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June 27, 2008
IMMIGRATION LAW UPDATE:
President Bush Requires E-Verify
For All Government Contractors
In June President Bush
signed an Executive Order requiring that all contractors and subcontractors
entering into new US government contracts utilize E-Verify for all newly
hired employees. This was posted in the
US Federal Register on June 12th. E-Verify
is an online verification system, which links into the US Social Security
Administration, as well as the US Citizenship and Immigration Services
databases. This system is used in addition to the I-9
Employment Verification Form to ensure that each new worker hired is
authorized to work in the US. Many questions remain regarding how this new
Order will be implemented.
2 Year EAD Cards Start July 1st
US Department of
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff confirmed that two
year employment authorization cards (EADs) will be issued soon.
"Beginning later this month, we'll start issuing these documents with
a two-year validity period for aliens who are waiting adjustment of status
if their application is expected to be pending for more than a year. This,
again, is eliminating a persistent source of frustration for workers who
are here, who have a pending adjustment application but have to go and
renew their employment documents every single year." The EADs that can
be valid for two years are ONLY for cases where the applicant is in the
final stage of the green
card process, AND the priority date for the green card is not current.
Information regarding this new card has already been posted on the
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website.
Premium Processing For I-140s
Begins - But Only For A Few
The US Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that on June 16, 2008, it will begin
accepting Premium
Processing Service requests for certain I-140 Immigrant Worker Petitions.
This announcement only applies to a very limited number of I-140
applications. Specifically, to be eligible for premium processing
applicants must have an H-1B and will be reaching the end of the sixth year
within 60 days, and a further extension of H-1B status will only be granted
if the I-140 is approved and the
priority date is not current. For more on H-1Bs and extensions to the 6
year limit, see the Clark
Hill website.
US Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) Updates
Below are summaries of
recent efforts by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as they
enforce laws related to employment of persons not authorized to work in the
US.
ICE Raid in
California
ICE searched a
California farm labor contractor in Herber, California, through which they
charged 2 foremen criminally, and arrested 32 farm workers for immigration
violations in June.
Commercial Fishing
Owner Sentenced To Jail
The
operator of a commercial fishing company was sentenced to 90 days in
jail, and $6.9 million in fines for knowingly employing 126 employees who
lacked US work authorization. The workers earned more than $10,000 per
fishing trip, the prevailing wage for workers in that area.
State Immigration Law Updates
New state laws continue
to be passed that deal with US immigration law issues. Below is a summary
of some of the latest developments.
Oklahoma
On June 4th the US District Court for the Western District of
Oklahoma approved a request for an injunction which stops
implementation of certain provisions of a new state law which requires
certain employers to use E-Verify to confirm newly hired employee work
status, and creates new penalties for businesses knowingly employing
persons without work authorization.
South Carolina
In
June a new South Carolina law was passed which: requires public
contractors with at least 500 employees to begin verifying their new hires
are eligible to work in the US by January 2009; requires all businesses to
verify new hires by July 2010; creates civil fines up to $1,000 per worker
for failing to verify; requires employers to temporarily shut down if found
to knowingly hire unauthorized workers; creates a felony, punishable by up
to five years in prison, for falsifying documents; creates a felony to
transport or harbor illegal immigrants, though it provides exceptions for
some charities, such as churches and soup kitchens; and will allow fired workers
to sue their former employers if they're replaced by illegal workers within
60 days.
Tennessee
The Tennessee Attorney
General confirmed that persons need not provide proof of US immigration
status to be married in that state. The Michigan Attorney General issued a
similar opinion earlier in 2008. For information on the Michigan law see
our previous
Immigration Update.
Visa Priority Dates - July Visa
Bulletin
The July Visa Bulletin
has been posted. It is worth noting that ALL employment based third
preference cases are "unavailable". This is expected to go back
to dates posted in the June
2008 Visa Bulletin in October 2008. For a copy of the Visa Bulletin,
visit the Department
of State (DOS) website. For a summary of priority dates and how these
dates impact US green card processing, please visit our previous
Immigration Updates.
Clark Hill Webinar on I-9s,
Social Security "No-Match" Letters, and E-Verify
On July 30th Clark Hill
will have a webinar on I-9s, Social Security "No-Match"
letters and E-Verify. This webinar is designed for human
resources professionals, employers, and in-house counsel. This will cover
new developments in this field, including the new requirement that all
federal contractors and subcontractors must be participating in E-Verify,
and E-Verify in a union environment, and social security number no-match
letters in a union environment. This webinar is July 30th at 8 AM.
Clark Hill Opens A Washington DC
Office
In June Clark Hill
opened a Washington DC office on "I" Street, to serve as the hub of
its growing Government and Public Affairs Group. For more information on
this new office, see the
Clark Hill website.
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