The USCIS has announced that it is ending its long standing policy of giving deference to a prior decision in the context of non-immigrant extension petitions filed without any changes. As international employers can attest, there has been no deference in the context of L-1 cases for many years. In the H-1b context, this means that a degree which met the H-1b standards 3 years ago may now not meet the standards. Instead of providing certainty to the immigration process, the USCIS now has the justification to call into question its own prior adjudicatory decisions and second guess itself. Ever wonder why the USCIS is imposing such policies that seem to have no basis in logic, deviate from basic legal principles, and change long-standing policies; look no further than the background of the Trump appointees. As but, one example, consider, Julie Kirchner, a key executive at the USCIS and former Executive Director of FAIR, an organization squarely in the corner of the anti-legal immigration advocates. When a governmental agency that is tasked with following the laws written by Congress and fairly adjudicating benefits has a clear objective to do otherwise, it should be no surprise that we see policies such as this.