DACA – Duane Morris Immigration Law

September 6, 2024September 16, 2024 by Kristopher Peters

U.S. Immigration Practice 2024: Noteworthy Developments and Possible Changes Ahead

2024 has seen a plethora of developments impacting U.S. immigration. While many developments represent incremental changes to U.S. immigration practice, particularly concerning conventional business and employment-based immigration, more substantial changes to immigration law are only achievable through congressional legislation and, given the current political climate, such congressional action is unlikely. Nonetheless, here are some of the noteworthy developments in 2024 and possible changes in U.S. immigration practice worth watching for the year to come:

1. State Actions/Proposed Actions

- Workplace Enforcement: In August, the Governor of the state of New Jersey signed a law that will levy penalties of up to $10,000 for employers in the state who disclose — or threaten to disclose — a worker’s immigration status to the government to conceal possible violations of state laws on wages, benefits or taxes. The first offense is $1,000, a second violation can be up to $5,000, and subsequent violations can be up to $10,000. The recovered fees would go to the state Department of Labor.

- Pay Transparency: Following a trend in recent years, additional states have implemented or enacted Pay Transparency laws in 2024. States including, but not limited to, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Minnesota enacted or effectuated pay transparency laws requiring certain employers to disclose additional pay information (such as pay ranges, benefits, and other compensation) on job postings and/or other forms of recruitment. Some state pay transparency laws enacting similar rules passed in 2023, like the amendment to the Illinois Equal Pay Act, are also set to go into effect in 2025. As job postings and recruitment are mandated in certain immigration cases, keeping abreast of pay transparency requirements in different locations is crucial to remain compliant with the law.

Continue reading “U.S. Immigration Practice 2024: Noteworthy Developments and Possible Changes Ahead”

June 18, 2024June 20, 2024 by Valentine A. Brown

Biden Administration Announces New Programs for DACA holders and Undocumented Spouses of US Citizens

On June 18, 2024 the White House announced two new programs to address long standing shortfalls in our current immigration law.

Undocumented spouses of U.S. Citizens, who have lived in the US for 10 years or more, will be eligible for work authorization and a three year path to legal permanent reisdence, commonly know as green card status. Thier minor children will also be eligible to apply. Under current law, these applicants have a 6-10 year path to legal permanent residence, that requires them to return to thier home countries for visa processing, without any guarantee of being able to return to the United States. This new program will eliminate the need for them to leave the United States to adjust to legal permanent resident status.

Under the new program, applicants will apply for Parole in Place (PIP), which if approved will give them legal recognition in the United States and a work permit. Once the applicant’s PIP is approved, the US citizen spouse will be able to follow the normal sponsorship process to obtain legal permanent residence for their spouse and minor children under 21 years old.

DACA recipients who have graduated with a bachelor degree or higher from a U.S. university or college will be eligible to seek legal permanent residence through employment. Under current law, there is no legal pathway for these applicants to seek employment-based green cards due to the fact that they entered the United States illegally as children. This new program will provide these applicants and their employers the opportunity to seek employment-based green cards with the catch that the applicant will need to leave the United States, at the very end of the process, to attend their green card interview at the U.S. consulate in their home country.

Court Challenge Likely: Unfortunately, an immediate court challenge to these programs is likely. A similar, but different program was proposed by the Obama administration in 2014 for the undocumented parents of U.S. citizen children. Under that program, the adminstration proposed to offer “Deferred Action” to undocumented applicants, similar to the DACA program, which is also now under attack in the courts. That program was held up in the courts for years, without ever being implemented, before the Executive Order proposing it was finally rescinded by the Trump Administration. The new program, with it’s offer of PIP rather than Deferred Action, has a stronger likelihood to succeed, based upon the PIP programs for military family members, Ukrainians, Afghans and others.

American Business Immigration Coalition and many other business groups support this proposal. This coalition is a bipartisan group of more than 1400 diverse businesses and business associations located throughout the United States. For years, it has been advocating for work permits for long-time undocumented immigrants in the United States. As the coalition states, “sensible immigration reform is economically important, politically smart, and morally right.”

For more information or consultation on eligibility, please contact Valentine Brown at (215) 979-1840 or the Duane Morris immigration attorney with whom you normally work.

June 18, 2020 by Duane Morris

Supreme Court Ruling Upholds DACA Program

On June 18, 2020, a narrowly divided Supreme Court of the United States held that the Court can review the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and that the Trump administration’s decision to terminate the program was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote the 5-4 decision in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of University of California. DACA grants undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children permission to live and work lawfully.

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