In a much-anticipated decision, on December 1, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled in favor of business and university plaintiffs (led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce), setting aside...more
12/3/2020
/ Chamber of Commerce ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Domestic Hiring Policy ,
Foreign Workers ,
Good Cause ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Nationality Act ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Motion to Set Aside the Verdict ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
While the U.S. presidential election has come to an end, we continue to monitor changes in the Trump administration’s handling of ongoing agency immigration reforms through the end of 2020 and into early 2021 that may impact...more
11/24/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Popular ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Although the 2020 presidential election is technically behind us, razor-thin and contested elections for the presidency and Congress remain, potentially drawing out the uncertainty through the new year. As of the date of...more
11/9/2020
/ Equal Pay ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joe Biden ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
LGBTQ ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
National universities and states across the country filed multiple federal lawsuits this week seeking to invalidate and enjoin implementation of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program’s (SEVP) Fall 2020 COVID-19 Guidance,...more
7/15/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Students ,
Immigration Procedures ,
M-1 Visa ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
SEVP ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
On June 22, 2020, and citing economic recovery needs and unemployment due to the pandemic, President Trump issued “Proclamation Suspending Entry of Aliens Who Present a Risk to the U.S. Labor Market Following the Coronavirus...more
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 18, 2020, blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to rescind the DACA program, which protects hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the United States as children from potential...more
6/22/2020
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Citizenship ,
DACA ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Homeland Security v Regents of the University of California ,
Educational Institutions ,
Path To Citizenship ,
Rescission ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration ,
Trump v NAACP ,
USCIS ,
Wolf v Vidal ,
Work Permits
On May 29, 2020, the White House issued a new proclamation on the admission of certain nonimmigrant students and researchers from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The proclamation took effect on June 1, 2020, and will...more
6/3/2020
/ China ,
F-1 Visa ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
J-1 Visas ,
National Security ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Nuclear Power ,
Renewable Energy ,
Research and Development ,
Students ,
Trump Administration ,
Visas
On May 24, 2020, the president signed a new proclamation that enacts travel restrictions for any foreign nationals who have been present in the Federative Republic of Brazil within 14 days of arrival in the United States....more
On April 22, 2020, the White House issued a Proclamation Suspending Entry of Immigrants Who Present Risk to the U.S. Labor Market During the Economic Recovery ...more
Updated April 22, 2020: In live remarks during an April 21, 2020 coronavirus task force press briefing, the president provided more detail on the scope of the entry restrictions in the new executive order. Specifically, he...more
On March 11, 2020, the president signed a proclamation, Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Certain Additional Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus, that implements additional...more
3/16/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Business Travel ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Health and Safety ,
Immigrants ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Traveling Employee ,
Trump Administration ,
Workplace Safety
On August 7, 2019, more than 600 agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided several companies across Mississippi. With the help of the local district attorney’s office, these raids resulted in the...more
8/24/2019
/ Business Interruption ,
Deportation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Form I-9 ,
Government Investigations ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Raids ,
Risk Management ,
Trump Administration ,
Undocumented Immigrants
E-Verify, the electronic immigration system that employers use to confirm employees’ eligibility to work in the United States, has resumed operation. E-Verify was unavailable during the longest federal government shutdown in...more
1/30/2019
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
E-Verify ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Government Shutdown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Required Forms ,
Trump Administration ,
US-Mexico Border Wall ,
USCIS
When the federal government partially shut down on December 22, 2018, so did E-Verify, the online system for verifying a new hire’s eligibility to work. Employers that are obligated to or have chosen to use E-Verify have...more
1/15/2019
/ E-Verify ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Funding ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Government Shutdown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Trump Administration ,
US-Mexico Border Wall ,
USCIS
Earlier this month, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Memorandum providing guidance on Executive Order 13768, which called for enhancing public safety in the United States through...more
7/24/2018
/ Executive Orders ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
National Security ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Terrorist Threats ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
On July 4, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice obtained a partial victory in its challenge of California’s Immigrant Worker Protection Act ("Assembly Bill 450" or "AB 450") and other sanctuary laws when a California federal...more
7/16/2018
/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deportation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Immigrant Protection Laws ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Sanctuary Cities ,
State and Local Government ,
Supremacy Clause ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Worker Protection Standard ,
Workplace Investigations
On June 26, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the travel ban implemented by the Trump Administration in September 2017. This travel ban was the third permutation after two other travel bans failed to...more
6/28/2018
/ Appeals ,
Establishment Clause ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Immigration and Nationality Act ,
Immigration Reform ,
Likelihood of Success ,
Muslims ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Presidential Decrees ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
Trump v Hawaii
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s former acting Director, Thomas Homan, indicated last fall that he wanted to quadruple worksite enforcement, and ICE is on track to do so. ICE recently announced it performed 3,510...more
5/21/2018
/ Business Interruption ,
Deportation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Form I-9 ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Raids ,
Trump Administration ,
Undocumented Immigrants
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have partnered to establish a framework to efficiently manage and maintain information sharing to better detect and eliminate fraud, abuse,...more
5/17/2018
/ Buy American Act ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Domestic Hiring Policy ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Foreign Workers ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
On March 6, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit challenging California’s Immigrant Worker Protection Act (Assembly Bill 450), among other laws designed to limit the extent state law enforcement and prisons...more
3/13/2018
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Deportation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Form I-9 ,
Immigrant Protection Laws ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Injunctive Relief ,
New Legislation ,
Sanctuary Cities ,
State and Local Government ,
Supremacy Clause ,
Trump Administration ,
Worker Protection Standard ,
Workplace Investigations
As it signaled in late 2017, the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s investigative arm) began 2018 with an increased emphasis on targeting employers and unauthorized employees...more
1/11/2018
/ Deportation ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Raids ,
Trump Administration ,
Undocumented Immigrants
Increased immigration enforcement and a reduction in illegal entry into the United States remain among the Trump administration's highest priorities. Notably, Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan has reportedly ordered Homeland...more
11/9/2017
/ Audits ,
Business Interruption ,
Deportation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Raids ,
Trump Administration ,
Undocumented Immigrants
On October 5, 2017, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 450 (“AB 450”), imposing new requirements for public and private employers regarding immigration worksite enforcement actions by Immigration...more
10/20/2017
/ Business Interruption ,
Deportation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
New Legislation ,
Raids ,
Trump Administration ,
Undocumented Immigrants
On September 24, 2017, President Donald Trump issued a “Presidential Proclamation Enhancing Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry into the United States by Terrorists or Other Public-Safety Threats”...more
9/26/2017
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Green Cards ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
National Security ,
Refugees ,
Terrorist Threats ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
Visas
Recent actions by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) indicate that employers seeking to hire foreign workers will likely face a more stringent visa approval process....more
8/18/2017
/ Buy America ,
Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
L-1B ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas