Labor Employment Law Blog

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA or the "Stimulus Bill") was enacted on February 17, 2009, and Section 1611 - the Employ American Workers Act (EAWA) - severely limits certain employers, namely banks and other financial institutions, who receive funding under the 2008 Trouble Assets Relief Program (TARP) from hiring H-1B foreign national employees.

On January 30, 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a 60-day implementation delay, until April 3, 2009, of the interim final rule entitled "Documents Acceptable for Employment Eligibility Verification" published in the Federal Register on December 17, 2008.  As drafted, the interim rule strictly defines what are acceptable identity and employment authorization documents for employers to use in completing the requisite I-9 employment eligibility verification process.  The implementation delay allows USCIS and DHS to further consider the rule's wide–ranging practical impact on both employers and employees.

August 15th, 2007 -- Following up on our earlier announcement, the ICE Final Rule on safe-harbor procedures for employers who receive "no-match" or similar letters from SSA or DHS was published in the Federal Register today. Unless subsequently modified or withdrawn, this Final Rule takes effect for employers on September 14th, 2007. How the rule will apply to "no-match" or similar letters from SSA or DHS received before that date is unclear, but employers would be wise to assume that ICE will consider such prior letters as "constructive notice."

Click here to view a copy of the PDF.

August 13^th, 2007 – The Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") Agency of the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") announced last Friday that its newest regulation - 8 CFR 247a - has been finalized and signed by Secretary Michael Chertoff.  The regulation will be published in the Federal Register this week to take effect 30 days from publication.  This long-anticipated but highly-controversial regulation will have wide-ranging impact on all U.S. employers in the context of workplace employment authorization verification.  Despite its intention to provide a "safe harbor" for employers who follow its provisions, its enforcement can still leave many employers in a catch-22 position.