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
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
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
By September 30, 2023, Congress will again have to fund the government. Despite ongoing efforts by the administration and Congress, indications are that a shutdown may occur at the beginning of the fiscal year, on October 1....more
Proper completion of the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 is one of the most important responsibilities of employers, including retailers, at the beginning of the hiring process. Saying it learned from the...more
8/8/2023
/ E-Verify ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Required Forms ,
USCIS
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has announced that employers will have 30 days to comply with Form I-9 employment eligibility verification physical document examination requirements when COVID-19 flexibility...more
ICE has announced it will extend I-9 flexibility until April 30, 2022, due to continuing precautions related to COVID-19.
The guidance remains the same:
•Employees who work exclusively in a remote setting due to...more
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro N. Mayorkas has issued a policy directive to immediately discontinue mass worksite enforcement operations.
These involve large-scale law enforcement...more
10/13/2021
/ Audits ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
NLRB ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS
The country dodged a government shutdown at the end of September, but we may be faced with the same problem on December 3, 2021, when Congress will again have to fund the government. Because we often come close to a shutdown...more
Once again, at the last moment, ICE has extended “flexibility” for I-9 employment verification. This time, for four more months, until the end of the year, December 31, 2021, due to continuing COVID-19 precautions...more
E-Verify is moving toward tougher enforcement, which can result in a temporary termination from participation in the E-Verify program.
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, E-Verify relaxed some of its standards regarding...more
Many companies that have been working remotely during COVID-19 expect to continue to do so, at least to some extent after the pandemic. At first, it might seem that manufacturing would not be an industry where remote models...more
ICE announced that I-9 flexibility will be extended again – this time through the whole summer until August 31, 2021.
Since March 2020, companies that have been operating remotely have been able to inspect Section 2 Form...more
ICE has announced that I-9 flexibility will be continued for another 60 days, until May 31, 2021. Here is ICE’s full announcement.
With this extension, ICE specifically noted that employees hired on or after April 1,...more
Flexibility in completing I-9 Employment Verification Forms has been continued until March 31, 2021, and it may be extended beyond that. Under that flexibility, employers have been allowed to inspect Section 2 Form I-9...more
3/3/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
E-Verify ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Required Forms ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
USCIS
Once again, ICE has announced a further extension of flexibility in its rules related to I-9 compliance. The extension will continue through March 31, 2021.
This means that:
•Employers may continue to inspect Section...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have allowed some flexibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some of the changes in effect:.....more
Once again, just as it was about to expire, ICE has announced a further extension of flexibility in its rules related to Form I-9 compliance. This time, the extension will continue through December 31, 2020.
Employers will...more
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been flexible about how to complete Form I-9 employment verification due to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing companies working remotely to inspect documents virtually (e.g.,...more
Days before the upcoming deadline, ICE has announced it is extending the remote virtual verification option for completion of I-9 employment verification an additional 60 days (instead of just 30 days), until November 19,...more
ICE has announced it is extending the remote virtual verification option for completion of I-9 employment verification an additional 30 days, until September 19, 2020, due to continued precautions related to the COVID-19...more
As businesses begin to reopen after shutdowns to help stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers should anticipate heightened scrutiny by USCIS, ICE, and the Departments of Labor and Justice regarding wage and hour...more
The uptick in ICE investigations has Oregon requiring employers to notify employees of any upcoming investigation by a federal agency (such as a Form I-9 inspection) for records, forms, or other documentation used to verify...more
Six hundred and eighty workers from seven poultry processing plants across Mississippi were arrested by ICE in what was the largest workplace raid in a decade. Raids of this size require complex logistics and months of...more
The Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has sent an unprecedented number of I-9 audits, called Notices of Inspection (NOIs), in the previous three weeks reportedly to more than 3,000...more