The Labor & Employment Blog is a forum for practitioners and Bloomberg BNA editors to share ideas, raise issues, and network with colleagues.
June 10, 2013
by Laura D. Francis
The Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff’s Office—headed by Sheriff Joe Arpaio—and the League City, Texas, Police Department recently learned the hard way that targeting day laborers does not comport with the U.S. Constitution. A federal judge in Arizona ruled that MCSO deputies could not base decisions of whether to stop a car for a traffic violation and to investigate passengers’ immigration status on the Hispanic race of the car’s occupants, while a federal magistrate judge in Texas ruled that League City police violated day laborers' free speech rights by using a state law against roadway solicitation to crack down specifically on their activity.
May 28, 2013
After five long markup sessions, the Senate Judiciary Committee May 21 sent the “gang of eight’s” comprehensive immigration overhaul bill (S. 744) to the Senate floor. But as momentum continues for the bill, House Republicans are saying not so fast--S. 744 could make the same mistakes as the last law that, like the current legislation, was supposed to solve the country’s immigration problems once and for all: the Immigration Reform and Control Act.
May 14, 2013
The Senate Judiciary Committee May 9 began what will likely be a long process of marking up the proposed Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744), considering that more than 300 amendments have been offered. Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has set aside May 14, 16, and 20 for more consideration, and it appears likely that the time will be used, and perhaps more, despite the committee’s fairly rapid pace.
April 29, 2013
The immigration world has been all aflutter since the wee hours of April 17 when the Senate’s “gang of eight” introduced its long-awaited comprehensive immigration overhaul bill. But House Republicans wanted to make sure that they weren’t forgotten amidst all the hubbub in the Senate. And they have a different approach to immigration legislation--a "step by step approach."
April 15, 2013
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services April 12 for the first time posted figures on how many deferred action for childhood arrivals applications have been denied on the merits. The denials started trickling in last October, starting with six and leaping up to 841 in March of this year; the total number of denials since August 2012 is 1,377.
April 3, 2013
by Michael Rose
Congress has been away from Washington for the past week and a half for its annual spring recess coinciding with Easter and Passover. But despite the legislative slowdown, a major milestone was reached this week in the ongoing immigration debate: the AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reached an agreement in principle on a contentious part of a potential immigration overhaul.
March 4, 2013
Even with all the talk of sequestration and other fiscal matters, there are still lots of other issues getting attention on Capitol Hill. Foremost among them: immigration. Last week saw not one but two House subcommittee hearings on immigration matters, and a third is slated for this week. And there were signs of agreement among various witnesses and members of Congress.
February 18, 2013
by Amber McKinney
Let's take a look at this year's five hottest labor and employment law issues.
February 4, 2013
Last week saw a flurry of immigration-related activity on the Hill and in the White House as President Obama and a bipartisan group of senators practically tripped over each other to release their frameworks for what a comprehensive bill should contain--although comprehensive legislation has not actually been introduced.
January 22, 2013
Two weeks ago, it appeared that the trend was for an increasing number of states to deny driver’s licenses to beneficiaries of the Obama administration’s deferred action for childhood arrivals program. But that may have just changed: USCIS has posted a new set of frequently asked questions on DACA, clarifying that the program does indeed make a beneficiary lawfully present even though it does not confer lawful immigration status.
January 7, 2013
There are now four states that have made the decision not to issue driver’s licenses to deferred action for childhood arrivals beneficiaries--Arizona, Michigan, Nebraska, and Iowa--spawning lawsuits against Arizona and Michigan and a threat of similar legal action against Nebraska. But the states say they are hamstrung by the federal government and its insistence that DACA does not confer legal status.
January 4, 2013
It was, of course, a busy week in Congress this week, between final passage of a deal averting the so-called fiscal cliff--which included a one-year extension of emergency unemployment insurance benefits--and the beginning of the 113th Congress. But what comes next?
December 10, 2012
Conservative community leaders and prominent members of Congress are calling for the Republican party to rebrand itself in the eyes of Latino voters after sitting by while a small but vocal minority dominated the immigration discussion by focusing on enforcement and rhetoric such as "self-deportation." Two recent GOP-sponsored immigration bills haven't fared well in the lame-duck Congress, calling into question whether that rebranding will happen--and one group thinks rebranding around the immigration issue could backfire.
November 26, 2012
In a stark demonstration of its employer-focused enforcement policy, Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently announced that it has collected a total of roughly $561,171 against employers in three New England states during fiscal year 2012: Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine. Employers also should take note that they may need to take additional I-9 procedures in response to the deferred action for childhood arrivals program.
November 9, 2012
Immigrant advocates and practitioners agree following President Obama’s re-election that a large measure of his success—if not the deciding factor—was the fact that Latinos, a growing segment of the voting population, overwhelmingly supported him. But the million-dollar question is whether the election results will translate to congressional action overhauling the country’s immigration system.
October 29, 2012
A graduate of the City University of New York School of Law has applied to the New York bar, joining undocumented immigrants with bar applications pending in Florida and California. The granting of law licenses generally is a state-by-state consideration, but a federal law barring state agencies from granting professional licenses to undocumented immigrants and DHS's deferred action for childhood arrivals program could have an impact on all three cases.
October 15, 2012
In addition to being located at opposite ends of the country, Arizona and Maryland appear to be on opposite ends of the policy spectrum in terms of immigration laws. And two recent reports suggest that they could see widely differing economic consequences as a result.
October 2, 2012
Congress yet again fails to pass an immigration bill, stumbling on what seemed like the noncontroversial topic of providing visas to immigrants with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math. But there are Democrats and Republicans who continue to believe that the parties can work together on a comprehensive overhaul in the near future.
September 18, 2012
A month after the launch of the Obama administration’s DACA program, employers have been wondering whether they will be prosecuted if they give their employees documentation verifying their employment. But new guidance from USCIS may allow employers to breathe a sigh of relief.
September 4, 2012
Some of Alabama's H.B. 56 survives, while other parts are out the door after the Eleventh Circuit reaches a mixed decision on the state's controversial, enforcement-style immigration law. Notably, several of the law's employment-related provisions were deemed invalid--including one making it a crime for an undocumented immigrant to apply for, solicit, and perform work; one barring employers from deducting illegal aliens' compensation as a business expense on their state tax filings; and one allowing civil lawsuits where a U.S. worker is fired or not hired, but an illegal immigrant is employed.
August 20, 2012
After two months of waiting and several rounds of new and clarified guidance, young, undocumented immigrants Aug. 15 now can apply for the Department of Homeland Security’s deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) program--even though it continues to draw concerns from both sides of the debate.
August 6, 2012
On Aug. 15, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin accepting a new form requesting deferred action in conjunction with a form requesting work authorization under the Department of Homeland Security's new deferred action policy, USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas announced.
May 14, 2012
National Labor Relations Board Associate General Counsel Anne Purcell issues casehandling instructions for regional office employees handling immigration issues in unfair labor practice compliance proceedings.
April 16, 2012
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services already is hard at work on its Entrepreneurs in Residence initiative and has announced the members of its EIR Tactical Team. The team is working to streamline the immigration process for foreign entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, Immigration and Customs Enforcement's prosecutorial discretion pilot program moves to seven additional cities: Detroit; New Orleans; Orlando, Fla.; Seattle; New York; San Francisco; and Los Angeles.
April 2, 2012
Deteriorating conditions in Syria, with the government "violently repressing and killing thousands of its own civilians," lead the Department of Homeland Security to extend temporary protected status (TPS) to Syrian nationals currently in the United States. Syrians can apply for TPS and employment authorization between March 29 and Sept. 25, which would let them stay and work in the U.S. until Sept. 30, 2013.
March 19, 2012
The Labor Department is holding webinars and one in-person briefing to educate the public about the new H-2B regulations. Tune in online March 20 or March 27 at 1:30 p.m. EDT or come to DOL headquarters April 17 at 10:00 a.m. EDT to learn more about the new requirements, which go into effect for H-2B labor certification applications postmarked 12:01 a.m. April 23, 2012, and later.
March 5, 2012
A federal district court judge issues a preliminary injunction against the portions of Arizona's S.B. 1070 banning day labor solicitation, closely following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to review a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruling barring enforcement of a similar law in Redondo Beach, Calif. Advocates are considering both developments a victory for day laborers' free speech rights.
February 15, 2012
The Obama administration has reaffirmed its commitment to E-Verify, the federal government’s electronic employment verification system, by expanding the program’s “Self Check” feature. The Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently expanded Self Check throughout the country, and the Obama administration in its fiscal year 2013 budget request included funds to support the expansion.
January 27, 2012
Eleanor Pelta, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told Bloomberg BNA Jan. 12 that 2012 would be the "year of entrepreneurs and emerging businesses," and it looks like immigration advocates and business groups agree. This week the Immigration Policy Center and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce jointly released a report about how immigrant entrepreneurs "create jobs and strengthen the economy."
January 13, 2012
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano continues to focus on combating forced labor and human trafficking, recently holding a roundtable discussion at the White House with various public and private sector representatives and introducing additional updates to DHS’s “Blue Campaign.”
December 30, 2011
Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to focus on worksite investigations targeting companies and managers, instead of focusing only on undocumented workers. A San Diego-area bakery, its owner, and manager were each sentenced in federal court Dec. 22 on charges stemming from a four-year probe by Immigration and Customs Enforcement into hiring undocumented workers.
November 23, 2011
Federal Employee News Despite cries of foul after the U.S. Postal Service...
Labor Stats and Facts: Seven Surprising Facts About Health Care Bargaining
EEO Roundup: EEOC Nomination, House Testimony
Public Sector Roundup: OPM Issues `Phased Retirement' Proposal to Allow Part-Time Work for Future Federal Retirees
Public Sector Roundup: Legislation to Require OPM to Track Union 'Official Time' Approved by House Panel
Labor Stats and Facts: Union Workers' Benefits Don't Outpace Nonunion Benefits; They Lap Them