Historically, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has been the primary auditor of companies using H-2B visa to hire temporary, seasonal workers. But amid debates over the cap on H-2B visas and an expressed need for more H-2B workers the USCIS’ Fraud Detection and National Security unit (FDNS) is getting into the mix and conducting unannounced site visits.
Articles Discussing General Topics In Employing Immigrants.
Diversity Lottery Registration to Open
USCIS has announced that the 2020 Diversity Lottery will open for registration at noon EST on October 3, 2018 and run until noon EST on November 6, 2018. Fifty thousand green cards will be available.
USCIS Explains New Policy on Discretionary Application Denials
Beginning September 11, 2018, USCIS immigration officers will have more discretion to issue petition and application denials without first issuing Requests for Evidence (RFEs) or Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs).
USCIS Raises Premium Processing Fee: Effective October 1, 2018
On October 1, 2018 the premium processing fee for all Forms I-129 (Non-Immigrant Worker) and Forms I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) will be raised from $1,225 to $1,410. USCIS announced this almost 15% increase on August 31, 2018.
Preparing for ICE Enforcement Actions at “Sensitive Locations”
ICE and CPB consider hospitals and other healthcare facilities to be sensitive locations where enforcement actions should be avoided without prior approval or unless there are exigent circumstances. Despite that policy, undocumented aliens continue to be arrested at medical facilities where they are receiving treatment or where they have accompanied ailing family members.
New USCIS Deportation Policy Has Far-Reaching Implications for Employers
xecutive Summary: In a significant policy shift, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently published a new agency policy that substantially expands the authority of USCIS to put otherwise legal immigrants into deportation (also known as “removal”) proceedings. The policy vastly increases the categories of individuals to whom USCIS will issue a Notice to Appear (NTA) and significantly alters Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy as to when USCIS, as opposed to the Immigration Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), will issue an NTA. The new policy epitomizes a dramatic shift away from the traditional role of USCIS as an immigration benefit processing agency with a service-oriented mission to one centered on immigration enforcement.
Beware of ICE in the Kitchen: the Return of Worksite Raids
Restaurants – which historically have relied on immigrants for a large part of their labor force – have a new challenge to face when it comes to running their businesses. Since taking office, President Trump and his administration have significantly increased worksite enforcement actions conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including I-9 audits and the return of worksite raids.
DOJ & DOL Announce Joint Initiative Concerning Temporary Worker Visa Programs
On July 31, 2018, the Department of Justice and Department of Labor announced a joint initiative to crack down on employers “that prefer to hire temporary visa workers over qualified U.S. workers.” This new partnership, memorialized in a memorandum of understanding between the agencies, is consistent with President Trump’s “America first” agenda and is responsive to longstanding complaints from some quarters that temporary worker visa programs are overused to the detriment of U.S. workers. The two federal agencies have committed to greater information sharing, cross referrals, and cross training.
It Might Be Summer, But There Is a Lot of ICE Activity
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal agency under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is charged with worksite enforcement of immigration compliance laws, among other duties. In addition to investigating whether employers have unauthorized workers, ICE looks for paperwork violations, which can generate large civil fines. Under federal law, employers are required to complete and maintain Form I-9s to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all individuals they hire. Agency officials estimate ICE audits could increase by up to 400 percent. We have seen a significant increase with our clients within the last month.
SCOTUS Upholds Travel Restrictions
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 withstand lower court scrutiny. Unsurprisingly, the travel ban was upheld along the party lines of the Supreme Court Justices.
Latest ICE Aggressive Enforcement Targets Northern Ohio Meat Processing Plants
On June 19, 2018, unannounced ICE raids resulted in the arrest of more than 140 workers at four meat processing plants in Ohio. ICE calls this its largest workplace raid in recent history.
ICE Worksite Enforcement Increases as Promised During Fiscal Year 2018
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 worksite enforcement actions between October 1, 2017 and May 4, 2018. During the entire fiscal year of 2017, ICE conducted only 1,716 actions. ICE has also already performed 2,282 I-9 audits during fiscal year 2018, while performing only 1,360 audits during fiscal year 2017.
Number of Government Enforcement Investigations Doubles
ICE announced its enforcements investigations in the last seven months have already doubled last year’s total.
USCIS-DOJ Memorandum of Understanding Means Employers Can Expect Enforcement Action Increase
USCIS and the Department of Justice are teaming up and collaborating to “better detect and eliminate fraud, abuse, and discrimination by employers bringing foreign visa workers to the United States.” They have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will increase their ability to share information about cases and training and make referrals.
Litigation Update on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
In September 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump administration would terminate the DACA program, which provides protection from removal and work authorization to nearly 700,000 young people who have been unlawfully present in the U.S. since a […]