On July 28,
2010, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton blocked most of S.B. 1070, the
Arizona immigration law, from going into effect by issuing a
preliminary injunction. The judge blocked the portions of the
law that required law enforcement officials to inquire into the
immigration status of individuals who were being stopped, detained or
arrested. The judge also stated a state could not make it a
crime under state law for noncitizens to be present in the state
without proper documents.
The
judge did not issue a preliminary injunction against the provision of
the law that makes it a crime for persons who transport, conceal or
harbor an individual who is not lawfully present in the US.
Persons charged under this provision are guilty of a misdemeanor if
the person "knows or recklessly disregards" that the person
does not have lawful status in the US. Penalties for violating
this provision include minimum fines in the amount of $1,000 for each
individual who was transported, concealed or harbored. In
addition, the vehicle used to transport the unauthorized alien must
be impounded. Therefore, employees who do not have work
authorization and are driving company cars could cause employers to
temporarily lose the vehicle.
Emergency Border Security
Bill Enacted
On
August 13, 2010, President Obama signed into law a $600 million
border security bill. The law includes additional
funding for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel, border security fencing, infrastructure,
and technology. The law also raises filing and fraud prevention and
detection fees for L visas by $2,250, and the fees for H-1B visas by
$2,000, for applicants who have more than 50 employees in the US, if
more than 50 percent of their employees are on L-1, L-2 or H-1B
visas.
New H-1Bs Still Available
On August 20, 2010, USCIS announced
that it received approximately 33,900 H-1B petitions toward the
65,000 available per fiscal year, under the general H-1B cap.
In addition, USCIS received 12,600 petitions toward the 20,000
available per fiscal year under the US Master's cap. USCIS
continues to accept petitions toward the general cap and the US
Master's cap. The H-1B is a frequently utilized temporary work
visa for professional positions. For more information on the
H-1B visa, see the Clark Hill website.
E-Verify Photo Matching Beginning in September
On
August 27, 2010, E-Verify announced that it will expand the photo
matching process to include US passports in September 2010 and
driver's license information in 2011 on a trial basis.
Beginning next month, employers will have the opportunity to compare
the photo from a US passport presented for Form I-9 employment
verification purposes, to the government's digitally stored photo
online. The photo matching process is not yet mandatory for
employers who are using E-Verify through a web services interface
(i.e., an electronic I-9 system from a private database provider).
Visa Waiver - New ESTA Fee Enacted
The
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) have announced a fee of $4 per application to recover
the costs incurred by CBP of providing and administering the
Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) system. This
fee is in addition to the existing mandatory $10 travel promotion
fee. The total fee for a new or renewed ESTA will be $14. As a
reminder, beginning on January 12, 2009, travelers who plan to enter
the US through the visa waiver program are be required to obtain
travel authorization through the ESTA system prior to departing for
the US. DHS has published a notice regarding
this requirement. The ESTA system is available on the DHS Security website.
Visa Priority Dates -
September Visa Bulletin
