On the heels of the U.S. Department of Labor’s announcing plans to revise its H-2A program, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is proposing amendments to its H-2A and H-2B regulations. The proposed changes would “ensure the integrity of the H-2 programs and enhance protections for workers.”
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that it is working to update and improve the protections available to H-2A workers. The proposed changes would include both worker protection measures and compliance and enforcement enhancements.
Florida’s Senate Bill (SB) 1718 went into effect on July 1, 2023. One section of the new law—which criminalized the transport into the State of Florida of individuals who entered the United States without inspection—now faces a legal challenge.
On May 10, 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 1718, immigration-related legislation that will require employers to use the E-Verify system and will impose criminal penalties on individuals transporting undocumented immigrants into Florida.
The Florida legislature recently passed Senate Bill (SB) 1718 , which, if signed into law, would require both private employers with twenty-five or more employees and public employers in Florida to use the E-Verify system to verify the employment eligibility of new employees starting July 1, 2023.
Senate Bill (SB) 1718 has been approved by both chambers of the Florida Legislature, but section 787.07, which had included criminal penalties for transporting undocumented immigrants, has been modified.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently announced that as of March 30, 2023, the supplemental H-2B cap for returning workers had been reached for the early second half of fiscal year 2023.
The Florida Legislature recently introduced legislation (Senate Bill (SB) 1718) that would ramp up the penalties imposed on counties and municipalities that “knowingly employ, hire, recruit, or refer, either for herself or himself or on behalf of another, for private or public employment within the state, an alien who is not duly authorized to work.” If enacted, the bill would increase what are already considerable penalties for public employers.
A bill working its way through the Florida Legislature would criminalize the “knowing[] and willful[]” transportation of undocumented immigrants “into or within” the state. If enacted, Senate Bill 1718 could impact Florida’s hospitality and agricultural sectors.
Effective November 9, 2017, new regulations took effect limiting U.S. travel and trade with Cuba.
Under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, the Secretary of Homeland Security “may designate a foreign country for TPS due to conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country’s nationals from returning safely, or in certain circumstances, where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately.”
Since 2004, the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has adhered to a policy of deferring to prior determinations when adjudicating petitions for extensions of nonimmigrant status. Its memorandum of October 23, 2017 indicates that this policy will change.
With the annual H-1B visa cap posing considerable staffing issues for U.S. employers requiring highly skilled workers, multinational corporations may increasingly turn to the L-1 visa to meet their need for knowledgeable, qualified professionals. For qualifying employers and employees, the L-1 can provide an attractive mechanism for effectively managing a global workforce: the L-1 does not have an annual cap or specific degree requirement and offers spouses the opportunity to obtain employment authorization. In recent years, however, the L-1 has come under increased scrutiny by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Here are a few key tips for withstanding that scrutiny.
Under existing law, employers are required to verify the identities and employment eligibility of employees hired after November 6, 1986, by completing the Form I-9. In addition, employers cannot discriminate against workers during the Form I-9 process. In support of this directive, the antidiscrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) prohibits certain unfair immigration-related employment practices which play out during the employment eligibility verification, or Form I-9, process. The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) is part of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and is tasked with enforcing these provisions.
