Insights & Updates on EB-1A Green Card and U.S. Immigration

The Trump administration has launched its most aggressive enforcement action yet against so-called birth tourism. Last Wednesday, the administration revoked hundreds of visas and claimed to have dismantled organized networks spanning West Africa, North Africa, and Europe. According to the authorities, these networks allegedly helped foreign nationals travel to the United States to give birth and secure American citizenship for their children.

President Donald Trump signed a major immigration enforcement legislation into law on Wednesday, capping a months-long congressional battle and pouring nearly $70 billion into the agencies at the front-line of his mass deportation campaign. Standing in the Oval Office, Trump declared he was "thrilled to sign the Secure America Act to immediately and fully fund the Department of Homeland Security through the end of my term."

A federal judge has struck down one of the most controversial immigration measures introduced during President Donald Trump’s second term: a $100,000 fee imposed on new H-1B visa petitions. The ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston on June 8, 2026, represents a significant legal setback for the administration’s efforts to reshape the high-skilled immigration system. In the ruling, Judge Sorokin wrote: “The Court finds that the Policy imposes a tax on H-1B petitions without the requisite delegation by Congress.”

The EB-1A Extraordinary Ability category remains one of the most attractive employment-based immigration options for highly accomplished professionals. It offers a pathway to a U.S. green card without requiring a job offer or labor certification. However, the standard is extremely high, and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has become increasingly selective in adjudicating these petitions.

A federal judge last Friday blocked a series of President Trump’s policies that barred immigration processing from around 40 countries. Interestingly, these policies were enacted during the gruesome event of the attack on National Guard Members. However, owing to the federal judge’s intervention, the immigration agencies may again have to resume processing of immigration applications from citizens of these 40 countries.

We have already written about the new USCIS policy memo elsewhere, which stirred a great deal of debate. Under this new policy, released late last month, candidates on temporary visas who want to apply for a green card are asked to do so from elsewhere, i.e., from their home countries. Clearly, the challenge presented caused quite an uproar among many who are looking to change their status.

According to a report by CBS News, the Trump administration has developed a plan that would facilitate the U.S. immigration officials to quickly reject asylum applications without even conducting interviews. The source of this news is internal government documents obtained by CBS News.

In a 360-degree turn from the previously released policy memo, the US Department of Homeland Security has further clarified that most immigrants applying for a green card may not need to leave the United States. Just days after triggering anxiety among thousands of legal immigrants, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a major clarification on its controversial Green Card policy, stating that most applicants will not be required to leave the United States while their permanent residency applications are being processed.

On 05/22/2026, the USCIS (aka U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services) put into circulation a new policy memo stating that if an applicant seeks adjustment of status, they will have to do the same through consular processing via the Department of State outside of the Country. The USCIS memo also suggests that this policy is consistent with long-standing immigration law and court decisions in general.