Immigration update: September 9, 2025

context for all the other takes you’ll read

Last night, the Supreme Court temporarily stayed (halted) a district court injunction—a court order telling someone to stop doing something—that restricted federal agents in Los Angeles from making stops the challengers described as racial profiling. The challengers argue that agents violate the Fourth Amendment by acting without reasonable suspicion: meaning specific, articulable facts suggesting that a particular person was unlawfully present in the United States. Instead, they say the stops relied on broad profiles rather than individualized suspicion, which requires objective reasons to suspect that person specifically, not traits shared by large groups.

The Ninth Circuit had largely left the district court’s order in place, but the Trump administration appealed, arguing the injunction tied agents’ hands and that the plaintiffs lacked standing—the rule that plaintiffs must show a direct, likely future injury from the challenged action.

Justice Kavanaugh––concurring in Judge Roberts’ decision––concluded that the challengers likely could not show standing, since they could not demonstrate a likelihood of being stopped again. He added that while race alone cannot create reasonable suspicion, the “totality of the circumstances”—such as gathering places, job types, and language spoken—might do so. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Brown Jackson dissented, warning that the ruling effectively permits Latino workers to be detained on broad profiles rather than individualized suspicion.

We emphasize that the Supreme Court has not decided the Fourth Amendment issue—whether the stops violate the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. The case here was about the administration’s application for an emergency stay of the injunction: essentially whether the Ninth Circuit’s temporary injunction should remain in place while the separate, Fourth Amendment case goes forward in the district court.

When the Court decides whether to grant a stay, one factor is whether the appealing party is “likely to succeed on the merits”: thus the discussion about the Fourth Amendment, which were made only in the context of the stay. The Ninth Circuit will now review the injunction more fully, and the underlying case in district court will eventually decide the constitutional questions, almost certainly setting up further appeals for both cases: the injunction and the merits. I think.

expect more waiting for EB-1s & -2s

On September 3, 2025, the Department of State (DOS) announced that the EB-2 immigrant visa category was “unavailable” for the rest of the fiscal year. EB-2 covers employment-based green cards for professionals with advanced degrees (or a bachelor’s plus five years of progressive experience), individuals with exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business, and applicants seeking a national interest waiver (NIW). Shortly after, DOS confirmed that the EB-1 category—extraordinary ability, outstanding professors/researchers, and multinational managers/executives—had also reached its annual limit. Neither category will issue additional visas until the government’s new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2025.

For people already in the United States with pending adjustment of status (I-485) applications, adjudications that were otherwise ready to approve will pause until new visa numbers are released in October and only if the applicant’s priority date is current under the new Visa Bulletin. For those processing abroad through consulates (consular processing), interviews may still occur, but immigrant visas cannot be issued until numbers are available again, and again only if the applicant’s priority date is current. The September 2025 Visa Bulletin set EB-1 India at February 15, 2022 and EB-2 India at January 1, 2013; EB-2 China stood at January 1, 2020; both categories had been current for the rest of the world before numbers ran out. When October arrives, the categories reopen, but forward movement may be modest—especially for oversubscribed countries—depending on DOS demand projections.

EB-2 also interlocks with EB-3 (skilled and professional workers). Many applicants “interfile,” shifting between EB-2 and EB-3 based on which category is moving faster in the Visa Bulletin. With EB-2 unavailable and EB-1 also closed out through September 30, pressure can shift toward EB-3, but that can trigger its own retrogression if demand spikes. This likely means additional waiting even after October, governed by whatever the Visa Bulletin shows next.

they were serious about the no-experience part

As we discussed last week, after firing 100 immigration judges that they didn’t like, (and, now, 1/3 of the Judges in San Francisco) the Department of Justice (DOJ) finalized a rule eliminating the requirement that temporary immigration judges have ANY experience in immigration law, then authorized the use of up to 600 military Judge Advocate General (JAG) lawyers to serve temporarily in the immigration courts. Each judge now typically handles roughly 700–800 matters per year (though who knows now given the flux in personnel) primarily determining whether noncitizens can remain in the United States. It’s Justice Alito who stated in Padilla v. Kentucky that “nothing is ever simple in immigration law.”

We’re dealing with a host of federal agencies (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of State, and the Department of Labor), many forms available for many benefits, layered with the highly-complicated grounds of inadmissibility and removability, their related waivers, potential eligibility for benefits, potential penalties and forms of relief, and countless regulations, statutes, agency manuals, memoranda, and abstract legal concepts and principles that govern every aspect of immigration practice. But I’m sure it will go fine.

this weeks TPS update

DHS announced that the 2021 TPS (Temporary Protected Status) designation for Venezuela will end on September 10, 2025, with termination to take effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register (November 7, 2025). Expect case-specific questions on employment authorization timing and wind-down periods once the notice publishes.

The State Department now requires most nonimmigrant visa applicants to interview in their country of nationality or residence. Certain nationalities must apply in designated third countries. Limited exceptions remain (e.g., A/G/NATO visas, UN Headquarters Agreement cases, urgent humanitarian need). For immigrant visas, continue to expect jurisdiction to be tied to residence as well; plan for venue constraints and longer lead times where capacity is tight

dumb

USCIS is the agency that give you stuff. It’s where you send your applications and appear for interviews to get permanent residency and citizenship by sitting in a cramped cubicle in front of a messy desk while a someone that looks (at best) straight out of The Office shuffles papers and complains about buggy software. The Trump administration has decided that they also need “special agents” to investigate, carry firearms, execute warrants, and make arrests tied to fraud. Of course, USCIS agents have always investigated fraud (and quite effectively). It seems that instead of additional hardware and software to pour through databases and detect patterns they needed . . . guns.

and dumber

After sending 75 officers in Syracuse with dogs and crowbars to protect the public from Nutrition Bar Confectioners, ICE orchestrated a unit of 500 federal, state, and local officers to the construction site of an EV battery factory linked to Hyundai and LG, arresting 475 individual, primarily from South Korea; it is presumed (though not confirmed) that many entered as business visitors for work related to installations for contractors: a common and appropriate use of the visa, albeit with strict limitations. The South Korean government said it reached a deal to release and repatriate those detained. There have been no statements as to why the appropriateness of the use of certain visas could have not been addressed in a healthy diplomatic manner with one of the nation’s most important allies.

In the Chicago area, local reporting indicates federal agents have staged at Naval Station Great Lakes ahead of planned enforcement actions, including crowd-control training with shields and flash-bang grenades. State and local officials are publicly cautioning against local participation in federal immigration arrests and urging documentation of federal activities.

Somewhat relatedly, preliminary Census Bureau data analyzed by Pew suggest more than 1.2 million immigrants left the U.S. labor force from January through July. Researchers note immigrants constitute nearly 20% of the workforce overall and a much higher share in agriculture, construction, and services. Economists point to a sharp drop in inflows as a key driver of slower job growth capacity.

and still in the year 2025

Using a digital signature may result in denial of an application or petition. USCIS is probably using pattern-recognition (AI) to flag identical signatures across multiple pages. The American Immigration Lawyers Association reports a spike in Notices of Intent to Deny (NOID), RFEs, and denials in H-1B cases where USCIS alleges pasted or digitally duplicated signatures on Form I-129. It appears officers are requesting the originally signed forms from before filing; submitting a newly signed page has not resolved the issue. So keep the original signature sets and maintain contemporaneous proof of execution.

just why

The Trump administration, having already taken visitor visas away from Palestinians, has now barred their representatives showing up for the United Nations General Assembly as well.

Matthew Blaisdell, Esq.
Sunset Immigration PLLC
219 36th Street, Ste 511
Brooklyn, NY 11232
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