NTA Memo Postponed Indefinitely
By: Roujin Mozaffarimehr
On Monday July 30th, 2018, the USCIS issued an announcement on the implementation of the Notice to Appear (“NTA”) Policy Memorandum (Policy Memorandum 602-0050.1), confirming that it is postponing the implementation of this memorandum until further notice.
As we reported last month, on June 28, 2018, the USCIS issued a policy memorandum regarding NTAs, the charging document issued by DHS that schedules a foreign national for removal proceedings in immigration court. The memorandum confirmed that the Service would implement a new policy where NTAs were to be issued for a wider range of cases, including cases where:
- There is evidence of fraud;
- There is evidence of criminal activity;
- An applicant is denied an immigration benefit and is unlawfully present in the United States.
See DHS Policy Memo, PM-602-0050.1.
The expansion of NTA issuance is now postponed pending guidance from each agency involved on how each agency will enact its protocols. We do not know if or when the NTA memorandum will come back into effect, but for now, this memorandum’s implementation has been put on hold.