President Biden Puts All Recent Trump Regulations in Abeyance
Trump Regulations to Decapitate Business Immigration Withdrawn or Postponed
President Biden went into action immediately after his swearing-in ceremony
by signing a series of executive orders and directives that reversed the
last-minute Trump Administration measures to in effect destroy business
immigration to the United States. The Biden directive, issued by his Chief
of Staff Ron Klain, directed all government Departments and Agencies to
withdraw any rule not published in the Federal Register (the repository
of all U.S. government regulations) or if published and not in effect,
to delay implementation by 60 days (or longer), while the new Biden Administration
determines its action plan.
The following new proposed rules of the Trump Administration are effected:
- “Strengthening the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification Program”
that sought to redefine ‘employer-employee’ relationships
will be withdrawn.
- H-1B Wage Selection Final Rule will be delayed to at least March 20, 2021.
It is also expected that the new rules requiring filing of LCAs and Petitions
by “secondary employers” will be withdrawn by the Department of Labor.
There is an added layer of complexity to this process, as there have been
several legal challenges to the Trump measures that were upheld by the
courts and were being appealed by the previous administration. It is expected
that the Biden Administration will not be continuing with those appeals.
While the Biden Administration has already proposed significant immigrant
friendly measures, the Department of Homeland Security and its agency
the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) do not have new
leadership in place as of yet. The new Secretary of Homeland Security,
Alejandro Mayorkas, previously headed the USCIS and is well versed on
all immigration matters. He is expected to take an active role in the
direction of all new rules and regulations. We are also waiting to hear
how the new administration will handle the H cap filings for this year.
We will monitor this issue and update our clients as more information becomes
available.
Please feel free to contact USILAW with any questions or issues that you
may have. You may reach us via telephone at +1 (202) 618 4540 or via email at
anindita@usilaw.com.