Trump Administration Extends Restrictions on Visa Applications for Foreign Workers

The White House has extended through March 31, 2021, restrictions on visa applications and entry into the United States for certain foreign national workers. The restrictions had been set to expire on December 31, 2020. » Read More

A lawsuit has been filed against the new Department of Labor (DOL) H-1B wage rule, seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction. Many analysts, such as the National Foundation for American Policy and economic researchers, believe that the new H-1B wage rule acts as a deterrent to H-1B employers by significantly raising the minimum wage required to employ foreign workers. » Read More

Federal authorities charged four executives at Speed Fab-Crete Corporation, a Kennedale, Texas construction and precast concrete company, and the owner of Take Charge Staffing, a Texas workforce staffing agency, for conspiracy and other felony offenses related to knowingly employing undocumented immigrants, individuals who were not lawfully authorized for employment in the United States. » Read More

Employers across the country flooded the U.S. Department of Labor’s Foreign Labor Application Gateway System at the stroke of midnight on January 2, 2020.

The reason? To enter a random selection process—a lottery, of sorts—with the hope of being randomly selected to hire foreign unskilled and skilled workers to travel to the United States for a temporary duration, to assist U.S. » Read More

On November 15, 2019, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) and the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) amended the regulations that govern the H-2B temporary non-agricultural worker certifications. Changes have been made to the DOL’s labor market test that is conducted to assess the availability of the American workers for the required job position. » Read More

An analysis of U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) data between 2015 and 2019 related to H-1B, Specialty Occupation non-immigrant visa petitions shows denials of H-1B initial employment petitions have quadrupled for both initial H-1B petitions and those seeking the continuation of employment with the same employer. » Read More

A new law was passed in Pennsylvania prohibiting employment of unauthorized employees.

Starting in October 2020, the construction industry employers are mandatorily required to verify the Social Security numbers of the employees. » Read More

On Friday, I was honored to join a group of today’s business leaders and innovators at WeWork, who are shaping tomorrow, for a discussion on immigration. In a room nineteen floors above the rumbling of New York’s traffic with sushi in hand, two concerns quickly became central to our discussion: (1) the growing barrier of US businesses—small, mid, and large—to access to the global workforce; and (2) the foreign entrepreneur’s inability to enter –or even attempt to enter—as a start-up in or expansion to the US market. » Read More

Raymond G. Lahoud, a Member with Norris McLaughlin, P.A., and Chair of its Immigration Practice Group, is pleased to present a complimentary Q&A session covering immigration issues.  Human resource professionals, business owners, compliance officers, administrators, and management at organizations and companies in every industry of every size are urged to attend.  » Read More

ICE Arrests More Than 100 During Company Raid in Ohio

This week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Officers raided Corso’s Flower and Garden Center in Castalia, Ohio, arresting over 100 company employees who are alleged to be in the United States without documentation.  » Read More