Categories Department of Labor Department of State News & Updates USCIS

New Executive Order Further Restricts U.S. Immigration

Today, President Trump issued an executive order further restricting immigration in light of the current Covid-19 pandemic.? This order extends the previous restrictions on new immigrant visas through the end of the year and adds certain nonimmigrant visa classifications to the list.

 

The new executive order will restrict new H-1B, H-2B, J, or L visas, and any dependents accompanying or following to join individuals in those classifications, which includes H-4 and L-2 spouses.? The order goes into immediate effect.

 

Individuals who hold valid H-1B, H-2B, J, or L visas as of today will be allowed to enter the U.S. This order will not impact our ability to file changes of status, extensions of status, change of employer petitions, adjustments of status, or amendments for those who are currently in the U.S.? Largely, this ban on new visas continues the status quo as U.S. consulates around the world continue to be closed and are not currently issuing new visas.

 

This will have an impact on those who are currently outside the U.S. and waiting for the consulates to reopen so that they can apply for visas, and those individuals will likely have to wait until next year to apply for their visas.? There are some limited exceptions to this rule for those who work in national security, health care or medical research directly related to Covid-19, or those who work in the food supply chain.

 

The order contains additional instructions to the secretaries of Homeland Security and Labor to investigate regulatory options to ensure that H-1B petitions and employment-based green card applications do not negatively impact U.S. workers.? We do not have any indication at this point as to what this would look like or when we can expect to see proposed regulations.

 

For further information please contact your Graham Adair attorney.

Categories News & Updates

U.S. Supreme Court Blocks the Trump Administration from Ending DACA

This morning, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the DACA program could not be immediately rescinded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

 

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, shields 1.7 million individuals brought to the United States as children from deportation proceedings and grants them temporary work authorization. It does not provide them a path to any kind of permanent status in the United States.

 

The Court’s decision leaves room for DHS to potentially revoke DACA by demonstrating how it would avoid harming those who have relied on DACA protections against deportation and the ability to work legally. President Trump had said previously that he would develop a different program for these individuals. Nonetheless, this could take several months and at this time it is unclear whether this effort will be undertaken.

 

For the time being, employers can count on maintaining employment for DACA beneficiaries.

 

If you have any questions, contact your Graham Adair representative.

Categories Department of State News & Updates

President Trump Provides Additional Details on ?Pause? of Immigration to U.S.

On Tuesday, President Trump announced some details about what will be in an executive order related to U.S. immigration in light of the coronavirus pandemic. While the text of the executive order has yet to be made public, the President indicated that he would “pause” the issuance of green cards for a period of 60 days. This 60-day suspension could be extended depending on conditions at the end of the initial 60-day period.

The action is being described as an attempt to protect U.S. workers from new immigrants taking a diminishing number of open jobs. What is not yet clear is whether this will apply to both consular processing and adjustment of status applications. There also is not any clarity on whether there will be exceptions to the policy. Until we know for certain whether this will apply to would-be immigrants both in as well as outside the U.S., it is difficult to gauge the impact to our clients.

President Trump also indicated that there would be further review into other areas of immigration to determine whether additional restrictions should be implemented. Graham Adair will continue to monitor this situation and assess the impact on our clients. Please check back often for updates. When this policy is made public, we will provide more in-depth analysis.