Who should think twice about traveling, what students are doing with their SEVIS terminations, why some people are getting fined a LOT of money, and a bit more.

Students and travel

Earlier this year, the Department of State (DOS) issued a Federal Register notice asserting that all federal efforts to control the movement of people, goods, services, and data across U.S. borders constitute a “foreign affairs function” exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). This would extend the DOS’ longstanding APA exemption to other federal agencies without needing to cite to clear statutory authority. If accepted, this could limit rulemaking and restrict judicial review of agency delays, including the ability to sue over delays.

While this pronouncement went out a few months ago, it emphasizes a point that some lawyers have been making: don’t travel unless necessary. This isn’t necessarily the stance I adopt in every circumstance; every instances is different, and quite often people are unnecessarily worried due to anecdotal and incomplete evidence.

However, there are three groups in particular that might want to think through there strategies for traveling in and out of the U.S.: those subject to the new travel ban; those who would need to renew their visa at the embassy; and students who experienced prior SEVIS revocations.

We discussed travel ban 2025 last week. If you fall into one of the two bans on visa issuance, you can still apply for a visa, you just won’t get it. There is no clarification yet on what would constitute an exception in the national interest (other than their example of helping to prosecute criminal offenses). During the first Trump Administration’s travel ban, one could request an exemption at the time of the interview, and they were not impossible to receive. In the current context, however, DOS may not be feeling generous.

However, recall that this is a ban on visa issuance: not on having a particular status. If you would otherwise be subject to the ban but already have a valid visa, you may enter. If you are already in the U.S. and in valid status, you may still apply to change or extend that status via an application to USCIS.

We also discussed the sort-of student visa ban last week. While the Administration is still targeting Harvard specifically, the global pause remains in place for issuing student visas while DOS sorts out its social media vetting procedures.

Generally, I would expect more scrutiny for those seeking to apply for visitor visas as well. There is support for the idea that these policies will be extended to additional visa classifications going forward. And even for those with valid student visas and valid SEVIS records, one might still expect potentially lengthy questioning and device searches at customs, where one is not entitled to access to counsel or other protections that one might expect after entering the U.S. (Ports of entry are not considered to be parts of the interior U.S. When you approach customs with a visa, you are applying for permission to enter—and you are not at that moment entitled to the same protections as those who have already received permission to enter.) Therefore, it is helpful to know the policies and attitudes of the CBP operations at various airports; there can be quite a discrepancy between them.

Regarding those students whose SEVIS records were erroneously terminated by ICE, best practice is probably to avoid then seeking to fix the problem through the embassy, but instead to work with your school to reinstate the record through USCIS. Note that it should still be possible to transfer an I-20 in order to apply for a reinstated record. In the meantime, continue to comply with the terms of your F-1, but avoid working during the period of termination.

Also note that it is possible to apply to change status to-and-from visitor status, and these applications can be filed online. Moreover, applications to change to student visa status may be supplemented by premium processing--which may be necessary to comply with the academic calendar.

going.

And expect airlines to be much tougher on travelers from such countries seeking to board. Customs and Border Protection’s Carrier Liaison Program stated that carriers (the airlines) can be fined for each affected person that they bring into the U.S.

Visa bulletin:

The July 2025 visa bulletin is out. We gave very short explainer on the bulletin in the May 21 newsletter. Applicants in all family-sponsored preference categories must use the Dates for Filing chart, while applicants in all employment-based preference categories must use the Final Action Dates chart. You can also find updates for the diversity visa program.

In other DOS-related news, you must submit your DS-160 at least two business days before your appointment for a nonimmigrant visa, you must now pay the visa fee again if it has been over 365 days or if you otherwise failed to update the barcode, and you will be turned away if the DS-160 number on the confirmation page is not an exact match of the number on the appointment notice. So double-check the confirmation number (you can updated it here), ensure that the DS-160 was submitted (here) at least two business days earlier, and contact the embassy if the barcode does not update.

status updates

The USCIS Policy Manual section for TN visas was updated in regards to requirements for filing, eligibility, certain occupations, and dependents.

Those who were paroled in visa the CHNV program (for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans) have begun receiving emailed termination notices from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) noting that their parole is terminated and their parole-based employment authorization is revoked, effective immediately.

Fines

A bill signed during an earlier enforcement era (1996) permits the government (currently, this would fall under ICE) to impose penalties of up to $500 a day to foreign nationals who have failed to depart subsequent to their final order of removal––Immigration and Nationality Act § 274D. The amount of the fine has increased each year to track inflation. The last update to this section of the federal regulations––at 8 CFR §280.53(b)(4)––occurred on May 18th, 2025, at which time the daily penalty increased to $998 per day.

After a fine is imposed, ICE must provide sufficient notification, including 30 days for the foreign national to submit a dispute. Once the fine has been issued, it can be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).

Notices of Intention to Fine (NOIF) were issued under the first Trump Administration at the end of 2018, at that time issuing penalties of up to $799 for each day (and over $291,000 for each year in the U.S. following the removal order); these were reversed by the same Administration the following year.

We are now hearing reports of fines being issued in the amount of $1.8 million. It may be that the government is actually combining two fees: one for failing to depart after a “normal” removal order, and one for failing to depart after an order of voluntary departure—which itself becomes a final order if the foreign national fails to depart within the allotted timeframe. Some speculate that, given the fact that these fines cannot be satisfied, the real motivation is to entice these individuals to appear at a time and place at which they might be detained and physically removed from the U.S.

This notion is reinforced by last week’s pronouncement that those who “self-deport” through the CBP Home App will receive forgiveness of any civil fines or penalties: in addition to the cost-free travel and $1,000 stipend that DHS has promised to those who “self-deport.”

Quickly:

There’s a great deal of pressure being brought to immigration judges to quickly get rid of cases, enabling ICE to immediately arrest individuals appearing in immigration court: a practice we’ve been discussing in the last few newsletters, and which merits a fuller discussion in a future newsletter.

ICE has been ordered to increase audits of employers’ I‑9 compliance. According to the Washington Post, since the new year, audits have increased 10x,  leading to raids in industries like meat processing, construction, hospitality, retail, and technology. These are a function of the Administration’s quota, discussed last week, of arresting 3,000 immigrants a day, largely while they are at work or attending court hearings: particularly within New York, Chicago, or L.A. The Wall Street Journal reports that the labor market might already be shrinking, and in the fact of Republican pushback, and the Administration has promised to ease up on farmers and hotel workers. But it may be the health workforce that is really at risk, where there is already a sortable of 80,000 workers, in an industry where 30% of personal care workers and 40% of health aides are foreign-born. Nursing homes are struggling to remain staffed.

That’s it for the week. Thanks for reading, and let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to cover.

Hi everyone,

The way removal (deportation) proceedings work is that you get a document that charges you with immigration offenses and tells you to go court on a specific date. From there, you start what is sometimes a short and sometimes a very long process where ICE is represented by lawyers and you represent yourself, unless you get a lawyer to do that for you.

The government has to prove the charges against you, and if they don’t, the case is terminated and you get back to your life. If the government does prove the charges, then you get the chance to “seek relief” by identifying a defense that might allow you to stay regardless; you might be otherwise eligible to apply for a status based based on family, employment, or a humanitarian basis. It gets really complicated, but there is a process that basically works, just as in a criminal or in any other civil context.

However, this is a government that isn’t really keen on understanding laws, or following laws, or just laws; they really would just rather skip all that. Right now, if you try to follow orders by appearing for your court hearings, they might just decide to arrest you there instead: in the elevator, in the hallways, wherever. Here in New York, Miami, and all over the U.S.

The trick they’re getting the most mileage from is to get you to show and, once you’re there, suddenly decide that they changed their mind and do not want to pursue the charges, getting the case dismissed, depriving you of the opportunity to seek a defense and allowing them to just grab you, then move you around the country so that your family and lawyers can’t find you.

Or, if they don’t even want to bother with “changing their mind,” they might just deport you while the hearings continue, then ask the judge to end the case once they’ve dropped you off in a Salvadoran prison: regardless of whether you you are from El Salvador, or have anything to do with El Salvador. And no, this has nothing to do with convictions.

As a last resort, should the judge decide not to play along, ICE can merely decide that you’re a flight risk or public safety threat and take you into custody, which has the effect of scaring some from attending their hearing: which then results in removal order, allowing ICE to detain and deport you at any time, in any place.

Apparently, current ICE staff is not executing this scheme fast enough. As we’ve mentioned, the National Guard has been recruited to the purpose, and the FBI is on their way as well.

We’re attaching a flyer here from the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) to help you avoid this type of scenario.

This week’s self-harm update:

The administration continues to do what it can to prevent pretty much anyone born abroad from subsidizing our schools with their money. We referenced earlier the announcement of a policy to halt processing of student visas at U.S. embassies so that they can review social media postings on “national security” and “foreign policy” grounds, and apparently cables to the embassies from the Department of State (DOS) have gone out to that effect.

Per AILA (DOS spelling errors included):

The cable directs consular officers to maintain “extra vigilance and to comprehensively review and screen every visa applicant for potential security and non-security related ineligibilities including to assess whether the applicant poses a threat to U.S. national security.” The cable singles out Harvard, stating that the purpose of the new vetting instructions is “to address the acute concerns of violence and anti-Semitism at Harvard University.” The cable states that it applies not only to students but any nonimmigrant visa applicant intending to travel to Harvard for any reason, including “prospective students, students, faculty, employees, contractors, guest speakersk [sic], and tourists.” It also states “implementation of this ALDAC [cable] will also serve as a pilot of expanded screening and vetting of visa applicants.  This pilot will be expanded over time.” (emphasis added).

Notably, the cable points out that “lack of any online presence” or making social media accounts private “may be reflective of evasiveness and call into question the applicant’s credibility.”  . . .  The cable also notes that any online presence should be reviewed, not just social media. Note that while this so-called “pilot” currently applies to Harvard-related visa applications, it may be expanded to other types/categories/universities/businesses.

And if you’re a Chinese student currently here on a valid student visa, they might just revoke it entirely, without anything to do with social media.

For the employers:

E-Verify employers have been getting very vague emails from Homeland Security alleging that the employer may have a number of unauthorized workers, without providing much guidance by way of what the employer is supposed to verify this or what ot do about it. We encourage any employer receiving these to identify who their E-Verify administrator is and to reach out to immigration and/or employment counsel.

And USCIS is partnering with the the Social Security Administration to verify U.S. citizenship and immigration status by checking a social security number within the the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program.

Also, fees going up. Again.

That’s it for the week. Thanks for reading, and let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to cover.

Matthew Blaisdell, Esq.

Sunset Immigration PLLC

219 36th Street, Ste 511

Brooklyn, NY 11232

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