I am no Terrorist, any advice?
- Thread starter saxo
- Start date
Deep Trigger
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Noetic
Registered Users (C)
Deep Trigger
Registered Users (C)
Hi everybody,
I just hung up talking to her (Anwen) 2 min ago. Well,...... she said there is no major news to share, and that they submitted a number of questions regarding the exemption to the government. She said she has been extremely busy and will E-mail us to give us a summary of what is happening. No major news other than that, she said.
I just hung up talking to her (Anwen) 2 min ago. Well,...... she said there is no major news to share, and that they submitted a number of questions regarding the exemption to the government. She said she has been extremely busy and will E-mail us to give us a summary of what is happening. No major news other than that, she said.
Hi,
Here are the updates we received from USCIS at the TRIG meeting on December 11. If you’ve asked me about a specific group and you don’t see any mention of it here, it means I couldn’t get any information during the meeting about the group and you should send an inquiry to USCIS (see first item below). 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:
•Implementation of August 10 exemption for persons previously granted status whose applications for adjustment or other later benefits are on hold based on perceived terrorism-related inadmissibility:
•This is going more slowly than USCIS had anticipated.
•USCIS is reviewing every Tier III group, starting with those that have the most people on hold, to see if individuals who provided support to the group are eligible for this exemption (which they call the “Limited General Exemption” or “LGE”).
•55 Tier III groups have been reviewed. 29 groups have been “cleared,” and 526 cases involving support to these groups will be released from hold and adjudicated. 26 groups have not been “cleared” at this time, and the 339 cases involving support to these groups will not be released from hold for now. At this point the 55 groups that have been reviewed have not been made public. There are many more Tier III groups that USCIS is in the process of reviewing.
•If you would like to inquire about whether a particular Tier III group has been reviewed, you can send an email to trigquery@uscis.dhs.gov. USCIS has said they will provide information about whether a group has been reviewed (and if so, whether the group is eligible for the LGE or not) to individuals who inquire. If you can let me know the response you get I can collect them and disseminate the information to the group.
•There are currently 3,879 cases on hold, down from 4,170 in September 2012. 15,041 exemptions have been granted to date, up from 14,885 in September.
•The govenment’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 AGAIN that 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 (these are being considered together and are the farthest along in the clearance process, about 1,000 cases on hold are because of support for one of these groups)
•NDA (includes Umma Party between 1995-1997)
· Submitted to DHS between January-March 2012
•OLF
•MQM (100-200 cases on hold)
•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
•Fatah
•Al Jabah Al Watanya
•The following groups are no longer considered Tier III (decisions made since September 2012): Assyrian National Party, Chaldean Democratic Union Party, Committee for Restoration of Democracy in Burma, Democratic House of Two Rivers (Iraq), Forum for Democracy in Burma, Iraqi Turkmen Brotherhood Party, Kurdistan Communist Party (Iraq), Kurdistan Movement of Peasants and Oppressed, Kurdistan National Democratic Union (YNDK), Syrian Baath Party (Tier III only from formation to 3/9/1963), Youth Movement for Congolese Democracy and Development (MCDDI Youth Wing).
•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. Again, I’m sorry you have been waiting so long. Our next meeting with DHS is on March 12.
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
www.hias.org
Here are the updates we received from USCIS at the TRIG meeting on December 11. If you’ve asked me about a specific group and you don’t see any mention of it here, it means I couldn’t get any information during the meeting about the group and you should send an inquiry to USCIS (see first item below). 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:
•Implementation of August 10 exemption for persons previously granted status whose applications for adjustment or other later benefits are on hold based on perceived terrorism-related inadmissibility:
•This is going more slowly than USCIS had anticipated.
•USCIS is reviewing every Tier III group, starting with those that have the most people on hold, to see if individuals who provided support to the group are eligible for this exemption (which they call the “Limited General Exemption” or “LGE”).
•55 Tier III groups have been reviewed. 29 groups have been “cleared,” and 526 cases involving support to these groups will be released from hold and adjudicated. 26 groups have not been “cleared” at this time, and the 339 cases involving support to these groups will not be released from hold for now. At this point the 55 groups that have been reviewed have not been made public. There are many more Tier III groups that USCIS is in the process of reviewing.
•If you would like to inquire about whether a particular Tier III group has been reviewed, you can send an email to trigquery@uscis.dhs.gov. USCIS has said they will provide information about whether a group has been reviewed (and if so, whether the group is eligible for the LGE or not) to individuals who inquire. If you can let me know the response you get I can collect them and disseminate the information to the group.
•There are currently 3,879 cases on hold, down from 4,170 in September 2012. 15,041 exemptions have been granted to date, up from 14,885 in September.
•The govenment’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 AGAIN that 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 (these are being considered together and are the farthest along in the clearance process, about 1,000 cases on hold are because of support for one of these groups)
•NDA (includes Umma Party between 1995-1997)
· Submitted to DHS between January-March 2012
•OLF
•MQM (100-200 cases on hold)
•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
•Fatah
•Al Jabah Al Watanya
•The following groups are no longer considered Tier III (decisions made since September 2012): Assyrian National Party, Chaldean Democratic Union Party, Committee for Restoration of Democracy in Burma, Democratic House of Two Rivers (Iraq), Forum for Democracy in Burma, Iraqi Turkmen Brotherhood Party, Kurdistan Communist Party (Iraq), Kurdistan Movement of Peasants and Oppressed, Kurdistan National Democratic Union (YNDK), Syrian Baath Party (Tier III only from formation to 3/9/1963), Youth Movement for Congolese Democracy and Development (MCDDI Youth Wing).
•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. Again, I’m sorry you have been waiting so long. Our next meeting with DHS is on March 12.
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
www.hias.org
Deep Trigger
Registered Users (C)
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Noetic
Registered Users (C)
Hello everyone,
I received the same email.
I have a few questions and would appreciate any input.
"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 AGAIN that there has been movement and they expect some of these to be signed shortly):"
What is "government’s interagency working group? Is it different from TRIG working group "?
"55 Tier III groups have been reviewed. 29 groups have been “cleared,” and 526 cases involving support to these groups will be released from hold and adjudicated. 26 groups have not been “cleared” at this time, and the 339 cases involving support to these groups will not be released from hold for now. At this point the 55 groups that have been reviewed have not been made public. There are many more Tier III groups that USCIS is in the process of reviewing."
What is the difference between "Tier III groups recommended for exemption" and "Tier III groups being reviewed" of which 29 have been cleared and 26 not cleared?
Is a Tier III group recommended for exemption because it was not cleared?
What would be the basis of recommendation vs clearing it?
I put the same questions in front of Ms. Nezer.
By the way my association was with "MQM" which has been recommended for exemption.
Any takers?
Best regards
I received the same email.
I have a few questions and would appreciate any input.
"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 AGAIN that there has been movement and they expect some of these to be signed shortly):"
What is "government’s interagency working group? Is it different from TRIG working group "?
"55 Tier III groups have been reviewed. 29 groups have been “cleared,” and 526 cases involving support to these groups will be released from hold and adjudicated. 26 groups have not been “cleared” at this time, and the 339 cases involving support to these groups will not be released from hold for now. At this point the 55 groups that have been reviewed have not been made public. There are many more Tier III groups that USCIS is in the process of reviewing."
What is the difference between "Tier III groups recommended for exemption" and "Tier III groups being reviewed" of which 29 have been cleared and 26 not cleared?
Is a Tier III group recommended for exemption because it was not cleared?
What would be the basis of recommendation vs clearing it?
I put the same questions in front of Ms. Nezer.
By the way my association was with "MQM" which has been recommended for exemption.
Any takers?
Best regards
Last edited by a moderator:
Noetic,
Interagancy groups are a combination of two or more government agencies that have to coordinate their work to implement the law.
That is if the law has been written in such complicated way that it requires the cooperation of multiple parties to make it work.
In our case only state department has the authority to change the terrorist list, but they have no way to ask USCIS
how to apply the documents that first required their signature. And obviously USCIS has no authority to tamper with the list, so they need cooperation of state department to do that.
TRIG is a group within USCIS that has been put in charge by the department to work on this particular issue.
This is how I understand it. If anyone could correct, improve, or add to my statement please do so. Like i said before, it takes the effort of us all to help tackle this issue and better understand it.
Interagancy groups are a combination of two or more government agencies that have to coordinate their work to implement the law.
That is if the law has been written in such complicated way that it requires the cooperation of multiple parties to make it work.
In our case only state department has the authority to change the terrorist list, but they have no way to ask USCIS
how to apply the documents that first required their signature. And obviously USCIS has no authority to tamper with the list, so they need cooperation of state department to do that.
TRIG is a group within USCIS that has been put in charge by the department to work on this particular issue.
This is how I understand it. If anyone could correct, improve, or add to my statement please do so. Like i said before, it takes the effort of us all to help tackle this issue and better understand it.
Last edited by a moderator:
It appears to me that these guys now have a tool, but, have no idea how it works.
As if you have received a sophisticated piece of machine, but, the manufacturer included no manual in the box to guide you. Now you have to sit down and figure it out yourself. It is both a funny and nerve racking situation.
As if you have received a sophisticated piece of machine, but, the manufacturer included no manual in the box to guide you. Now you have to sit down and figure it out yourself. It is both a funny and nerve racking situation.
Last edited by a moderator:
Noetic,
I am not sure about your second question. I believe exemption process is broken into 3 fazes. You are right, it is a little confusing to put them in right order. What I think is, that they first have to recommend a group for exemption, then it should go through reviewing stage and the final faze would be clearing. I appreciate any revision from any member.
I am not sure about your second question. I believe exemption process is broken into 3 fazes. You are right, it is a little confusing to put them in right order. What I think is, that they first have to recommend a group for exemption, then it should go through reviewing stage and the final faze would be clearing. I appreciate any revision from any member.
Hi Noetic,
I'm in the same situation as you are, I had affiliation with MQM. Let's just hope, with all this activity, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Thanks
MFUA
Noetic
Registered Users (C)
Thank you JosephEsf,
I appreciate your input. You are spot-on in your analysis. What’s confounding to me is the M.O. Who initiates the process of recommendation?
Is it the TRIG arm of USCIS? And if so what parameters prompt them to recommend a Tier III group to DHS for exemption yet keeping them from clearing it themselves? Because it is my understanding that USCIS reviewed 55 Tier III groups and cleared 29 of them.
Or is it the State Department that makes this recommendation to the DHS?
I sent an inquiry to USCIS via trigquery@uscis.dhs.gov. on December 9, 2012 and will post their reply when I receive it.
I would encourage everyone to inquire as well.
Thanks MFUA for your remarks, please stay tuned to this forum and kindly share any new information that you receive.
Best regards.
I appreciate your input. You are spot-on in your analysis. What’s confounding to me is the M.O. Who initiates the process of recommendation?
Is it the TRIG arm of USCIS? And if so what parameters prompt them to recommend a Tier III group to DHS for exemption yet keeping them from clearing it themselves? Because it is my understanding that USCIS reviewed 55 Tier III groups and cleared 29 of them.
Or is it the State Department that makes this recommendation to the DHS?
I sent an inquiry to USCIS via trigquery@uscis.dhs.gov. on December 9, 2012 and will post their reply when I receive it.
I would encourage everyone to inquire as well.
Thanks MFUA for your remarks, please stay tuned to this forum and kindly share any new information that you receive.
Best regards.
Last edited by a moderator:
Deep Trigger
Registered Users (C)
Deep Trigger
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Deep Trigger
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Ewed Alehu
Registered Users (C)
Isn't the Interagency Working Group a group drawn from the three departments of the Federal government: DOS, DOJ, DOHS? If so, what would be a plausable justfication for DOHS to hold up the exemption recommended by the working group for the specified tier III groups since 2011? If these groups were to be "cleared" by DOHS as has been suggested in the recent Stakeholders meeting, would there be yet another process of review and clearance to be undertaken by the USCIS before approving, continuing to hold or denying the adjustment applications relating to these groups? Does any one of our forum members
know anything about this?
know anything about this?