News

The Rockefeller Institute of Government, in partnership with the Government Law Center at Albany Law School, the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs at the University at Albany, and the University at Buffalo School of Law, recently announced the formation of the new Center for Law and Policy Solutions (CLPS).  The CLPS will develop interdisciplinary solutions to pressing law and policy issues impacting New York State.  Scott Fein will serve as Senior Advisor to CLPS which will [...]

USCIS announced on October 23, 2017 that prior policy guidance previously issued by the agency directing officers to give deference to the findings of a previously approved petition is rescinded. Under updated policy guidance, USCIS is instructing its officers to apply the same level of scrutiny to both initial petitions and extension requests for certain nonimmigrant visa categories. The guidance applies to nearly all nonimmigrant classifications filed using Form I-129, [...]

Brendan Venter, an Associate with Whiteman Osterman & Hanna's Immigration Practice Group, recently authored an article titled Dream On: The Elimination of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Looking Ahead for Former “Dreamers” that was published in The Student Affairs Compliance Report & Analysis, a newsletter geared towards college/university student affairs staff. Please click here to view the article, which begins on page 5 of the newsletter.  [...]

On October 17, Judge Derrick Watson, a Hawaii federal judge, granted a Temporary Restraining Order or TRO ) in the case Hawaii v. Trump, blocking the majority of the travel restrictions set forth in President Trump’s September 24, 2017 proclamation The TRO invalidated Trump's instruction only hours before it was set to be enforced on October 18, 2017. This decision is not the first time that the judiciary has invalidated Trump's immigration plans as Watson had also blocked the previous [...]

On October 4th, Whiteman Osterman & Hanna teamed up with Schenectady County Community College to present an event celebrating and appreciating the recent boom of the microbrewery industry in our region. The “Spirits of October” event, hosted at our Schenectady office at the Electric City Innovation Center, drew in over 100 attendees. Together, we learned about SCCC’s Craft Beer Brewing program, whilst sampling beer, spirits, and elixirs from local businesses, and sampling [...]