Milstein Law Group

10/20/2026

"The Trump administration cut legal immigration in half early this year with policies blocking visas for immigrants from nearly half the globe.

The State Department issued just 26,000 immigrant visas, which grant a green card and legal permanent resident status, in February, compared with an average of 52,000 a month in the years before Trump took office, according to the most recent available government data.

The policies, which took effect late last year and early this year, made it all but impossible to immigrate from 91 countries and reduced the number of immigrant visas available in another 61. Africa and the Middle East were hit particularly hard, and immigration from Muslim-majority countries plunged by more than 90 percent."

A freeze on visas made it all but impossible to immigrate from dozens of countries. Student and work visas also declined.

10/16/2026

10/15/2026

"Thousands of workers on H-1B visas looking to renew their legal status could face tougher scrutiny as the Trump administration looks to scrap a faster renewal process.

The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) planned changes, outlined in a Federal Register filing, would be the latest move by the current administration to alter the H-1B program amid concerns of long-term abuse by tech companies that leads to the exclusion of American-born workers."

Immigrant workers could face longer processing times and increased scrutiny under USCIS' plan to undo a 2024 policy.

10/14/2026

ICE Secretly Investigated Hundreds of Nonprofits Across the Country (The New Republic)

"Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated hundreds of voter registration groups over the past year as part of their efforts to catch noncitizens voting.

The nonprofit organization Democracy Forward obtained government documents showing a wide-ranging probe into the nonprofit groups. The documents also revealed deliberations within Homeland Security Investigations, which conducts investigations for ICE, to send undercover agents into the organizations."

https://bit.ly/4zC4y42

10/13/2026

"The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday proposed a rule that would charge schools $70,000 per international student seeking to work in the U.S. through a program known as Optional Practical Training. It marks the Trump Administration’s latest attempt to curb foreign enrollment.

The proposal, published Thursday in the Federal Register and open for comment until Nov. 9, aims to crack down on OPT—a temporary employment authorization that lets students work in jobs related to their field of study and that DHS has claimed has “ballooned into an uncontrolled guest worker pipeline” and become a “magnet for fraud.”

Photo credit: Jay Janner—The Austin American-Statesman/Getty Images

The proposal aims to crack down on the Optional Practical Training program, which DHS claims is a “magnet for fraud.”

10/09/2026

"Immigrant families, workers, educators, unions, and immigrant rights organizations filed a lawsuit today, challenging two Trump-Vance administration policies that make it significantly harder or impossible for eligible immigrants already living in the United States to obtain lawful permanent residence — commonly known as a green card — without leaving the country.

The lawsuit challenges new policies from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that fundamentally alter the longstanding process known as “adjustment of status,” which Congress created to allow eligible immigrants already in the United States to apply for permanent residence without having to leave their families, jobs, and communities to pursue a green card abroad."

A new lawsuit challenges USCIS green card policies that could force applicants to leave the U.S. and separate families.

10/08/2026

Vance: US Halts Microsoft's H-1B Status Amid Probe (MSN)

"Vice President JD Vance announced Thursday that the administration is suspending Microsoft's access to the permanent labor certification program amid an ongoing investigation and called for scrutiny of nine universities over their use of foreign researchers.

Vance accused Microsoft of using foreign workers to replace American employees, saying the company laid off 6,000 U.S. workers last year while benefiting from 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards."

Read more > https://bit.ly/473uolb

10/08/2026

"The Trump administration’s deportation agenda is destabilizing communities across the nation, costing billions of taxpayer dollars, at a time when working families can’t afford groceries, childcare, rent, gas, and other essentials. According to recent polling, 95 percent of Americans believe there is an affordability crisis in the United States. But our economy isn’t just failing because of inflation and broken supply chains. The Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign is also largely to blame.

A new report from the ACLU and American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), “Citizenship and the Affordability Agenda: A Path to Better Jobs, Higher Wages, and Prosperity for All,” highlights how mass deportations are killing jobs, raising prices, and damaging businesses."

A new report from the ACLU and AFL-CIO shows how mass deportations are killing jobs, raising prices, and harming businesses.

10/07/2026

"Thousands of refugees and other legal immigrants across the country are set to lose access to Medicaid starting Thursday as Republican-led cuts to the health insurance program for low-income people take effect."

"The cuts represent a major shift for many legal immigrants who have had access to Medicaid for decades. The government has long recognized that refugees fleeing war, persecution and other dire situations often do not have many resources upon arrival, immigration policy experts said."

Photo Credit: Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times

Many immigrants without green cards will no longer be eligible for the health insurance program for low-income people.