federal law.
o There are currently on hold with USCIS a good number of applications for adjustment or I-730's by asylees and refugees who had minimal or non-criminal connections to groups that at some point in their history engaged in some of these practices--the use of child soldiers in particular. DHS is aware of this problem, and in fact group-specific exemption proposals relating to a number of such groups are currently pending either with the Interagency Policy Committee, or have passed the Interagency Policy Committee (from DHS, DOS, and DOJ) and are currently awaiting Secretary Napolitano's review (see below).
o This exemption has no effect on people currently applying for asylum or refugee status for the first time, or on anyone who is currently in removal proceedings. These applicants are often facing critical situations and their fate if obviously of prime importance to all of us.
There are currently 4,170 cases on hold, down from 4,695 in June 2012. 14,885 exemptions have been granted to date, up from 14,500 in June.
USCIS estimates that at least 75% of the 4,170 cases on hold will be released under the August 10 exemption. USCIS said it will start processing these cases at the end of September.
· In August, Secretary Napolitano signed an exemption for the Iraqi Uprising against Saddam Hussein group: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-08-24/pdf/2012-20789.pdf
· In July, the KLA exemption was implemented: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-07-16/pdf/2012-17232.pdf
The government’s interagency working group has recommended exemptions for the following groups (this means that these groups now need to be cleared through the DHS Secretary’s office, there is no indication how long this will take, but USCIS did say there has been movement and they expect some of these to be signed shortly):
· Pending at DHS since 2011
FMLN/Arena
DEMLEK
ELF
EPRP
TPLF
NDA (includes Umma Party between 1995-1997)
· Submitted to DHS between January-March 2012
o OLF
o MQM
The interagency working group is considering making recommendations for exemptions for:
Burmese groups: The Awami League, BMP, others
Ethiopian & Eritrean groups: EPLF, COEDF, EDU, EPDM/Amhara National Democratic Movement, EPRDF, ESDL, WSLF, GPLM, KPF, OALF, SLF, UDPLF, possibly others
Bangladeshi groups
SPLA/M
· The following groups are no longer considered Tier III: AFRC (Sierra Leone), Ginbot-7, Akramya, Tahreek-e-Jaffaria (Pakistan)
· The interagency group is considering exemptions for: Fatah, Al Jabah Al Watanya
· DHS has set up a website where information about 212a2b cases is available in one place: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/us...56e0955310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD#Exemptions In
· Inquires about cases can still be sent to trigquery@uscis.dhs.gov.
I will try to respond to your emails as quickly as I can, but please be patient. Our next meeting with DHS is on December 13. I am so glad we finally have good news. While the August 10 announcement does not fix this problem for everyone, and there is still much work to do, many of you should have green cards and be reunited with family very soon.
Melanie
Melanie Nezer
Senior Director, US Policy and Advocacy
HIAS
1775 K St. NW #320
Washington, DC 20006
direct 202-212-6025
fax 202-212-6001
http://www.hias.org/
Hi, Mr. xxxxxxxxx
As many of you know there have been some very positive developments in the processing of TRIG cases. Please note that these are not official notes from the meeting, just what I understood and wrote down during the meeting, the acronyms for groups may not all be correct:
· On August 10, the Secretary of Homeland Security signed an exemption for persons previously granted status whose applications for adjustment or other later benefits are on hold based on perceived terrorism-related inadmissibility. Here is a link to the notice in the Federal Register: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-08-17/html/2012-20278.htm.
Human Rights First has written a short overview of the new exemption:
o This covers asylees and refugees (persons previously granted asylum or refugee status), as well as persons previously granted TPS or adjustment of status under NACARA or HRIFA, or previously granted a similar immigration benefit other than a non-immigrant visa; "previously" in this context means before the date of this exercise of authority, which Secretary Napolitano signed on August 10. This exemption also applies to anyone who is the beneficiary of an I-730 filed at any time by an asylee or refugee who was granted asylum/refugee status prior to August 10.
o It waives inadmissibility based on material support to, solicitation of funds/things of value/members for, or receipt of military-type training from or on behalf of, organizations that were "Tier III" groups (in DHS's view) at the time of the applicant's support to the group, with certain exceptions noted below. It does NOT cover anyone who actually fought (or engaged in other acts, other than "material support," that fall within the INA's broad view of "terrorist activity.") It also does NOT cover people whose inadmissibility stems from connections to Tier III groups that DHS sees as particularly problematic. The full range of bad acts that will lead to this assessment is noted in the Federal Register notice, and includes (1) any group that, while a Tier III group at the time of the applicant's connection to it, was AT ANY TIME listed/designated as a Tier I or Tier II group; (2) any group that has AT ANY TIME targeted U.S. interests or persons, or engaged in any of a number of very serious violations of human rights or international humanitarian law, including a pattern or practice of torture, genocide, or the use of child soldiers, all this as defined by relevant provisions of federal law.
o There are currently on hold with USCIS a good number of applications for adjustment or I-730's by asylees and refugees who had minimal or non-criminal connections to groups that at some point in their history engaged in some of these practices--the use of child soldiers in particular. DHS is aware of this problem, and in fact group-specific exemption proposals relating to a number of such groups are currently pending either with the Interagency Policy Committee, or have passed the Interagency Policy Committee (from DHS, DOS, and DOJ) and are currently awaiting Secretary Napolitano's review (see below).
o This exemption has no effect on people currently applying for asylum or refugee status for the first time, or on anyone who is currently in removal proceedings. These applicants are often facing critical situations and their fate if obviously of prime importance to all of us.
There are currently 4,170 cases on hold, down from 4,695 in June 2012. 14,885 exemptions have been granted to date, up from 14,500 in June.
USCIS estimates that at least 75% of the 4,170 cases on hold will be released under the August 10 exemption. USCIS said it will start processing these cases at the end of September.
· In August, Secretary Napolitano signed an exemption for the Iraqi Uprising against Saddam Hussein group: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-08-24/pdf/2012-20789.pdf
· In July, the KLA exemption was implemented: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-07-16/pdf/2012-17232.pdf
The government’s interagency working group has recommended exemptions for the following groups (this means that these groups now need to be cleared through the DHS Secretary’s office, there is no indication how long this will take, but USCIS did say there has been movement and they expect some of these to be signed shortly):
· Pending at DHS since 2011
FMLN/Arena
DEMLEK
ELF
EPRP
TPLF
NDA (includes Umma Party between 1995-1997)
· Submitted to DHS between January-March 2012
o OLF
o MQM
The interagency working group is considering making recommendations for exemptions for:
Burmese groups: The Awami League, BMP, others
Ethiopian & Eritrean groups: EPLF, COEDF, EDU, EPDM/Amhara National Democratic Movement, EPRDF, ESDL, WSLF, GPLM, KPF, OALF, SLF, UDPLF, possibly others
Bangladeshi groups
SPLA/M
· The following groups are no longer considered Tier III: AFRC (Sierra Leone), Ginbot-7, Akramya, Tahreek-e-Jaffaria (Pakistan)
· The interagency group is considering exemptions for: Fatah, Al Jabah Al Watanya
· DHS has set up a website where information about 212a2b cases is available in one place: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/us...56e0955310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD#Exemptions In
· Inquires about cases can still be sent to trigquery@uscis.dhs.gov.
I will try to respond to your emails as quickly as I can, but please be patient. Our next meeting with DHS is on December 13. I am so glad we finally have good news. While the August 10 announcement does not fix this problem for everyone, and there is still much work to do, many of you should have green cards and be reunited with family very soon.
Melanie
Melanie Nezer
Senior Director, US Policy and Advocacy
HIAS
1775 K St. NW #320
Washington, DC 20006
direct 202-212-6025
fax 202-212-6001
http://www.hias.org/