The Administration Reverses Foundational Trump Executive Order Affecting Immigration
Jun 21, 2021
Dallas immigration lawyers – Rabinowitz & Rabinowitz, P.C.
Dallas, TX (Law Firm Newswire) June 21, 2021 – The Biden Administration took recent executive action to reverse the foundational Trump immigration policy contained in the “Buy American and Hire American” Executive Order, signed early on in that Administration.
On January 25, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order which effectively revoked President Trump’s Buy American and Hire American (BAHA) Executive Order. BAHA — put in place on April 18, 2017, by former President Trump — laid the groundwork for many restrictive immigration policies that followed. Its purported goal was to increase wages and employment rates for U.S. workers by directing various federal agencies to promulgate rules which would erect barriers to foreign nationals seeking immigration benefits from the U.S. immigration system. The impact of BAHA was consistent with the anti-immigrant sentiment of the prior Administration.
“Immigrant bashing and nativist thinking are simply bad policy. Bad for civil discourse, and bad on the merits,” said Stewart Rabinowitz of the Dallas and Frisco law firm of Rabinowitz & Rabinowitz, P.C. “We are hopeful that the Biden Administration will implement reasonable policies going forward that will recognize the value of immigrants and immigration to our country — not just historically, but the value today in areas such as high tech, and in diverse fields including construction and agriculture, where there are shortages.”
The barriers that arose from BAHA have rippled throughout the Department of Homeland Security’s United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and in other federal agencies. From April 18, 2017, onward, during the balance of the Trump Administration, USCIS took a series of steps in compliance with this policy. It reversed deference to prior agency approvals when a petitioning employer sought an extension for a foreign worker, thereby making the employer go to the effort and expense of proving again what USCIS had previously approved.
USCIS issued a memorandum affecting employers of H-1B workers who were placed at third-party worksites, placing onerous requirements on such employers to prove the exact need for the H-1B worker, the duration of that need, the details of the precise work assignment, and information about how the employer would control the work of that worker. USCIS undertook to ramp up its site visits to employers who have filed H-1B or L-1 petitions as part of its efforts to root out and prevent fraud. And USCIS began a dramatic increase in issuing complex Requests for Evidence before deciding most benefits cases, effectively raising the burden of proof from a preponderance of the evidence to something between clear and convincing evidence to beyond a reasonable doubt, to name a few.
The Biden Administration is poised to reverse not just these policies but to address the long-standing need for comprehensive immigration reform. Reform legislation would address the national manpower shortages to be filled by foreign nationals, the large population of persons here without status, and the country’s need to control its borders effectively. Rescinding BAHA and its progeny is the first step.
By Appointment Only
Three Galleria Tower
13155 Noel Road, Suite 900
Dallas, TX 75240
http://www.rabinowitzrabinowitz.com
-
ICE Provides Policy Guidance on Its Activities Around Courthouses
<p>The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that federal agents will now have limited power to make arrests in or near courthouses for most immigration violations. New guidance issued on April 27, 2021, specifies the circumstances in which agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) …</p>
The post <a href=”https://www.rabinowitzrabinowitz.com/blog/”>Immigration Law Blog</a> first appeared on <a href=”https://www.rabinowitzrabinowitz.com”>Rabinowitz & Rabinowitz, P.C.</a>. -
CRS Issues Report on the Immigration Status of the U.S. Foreign Born Population
<p>The Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a report on April 9, 2021, discussing the citizenship and immigration status of the foreign-born population in the United States. Data from 2019 shows that nearly 45 million foreign-born individuals are living in the country, accounting for around 13.7 percent of the U.S. population. The report noted that the …</p>
The post <a href=”https://www.rabinowitzrabinowitz.com/blog/”>Immigration Law Blog</a> first appeared on <a href=”https://www.rabinowitzrabinowitz.com”>Rabinowitz & Rabinowitz, P.C.</a>. -
GAO Discusses ICE’s Planning and Oversight Over State and Local Agreements
<p>The Government Accountability Office (GAO) on February 26, 2021, released a report discussing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) efforts and objectives in expanding the 287(g) program. The watchdog Congressional office also issued three recommendations to ICE to address various oversight and performance issues. As background, the 287(g) program allows ICE to establish agreements …</p>
The post <a href=”https://www.rabinowitzrabinowitz.com/blog/”>Immigration Law Blog</a> first appeared on <a href=”https://www.rabinowitzrabinowitz.com”>Rabinowitz & Rabinowitz, P.C.</a>.
The post Legal News first appeared on Law Firm Newswire.
