Tag: daca

“3-Year” Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals EADs Must Be Returned: Immigration

USCIS announced that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients of employment authorizations documents (EAD) after February 16, 2015, with validity longer than two years, were “likely mistakenly issued and must be returned.” According to a USCIS Factsheet:

“Individuals who are required to return three-year EADs and have not done so will be contacted by USCIS by phone or in-person. For the purpose of retrieving these three-year EADs, USCIS may visit the homes of those individuals who have not yet returned their invalid 3-year EAD or responded to USCIS. When contacting individuals in person, the USCIS employees will show the individuals their credentials. USCIS will make every attempt to call the individual in advance of the visit…

The reason for this action is that, after a court order in Texas v. United States, No. B-14-254 (S.D. Tex.) was issued, USCIS could approve DACA deferred action requests and related employment authorization applications only for two-year periods.”

EADs mailed before February 16, 2015 are not subject to this requirement as they were issued before the court injunction.

Further information and contact details can be found on the USCIS factsheet.

ARTICLE BY Immigration Practice Mintz Levin of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
©1994-2015 Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. All Rights Reserved.

USCIS to Accept Expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Applications Starting February 18, 2015

Jackson Lewis P.C.

President Barack Obama’s November 20, 2014, Executive Order addressed many significant issues of immigration law and allowed more individuals to qualify under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Consequently, on January 29, 2015, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced that it will start accepting applications for expanded DACA beginning on February 18, 2015.  To be eligible to apply for expanded DACA, an applicant must be in the U.S. without lawful status, have entered the U.S. before his 16th birthday, and meet certain other criteria.

In the spring of 2012, then-Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano issued a memorandum on the new Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program as a measure of relief to “Dreamers” when the DREAM Act failed to pass in Congress. Since 2012, DACA has allowed thousands of young people to obtain work authorization and offered safety from deportation.

ARTICLE BY

Jessica Feinstein
OF
Jackson Lewis P.C.

Employers’ Immigration Law Update – September 2014

Jackson Lewis Law firm

ICE Levies $2M Fine against Hotel for I-9 Related Violations

A Salt Lake City-based hotel will have to pay nearly $2 million for hiring unauthorized workers, including illegal aliens. The hotel will avoid criminal prosecution in exchange for its full cooperation with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation and for taking action to correct its hiring practices. According to the non-prosecution agreement, several lower-level employees and mid-level managers conspired to rehire unauthorized workers amidst an administrative audit of I-9 employee verification forms that began in September 2010. The hotel was notified that 133 employees were not authorized to work in the United States; however, the conspirators created three temporary employment agencies, essentially shell companies, to rehire 43 of the unauthorized, and most of the workers returned under different names using fraudulent identity documents.

$300K for H-2B Violations

According to a Department of Labor announcement, the agency has charged a landscaping company with violating federal law by failing to hire U.S. workers, and for underpaying temporary foreign workers. The company will pay $280,000 in back wages to 80 workers and nine job applicants and $20,000 in civil money penalties.

Immigration Reform Update

With comprehensive immigration reform legislation no longer a realistic possibility for the foreseeable future, advocates for reform have shifted their focus to executive actions the President may take unilaterally to implement changes in immigration policy.

The President reportedly is considering broad use of executive action, granting relief potentially to up to 6 million undocumented individuals, similar to what has been provided under the administration’s Deferred Action to Childhood Arrivals program (DACA).

Building off of DACA, the President has directed the Department of Homeland Security to review the administration’s immigration enforcement policies and recommend additional changes, possibly expanding the deferred action and work authorization to family members of U.S. citizens and lawful U.S. residents. The administration reportedly also is looking at possible changes to current law and regulation that could benefit employers.

Any unilateral action by the administration likely will be controversial.

Owner Liable for H-1B, J-1 Costs

The owner of several medical clinics is personally liable for back wages and the costs of physicians’ H-1B visas and J-1 waivers, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled. Kutty v. DOL, No. 11-6120 (6th Cir. Aug. 20, 2014). The Court held Dr. Mohan Kutty and his medical clinics violated H-1B provisions by having physicians cover the costs of their own H-1B visa petitions and related J-1 visa waivers.

USCIS Releases Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Statistics

GT Law

USCIS has released statistics collected from August 15, 2012, to November 15, 2012, regarding cases filed under President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. According to the figures, a total of 298,834 DACA requests have been accepted for processing. Of those cases, 53,273 requests have already been approved, and 124,572 requests are currently being reviewed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The top 10 countries of origin for DACA applicants are: Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru, South Korea, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and the Philippines.

The top 10 states in which DACA applicants reside are: California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Arizona, New Jersey, Georgia and Virginia.

The statistics also indicate that USCIS received the most filings in September and October, and that filings decreased by more than 50 percent in November.

©2012 Greenberg Traurig, LLP