On Oct. 17 a fiery debate occurred on the U.S. Senate floor. Two great supporters of immigrants and immigration reform, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL, Minority Floor Leader) and Mike Lee (R-UT, Chairman, Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust) battled to a draw on an issue they both support – eliminating the per-country caps on employment-based immigration. … Continue Reading
After more than two and a half years, Obama-era EB-5 immigration regulations are set to be published on July 24, 2019, with an effective date 120 days after publication or Nov. 21, 2019. See EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization. These regulations have been opposed by many industry participants, as evidenced in a letter to Congressional Leadership … Continue Reading
As an update (to this recent posting), we clarify that USCIS recently indicated in the Fall Unified Agenda the posting of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in November 2018 (see RIN 1615-AC15) on this regulation. Please check back as this and other H-1B regulatory actions are anticipated in the near future. U.S. Department of Homeland … Continue Reading
USCIS has proposed rules that could deny entry to non-immigrants seeking admission to the United States and adjustment of status to permanent residence to immigrants if they rely on public benefits for food, housing or medical care, and other forms of public assistance. The proposed rule – “Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds” – is published in … Continue Reading
As reported last week, The U.S. House of Representatives (House) continued negotiating and debating U.S. immigration policy this week. After intense negotiations that lauded a favorable Tweet and Statement of Administration Policy supporting HR 6136, Border Security and Immigration Reform Act, the bill failed passage by 121-301. The action today concludes the scheduled House votes … Continue Reading
Jamie R. Adams and Ian R. Macdonald recently published an article in SHRM Online titled, “Immigration Rechecks May Violate the NLRA.” The article discusses I-9 rechecks and the potential for violations of federal labor law, as organizations must satisfy their obligations to comply with both the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) and … Continue Reading
Greenberg Traurig’s Nataliya Rymer, of counsel, and Jordi Bayer, associate, recently authored a New Jersey Law Journal (NJLJ) article, “Guidance for Employers in Age of Increased Immigration Enforcement,” which discusses the uptick in immigration enforcement activity by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This uptick includes worksite visits, which are in line with the stated policy of increased enforcement by the … Continue Reading
Laura Reiff provided a briefing on Capitol Hill to new members and staff of the 115th Congress on Thursday, February 23, 2017. Laura discussed the impact on the business of immigration and the need for policy reforms. Please visit the National Immigration Forum for additional information.… Continue Reading
Immigration Policy is broken. We all agree. How should we fix it and why haven’t we been able to fix it over the last two decades? There is a multifaceted answer to this question, but Congress has been unable to agree on how to deal with the policy changes. We have had numerous attempts and … Continue Reading
Since the enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, which contained significant changes to the United States’ Visa Waiver Program (VWP) with the inclusion of the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015, there has been considerable concern—and uncertainty—about the impact the new law will have on individuals who have … Continue Reading
Today, the House Judiciary Committee will consider H.R.5203, the Visa Integrity and Security Act of 2016. The bill is authored by Representative Randy Forbes of Virginia. The bill’s purpose is to enhance security procedures for the processing of both immigrant and nonimmigrant visas. We provide a sectional summary of the bill below. Section 2 of … Continue Reading
Earlier this week, Senators Hatch, Klobuchar, Rubio, Coons, Flake and Blumenthal introduced S. 153 the Immigration Innovation Act of 2015 (I-Squared). This bi-partisan bill marks the first positive immigration legislation introduced in the 114th Congress. It is also a solid bi-partisan piece of legislation. Please see a link to the official Senate press release. Here … Continue Reading
The Texas Attorney General was joined by 16 other States in asking a Federal District Court in Brownsville, Texas to strike down as unconstitutional the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action program. They are also seeking injunctive relief. It appears that the plaintiffs are targeting that portion of the Administration’s Executive Actions that impact the undocumented foreign … Continue Reading
Please join Greenberg Traurig’s Business Immigration & Compliance practice for a webinar entitled “Executive Action on Immigration Reform: Now What?” Due to the nature of this development, GT will offer two opportunities to participate in this webinar. Friday, November 21st | 1:00 – 2:30pm ET Monday, November 24th | 1:00 – 2:30pm ET Topics include: … Continue Reading
On November 20, 2014, President Obama released the long-anticipated “Executive Action” on immigration reform. See here, here and here. We will also post additional materials made available. Late last summer, the President had postponed the release of such action until after the mid-term elections. Despite the cries of overreaching and lack of authority by the … Continue Reading
On September 6, 2014, the White House announced that President Obama would not entertain executive action on immigration reform until after the 2014 midterm elections, a fact subsequently supported by the President’s appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press. This comes just over two months after the President’s initial June 30th promise to utilize executive action … Continue Reading
On Saturday, September 6th, the White House announced the decision to postpone any administrative action until after the November elections. We did believe that such a delay could be precipitated by the political tensions between the parties and the upcoming elections. Greenberg Traurig will continue to monitor the developments coming from the White House and … Continue Reading
Despite the recent resignation announcement of the House Majority Leader, immigration reform is still very much alive. As reported by Greenberg Traurig just this week, the call to reform the country’s immigration system is louder than ever on and off The Hill. Immigration reform continues to garner strong and vocal support by CEOs, industry leaders … Continue Reading
CEOs from top corporations have joined the chorus of companies pushing for Immigration Reform. In a letter to Congress, these executives outlined several areas that need to be addressed through meaningful Immigration Reform in order for companies to successfully conduct business, including:… Continue Reading
Weeks of ups and downs and high points and low points in the Immigration Reform debate have left the stakeholder community wondering how next to proceed. Last week, Washington Post opinion writer George Will crystalized the issues raised by House Republicans, and addressed the reasons not to move forward. See article here and key items … Continue Reading
CBP has automated the I-94 and I-94W process for all travelers applying for admission at U.S. ports of entry. Consequently, nonimmigrants arriving at an air or sea U.S. Port of Entry no longer receive a paper I-94 card from the CBP inspector. CBP provides each nonimmigrant with an admission stamp that is annotated with date … Continue Reading
The Essential Worker Immigration Coalition (“EWIC”), co-chaired by Greenberg Traurig Business Immigration & Compliance Practice Co-Chair Laura Reiff, issued the below reaction to the release of Republican standards for immigration reform following the annual House Republican retreat held this week. Reaction to the Release of the Republican Standards: IMMIGRATION REFORM IS KEY PRIORITY FOR THE … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, the President of the United States delivered his 5th State of the Union address, during which he stated: “If we are serious about economic growth, it is time to heed the call of business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders, and law enforcement – and fix our broken immigration system.” He reiterated his commitment … Continue Reading
As we begin the second half of the 113th Congress, the question of whether immigration reform is possible is in the forefront of the Obama Administration and federal legislators’ minds. The political environment is tense. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is distrustful of the White House and its agencies. The issues surrounding healthcare reform, the … Continue Reading
