The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) February 2025 policy memorandum and July 2025 policy manual update highlight the agency’s intensified immigration enforcement efforts.
Generally, USCIS will no longer...more
8/12/2025
/ Adjustment of Status ,
Beneficiaries ,
Family-Based Visas ,
Fraud ,
H-1B ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Notice to Appear ,
Removal Proceedings ,
Temporary Protected Status ,
USCIS
President Donald Trump signed H.R. 1, “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA), on July 4. The OBBBA affects a wide range of workplace issues, including immigration, benefits, and employment tax liabilities. Below is only a brief...more
7/15/2025
/ 1099s ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
ESTA ,
Federal Taxes ,
Foreign Workers ,
HSA ,
Immigration Procedures ,
New Legislation ,
One Big Beautiful Bill Act ,
Over-Time ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Reform ,
Tax Relief ,
Temporary Protected Status ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Workplace Safety
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has quietly hit pause on a key program that streamlined Social Security number (SSN) issuance for nonimmigrant and immigrant applicants. As of March 19, 2025, the Enumeration Beyond...more
USCIS has issued updated guidance following the U.S. Supreme Court’s May 19, 2025, decision to grant the Justice Department’s emergency request to lift a March 31 California district court order halting DHS’s termination of...more
6/12/2025
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Form I-9 ,
Government Agencies ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
New Guidance ,
Popular ,
SCOTUS ,
USCIS ,
Venezuela ,
Work Permits
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation suspending entry to the U.S. for nationals of 19 countries on June 4, 2025. The proclamation stated that the designated countries are so deficient in their information screening...more
6/10/2025
/ Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Government Agencies ,
Immigration Procedures ,
National Security ,
NATO ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Customs ,
US State Departments ,
Visas
On May 22, 2025, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem ordered the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to terminate Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (“SEVP”) certification for alleged...more
5/27/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Students ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Injunctions ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Students ,
Terrorist Organizations ,
Universities ,
Visas
On May 19, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Justice Department’s request to lift U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen’s March 31 order halting the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) rescission of Temporary...more
In its complaint in United States v. State of Illinois, No. 1:25-cv-04811, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges that Illinois’ new E-Verify amendment (SB 508) “encroaches on federal immigration authority” by layering...more
Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar, has announced a significant escalation in the administration’s interior immigration enforcement strategy to increase deportation of undocumented immigrants. The initiative...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published a final rule (89 FR 10354) that significantly changes the H-1B Cap Gap period. This rule automatically extends the duration of status and any employment authorization...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced its intention to expand the use of criminal statutes to address illegal immigration. This move underscores the administration’s commitment to enforcement initiatives that hold...more
On Jan. 23, 2025, in a suit filed in the U.S. District Court in Seattle by the attorneys-general of Washington State, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon to overturn President Donald Trump’s executive order (EO) banning birthright...more
1/24/2025
/ Citizenship ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Executive Orders ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Injunctions ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
State and Local Government ,
Trump Administration ,
Undocumented Immigrants
As many expected, President Donald Trump has not only issued Executive Orders (EOs), but he has also rescinded many EOs issued by the Biden Administration concerning immigration, including the following: “The Restoring Faith...more
1/24/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Compliance ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Donald Trump ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Enforcement ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Workers ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rescission ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
This order directs federal agencies to refuse to recognize U.S. citizenship for children born in the United States to mothers in the country illegally, or who are present in the United States on non-immigrant visas, if the...more
1/21/2025
/ Cartels ,
Catch and Release ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Workers ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Ports of Entry ,
Refugees ,
Terrorist Organizations ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Vetting ,
Visas
On Dec. 18, 2024, USCIS released the Modernizing H-1B Requirements, Providing Flexibility in the F-1 Program, and Program Improvements Affecting Other Nonimmigrant Workers Final Rule. First proposed in October 2023, the Biden...more
The 540-day automatic extensions of expiring employment authorization documents (EADs) will be permanent policy, according to a DHS final rule scheduled to be published on Dec. 13, 2024. The new rule will become effective on...more
12/12/2024
/ Asylum ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Extensions ,
Form I-9 ,
H-1B ,
Immigration ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Refugees ,
Spouses ,
STEM ,
Temporary Protected Status ,
USCIS
Some colleges and universities, out of an abundance of caution, are advising their foreign national students and staff who are traveling abroad for winter break to consider returning before President Donald Trump’s...more
An amendment to the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act going into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, imposes many new obligations on employers regarding the use of E-Verify – some that go beyond federal E-Verify...more
11/12/2024
/ E-Verify ,
Employee Training ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Form I-9 ,
Illinois ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
New Regulations ,
Notice Requirements ,
State Labor Departments ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
E-Verify will enhance security for account logins later this year. The system will require multi-factor (or two-step) authentication, meaning that, in addition to a password, users may need to enter a code sent to their email...more
Just as people were starting to lose hope, USCIS announced that it will soon hold a second round of selections for the FY 2025 H-1B cap. USCIS will randomly select additional registrations for unique beneficiaries from the...more
On June 20, 2024, USCIS announced the automatic extension until March 9, 2025, of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) issued to certain Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries from El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal,...more
7/22/2024
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
El Salvador ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Honduras ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Nepal ,
Nicaragua ,
Sudan ,
Temporary Protected Status ,
USCIS
USCIS announced that it is extending the validity of certain Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) issued to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries from El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan until...more
7/1/2024
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
El Salvador ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Form I-9 ,
Honduras ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Nepal ,
Nicaragua ,
Sudan ,
Temporary Protected Status
President Joe Biden announced protections for undocumented foreign national spouses of U.S. citizens who have lived in the United States for 10 years without a legal immigration status. This will protect approximately 500,000...more
President Joe Biden has ordered a temporary suspension of asylum applications for migrants who cross the southern border illegally between ports of entry. This suspension went into effect at midnight on June 5 because the...more
It is not unusual for employers to require foreign employees to sign repayment agreements that require the employee to repay some or all required immigration process costs if the employee terminates employment before the end...more