Learn about how government proposals will affect your company, and the new immigration liability landscape for employers under the Trump administration presented by Grant Sovern and Eric Ledbetter.

1. Immigration Issues for Employers & Employees:
The New Immigration Landscape Under the
Trump Administration
2017 ACC-WI CLE | Wednesday, February 22, 2017 | 3 – 4 p.m.

2. Overview of US Immigration System
 Three levels of immigration benefits
 Nonimmigrant visas
 Alphabet soup of visas to enter and stay in the US
 Immigrant visas – green cards
 May stay permanently, work anywhere, come and go easily
 US citizenship
 And the 4th group – undocumented
 The governmental immigration agencies

3. Nonimmigrant Visas
 Stay in the US for a finite period of time
 May only do the activity approved by the government
 A to V in the alphabet
 H-1B, professional workers
 L-1, intracompany transferees
 F-1/J-1, international students and interns
 TN, Canadian and Mexican professionals
 B-1/B-2, visitors for business or tourists
 O-1, people with extraordinary ability

4. Immigrant Visas—Green Cards
 May stay in the US indefinitely
 May work/live anywhere, activity not restricted
 May travel in and out of the US freely
 Only four major ways to get a green card
 Family sponsorship by close family member: spouse, parent, child, or sibling
 Employer sponsorship, prove no American is qualified for the job
 Green Card Lottery (Diversity Visa Lottery)
 Asylees, refugees, victims of domestic violence, and others
 Can lose green card by committing certain crimes, not paying taxes, or leaving the
US for long period of time

5. US Citizenship
 May vote in US elections, serve on juries, qualify for certain security clearances
 Once a citizen, the government cannot take it away unless the person lied in the
application process
 Three ways to get citizenship
 Birth inside the US
 Derive citizenship through birth outside the US to US citizen parent
 Naturalize to become a citizen after having green card for 5 years (or 3 years if married to US
citizen)
 Must take civics and English exam and prove no crimes during 5-year period

6. Immigration Government Agencies
 Department of Homeland Security
 Citizenship & Immigration Services – grants immigration benefits
 Customs & Border Protection – authorize entry to US at borders and airports
 Immigration Customs & Enforcement – fines companies and deports people
 Department of State
 Runs US embassies and consulates around the world
 Grants visas to physically enter the US
 Department of Labor
 Precertification necessary for some work visas and many green cards
 Department of Justice – runs immigration court system

7. Trump Executive Orders
 Travel ban on people coming from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, and
Yemen for 90 days
 Any connection to these countries will likely create additional screening upon
re-entry to the US after international travel
 120-day halt to refugee admissions and indefinitely from Syria
 Federal judges in several states have put a temporary stay on portions of this
Executive Order
 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the order nationwide
 Likely to issue new, more narrowly tailored order

8. Executive Orders on Interior Immigration Enforcement
 Executive Orders signed on January 17
 Implementation memo released by DHS, which includes provisions to:
 Near elimination of parole except in cases of national security or extreme humanitarian needs
 Expand 287(g) partnerships with local police to deport more people
 Remove privacy protections for immigrants
 Hire 15,000 more border patrol agents
 Expand deportation priorities to include those accused of crimes, not just convicted and those
who admit to other violations—allow deportation of anyone who is deportable
 Increase Expedited Removal (deportation without hearing in front of judge) to anyone in the US
less than 2 years and anywhere in the country, not just within 100 miles of border, and within 14
days of entry

9. Draft Order Regarding Business Immigration
 Review all immigration regulations related to business immigration
 Propose new parole regulations that likely mean the termination and/or reform of
current parole policies for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
 Propose new regulations to reform business visa programs to protect American
workers. This is likely aimed at adding more requirements to the H-1B and L-1
processes.
 Consider ways to improve the H-1B lottery allocation process
 Commence L-1 worksite audits/visits of L-1 employers and L-1 worksites—
eventually add all employment visas (O-1, TN, E)

10. Proposed Order—Continued
 Establish an immigration commission to make immigration policy
 Propose new regulations to reform F-1/J-1 work options (OPT, CPT, and EADs for
recent college graduates to work as interns)
 Clarify (limit) what are acceptable activities in the US on B-1 visas
 Reform H-2A, agricultural worker visa program
 Incentivize more employers to use E-Verify
 Reform the Visa Bulletin and how green cards are made available
 Propose new E-2 regulations to conform with current law
 Propose new J-1 Summer Work program regulations

11. Senators Durbin & Grassley Bill
 Replace the existing H-1B lottery process with priority system that CIS will create,
which would prioritize H-1B petitions with higher salaries and non "H-1B-
dependent" employers
 Increase Department of Labor audits/investigations of H-1B employers
 Prohibit companies that employ more than 50 percent of their US workforce on H or
L visas from obtaining any more H-1Bs
 Change the L-1 program to add a prevailing wage requirement similar to the H-1B,
further restrict L-1B specialized knowledge standards, and add a cap on the number
of L-1s issued per year

12. Representative Issa Bill
 Raise "H-1B dependent" exemption to $100k instead of $60k
 Discontinue current Master's degree exemption from H-1B dependency
 Result: those employers that employ a large portion of employees (usually more
than 15 percent) on H-1B visas must advertise and prove there are no Americans
available for the job anytime the salary is less than $100k

13. Representative Lofgren Bill
 Increase H-1B prevailing wage requirements by eliminating the Level 1, entry-level
prevailing wage
 Instead of H-1B lottery, select petitions with highest salaries first
 Replace the green card allocation system to be first-come, first-served, instead of
the current system where employees from China, India, Mexico, and Philippines
wait up to 10-15 years longer
 Similar to Issa's bill, raise the wage at which an H-1B dependent employer would be
exempt from the recruitment requirement to $130k, and eliminate the Master's
degree exemption
 Set aside 20 percent of the 85,000 new H-1B visas for start-up companies with
fewer than 50 employees

14. Bar Removal of Immigrants Who Dream and
Grow the Economy Act: Senate & House
 Senators Graham (R-SC), Durbin (D-IL), Murkowski (R-AK), Feinstein (D-CA),
Flake (R-AZ), and Schumer (D-NY)
 Representatives Coffman (R-CO), Gutierrez (D-IL), Curbelo (R-FL), Roybal-
Allard (R-FL), Denham (R-CA), Lofgren (D-CA), Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and Chu
(D-CA)
 Bar removal of DREAMers or those with DACA benefits

15. What Employers Should Do to Prepare
 Take stock of company's current immigration practices
 If company has H-1B or E-3 employees, self-audit DOL Public Access Files
 Also ask when was last H-1B dependency calculation performed
 Determine if company already using E-Verify or could use it
 Identify when was the last I-9 self-audit performed
 Prepare HR, business managers, receptionists for unannounced "site visits" by
government agencies (if employees on work visas)
 Develop consistent approach for H-1B contract workers
 Develop consistent message for foreign national employees (including DACA)

16. What Employers Should Do To Prepare—Continued
 Consider implementing travel plan/system to ensure employees from designated
countries are not stranded on business trips
 Consider advising employees regarding rights/responsibilities during re-entry into
the US
 Can employees share sensitive company information on their phone, laptop, or workbag with
CBP officers? Is a warrant ever needed?
 Who has a right to a lawyer during entry/inspection?
 Have an emergency plan if immigration raid occurs
 Who to notify?
 Media relations?
 Employee messaging?

17. Questions?
Eric D. Ledbetter
(312) 715-5018
eric.ledbetter@quarles.com
Grant Sovern
(608) 283-2668
grant.sovern@quarles.com