Tag: Trump administration

Trump Administration Issues “Principles” in Exchange for Relief for DACA Recipients

Deferred action for DACA recipients will start to expire in March 2018 and there is still no certainty about what will happen to them.  Amidst legal challenges to the rescission of DACA, the introduction of a number of statutory fixes, and a supposed “deal” between President Trump and Democratic leaders to protect the “Dreamers,” there is now a new twist.  The Trump Administration has announced a list of principles to include in any deal for the Dreamers.  Those principles, some of which derive from the President’s various Executive Orders, include:

  • Construction of a wall across the US southern border;
  • Improve infrastructure and security on the northern border;
  • Eliminate loopholes that make it difficult to return Unaccompanied Alien Children (primarily from Central America) and their families to their home countries;
  • Hire 10,000 immigration agents and 300 Federal prosecutors;
  • Hire 370 Immigration Judges and 1,000 ICE attorneys;
  • Increase scrutiny of asylum petitions and impose penalties for baseless or frivolous claims;
  • Terminate “catch and release” policies;
  • Expand grounds of inadmissibility and deportability;
  • Deny federal aid to sanctuary jurisdictions;
  • Discourage visa overstays by classifying overstays as misdeameanors;
  • Require use of E-Verify by all employers and increase penalties for a pattern or practice of violations;
  • Eliminate extended family “chain migration” and establish a new merit-based green card system; and
  • Eliminate the diversity lottery.

It is not clear whether these principles represent a first offer in a negotiation or if these principles are non-negotiable. Some Democrats in Congress have threatened the possibility of a government shutdown in December if DACA recipients receive no relief. Senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) has pieced together parts of other proposed legislation and introduced what he believes would be a compromise bill, the Border Security and Deferred Action Recipient Relief Act. This Act provides:

  • DACA recipients or other children who have been in the U.S. since 2012 can obtain Conditional Resident Status for 10 years by pursuing vocational or higher education, are gainfully employed or by enlisting in the military. Upon meeting certain conditions, after the 10 years, they will be eligible to apply for Green Cards.
  • $1.6 billion for border security measures: 74 miles of border fortifications and funding to plan for further construction.
  • Construction of border access roads to simplify CBP patrols of the border.
  • Targeting of gangs and cartels for deportations.
This post was written by Forrest G. Read IV of Jackson Lewis P.C. © 2017
For more Immigration legal analysis go to The National Law Review

Revised Travel Ban Coming?

The Trump Administration reportedly may replace the current travel ban with a country-specific set of restrictions.

In June, the Supreme Court allowed the government to begin enforcing the 90-day travel ban against individuals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen who had no bona fide relationship to the United States. The 90-day ban will expire on September 24. The 120-day ban on refugees also went into effect in June. The Supreme Court plans to hear the full travel ban case on October 10.

The Department of Homeland Security’s recently finalized classified report on screening foreign travelers may support anticipated changes to the travel ban. Substituting a new ban could change the dynamics, potentially making the case before the Supreme Court moot or leading to a remand of the case for further hearing at the lower court level.

The new restrictions are expected to be open-ended and based upon the DHS review and identification of countries with deficient security standards. More than six countries may have been identified. Additional countries could be added to the banned list, others could be removed, and still others might become subject to certain visa restrictions.

This post was written by Michael H. Neifach of Jackson Lewis P.C. © 2017
For more legal analysis go to The National Law Review

Trump Administration Issues New Guidance for Automated Driving Systems

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced yesterday the Trump administration’s first significant guidance concerning autonomous vehicles and Automated Driving Systems (ADS).

The new voluntary guidelines, titled Automated Driving Systems: A Vision for Safety, are intended to encourage innovation in the industry and are being touted as the administration’s “new, non-regulatory approach to promoting the safe testing and development of automated vehicles.” One of the most important aspects of these guidelines is the NHTSA’s clarification of its view of the delineation between the roles of the states and the federal government with respect to ADS technology.

The new guidelines replace the Federal Automated Vehicle Policy (FAVP), which was released by the Obama administration in 2016. A Vision for Safety comprises voluntary guidance for vehicle manufacturers, best practices for state legislatures when drafting ADS legislation, and a request for further comment.

Autonomous-vehicle manufacturers are asked to undertake a voluntary self-assessment addressing 12 safety elements discussed in the new guidance. That is a slight departure from the FAVP, which detailed a 15-point safety assessment. The safety self-assessment remains voluntary, and NHTSA emphasizes that there is no mechanism to compel manufacturers to participate. The agency also stated that the testing or deployment of new ADS technologies need not be delayed to complete a self-assessment.

In what may be the most significant component of the guidance, NHTSA made clear its role as the primary regulator of ADS technology by “strongly encourage[ing] States not to codify th[e] Voluntary Guidance . . . as a legal requirement for any phases of development, testing, or deployment of ADSs.”

Further acknowledging the potential problems associated with a patchwork of state laws, the agency expressed its belief that “[a]llowing NHTSA alone to regulate the safety design and performance aspects of ADS technology will help avoid conflicting Federal and State laws and regulations that could impede deployment.” States are instead tasked by A Vision for Safety with regulating licensing of human drivers, motor vehicle registration, traffic laws, safety inspections, and insurance.

The new guidance comes just one week after the House of Representatives passed the SELF-DRIVE Act designed to eliminate legal obstacles that could interfere with the deployment of autonomous vehicles. However, as NHTSA and Congress are seeking to speed up ADS development by removing regulatory and legal impediments, it is noteworthy that on the same day NHTSA announced A Vision for Safety, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) called for NHTSA to require automakers to install “system safeguards to limit the use of automated vehicle systems to those conditions for which they were designed.”

In an abstract of its forthcoming final report on the 2016 fatal crash involving a Tesla Model S operating in semi-autonomous mode, the NTSB concluded that “operational limitations” in the Tesla’s system played a major role in the fatal crash and that the vehicle’s semi-autonomous system lacked the safeguards necessary to ensure that the system was not misused. These recent developments only underscore the uncertainty facing the industry as regulators attempt to keep pace with fast-developing technology.

This post was written by Neal Walters and Casey G. Watkins of  Ballard Spahr LLP Copyright ©
For more legal analysis go to The National Law Review

Impact of the Trump Administration’s Decision to Terminate DACA

On September 5, 2017, Elaine Duke, Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), issued a memorandum rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) program. The DACA program, instituted in 2012 under the Obama administration, defers deportation and provides work authorization for individuals who were brought to the United States as children and who pass criminal and national security background checks. The DACA program was designed to assist individuals who were raised in the United States but who do not possess lawful status in the United States. These individuals are often referred to as “Dreamers.”

Citing a recent 4-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which in effect allowed a lower court injunction of a program providing similar relief for undocumented parents of U.S. citizens to stand, the Trump Administration determined that the DACA program should end on March 5, 2018. Effectively, this provides Congress with six months to provide a legislative solution for the nearly 800,000 individuals impacted by the DACA program rescission.

For individuals eligible or currently enrolled in the DACA program, this will have the following impact:

  • Currently valid DACA benefits, including Employment Authorization Documents (“EAD”s) and Advance Parole documents (I-131 applications, authorizing beneficiaries of DACA to travel) will remain valid until their expiration. These documents remain subject to termination or revocation under the existing DACA program rules.
  • No new DACA applications (I-821D applications) will be accepted as of September 6, 2017.
  • Currently pending initial DACA applications and extensions will be adjudicated.
  • USCIS will not accept any new advance parole applications where the basis of that application is an approved I-821D.
  • Currently pending advance parole applications will be administratively closed, and I-131 filing fees will be refunded.
  • Individuals whose DACA benefits expire between September 5, 2017 and March 5, 2018 will be allowed to file an extension of their DACA benefits until October 5, 2017. If approved, we anticipate that extensions will be valid for two years, and not end on March 5.
  • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”, the agency that oversees administration of the DACA program) will not affirmatively provide information regarding DACA recipients to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”, the agency in charge of interior immigration law enforcement) or U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”, the agency in charge of border security) unless the DACA recipient meets existing deportation enforcement guidelines.

Once an individual’s DACA benefits expire, that individual will no longer have work authorization, and his or her deportation will no longer be deferred. This does not mean that individual will be automatically deported by ICE. However, it does mean that the individual will no longer be protected from deportation. In essence, without congressional action, Dreamers will once again become subject to potential removal from the United States.

A lawsuit has already been filed challenging the DACA program’s termination. It is hard to know whether the case will succeed, however. In the meantime, Dreamers plan to press Congress to pass a legislative solution before March 5.

A DHS memorandum outlining rescission of the DACA program is here. An FAQ is here.

 

This post was written by David J. Wilks of Miller Mayer LLP. All Rights Reserved. © Copyright 2013 – 2017
For more Immigration legal analysis go to The National Law Review

What the Demise of DACA Means for Employers

Absent congressional action, the Trump administration’s decision to wind down the DACA program will end the work authorization of DACA beneficiaries.

In a decision announced earlier today by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Trump administration rescinded the memorandum that created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Concurrently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin a six-month winding-down of the DACA program, which was created in 2012 and through which approximately 800,000 beneficiaries have qualified for employment authorization in the United States.

According to today’s announcements, effective immediately USCIS will no longer accept new or initial applications for DACA benefits, which includes renewable two-year work permits. Applications already received and awaiting adjudication will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Individuals who have work permits that will expire prior to March 5, 2018 may file for a two-year extension of their current work authorizations, provided that they do so by October 5, 2017. Individuals with work permits set to expire after March 5, 2018 will not be permitted to extend their employment authorizations and will lose employment eligibility when their current permits expire. Accordingly, all DACA beneficiaries will be without employment authorization by March 5, 2020.

Background

Former US President Barack Obama announced the creation of DACA in June 2012 to remove the threat of deportation for and to provide temporary employment authorization to individuals who were brought to the United States as children and who either entered unlawfully or overstayed their periods of admission. Eligibility for DACA benefits was available to any individual who at the time could show that he or she

  • was under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012;

  • came to the United States before reaching his/her 16th birthday;

  • had continuously resided in the United States from June 15, 2007 through the present time;

  • was physically present in the United States on June 15, 2012 and at the time of making his/her request for consideration of deferred action with USCIS;

  • had no lawful status on June 15, 2012;

  • was currently in school, had graduated, or had obtained a certificate of completion from high school, had obtained a General Educational Development (GED) certificate, or was an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States; and

  • had not been convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanor, or three or more other misdemeanors, and did not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.

At the time, the Obama administration described the implementation of DACA as a response to congressional failure to pass the Dream Act, which would have provided a path to residency and citizenship for eligible individuals. Proponents of the DACA policy described it as a legitimate exercise of executive branch prosecutorial discretion. Critics described DACA as an unconstitutional overreach of executive authority. The decision by the Trump administration to rescind and wind down DACA now shifts attention back to Congress, where debate concerning so-called “Dreamers” is already part of a larger discussion involving overall immigration limits, the border wall, E-Verify, and other immigration-related issues. Whether Congress will create and pass legislation that provides for continued employment eligibility for DACA beneficiaries is uncertain, as is the question of whether President Donald Trump would sign any such legislation.

What Employers Need to Know

Individuals who have employment authorization based on DACA benefits remain employment authorized until the expiration of their employment authorization documents (EAD). Employers who properly completed Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, at the time of hire will have on file for any DACA beneficiaries the Form I-9 wherein Section 1 indicates that the employee has temporary employment eligibility that expires on the indicated date. As with any other employee who indicates that s/he is a foreign national with temporary employment eligibility, the employer is under an obligation to reverify that individual’s employment authorization by completing Section 3 of Form I-9 in accordance with the guidance in the USCIS Handbook for Employers M-274. Individuals who are unable to provide evidence of their continued employment eligibility may no longer be employed.

Employers are not required to take any other preemptive action with respect to employees who are DACA beneficiaries as their employment authorization continues through the validity date of their EADs. However, for purposes of planning and contingencies, employers may wish to determine who among their workforce is currently employed pursuant to DACA benefits by reviewing Forms I-9 already on file and photocopies already on file of any EAD that was presented and photocopied at the time of Form I-9 completion. An individual whose work authorization is based on DACA benefits will have an EAD that reflects employment eligibility based on Category C33. As a general rule, employers should not take additional measures to affirmatively identify DACA beneficiaries in their workforce, and should consult employment or immigration counsel to address any questions or concerns in this regard.

In addition, DACA beneficiaries who previously received Advance Parole documents that permitted international travel should consult with counsel prior to using a facially valid Advance Parole document for travel. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) retains the authority to determine the admissibility of any person presenting at the border. Further, USCIS may terminate or revoke Advance Parole at any time.

This post was written by Eric S. Bord of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. All Rights Reserved  Copyright © 2017

DACA Program to Be Phased Out

Today, the Trump Administration announced rescission of the Obama Administration’s 2012 Executive Order which created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. As of March 5, 2018, DACA will fully end with many questions yet to be answered.

DACA has benefitted approximately 800,000 recipients, who came to the U.S. before the age of sixteen and hold no valid immigration status, by granting them temporary work authorization and relief from deportation.  Through the program, beneficiaries have gone on to become productive members of communities, contributing to the economy by attending college, buying houses and cars, and obtaining better paying jobs.

What We Know:

  • The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) will immediately halt acceptance of new DACA applications while “orderly winding down” the program for existing DACA recipients.

  • Current DACA recipients with permits that expire before March 5, 2018 may apply for a renewal by October 5, 2017.

  • Some DACA recipients could lose work authorization as early as March 6, 2018, while others may continue to use the program over the next two years.

  • No specific guidance will be issued to DHS agents to shield young undocumented immigrants from deportation.

What Is Unclear:

  • Whether and how quickly Immigration & Customs Enforcement will take enforcement action to remove DACA recipients who have disclosed personal information in order to obtain a DACA benefit.

  • Whether Congress will be able to pass a legislative solution within the next six months.  Much will depend on DACA proponents’ ability to mobilize and advocate some form of relief.

  • Whether those granted Advance Parole pursuant to DACA will be permitted to return to the U.S. once DACA ends.  Having Advance Parole does not guarantee admission to the U.S., and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security may revoke or terminate it at any time.

Other Possible Forms of Relief:

In lieu of federal legislation, other forms of relief may be available.  Current DACA recipients and undocumented immigrants may want to explore eligibility for:

  • Asylum;

  • A temporary visa as a victim of a specific crime;

  • Proof of existing U.S. citizenship or noncitizen nationality; and

  • Lawful permanent residence.  Potential applicants include:

    • Individuals whose last entry to the US was after inspection and admission or parole by U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) and who have an immigrant visa immediately available;

    • Certain individuals who are beneficiaries of visa petitions filed by family members or employers on or before April 30, 2001 and who have an immigrant visa immediately available;

    • Certain spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens or green card holders who have been subject to battery or extreme cruelty by a U.S. citizen or green card holder family member, even if the individual entered without being inspected and admitted by CBP; and

    • Certain unmarried individuals under 21 where a juvenile court has found that the child’s reunification with his or her parent(s) is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment or a similar basis under state law, even if the individual entered without being inspected and admitted by CBP.

Additional guidance is expected in the coming days and weeks. Stay tuned for further updates.

This post was written by Jennifer Cory of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC. Copyright © 2017 All Rights Reserved.

For more Immigration legal news, go to The National Law Review

Trump to End DACA Program?

Indications are that President Donald Trump likely will end the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program while signaling the Administration’s willingness to work with Congress on an alternative program. Vice President Mike Pence, speaking in Texas, noted, “President Trump has said all along that he’s giving very careful consideration to that issue and that when he makes it he’ll make it with, as he likes to say, ‘big heart’.”

Since 2012, close to 800,000 people brought to U.S. illegally as children have been allowed to remain in this country with work authorization – their deportations having been “deferred.” Eliminating DACA was a staple of Trump’s campaign, but, once he became President, he indicated that it would be a hard decision to make and even noted that the “dreamers” “should ‘rest easy’ about his immigration policies.” The Administration’s decision on whether to discontinue DACA has been made more urgent by a number of Republican attorneys general and the Texas Governor’s announcement that they will ask a federal judge to rule on the legality of DACA by September 5 if the President does not announce he is ending the program.

President Barack Obama put DACA into place by way of an executive order as a temporary measure when Congress failed to enact immigration reform that would protect these individuals because, he believed, “It [was]. . . the right thing to do.”  Ending DACA likely will mean that new applications for status and work authorization will not be accepted and existing authorizations will not be renewed once they expire.

Hundreds of tech and business leaders sent a letter to the President and Congressional leaders expressing their support for DACA. It said, in part:

All DACA recipients grew up in America, registered with our government, submitted to extensive background checks, and are diligently giving back to our communities and paying income taxes. More than 97 percent are in school or in the workforce, 5 percent started their own business, 65 percent have purchased a vehicle, and 16 percent have purchased their first home. At least 72 percent of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies count DACA recipients among their employees.

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who supports tougher immigration enforcement, tweeted that he has “urged the President not to rescind DACA . . . .” Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has done the same.

Should DACA be rescinded, it would be up to Congress, working with the Administration, to agree upon legislation to provide legal status to these individuals.

This post was written by Michael H. Neifach of Jackson Lewis P.C. © 2017
For more legal analysis go to The National Law Review

Trump Administration Considers Elimination of J-1 Program for Some Students

The Trump Administration is considering the elimination of the J-1 Summer Work-Travel Program for students who come to tourist areas in the U.S. as temporary summer help and as participants in cultural exchanges. Like the numerical limitations placed on H-2B temporary seasonal visas, the elimination of this J-1 Summer Work-Travel Program would particularly affect the hospitality industry in areas that rely on these students to cook, wait tables, and run amusement park rides in tourist areas during the summer months.

Morey’s Pier Amusement Park in Wildwood, New Jersey, hired more than one-third of its 2017 summer workforce through the J-1 Summer Work-Travel Program. Its Director of Human Resources reported that it makes extensive efforts, including through job fairs, to hire U.S. workers, but cannot find enough people interested in the seasonal work. The Park hired 82 percent of the U.S. applicants who applied for jobs and the remaining 18 percent could not be hired because they were too young to be life guards or to serve alcohol.

Other tourist areas such as Hershey, Pennsylvania, and the Poconos also depend on the J-1 Summer Work-Travel Program. Congressman Bill Keating (D-MA), who represents Cape Cod and the Islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, is critical of the reported plan to reduce these visas for students who he believes are vital to his area’s economy.

The review and possible elimination of the J-1 Summer Work-Travel Program arises out of the “Buy American, Hire American” Executive Order. The first hint that the Program might be cut was in a draft executive order that was leaked in January 2017. That draft, “Protecting American Jobs and Workers by Strengthening the Integrity of Foreign Worker Visa Programs,” was never signed or formally released. It included specific provisions questioning the desirability of the J-1 program, the L-1 visa program, the use of parole authority, and the H-1B visa program, among others. To date, the Administration has been achieving some of the goals first set forth in that draft by conducting more L-1 site visits, scrutinizing H-1B and L-1 petitions by issuing a staggering number of post-filing Requests for Evidence (RFEs), postponing (and ultimately planning to eliminate) the International Entrepreneur Rule that relied on parole authority, and, now, focusing on the possible elimination of the J-1 Summer Work-Travel Program.

According to the State Department website, “The J-1 Exchange Visitor Program [overseen by the Department of States] provides opportunities for around 300,000 foreign visitors from 200 countries and territories per year to experience U.S. society and culture and engage with Americans.” There are more than a dozen J-1 programs. Others that are reportedly being reviewed for possible elimination are the J-1 internship and au pair programs.

This post was written by Forrest G. Read IV  of Jackson Lewis P.C. © 2017
For more Immigration News go to The National Law Review

Fourth Circuit Ruling Continues Star-Crossed Fate of Trump Administration Travel Ban

On May 25, 2017 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a lower court’s nationwide injunction against the Trump administration’s executive order (EO) suspending entry into the United States of foreign nationals from six designated countries: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. This ruling maintains the current status quo under which key provisions of the travel ban have been blocked. As a result, employees from the designated countries remain free to travel to and request admission into the United States.

The EO at issue in the case, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” is a revised version of the original executive order that had also encountered legal obstacles. Under the revised version of the executive order, the Trump administration had attempted to address some of the early objections to the original executive order by excluding certain foreign nationals from its scope, such as those who already had visas, or who were green card holders or dual nationals traveling on a passport from a non-designated country. Despite those changes, the revised EO, issued on March 6, 2017, met with challenges and legal objections similar to the original. Section 2(c) of the revised EO, “Temporary Suspension of Entry for Nationals of Countries of Particular Concern During Review Period,” was the central focus in this case.

While the court was not directly evaluating the constitutionality of the travel ban, the judges took a close look at the strength of the plaintiff’s Establishment Clause claim against the EO. The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from making any law respecting an establishment of religion. In defense of the EO, the administration has asserted a need to accord deference to the president’s actions taken to protect the nation’s security. The court, however, noted that the president’s authority cannot go unchecked, and included an examination of past statements made by President Donald Trump in its analysis.

Stating that the Trump administration’s travel ban was rooted more in the intent to bar Muslims from the country rather than in the government’s asserted national security interest, the court found that the public interest argued in favor of upholding the district court’s preliminary injunction.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a statement confirming that the government intends to appeal the Fourth Circuit’s decision to the Supreme Court of the United States. A separate nationwide injunction against the EO is currently under appeal in the Ninth Circuit. Oral arguments were heard in that case on May 15, 2017, and a decision is pending. Because the case is still ongoing, this latest decision should not be considered a final determination of the EO’s fate.

This post was written by Jordan C. Mendez and Lowell Sachs of  Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.

The First 100 Days: The Trump Administration’s Impact on Labor and Employment Law Thus Far

Donald Trump first 100 daysTwenty-four executive orders, 13 signed Congressional Review Act resolutions, and one failed healthcare bill … political pundits and policy experts are no doubt tallying up these and other actions as we quickly approach April 29, 2017, which will mark the first 100 days of the Trump administration. While there has been some important activity in the labor and employment policy areas during these 100 days, many in the business community are still wondering what the Trump administration’s positions will be with respect to current labor and employment policy matters.

Indeed, while Trump has acted quickly and decisively in rolling back burdensome employment regulations like the “ blacklisting” and “Volks” rules, the same cannot be said about the speed with which he has appointed personnel to run important agencies like the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). President Trump may even pass the 100-day marker without having a Secretary of Labor in place. Moreover, President Trump inherited two vacancies at the NLRB and had the ability to fill those seats immediately and begin the process of undoing eight years of mischief at the Board. Not only have these Board seats not been filled, but the president hasn’t even offered up nominees yet.

The failure to appoint individuals to these important posts has undoubtedly been a missed opportunity for President Trump. It also leaves employers wondering about the president’s commitment to undoing the heap of burdensome labor and employment regulations that have accumulated over the past eight years. How will the DOL handle the previous administration’s appeals of federal court injunctions of the overtime and persuader rules? How will the DOL’s fiduciary and silica rules be enforced, if at all? Will the NLRB’s amorphous joint employer standard continue? What impact will President Trump’s recent “Buy American and Hire American” executive order have on employers that rely on highly-skilled H-1B visa holders to meet their staffing needs? These are all questions that employers are asking.

Congress is back in session after a two-week hiatus from April 10–21, 2017. Their next extended break is not until August of 2017. At the 100-day marker, the employer community is hopeful that this will give both the administration and Congress ample time to begin making positive progress on a new labor and employment policy agenda.

ARTICLE BY James J. Plunkett of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.

© 2017, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., All Rights Reserved.