Lawsuit Accuses Immigration Agency of Being Unfair to Students, H-1B Applicants

A new lawsuit argues U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was unfair to international students and H-1B applicants by declaring them inadmissible without the chance to respond to allegations. The attorneys assert this deprived the plaintiffs of an opportunity to rebut evidence to prevent being barred from the United States. The students say that any fraud committed was by the companies that charged them for training, and they should have the opportunity to defend themselves. It is a generally accepted U.S. legal principle that individuals should be able to respond to their accusers.

“We are asking the court to order USCIS to give them notice and an opportunity to respond,” said Jon Wasden of Wasden Law. He said because the students never communicated with the government about the merits of the application it is legally impossible for them to have violated section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which makes an individual inadmissible due to misrepresentation. “If they have notice and an opportunity to respond, the agency won’t be able to sanction them with fraud findings because the decisions won’t stand in court,” he said.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of more than 60 plaintiffs. The attorneys are Wasden, Jesse M. Bless (Bless Litigation LLC) and Diane Butler (Davis Wright Tremaine LLP). As a matter of practice, USCIS does not comment on pending litigation, an agency spokesperson said on background.

Read the source article at Forbes