Pop-Up Webinar Series
New Immigration Executive Order Affecting Federal Contractors and Subs: Trojan Horse or Window Dressing?
Friday, August 14, 2020
Please join us as we offer early insights into the potential impact of the August 3 Executive Order (EO) focusing on federal contractors (and their subcontractors) that employ H-1B workers. Join the team as we discuss possible implications, prudent strategies, and timelines to comply with these recent government actions.
By: Tieranny Cutler, Cheryl Gardner & Jason Burritt
Seyfarth Synopsis: U.S. employers, applicants for immigration benefits, and other stakeholders should be aware of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) application fee increases and form changes scheduled to take effect on October 2, 2020. Continue Reading USCIS to Implement Significant Fee Changes on October 2, 2020
The trend of recent months to curtail employment-based immigration, purportedly prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, continues unabated. On August 3, 2020 President Trump issued yet another executive order, this one entitled, “Executive Order on Aligning Federal Contracting and Hiring Practices With the Interests of American Workers” (“EO” or “Executive Order”). The new EO focuses on federal contractors (and their subcontractors) who employ H-1B and other nonimmigrant foreign workers. While the Executive Order itself imposes no new entry or other immigration restrictions, it instructs the Department of Labor (“DOL”), Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), and other agencies and departments to take steps that undoubtedly will lay the groundwork to limit H-1B employment in the near future. Continue Reading Another Day, Another Immigration Executive Order: Now Federal Contractors are Targeted
Posting early morning on July 20, but dated July 18, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that employers have an additional 30-day extension to the flexibilities in rules related to Form I-9 compliance. This relaxation of the requirement to physically inspect all new hires’ identity and employment eligibility documentation was granted earlier this year, extended in May, and in June. The expiration date for these accommodations is now August 19, 2020. Continue Reading Better Late Than Never: ICE Announces Another Extension to I-9 Compliance Flexibility
As of early Friday morning, July 17, there’s been no announcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirming whether it will continue the flexibility granted in the Form I-9 process, temporarily suspending the in-person physical inspection requirement. ICE originally announced the relaxation on March 20, as employers were beginning to grapple with COVID-19 work-from-home and shelter-in-place orders. The initial guidance allowed companies to review “Section 2 documents remotely (e.g., over video link, fax or email, etc.) and obtain, inspect, and retain copies of the documents within three business days for purposes of completing Section 2.” The relaxation of this requirement was extended through Sunday, July 19. Employers who have been using the virtual process, and will need to switch gears over the weekend, are getting very nervous. Continue Reading Still No Word From ICE On Virtual I-9s
The Trump administration, in response to a lawsuit filed by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as several other suits, agreed to rescind its surprise Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) directive. We previously blogged about ICE’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) July 6th announcement, prohibiting foreign students from studying in the United States where their colleges and universities had canceled in-person class instruction. Continue Reading Trump Administration Defrosts ICE’s International Student Directive
This blog was updated on July 8th to reflect the Harvard and MIT lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a policy change on July 6 that will substantially disrupt higher education for the fall semester. This major change in policy was issued without any opportunity for notice and comment by the public.
Despite the resurgent COVID-19 pandemic, ICE announced that it will no longer continue to allow 100% online studies programs for F-1 (academic) and M-1 (vocational) students. ICE has directed international students who presently participate in 100% online studies programs must either (1) transfer to an ICE-approved educational institution that allows hybrid (online and in-person) or fully on-campus, in-person courses, or (2) leave the U.S. or (3) remain in the U.S. without the underlying support of the school and suffer the possible initiation of removal (deportation) proceedings. ICE also indicated that it would publish a temporary or interim final regulation to a similar effect. Continue Reading ICE Gives the Cold Shoulder to Foreign Students
We’ve seen this movie before.
Scene 1: The President issues a proclamation in reliance on his authority to restrict the entry of certain noncitizens under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 212(f) so long as he asserts that allowing them in would be “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”
Scene 2: The proclamation creates exceptions to the entry bans based on the national interests of the United States (among other grounds).
Scene 3: Affected parties apply for exceptions; their requests are ignored or denied under opaque or nonexistent administrative procedures; and they sue in federal court.
This was the plot of the three travel-ban proclamations issued in 2017, the last of which the Supreme Court upheld in its 2018 decision, Trump v. Hawaii. After the Supreme Court’s ruling, litigation ensued because plaintiffs in several suits alleged that the government’s actions (refusing visas under 22 CFR §§ 41.121 and 42.81) conflicted with the proclamation and the statutory authority of the Secretary of State in INA § 104. The litigation continues, having survived a government motion to dismiss, which a federal judge denied on June 5 in Emami v. Nielsen [and] Pars Equality Center v Pompeo (Pars Equality). Continue Reading Pursuing a National Interest Exception to the Presidential Entry Bans on Economic Grounds — Not A Fool’s Errand
Please join members of Seyfarth’s Immigration and Immigration Compliance teams for upcoming sessions on the recent presidential proclamations on immigration and virtual I-9 compliance concerns as they relate to returning to work in the COVID-19 era.
Register today!
Friday, June 26, 2020
Immigration & Presidential Proclamations – What it Means for the Business Community
https://www.seyfarth.com/news-insights/immigration-and-presidential-proclamations-what-it-means-for-the-business-community.html
Monday, June 29, 2020
Return to Business: Virtual I-9 and other COVID Compliance Concerns
https://www.seyfarth.com/news-insights/return-to-business-immigration-compliance-i-9-return-to-work-rtw-best-practices.html
If you have any questions regarding these events, please contact Kelly Sokolowski at ksokolowski@seyfarth.com.
Seyfarth Synopsis: President Trump issued a new entry ban directly affecting foreign nationals in H-1B, H-2B, J-1 and L-1 status. Below is a list of 20 questions and answers that have surfaced in the first 24 hours since the proclamation was published.
1. When does the entry ban take effect and for how long?
The entry ban portion of the proclamation takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on June 24, 2020. The proclamation also extends a previous order that banned certain immigrant visas (i.e., green cards) from being issued by the U.S. Department of State. Both provisions will last until at least December 31, 2020. Continue Reading FAQ – New Proclamation Suspending Entry of H-1B, L-1, J-1, and H-2B Nonimmigrants