In 2015, the Obama Administration DHS issued the H-4 EAD Rule allowing certain spouses of H-1B holders to obtain EADs and work while waiting to become permanent residents. Soon thereafter, a group of high-tech workers, Save Jobs USA, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia arguing that the DHS lacked
Restrictions on Personal Electronic Devices, including Laptops, on Flights from 10 Airports
By Meredith K. Stewart on
Posted in US Immigration, USCIS
No personal electronic devices (PEDs) larger than a cellphone or smartphone, such as a laptop computer or e-reader, can be carried into the cabin of airplanes flying directly to the U.S. from 10 airports in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey, the DHS and TSA announced on March 21, 2017.
Following are the airports:…
Revised Travel Ban Blocked
By Amy L. Peck & Michael H. Neifach on
Posted in US Immigration, USCIS
Late on March 15, Judge Derrick Watson of the U.S. District Court in Hawaii issued a nationwide injunction blocking the revised travel ban Executive Order that was scheduled to take effect on March 16. In addition, on March 16, Maryland U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang, in a less sweeping order, granted a nationwide injunction…
Courts Hold Hearings on Administration’s Travel Ban
By Michael H. Neifach on
President Donald Trump’s revised Executive Order with its revised travel ban is scheduled to become effective just after midnight on March 16. While the revised Order regarding the travel ban is a bit of a retreat from the original, states have wasted no time trying to block the Order and hearings in two of these…
Gear Up for H-1B, L-1 Reforms
By Otieno B. Ombok on
Aiming to reform and reduce fraud and abuse in the H-1B and L-1 visa programs, bipartisan bills have been introduced in both Houses of the Congress. Outsourcers are the top users of H-1B visas. These companies are known to flood the H-1B visa lottery and make it more difficult for other companies to obtain the…
Trump Administration Immigration Actions’ Disproportionate Impact on Certain Industries
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
The food, construction, and healthcare sectors are concerned about fallout from the crackdown on immigration called for in Secretary John Kelly’s Implementation Memos, President Donald Trump’s travel ban, and possible new legislation aimed at reducing overall immigration by 50% within 10 years.
Those sectors suffer from labor shortages already and have relied on immigrants…
Immigration Law Enforcement and Visa Programs Subject of Draft Executive Order: LCA Public Access File Audits
By Amy L. Peck on
Posted in US Immigration, USCIS
Please see our advisory.
H-1B Season Has Started!
By Forrest G. Read IV on
Petitions for new H-1B visas are eligible to be filed on April 1, 2017, for federal FY 2018 beginning October 1, 2017. There are a limited number of new H-1B visas each year (65,000 and an additional 20,000 for foreign nationals with a U.S. Master’s degree or higher), which historically is used up within days…
Legislative and Other Challenges to Immigration Executive Order
By Jessica Feinstein on
Posted in US Immigration, USCIS
Following recent ICE arrests of 680 individuals in the Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, San Antonio, and New York City areas, Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) introduced a bill to nullify the effect of President Donald Trump’s Executive Order, “Enhancing Public Security in the Interior of the United States.”…
Cuban Refugees Are Waiting at the Border
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Many Cubans who were making the long and dangerous trek through jungles and other countries to the United States before the inauguration of President Donald Trump on January 20 are waiting at the U.S. border for word from the Trump Administration on how they will be treated.
For decades, under the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA),…