WASHINGTON—The Trump administration is weighing a proposal to suspend a slate of employment-based immigration visas, including the coveted H-1B high-skilled visa, according to administration officials familiar with the talks, among several possible measures amid the economic fallout of the pandemic.
The proposed suspension could extend into the government’s new fiscal year, beginning Oct. 1, when many new visas are typically issued, these officials said. That could bar any new H-1B holder outside the country from coming to work until the suspension is lifted, though visa holders already in the country are unlikely to be affected.
The suspension proposal is one of a series of legal immigration limits that President Trump is considering as part of an executive action he is set to unveil in the coming weeks. The administration has argued that the pandemic requires limits on immigration to prevent sick people from entering the country and to ensure that Americans get jobs first as the economy rebounds. Continue reading “The Wall Street Journal – Trump Administration Considers Suspending H-1B, Other Visas Through the Fall”
In a surprise twist to the political drama over potential new immigration restrictions, 21 House Republicans 
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has agreed to 
The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has significantly disrupted the livelihoods of Americans. In Proclamation 9994 of March 13, 2020 (Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak), I declared that the COVID–19 outbreak in the United States constituted a national emergency, beginning March 1, 2020. Since then, the American people have united behind a policy of mitigation strategies, including social distancing, to flatten the curve of infections and reduce the spread of SARS–CoV–2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This needed behavioral shift has taken a toll on the United States economy, with national unemployment claims reaching historic levels. In the days between the national emergency declaration and April 11, 2020, more than 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment. 
WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Monday evening that he intended to close the United States to people trying to immigrate into the country to live and work, a drastic move that he said would protect American workers from foreign competition once the nation’s economy began to recover from the shutdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Mechelle Zarou, partner in the Toledo office and co-chair of the firm’s Immigration and Labor & Employment practice groups, will be speaking at the American Bar Association (ABA) Young Lawyers Division’s webinar “Business Immigration Issues and COVID-19: Addressing Central Concerns for Employers, Employees and Their Families” on Wednesday, April 8 from 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it has received sufficient electronic registrations to reach the FY 2021 numerical limit and has notified all employers whose H-1B registrations were selected. Under the new system, those companies whose registrations were chosen must prepare and submit applications (and have them approved) to receive H-1B petitions. What does history tell us about how many companies will follow through with their applications in light of the current economic downturn?
