The court scheduled a second hearing in Behring’s preliminary injunction lawsuit against USCIS’s recent deauthorization of regional centers. The hearing is set for Thursday, June 2nd at 12:30pm.
The court specifically requested that USCIS address the relevance of Senator Grassley’s statements made about the RIA. Watch his statement here. Behring holds that Grassley’s statements have no bearing on whether the RIA canceled pre-existing regional centers. The plain text of the statute supports the continued designation of regional centers, and the only reference to “repeal” was intended only to remove the EB-5 Regional Center Program from the original 1993 Appropriations Act and permanently place it in the Immigration and Nationality Act, where it belongs. Read more about Behring’s lawsuit here. Plus, members of Congress that played a key role in drafting the RIA issued a letter to USCIS explaining that regional centers maintained their designation, and the EB-5 Program was expected to restart immediately as of May 14, 2022.
This week, IIUSA filed an amicus brief with Behring’s consent, supporting the basic arguments that Behring has presented to the court. USCIS did not object, and the court agreed to accept the brief. IIUSA and 5 other regional centers likewise have collectively filed a similar lawsuit in the federal district court in Washington, D.C. The California district court has accepted IIUSA’s request to participate in our hearing on June 2nd.
Behring looks forward to the hearing to explain to the court how USCIS’s reauthorization of regional centers is wrong and has no basis in the RIA. If the court grants a preliminary injunction, then USICS may be prevented from deauthorizing regional centers, and EB-5 investors would be able to file their I-526 petitions for investments in projects sponsored by pre-existing regional centers.
To learn more about the pending lawsuit against USCIS or about Behring’s current EB-5 projects, contact the Behring team.