immigration reform

Greenberg Traurig recently reported on the looming expiration of the H-1B and H-2B annual numerical cap exemption in Guam and CNMI, while urging local employers to consider filing extensions for any employee whose H-1B or H-2B authorization expires before December 31, 2014—the date the expiration takes effect. With pervasive Congressional deadlock on the immigration front and the end of the 113th Congress fast approaching, an extension of the exemption appears unlikely. However, employers in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands may be able to minimize or avoid altogether the detrimental effects of the cap exemption expiration by taking advantage of an alternative employment-based non-immigrant program to satisfy their workforce needs: the CNMI-Only Transitional Worker (CW) Visa.


Continue Reading Employers in CNMI Facing H-Visa Numerical Cap Issues Should Explore the CW Visa Program

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 to enact certain reforms by the end of summer. With this decision to delay action, it is important to ask what is next for immigration reform?

The 113th Congress has not been particularly productive in enacting reforms, due in part to the fact that both Republicans and Democrats differentiate in their beliefs of the necessary size and scope of changes to the immigration system. The Senate has produced a comprehensive immigration reform bill, S.744 The Border Security Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, which passed with a vote of 68-32 in late June 2013. The bill was at the time seen as a monumental compromise that saw 13 Republican senators vote alongside Senate Democrats to fund greater border security, amend certain restrictions on immigrant and nonimmigrant visas, and provide a pathway to citizenship for upwards of 11 million undocumented immigrants currently believed to be residing in the United States. However, the likelihood of a comprehensive reform package has since been downplayed, and the focus has shifted to a piecemeal approach in which issues are tackled individually.Continue Reading What is Next for Immigration Reform?