Immigration - General

DHS is apparently citing federal cannabis laws as grounds for denying citizenship. Further, USCIS announced on April 19 that the USCIS Policy Manual now clarifies that violation of federal controlled substance law, including for marijuana, remains a conditional bar to establishing good moral charact

Because some of the 9/11 terrorists used fraudulent driver’s licenses to travel, Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005 to comply with the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation that the federal government establish minimum standards for the issuance of forms of identification, such as state driver’s lic

The Social Security Administration (SSA) No-Match letters to employers are notifications from SSA that an individual employee’s W-2 form does not match SSA’s records. The letters also inform employers that corrections are necessary and direct employers to use the SSA’s Business Services Online (BSO)

Citing a rise in the use of electronic communications in the workplace and an increase in the number of employers providing documents to employees electronically, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued a Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) on March 15, 2019 providing guidance on ac

Does the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) preempt states from using information in Form I-9 to prosecute a person under state law? The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a case involving prosecution for identity theft under Kansas law based on information in the Form I-9 Employment Eli

The 2020 decennial census is scheduled to begin on April 1, 2020, but several cases challenging the Administration’s decision to include a citizenship question in the census are putting the Administration’s June 30, 2019, “go to print” deadline at risk. The question asks, “Is this person a citizen o

On February 13, 2019, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) released a new policy directive, “to establish a voluntary compliance program for high-performing federal contractors.” According to OFCCP’s press release, “[t]he Voluntary Enterprise-wide Review Program (VERP) provides

Immigration case processing times have dramatically increased in the last few years, impacting U.S. businesses and immigrant families, often causing gaps in work authorization and even loss of employment. In a January 2019 Policy Brief, AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association) opined, on the

President Donald Trump has announced that the government shutdown is over, for now. He has agreed to sign a short-term spending bill that will re-open the government for three weeks, until February 14, 2019. The bill does not include any wall funding.

Is it possible that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program might be the key to ending the government shutdown? A DACA-for-border-funding compromise that was taken off the table a year ago is again being talked about by some lawmakers. Here is an update on where DACA stands.

Social Security Administration (SSA) has begun notifying employers that the information reported on an individual employee’s W-2 form does not match the SSA’s records with “Request for Employer Information” letters, known as “No-Match” letters.

Historically, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has been the primary auditor of companies using H-2B visa to hire temporary, seasonal workers. But amid debates over the cap on H-2B visas and an expressed need for more H-2B workers the USCIS’ Fraud Detection and National Security

USCIS has announced that the 2020 Diversity Lottery will open for registration at noon EST on October 3, 2018 and run until noon EST on November 6, 2018. Fifty thousand green cards will be available.

Beginning September 11, 2018, USCIS immigration officers will have more discretion to issue petition and application denials without first issuing Requests for Evidence (RFEs) or Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs).

On October 1, 2018 the premium processing fee for all Forms I-129 (Non-Immigrant Worker) and Forms I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) will be raised from $1,225 to $1,410. USCIS announced this almost 15% increase on August 31, 2018.

ICE and CPB consider hospitals and other healthcare facilities to be sensitive locations where enforcement actions should be avoided without prior approval or unless there are exigent circumstances. Despite that policy, undocumented aliens continue to be arrested at medical facilities where they are

xecutive Summary: In a significant policy shift, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently published a new agency policy that substantially expands the authority of USCIS to put otherwise legal immigrants into deportation (also known as “removal”) proceedings. The policy vastly

Restaurants – which historically have relied on immigrants for a large part of their labor force – have a new challenge to face when it comes to running their businesses. Since taking office, President Trump and his administration have significantly increased worksite enforcement actions conducted b

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal agency under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is charged with worksite enforcement of immigration compliance laws, among other duties. In addition to investigating whether employers have unauthorized workers, ICE looks for paperwork viol

On June 26, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the travel ban implemented by the Trump Administration in September 2017. This travel ban was the third permutation after two other travel bans failed to withstand lower court scrutiny. Unsurprisingly, the travel ban was upheld along th