On October 23, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the component within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) charged with the adjudication of applications for immigration benefits and naturalization, proposed in a 94-page, single-spaced, three-column document to “modernize” the H-1B nonimmigrant visa category for noncitizen workers in specialty occupations. The comment period for this
A Snitch in Time Saves How Many? – Incentivizing Noncitizens to Report Employment Law Violations
“I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.” ~ Mae West
The Biden Administration has long sought to incentivize noncitizens who suspect that an employer may be violating laws protecting worker rights to report perceived violations to federal authorities.
Big-Picture, Clean-Slate Immigration Reforms
for the Biden-Harris Administration
By Angelo A. Paparelli and Stephen Yale-Loehr
As a new administration takes office on January 20, and the tantalizing prospect of enlightened immigration reforms looms on the horizon, an intriguing question has surfaced on Twitter:
“Is there a progressive version of Stephen Miller? Someone who has (1)
President Trump’s October 9, 2019 overtures landed as music to the ears of many grizzled immigration lawyers who persistently suffer battle fatigue from the culture of virtually never. On that day the President released a double album, each with artfully penned liner notes:
The legal cannabis business is spreading like weeds. As several states and foreign countries have enacted laws decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana for medicinal or recreational use, a fresh rush of reefer madness has overtaken the business world. Investments in the cannabis industry are now available as ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds), and marijuana startups are
If the U.S.’s dysfunctional and baffling immigration laws were a bemusement park, one of the scariest rides would be that tottering roller-coaster, “Worksite Enforcement.” The ride is rickety and showing its age (having been constructed long ago through the enactment of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 [IRCA]). This law — like every
The State of California won and lost bigly last July 4th. But what if the state’s biggest loss could be salvaged because the primary federal immigration enforcement agency performing worksite visits – the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) – has never been lawfully authorized
The California legislature and Governor Jerry Brown have once again entered the immigration fray.
This foray is not about its Sanctuary State legislation, recently enacted, and promptly decried by U.S. Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III as “unconscionable”, and by Thomas Homan, Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as “[forcing
[Blogger’s Note: Today’s post is by my colleague, Mahsa Aliaskari, Seyfarth Shaw LLP’s Senior Counsel. Mahsa has advised and defended businesses with up to 100,000+ nationwide employees on U.S. immigration compliance programs and practices. She and yours truly — along with former USCIS Director, Leon Rodriguez, noted worksite enforcement lawyer, Dawn Lurie
As the Obama presidency nears its twilight, let me tell you about our leader’s eight-year, largely-disappointing record on immigration.
But first a bias alert: I voted for the President twice; I like and respect him; and I marvel at how glib, cool, incisive, studious, and otherwise mostly big-hearted he’s been. With favorability ratings nearing 60