Sometimes when a disruptive event brings good news, it’s greeted not with joy, but with disbelief, confusion, attacks, and speculation. Such is the case here with the preliminary injunction granted in the Behring Regional Center case. While the outpouring of support and cheers was nice, I was surprised by the number of attacks and questioning that we received for simply following the judge’s order/PI: that authorized RCs are good to go again and they can file new I-526s.
But don’t take just our word for it. AILA’s EB-5 Committee also released the below practice pointer highlighting many of the same points. While it’s up to each member/attorney to decide what’s best to advise their client, sharing this to add useful/credible information:
AILA Practice Pointer – Court Blocks USCIS EB-5 Policy
“The decision enjoins the agency from “treating as deauthorized the previously designated regional centers” and requires that “those centers must presently be permitted to operate within the regime created by the Act. This includes processing new Form I 526 petitions from immigrants investing through previously authorized regional centers.” Thus, RCs may immediately accept new investors as of the date of the decision.
In the opinion, the judge stated that there was “an exceedingly strong showing that the agency violated the APA.” He went on to write that the agency was “almost certainly wrong to announce that the centers are no longer authorized.” This is important because it indicates that there is a strong likelihood that the plaintiff should also win the underlying case. This point is critical as the plaintiff seeks finality in the case and certainty for the regional center program.”
