This week’s Feature is a special report by HEC on a January 7, 2012 session on Employer and Employee Rights & Responsibilities sponsored by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, which had representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice, and Homeland Security speak on the employer responsibilities on I-9 Form verification, and how to avoid national origin and immigration status discrimination.

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says that it has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the second half of FY 2009 and that Jan. Read more

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has notified seven Mainland companies that they will be considered for debarment from federal contracting because each has been found to be unlawfully employing persons without employment authorization.
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The Dept. of Homeland Security has asked a federal court to halt proceedings in a lawsuit against the implementation of its "no match letter" rule to allow it to conduct additional rulemaking to address issues brought up by business and union plaintiffs in the case. On Oct. Read more

A U.S. federal district court has issued a temporary restraining order against the implementation of the “no match” letter rule promulgated last month by the Dept. of Homeland Security. Read more

The Dept. of Homeland Security has finalized and issued its rule requiring employers to terminate employees who can’t be verified as legal if there is a mismatch with their name and Social Security number—or face fines ranging from $250 to $10,000 per undocumented worker. Read more

The unauthorized alien working population is steadily growing, the Congressional Research Service reports, and outlines options for the Congress to consider to curtail unauthorized employment and related practices. Read more

Exhibiting its strategy of more aggressive worksite enforcement, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 1,282 persons at six Swift & Co.

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The proposed safe harbor procedures for employers receiving “no match” letters from the Social Security Administration or the Dept. of Homeland Security have been criticized by an array of business associations, trade and other advocacy groups. Read more

Employers who offer guidance to employees regarding immigration questions are well-advised to proceed with caution, as multiple federal agencies, including U.S. Read more

The recent raid carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet and the International Marketplace in Waikiki is part of the Dept. of Homeland Security’s effort to secure U.S. borders, and fight illegal immigration and importation. Read more

An owner of medical clinics in Tennessee who had hired 17 foreign doctors under the specialty occupation program, reduced their salaries when the clinics ran into financial difficulties, and then stopped paying the ones who sued for non-payment of wages, is ordered by a federal district court to personally pay back wages and civil monetary penalties amounting to $1.1 million for violating multiple provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Read more

The U.S. Dept. of Labor has issued a notice with specific instructions for employers to follow when notifying the DOL’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification that an H-2A worker certified on an Application for Temporary Employment Certification or a worker in corresponding employment has voluntarily abandoned employment, or was terminated for cause before the end of the work contract period. Read more

Employer non-compliance in the H-2B nonimmigrant worker program is prompting the U.S. Department of Labor to propose amending its regulations governing the employment certification of nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal non-agricultural jobs, and strengthening the enforcement of the obligations applicable to employers. Read more