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Legislative Updates

  • The U.S. House passed the Secure the Border Act by a vote of 219-213. The bill was largely supported by Republicans and opposed by Democrats. It includes provisions to restart construction of a wall on the southern border and allocates funds for technology upgrades for border operations. Changes to the standard for credible fear interviews are included in the legislation and the bill also restricts the administration’s parole authority.
  • Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) introduced bipartisan legislation resembling the operations of Title 42, giving the Biden administration a two-year temporary expulsion authority over migrants attempting to illegally enter the United States without inspection or proper documents.
  • Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) introduced the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act and Representative Joaquin Castro (D-Texas-20) introduced a companion bill in the House.

IT Consulting Company Pays $9.9 Million to Settle B-1 vs. H-1B Visa Dispute

  • The U.S. Attorney’s Office for South Carolina announced that Larsen & Toubro Technology Services (LTTS) agreed to pay $9,928,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act between 2014 and 2019 by obtaining B-1 visas rather than H-1B visas, thus underpaying visa fees owed to the U.S. government
  • LTTS, a company based in India with an office in New Jersey, provides personnel to U.S. companies, most of whom are foreign nationals
  • B-1 visa holders generally cannot perform work while in the United States.

ICE Gives Employers 30 Days to Become Compliant After COVID-related I-9 Flexibilities Expire

  • Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that employers have until Aug. 30, 2023, to make compliant the I-9s they completed pursuant to the Form I-9 COVID-19 flexibilities. In order to bring the virtual I-9s into compliance, employers must complete in-person reviews of the documents it previously reviewed virtually.
  • In March 2020, ICE said it would defer the in-person documentation review of Form I-9 documents, allowing employers to virtually review identification and employment authorization documents for employees who were working remotely due to COVID at the time of hire.
  • In October 2022, ICE announced that the Form I-9 COVID-19 flexibilities would expire on July 31, 2023.

DHS and State Department Announce Additional Border Measures

  • To address the expected increase of migration to the U.S. southern border, the Department of Homeland Security and State Department announced additional processing centers, U.S. military troop support for the Border Patrol, detention center expansion, improvements to the CBP One App (for asylum application appointments), new rules to encourage using lawful immigration options, and advertising campaigns to counteract misinformation about immigrating to the United States.
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Photo of Laura Foote Reiff ‡ Laura Foote Reiff ‡

Laura Foote Reiff has more than 32 years of experience representing businesses and organizations in the business immigration and compliance field. She is also a business immigration advocate and has long chaired prominent business immigration coalitions. Laura is Co-Founder of GT’s Business and

Laura Foote Reiff has more than 32 years of experience representing businesses and organizations in the business immigration and compliance field. She is also a business immigration advocate and has long chaired prominent business immigration coalitions. Laura is Co-Founder of GT’s Business and Immigration and Compliance Group which she co-led since 1999. She currently chairs the Northern Virginia/Washington D.C. Immigration and Compliance Practice. Laura is also Co-Managing Shareholder of the Northern Virginia Office of GT, a position she has held since 2010. As a global leader in the business immigration community, Laura has served on the Boards of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the American Immigration Council, the National Immigration Forum and is currently the Chair of the America is Better Board.

Laura advises corporations on a variety of compliance-related issues, particularly related to Form I-9 eligibility employment verification matters. Laura has been involved in audits and internal investigations and has successfully minimized monetary exposure as well as civil and criminal liabilities on behalf of her clients. She develops immigration compliance strategies and programs for both small and large companies. Laura performs I-9, H-1B and H-2B compliance inspections during routine internal reviews, while performing due diligence (in the context of a merger, acquisition or sale) or while defending a company against a government investigation.

Laura represents many businesses in creating, managing and using “Regional Centers” that can create indirect jobs toward the 10 new U.S. jobs whose creation can give rise to EB-5 permanent residence for investment. She coordinates this work with attorneys practicing in securities law compliance, with economists identifying “targeted employment areas” and projecting indirect job creation, and with licensed securities brokers coordinating offerings. She also represents individual investors in obtaining conditional permanent residence and in removing conditions from permanent residence.

Laura’s practice also consists of managing business immigration matters and providing immigration counsel to address the visa and work authorization needs of U.S. and global personnel including professionals, managers and executives, treaty investors/ traders, essential workers, persons of extraordinary ability, corporate trainees, and students. She is an immigration policy advocacy expert and works on immigration reform policies.

 Admitted in the District of Columbia and Maryland. Not admitted in Virginia. Practice limited to federal immigration practice.

Photo of Rebecca B. Schechter ‡ Rebecca B. Schechter ‡

Rebecca Schechter focuses her practice on business immigration and compliance, representing multi-national corporations midsized companies, and startups, as well as individual clients. She has experience with all areas of employment-based immigration, particularly H-1B, L-1, O-1 and E-2 petitions, as well as outstanding researcher…

Rebecca Schechter focuses her practice on business immigration and compliance, representing multi-national corporations midsized companies, and startups, as well as individual clients. She has experience with all areas of employment-based immigration, particularly H-1B, L-1, O-1 and E-2 petitions, as well as outstanding researcher petitions and labor certification applications. Rebecca regularly assists GT clients with global immigration matters, including business and work visas to countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. She also works on state and federal I-9 and E-Verify audits. Rebecca has a thorough understanding of third party contractor issues and experience handling complex naturalization, deportation defense, family and employment-based adjustment applications.

Admitted in Maryland and Connecticut. Not admitted in Virginia. Practice limited to federal immigration practice.