Temporary protected status (TPS) for El Salvadorans in the U.S. has been extended through January 4, 2021, under an agreement with El Salvador, the Department of Homeland Security announced on October 28, 2019. There are 250,000 El Salvadorans in the U.S. with work permits on TPS. The agreement provides that the two countries will cooperate on information sharing, border security, and “confront illegal migration.” The agreement also provides a 365-day transition period. Since October 2018,…

Here is our update on the required use of E-Verify by employers in the construction industry in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.…

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is directly involved in Hurricane Dorian rescue efforts.  So far the agency’s Air and Marine Operations (AMO) has airlifted over 80 people, including citizens of the Bahamas and citizens of the U.S., from the ravaged Abaco Island and Grand Bahama to Nassau for medical treatment and shelter.  CBP is also processing evacuees arriving by ship in West Palm Beach, Florida.  On September 7, 2019, they processed the first arrivals —…

The I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification Form, that employers have been using since July 2017 is set to expire on August 31, 2019. Until USCIS makes any additional announcements on I-9 Central, employers should plan to continue to use the current form. In preparation for the form’s expiration, USCIS initiated a 60-day comment period on its plan to extend the Form I-9 without making any changes in March 2019. Twenty-one comments were received. Since the Form…

Six hundred and eighty workers from seven poultry processing plants across Mississippi were arrested by ICE in what was the largest workplace raid in a decade. Raids of this size require complex logistics and months of preparation. This raid has been in the planning stages for a year. “Sources close to the Department of Homeland Security said they recognized that the optics were difficult following the El Paso shooting. But preparation for the operation…

The House of Representatives has taken a step in the direction of eliminating green card backlogs by passing the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 (H.R. 1044) introduced by Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Ken Buck. (R-CO). The support was bi-partisan and passed in a 365 to 65 vote.  The bill would: Increase per country quotas from 7% to 15% in the family-based categories; Establish a “first-come first-served” employment-based visa system (including EB-5 investor visas)…

The Social Security Administration (SSA) No-Match letters to employers are notifications from SSA that an individual employee’s W-2 form does not match SSA’s records. The letters also inform employers that corrections are necessary and direct employers to use the SSA’s Business Services Online (BSO) database, which requires registration, to find out exactly which employees came up as “mismatched” and to respond. What are some of the reasons that there might be a “mismatch”? An administrative…