Immigration
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June 5, 2015
Q&A With Greenberg Traurig's Ian Macdonald
Multinational companies are moving away from the traditional global immigration service model of multilaw firm networks, where work is subcontracted to a patchwork of providers in a variety of countries — often without a client's knowledge — and toward a one-stop service solution with complete transparency and shared technology, says Ian Macdonald of Greenberg Traurig LLP.
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June 4, 2015
Despite Disney Dust-Up, Attys Say H-1B Program Rarely Misused
Recent allegations have surfaced that the Walt Disney Co. replaced a slew of its tech workers with immigrants on H-1B visas, but attorneys say the claims don't depict the real story behind the visa program, which ensures foreign workers are paid as much as their U.S. counterparts and isn't being used to replace domestic employees.
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June 4, 2015
Community Health Unit Settles Ex-Exec's FCA Kickback Suit
A Community Health Systems Inc. unit will pay more than half a million dollars to settle a False Claims Act suit brought by a former executive, accusing one of its Georgia hospitals of handing a clinic kickbacks for sending women living in the country illegally to the hospital to deliver babies on Medicaid’s dime, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
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June 4, 2015
Guatemalan's Abuse Wasn't Persecution, 8th Circ. Says
Claims of regular beatings by an aunt when a Guatemalan citizen was a teenager do not establish persecution that would merit the man an asylum petition, the Eighth Circuit ruled Thursday.
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June 4, 2015
Sens. Propose Reauthorization, Reforms Of EB-5 Program
Bipartisan leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee introduced legislation Thursday to reauthorize and tweak the EB-5 regional center visa program meant to spur immigration of foreign investors, saying the program is useful but must strengthen its protections against fraud.
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June 4, 2015
ICE Reaches $2.25M Deal With Orchard Over I-9 Form Violations
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday that it has reached a multimillion dollar settlement with a Washington-based apple orchard after an audit revealed that nearly 1,000 of its workers were unauthorized to work in the U.S.
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June 4, 2015
Q&A With Greenberg Traurig's Laura Reiff
The most challenging part of my legal practice is the legislative aspect of comprehensive immigration reform, which has been 26 years overdue and is desperately needed, says Laura Reiff of Greenberg Traurig LLP and chairwoman of the National Immigration Forum.
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June 4, 2015
NY Court Allows Bar To Admit Undocumented Immigrants
A New York appeals court on Wednesday approved the admission of an undocumented immigrant to the state bar, weighing in on a matter of first impression and finding that a federal law requiring legislative action to issue such licenses unconstitutionally infringed the state’s rights.
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June 4, 2015
Landscaping Cos. Push For Injunction On New H-2B Rules
Landscaping groups who recently sued over new H-2B regulations issued by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor urged a Florida federal court to block the agencies’ action Thursday, saying they are being irreparably harmed by the rules’ alleged violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.
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June 4, 2015
DHS Can't Duck ICE Atty's Age, Sex Bias Suit
An Arizona federal judge on Wednesday refused to toss a veteran Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney’s age and sex discrimination suit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, saying she sufficiently showed that a hostile work environment existed to allow her claims to proceed.
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June 4, 2015
H-2B Carnival Workers Urge 8th Circ. To Revive Wage Row
Carnival guest workers hired by Deggeller Attractions Inc. under the H-2B visa program again urged the Eighth Circuit on Tuesday to revive claims alleging their employer breached its contractual promise to pay the prevailing wage, saying Deggeller wrongly contended the workers' arguments were not preserved for appeal.
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June 3, 2015
House OKs Measure Blocking Fed. Funds In Immigration Fight
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed an amendment to a spending bill that would block the federal government from using any money to fight a lawsuit by Texas and other states opposing President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
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June 3, 2015
6th Circ. Won't Nix Drug Informant's Deportation Order
The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday issued a published decision refusing to alter the deportation order of a Dominican Republican man convicted of a cocaine offense who had sought deferral of removal based partly on claims that he would be tortured for having acted as a drug informant.
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June 3, 2015
Nevada Hotel Settles Discrimination Claims Filed By EEOC
A Nevada hotel and gaming hall accused of discriminating against Mexican employees agreed Wednesday to settle the claims filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $150,000.
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June 3, 2015
House Passes $51.4B DOJ, Commerce 2016 Funding Bill
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $51.4 billion bill Wednesday to fund the U.S. departments of Justice and Commerce and a pair of science agencies for 2016, over a presidential veto threat claiming it underfunds key programs.
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June 3, 2015
Plaintiffs Fight Ariz. Bid To Trim 'Show Me Your Papers' Suit
Individuals and advocacy groups suing over Arizona’s “show me your papers” law urged a federal court Wednesday to reject the state’s motion for judgment on several of their constitutional challenges, saying there is ample evidence that the law was motivated by bias against Latinos and Mexicans.
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June 3, 2015
DHS Presses Court To Ax Suit Over H-4 Spouse Work Rule
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security pushed a D.C. federal court on Tuesday to ax a suit brought by a group of U.S. tech workers over a new rule allowing certain H-4 spouses to apply for work permits, arguing that the domestic workers can’t show an imminent harm from the regulation that would give them standing.
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June 3, 2015
5th Circ. Revives Claim That Atty Didn't Warn Of Deportation
The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday revived a Tanzanian man's challenge to his guilty plea for two felonies on grounds of ineffective counsel, concluding that a warning at his plea colloquy he would likely be deported for entering the plea wasn't sufficient to negate his claims.
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June 3, 2015
NYC Nail Salon Can't Duck Wage, OT Violation Claims
A New York federal judge on Tuesday allowed a proposed collective and class action to proceed against a Manhattan nail salon that allegedly stiffed its employees on minimum wage and overtime pay and took a portion of their tips.
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June 3, 2015
Two Texans Plead Guilty To Fake Tribal Membership Plot
A Texas duo have pled guilty to selling membership in a nonrecognized Native American tribe as part of a scheme to defraud undocumented immigrants, according to a U.S. Department of Justice statement on Wednesday.